District Assembly 2025 We are thankful for a wonderful Missions Convention and Assembly on June 6 & 7. Bartlesville First Church modeled hospitality and excellence as our hosts. Special thanks to On-site coordinator, Sonya Jenner, Lead Pastor Steve Spangenburg, Office Administrator, Karen Dimond and the dozens of BFC volunteers who served us so well.  Dr. Crocker preached and led with distinction. Jason Pierce and the worship team led us into the presence of God.  The delegates showed great flexibility as they adjusted to the use of a District App to follow the agenda and reports. Christy Thornton was our leader is use of the Toolbox and App and deserves immense thanksgiving.  District Secretary Jim Thornton, along with the NEO staff of Gloria McKellips, Katrina Schuber and Michelle Proctor all worked with efficiency and determination to make everything go smoothly. And best of all, God was with us! For the......

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2025 Assembly and Missions Convention June 6 – 7, Bartlesville First Church Why District Assembly and Conventions? encourage and recharge celebrate what God is doing build a sense of unity and team recall us to mission focus and alignment connect us all to something bigger than our local church Additional Assembly Information: Lodging. The Bartlesville Fairfield Inn and Suites, 2107 Southeast Washington Blvd., Bartlesville, OK 74006 still has a few rooms with one King bed available. Call the hotel at 918-331-2100 and tell them you are with the NEO Nazarene group to get our rate. Saturday Chick-fil-a Lunch. No one is required to eat on site, but to make it more convenient for you to eat without rushing to find a restaurant and rushing back, we have some Chick-fil-a options on site. Please order as a church, reserving and paying for the meals before June 2. Nursery. Nursery for age 3......

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God is at work in and through NEO Nazarenes! I hear testimonies every week of God’s activity in our midst. We need to celebrate it! We will do so at Assembly in six weeks, but below is a little appetizer as some of our pastors respond to  “I Want to Celebrate…” Dale Fillmore, Okmulgee New Day: Our Sunday morning class has a jar in which we put marbles or glass stones to celebrate our answers to prayer.  This week we had to put a large one in. My nephew had to have surgery on his foot.  They took off some toes and a large portion of one foot.  Infection was a real concern – diabetes.  They said he would never walk again.  Praise the Lord, his mother told me this week that he is up, about, and walking! Bret Metcalfe, Claremore: We had a great Resurrection Service with four people......

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Message from the DS Dear NEO family, “The NEO District Church of the Nazarene is made of up of 45 interdependent local churches, organized to facilitate the mission of each local church through mutual support, the sharing of resources and collaboration.”   I love seeing the way we collaborate and join together in fellowship and mission! In March, we have already had two outstanding district events – Kid’s Mission Day and  Prime Time Spring Fling. Our host churches, Regency Park and Sapulpa, were outstanding. The events were fun, inspirational and allowed us to time to interact with others on the District family. Today we will have two other gatherings for our District family. Our youth will be going to Southern Nazarene University for Extravaganza, an annual gathering for worship, talent, Bible Quizzing and Sports. I am thankful for a church that invests in our children and youth. And some......

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Message from the DS Dear NEO family, These are exciting days in NEO. We have such a dedicated and gifted group of pastors and laity! I love getting to cheer you on! M25 was very impactful. Here are just a few of the comments shared by NEO participants about how God used M25 to challenge them: I have to get outside of the church and have a personal impact on people “out there”. Staying inside the church is not enough. Preach with even more conviction the necessity for evangelism, both corporately and privately. I am asking God to show me areas I have turned inward in my church thinking instead of outwards towards the lost. I believe that God is calling me to minister cross culturally and empower my African American brothers and sisters to live lives of holiness and harmony within the larger context of the Church. To be......

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Message from the DS I love Pastors! And NEO has tremendous Pastors! In the last few weeks I have shared breakfast or lunch with most of our pastors. What a treat for me! On more than one occasion, as we were sharing blessings and prayer requests, pastors shared that their church was getting older. That is certainly a blessing, for with age spiritual maturity often follows. Of course, there is also concern. -if we don’t begin to reach a younger crowd, what will happen to the church in 10 to 20 years? I looked in the files this week and saw an article by Thom Rainer on “Five Ways Some Senior Adult Churches Became Younger.” Let me share part of it below: Hear me clearly. I am not suggesting there is anything inherently wrong with a congregation of senior adults. But I have been asked on numerous occasions how......

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Is Evangelism on Life Support?   In our Cycle of Resurgence, the focus of 2025 is “Bringing People to Jesus”. Is your church ready for the challenge? One well known Christian leader recently said that “Evangelism is on Life Support”! He backed it up by saying that only 1% of churches report that they’re “Very Effective” at reaching new people. 1%!! What do you think? If 10 was “highly effective” and 1 was “not effective at all” at bringing people to Jesus, what number would you give yourself? Your church? The center for mission and evangelism is the local church. Although the task may be challenging, I am excited that we have some things to help you and your church get Evangelism off of life support in 2025: 1. M25 Gospel, Feb. 10 – 12, Kansas City M25 is a quadrennial USA/Canada Nazarene conference focused on evangelism, advancing the regional......

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2025 is here! A couple of thoughts as we begin the new year: My heart rejoices in the truth of what one poll said was the #1 Christian song in 2024, “To God be the Glory” by We are Messengers: You love mе at my best You love me in my mess God, You’re so good to me There’s one thing I am sure Your promises endure You make a way for me When my heart can’t find the beat When it’s dark and I can’t see I will put my hope in You I’ll trade ashes for beauty I’ll trade joy for my mourning I’ll trade, to God be the glory To God be the glory I’ll trade strength for my weakness I’ll trade pain for my healing I’ll trade, let this be my story To God be the glory I once again identify with the Apostle Paul......

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A message from our District Superintendent, Dave McKellips. What an exciting season!! Advent reminds us that God is With Us … God is For Us … and God is enough. I pray that you will draw near to God during this Advent season and allow His Spirit to give you fresh hope, peace, joy and love! Our Global Missions Director, Rev. Jim Ritchie, organized an exciting 24-hour world-wide prayer emphasis on Zoom called: “To the Ends of the Earth”. More than 4000 leaders joined in prayer around the globe on December 6 and 7. I was moved by prayers for God to give us a deeper passion than we have ever had for the lost. Prayers invited God to seize our hearts. We prayed that we would see more people come to Jesus in 2025 than we have in any year of our history. We prayed for life transformation that only......

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Thanksgiving in Uncertain Times Have you read Psalm 118 lately? If not, you may want to read it today. As we prepare for an election in a deeply divided country, as fighting and killing continues in Ukraine, the Middle East and even Africa, we are prone to anxiety about the future of our country and world. But in the midst of much that is not good, the Psalmist gives thanks for one certainty – The Lord is good and his loving kindness endures forever! In verse 5, the Psalmist declares, “In my anguish I cried to the Lord and He answered by setting me free.” All who trust in Jesus can testify that at one time we were dead in our transgressions and sins; we were literally slaves to sin. When we called out to the Lord in the midst of our anguish and handed Him the reigns of......

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