United Church of Norman, UCC

Dear Friends of the United Church of Norman – UCC,

Please read the following words carefully.  They come from the 5th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel and are attributed to Jesus:

“There is a saying, ‘Love your friends and hate your enemies.’  But I say: Love your enemies!  Pray for those who persecute you!  In that way you will be acting as true sons of your Father in heaven.  For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust too.  If you love only those who love you, what good is that?  Even scoundrels do that much.  If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?  Even the heathen do that.  But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

How many of us live up to this?  WOW!  So………….why is it so easy for us to heap judgment on others?  I’ve been thinking of this as I’ve been reading about the tragic and sad events surrounding Joe Paterno’s death on Sunday.  Joe Paterno was, of course, the late great coach of Penn State’s football team.  He coached there, in fact, for about 46 years, growing up in Brooklyn, playing quarterback for Brown University and then going on to Penn State where he became a football legend.  His teams won some 409 games, made some 36 bowl appearances, they were NCAA national champions, and every year seemed to challenge the best teams for football supremacy while every year sending a steady stream of All American players into the ranks of professional football.  He died at the age of 85 only a few months after being fired from his position as head coach in the wake of a sex scandal that continues to ruin careers of other coaches and administrators and leaving the university tainted with the scandal.

It’s a sad story.  It’s a tragic story.  It’s also a true story of events that brought much harm and injury to an as yet untold number of young boys who were abused by an adult coach and mentor; a carnage of hurt that continued on far longer than it should have and involved boy after boy  through the carelessness and insensitivity of people who could have stopped it but didn’t.  Much has been said in defense of Joe Paterno.  He was an icon, a god-like figure on a campus where athletics, and football in particular, were the engines that drove the vehicle.  Gods do not die easily. Most earned their power and worked hard to achieve such stature.  Mr. Paterno was evidently one of those.  But he was also more then this.  He is quoted as having said:  “I could never have imagined men having sex with boys and the concept was foreign to me.”  That may well be true, but ignorance is no longer an excuse in our world and society.  I can remember and verify that in my own parents’ generation “such things” were never really mentioned, and certainly would never have been a topic of discussion.  It’s easier to see and remember another era than it is to look into our own.  Moral blindness can happen.  It can happen to all of us. Because certain “problems” or “behaviors” make us uncomfortable, it’s easy to overlook or ignore them.  We also forget that life changes, as do moral values and topics of discussion, even though we may refuse at times to change ourselves.  I wonder where each of us would, right now, find our blind spots?  What are the areas in our own thinking, or beliefs, that blind us to harm being done to innocent people in our society and even within our own circle of friends?  Do we ever ignore hunger and poverty?  Do we allow the extreme wealthy to extract more from already poor people, and instead just plead ignorance?  This list of blind spots that we hide from and pretend we don’t personally have could go on and on.  Think about it.  Think about yourself.

I feel really bad for Joe Paterno’s family and for his many friends who are feeling guilty and are mourning his loss.  He did many really good things.  Somehow, he also allowed himself to fall behind in his self-education and self-awareness of human value, and it cost him and many others dearly.    Maybe the rest of us can at least learn something helpful from his pain and from this tragedy.  None of us are above or beyond mirroring this same kind of blindness or denial in our behavior.  We need to be kinder to one another, yet firm in our commitment to excellence and the continued monitoring of our moral compasses that set and maintain our direction through life.  Reading these words of Jesus helps me remember that Jesus could be pretty hard on people who sat in judgment of others while ignoring people who were really in need.  I know that loving your enemies is not easy because I’ve tried, and keep trying, to do it!  Thinking of ourselves as first and foremost seems a lot easier — and definitely is more tempting.  But it’s not what we’re called to do.  We have been given a higher calling and we should all remember it.  Doing so could reduce pain, maybe remove prejudice and absolutely lift the sense of alienation that a lot of people feel in our world.

This great gift of life that we’ve been given — could instead become a blessing unleashed in the world.  That sounds to me like such a great way to enjoy and live out this gift.   It’s worth the search and it’s worth the struggle to find out how to do it.  And — it’s our calling to do!   Amen.

With great sadness, but with renewed awareness,

Warren E. Jensen, Interim Pastor

The United Church of Norman – UCC

The United Church of Norman-UCC will host Bishop John Shelby Spong April 20-21, 2012.

The United Church of Norman-UCC will host Bishop John Shelby Spong April 20-21, 2012

Bishop John Shelby Spong April 20-21

Dear Friends of the United Church of Norman – UCC,

My Memory

I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one,

I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done.

I’d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways,

Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days.

I’d like the tears of those who grieve to dry before the  sun

Of happy memories that I leave when life is done.

My uncle Carrol was 99 years, 9 months, and 22 days old when he died last Thursday morning.  I just returned from his funeral in Omaha and wanted to share this poem printed in his funeral bulletin.  It was very appropriate to his philosophy of living.  He was the last living child from a family of 12 children, my favorite uncle and always a role model for me growing up.  I liked him a lot and I want to tell you all about him briefly.

My uncle Carrol was my dad’s younger brother.  They both grew up on a farm in Nebraska and both left school at the eighth grade because they were needed to help out on the farm near Plainview, Nebraska (older sons leaving school seemed to be the pattern back in the 1920s.)  He soon moved to Omaha where he found work in a grocery store.  Shortly after that met his wife and soon they made another big decision to move to California where he worked as a welder on ships during World War II.  He then came back to Omaha and bought a small neighborhood grocery store which he soon traded in for a larger neighborhood store a few blocks away.  They made their life there until he retired.  Being trained from early on to “work,” he didn’t know how to retire and really didn’t want to learn how.  He liked to work, so very shortly went searching for work and found it as a parking lot attendant in a large down town parking garage.  At 5 a.m. every day, he cheerfully greeted all the early morning arrivals with a smile and hello and as much conversation time as they had interest in.  He was like a host of some kind, even going around with a little tire pump and pumping up tires that he found with low tire pressure.  Needless to say, his customers became friends and loyal patrons.  In the late 90s the city converted its parking garages to automated payment systems and he lost his job.  Everyone missed him.  He reminded me of “The Happy Man,” a video we watched in our adult education at church a few weeks ago.  His customers missed him a lot.  He held that job into his 90s.

His funeral was held at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church in Omaha.  The priests, two monsignors, four deacons and some musicians all did a great job.  They made it easy for the non-catholics like me to follow the service liturgy and were great in explaining what they were doing for those of us who didn’t understand it all.  They personalized the service and involved all the grandchildren and nieces and nephews who attended.  Pastor Donald Shane was the celebrant at the funeral mass and a portion of his reflections about my Uncle Carrol need to be shared.  He lifted up the positive attitude my uncle had on life.  “He cared about other people and went out of his way to show that.  He did things they didn’t even ask him to do, because he wanted them to be happy and pleased with his service.  He respected the different traditions other people brought to life and never seemed prejudiced against those differences.  He cared about his family — a lot.”  And then the Priest said something really important.  He looked at all the children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces and children, and said:  “You should all be proud to be part of his family.  You should all remember the good things he did, the ways he treated others and the respect for others that was always conveyed so powerfully through the things he did.  You are indeed blessed to be a part of this family.”

I would hope that all of us could feel that way about the family we were born into, but also know that isn’t the way life unfolds for everyone.  I do hope that all of us can feel that way about the church family we’ve chosen to be part of.  I would hope that all of us can remember the good things we have done, the ways in which we have tried to show our respect for those who are different from us, and the message of justice for all, the acceptance of all people, the absence of prejudice and the desire that every person will one day realize they are as important to God as everyone else is.  Our church does strive towards these goals, and I really believe that when we’re at our best, we also prompt the strong feeling within ourselves that reminds us we’re blessed to be part of “this” family.

My uncle Carrol will live on.

Respectfully and Thankfully,

Warren Jensen, Interim Pastor

The United Church of Norman – UCC

Dear Friends of the United Church of Norman – UCC,

Sarah and I woke up on Tuesday morning wanting to start the day with the news.  MSNBC always seems to get us going and we watched as the broadcast originated from Java Joe’s Coffee House in Des Moines.  We used to have coffee there frequently and it brought back memories.  One of our daughters works just two blocks away.  Tom Brokaw, Chris  Matthews, David Gregory and seemingly all the political commentators there were talking about the imminent political election results from Iowa.  The Religious Right was mentioned frequently as a force heavily influencing the outcome, and it concerned me.  I grew up believing (and still do) strongly in the separation of church and state.  But the world is a different place today and I’m beginning to wonder if it’s all as simple as it once seemed to be.

The institutional church (in case you haven’t noticed) has grown enormously through the time span covering its existence.  It has accumulated vast amounts of wealth (millions and billions?) and translated that amount of wealth into great power, including its own political influence.  In Greece, on Christmas Eve, the Rector of the thousand-year-old Vathipedi Monastery, Father Ephraim, was arrested by Greek police.  The monastery he presides over is located on some of the most sacred ground in all of Orthodox Christendom, located on Mount Athos.  The sketchy charges had to do with the monastery selling land, deeded to the monastery by a Byzantine emperor centuries earlier.  With the economic crisis occurring in Greece right now, everything is being looked at with suspicion (probably with good cause) and someone determined that land sale was not in the interests of Greece.  It isn’t hard to understand that any institution that has been around forever develops a history that is very intertwined with its local culture and government.  Churches are frequently tempted to use whatever influence they may have to “protect” their interests or promote their  causes, e.g., The Catholic Church currently waging a publicity war with the current Washington D.C. administration over the administration’s newer
health policy of having private companies provide health insurance that provides contraception payment without mandating a co-pay.  A church doctrine/belief has been challenged and threatened by a political decision, and the church is being very vocal in protecting its belief.  Another current mind-boggling example of church and state boundary confusion comes from Bryan Fischer, an administrator of the American Family Group who is advocating to his followers that when they vote to elect a person as president for our country, they should do so with the same mind set they use when they choose a “minister.”  (Mr. Fischer has some other pretty hard to accept opinions about equal rights and discrimination but that’s not the subject of my thought this morning.)

I believe the role of our church today is to encourage people to think and to assist through the use of scholarship and good educational models, the process through which concerned people are able to better use their own reasoning and insight to make their political choices as well as other life choices.  It’s a fine line to walk I realize so well because ministers,
like everyone else, have biases and prejudices about who can best lead the country and who would best promote causes “close to the heart!”  Church people should be involved in politics, but as private citizens.  And both the church and clergy, should and must respect those boundaries.  We don’t all do that perfectly; however, it has to be our goal to do so.

It’s a confusing and sometimes frightening world out there right now.  “Faith” and “firm convictions” seem harder to find and hang on to then ever before.  Perhaps the reason is that God, like our world and universe, is not stagnant and unchanging but rather just the opposite.  What worked yesterday, doesn’t seem to work today, and certainly won’t work tomorrow.  Many of us are not comfortable with that idea I fully realize, but it seems to me more and more, that real
“life” is to be found in that spot of tension, change, and movement that is part of us and in all that is around us.  If we
encourage ourselves to really be involved in that milieu of life we can have access to some control at least about where that change takes us.  If we dig in, we’ve already determined that we’ll be isolated from that life.

Jesus came that we could have “life,” and have it abundantly!  I’m sticking with Jesus!

Taking the dive,

Warren Jensen, Interim Pastor

The United Church of Norman – UCC

Dear Friends of the United Church of Norman – UCC,

Speaking on behalf of our church, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  Because Christmas Day is on Sunday, very much a family day for most folks, we have revised our Sunday schedule.  We will NOT have a Christmas Eve Service, instead encourage those of you who wish to attend services at Mayflower Congregation-UCC Church in OKC at either 7 or 9 p.m., or a local church service here in Norman of your choosing.  There are many from which to choose.  On Sunday, Christmas morning (9:45 a.m.), we will have an informal gathering, centered around a theme of “Carols, Candles
and Hope!,” for those who are able to join us.

Sarah and I would personally like to thank you all for being such great people and for embodying the spirit of joy, peace, and having hearts big enough to carry a huge concern for others.  You should know that during the past year, in addition to many hours of volunteer service, our small congregation has contributed well over $1,500 to special need offerings.
We have participated in the wider faith community events and have assumed leadership roles.  We also have worked faithfully and effectively to be a voice for progressive theology in Norman.  Above all, we are becoming a community of people who are learning more about what it means to care for each other and the world around us.  We fully realize that this Christmas will be a time when we have much to be concerned about.  It isn’t easy living and caring when there is so much wrong and so much to care about in our world.  I reminded us last Sunday that Christmas is not always a perfect time for everyone.  For many, (for most?) it is also a time of stress and sadness.  For this reason I’m including here an e-mail letter, in the hope that you will keep its message before you and in your awareness as you enjoy this Christmas season.
And if the Christmas carols, the family fellowship, the good food, and sharing of love with others doesn’t prove to be enough, you will remind yourself to find ways to “wiggle around, pick at it, and hang on until daylight.”  Then together, we’ll begin again in the new year!

May it be a blessed and joyous Christmas for all of us!

Warren Jensen, Interim Pastor

The United Church of Norman – UCC

Dear Friends of the United Church of Norman – UCC,

Christmas happens to fall on Sunday this year.  It is a day of family gatherings and celebrations, special dinners and travel for many people.  In our church service this past Sunday, we discussed the issue of what to do about our church service on Christmas day.  As a young congregation, we have not yet established traditions, so we have the freedom to decide what is best for us.  The decision resulting from that discussion is that we will have a Christmas Sunday service at 9:45 a.m.  We will not have a Christmas Eve services; however, our members and friends are encouraged (if they choose) to attend services at Mayflower Congregational-UCC Church in OKC, or at a church here in Norman.  Many area churches are offering Christmas Eve services.

Our 9:45 a.m. service on December 25th will be brief.  It will be built around a theme of “Candles, Carols, and Hope,” and be very informal.  We welcome any of you who can to join us as we celebrate the joy and meaning of the season in our small, informal way.

This Sunday, December 18, our schedule will be the usual one.  Adult education class meets at 9:35 a.m. and worship at 11:10 a.m.  Because it is a season of gift giving, we will receive special offerings for two very important causes:

1.  ”Veterans of the Cross” offering, a special offering authorized and supported by our United Church of Christ denomination to subsidize pensions for pastors who served churches who could pay only minimal salaries; and

2.  Our East Main Place Christmas offering for our local mission work.

We would also invite you to consider a year-end donation to our own church.  If you are unable to attend the next two Sundays and would like to make a gift to any of these designated offerings, you also have the option of mailing
your check to:

United Church of Norman-UCC
(ATTN: Nancy Logan, Treasurer), 1017 Elm Avenue, Norman, OK 73072.

I hope many of you will be able to be with us this Sunday.  We look forward to enjoying and sharing in the joys of this season.

Hopefully and Joyfully,

Warren Jensen, Interim Pastor

The United Church of Norman – UCC

Dear Friends of the United Church of Norman – UCC,

This morning I opened my “Daily Devotional” resource from the UCC and found an amazing scripture.  William Green, VP for Strategy and Development of the UCC, was reflecting on a verse from 2 Kings 2: 9 – 10.  In case you can’t recall this from your memory of scriptures it reads like this:  “Elijah said to Elisha, ‘What can I do for you before I’m taken from you.’  Elisha said, ‘Your life repeated in my life.  I want to be a holy man just like you.’  Elijah said, ‘If you’re watching when I’m taken from you, you’ll get what you’ve asked for.  But only if you’re watching.’ ”

For me the verse conjured up some of the many times I’ve been with families as they sat with a loved one in the final moments of life.  Often they would be mourning the pending loss of their loved one and vowing to themselves to find a way to hang on to the irreplaceable qualities of that person’s life that they valued so much.  Maybe you’ve had those experiences.  If so, you know that promises made to yourself and to God in a moment such as that remain with you forever, never leaving your memory.  You really want to incorporate the very best of your loved ones life in your own.  I suppose we could say that through this emotionally determined effort we recapture and continue our relationship, albeit in a different way, with our special friends and loved ones.  At any rate, such great emotion captures our hearts and minds during such a moment that we find it hard to ever explain and understand.  All we know for sure is that we want our lives to be filled with some of the very best of what we’ve known and loved in the life of our loved one.

Somehow Advent/Christmas always prompts some of these memories to re-surface.  I don’t know if this is because of the “waiting and watching theology” of Advent and all its particular images and challenges, or just because of events happening around us in the world.  I have to believe it’s because of both.  Certainly we know that our world is experiencing major changes right now in so many ways and the resulting stresses and strains we all feel are understandable.  I said last Sunday in my sermon that “we don’t always know if its good or if it’s bad,” this change going on;  all we know for sure is that changes are happening.  History will determine whether or not they were good or bad.  Today I happen to be an optimist, so today I believe the changes will be beneficial:  they will help us mature as individuals and our world to move towards a greater level of peace.  Some reasons for my optimism are strengthened when I hear people about the need for greater honesty and fairness from elected officials.  I’m encouraged when people challenge their churches to be less dogmatic and more encouraging of freedom of thought.  I’m really encouraged as I see and hear of people who are regaining a belief in their own power and ability to induce and manage change.  I think it’s hopeful that a new kind of transparency is being demanded and expected from all people in positions of power and influence.  Collectively speaking, I see it all elevating us to greater levels of service and caring for one another throughout the world.

Think back to the really great and important people in your life.  Can you connect to the feelings you had when you wanted some of the “greatness” of their life to somehow get repeated in yours?  Maybe you were like me and would cling to the hope that somehow you would carry on in your life with the best of “them in you” and do even greater things.  Maybe you can remember even thinking to yourself:  I’d like to be like them!”  Elijah said, “if you’re watching when I’m taken from you, you’ll get what you’ve asked for.  But only if you’re watching.”  That’s our message for today.  This Advent / Christmas season is a “memory maker” for all of us.  I know as do you, that some life changing moments will come to us in the coming days and weeks.  They will happen as we gather with our families, with friends, as we shop and mail packages to loved ones, make special foods and especially as we sit thoughtfully remembering moments of the past.  They will come to us through the gift of time, allowing us to then evaluate and hold tight to those people/events/memories that are positive in our lives and find ways to just leave behind those that are not helpful.

There is a beautiful poem I’ve long appreciated.  You may remember it too.
Yesterday is History,
Tomorrow is a Mystery,

Today is a Gift,

That’s why they call it the Present.

Look around you this Advent/Christmas season.  Watch!  Let yourself feel, see and hear the sounds of this season.  Appreciate the beauty you find and let yourself take in the positives that help you navigate towards the ideas and solutions that pull you to another level of being. Then look around yourself and begin encouraging it to happen in your home,
neighborhood and city.  We all know already what we “could” do that would certainly be “better” than what we are doing
presently to make this happen.  I think that in the midst of all this chaos and stress so evident in the world right now, the potential for some really good change is in the works  We should watch carefully and wait expectantly.

I’m really proud of our church for what we’ve done this year.  I’m amazed and proud that we collected some $300 for East Main Street only last Sunday, with more contributions still coming in.  I’m especially proud of the way we treat each other and work carefully to foster a climate where people can feel free to grow and ask their honest questions, share joys and
concerns, and feel safe and respected.  I’m really glad that we are together as a community.

It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old,

From Angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold;

Peace on the Earth, good will to men, great news of joy we bring.

The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the Angels sing.

In an Advent Spirit,

Warren Jensen, Interim Pastor

The United Church of Norman, – UCC

Dear Friends of the United Church of Norman – UCC,

Christmas is coming and Advent is here!  Advent is the time we consider how to get ourselves ready and prepare for the “coming again” of the Spirit of Jesus into our lives and into the consciousness of the world.  Hopefully our preparations will be carried out with a spirit that encourages all people to engage in and cultivate attitudes that promote the pursuit of
peace and justice for everyone.  That, I believe, would be in the true spirit of the Christmas season.

You may not realize this, but I am actually an optimist.  I can get very discouraged, and pessimistic, sometimes even cynical, and on occasion I even experience hopelessness as I deal with the situations of our world.  But I come back to “optimism!”  And this morning, as I write this I am really feeling that Christmas is coming.  I am energized and I am hopeful!  Most of what I am so hopeful about has to do with what has historically been called “Liberation Psychology.”  It actually has been
in our vocabulary (and in our training manuals for human psychology) for a long time.  But at inopportune moments throughout history we seem to fall into the very dangerous habit of ignoring it, forgetting it, or putting it on the back shelves of our minds until something in our lives gets so bad that we become desperate again and then decide to retrieve it, dust it off and implement it.  It has happened again.  Our world, our political leaders, churches, and all of us in general have allowed too many issues in our political and religious systems to get out of control.  It would appear that we lost our moral and political compasses which, not surprisingly, caused some bad things to happen and permitted some people to take
advantage of their positions of power and influence at the expense of the many.  As we finally realized what had happened, it dawned upon us that we didn’t like that.  Some of us even got depressed and felt hopeless.  A few even believed they were victims, and no one likes that.  And now, it seems to me, it has begun to change.  In our adult  education class last Sunday, one of our members mentioned the “ripple effect” of a stone being thrown into the water and causing motion as it
went. I believe we can all relate to that image.  I also believe that we can quite easily link this image to the effect that what we call the “Occupy” phenomenon is currently having in our country.  As I look at it today I am remembering when it was just a few people beginning to speak up, step out, and demand changes.  Gradually others  listened and have slowly joined in and we see the phenomenon continuing, evidenced in a small group of folks gathered in Andrews Park right across from the doors of the Norman Police Department.  So far everyone is co-existing and momentum for change is continuing to stir the waters.

What astounds me and inspires me is that I am seeing this being repeated across the nation!  A group in Washington D.C. is thinking of ways to “occupy” the capital.  Reacting to this, a few Senators and Representatives have already decided they need to consider new ways to legislate Wall Street reforms.  Occupy groups in different cities are focusing on home foreclosures, calling attention to the unfair banking/mortgage practices.  In back of all this I am seeing the presence of “Liberation Psychology 101″ at work.  Instead of being depressed and hopeless, people are beginning to realize they have
personal and collective power again.  They are beginning to believe in their own ideas and in their abilities to produce change.  I believe that we as Christians can trace this phenomenon all the way back to the first Christmas and the changes Jesus introduced into the world.  Those changes have endured and to this day are found embedded with us.  We have always believed that the Spirit of Christ is “within us,” and once again we seem to be discovering our worth and importance and our power to make the world safer, more just, and certainly more equal for all people.  I see Christmas coming in this unbelievable force of concern, dedication and courage as a reflection of the “Occupy” participants’ motivation.  Sarah and I will continue to find private ways to lend our support because we believe this has a connection to the  spirit and meaning of Jesus’ life and ministry, including the season of Christmas.  No one could deny the impact on the human psyche and the
implications for how we are to live our lives sparked by the spirit and teachings of Jesus: how we treat poor, marginalized and isolated people and how we can live in such a way as to cultivate qualities of honesty, fairness, and the willingness to share with others while not thinking so highly of what some have called “our rights to have everything.”

I am waiting and watching this year.  And I am preparing and looking for new ways to join with this “phenomenon of hope” that is calling out and demanding the acknowledgment of equal rights for all people and working at the same time so deliberately for justice and equality.  I am eager and really desire to see more of us becoming  more involved in the kind of thinking and planning that goes beyond just our own lives and generation; the kind of thinking that connects us to and
focuses us on the world our children and grandchildren will be occupying when we’ve gone on.  Can we learn some new things this year about the meaning of Christmas?  Can we really become part of the “movement?”  Can we see ourselves as participants in the manger scene, watching and actually involved in the drama of Christmas?  I think it’s a perfect time to think about these questions.

Join with us on the journey to Christmas this year!  I am so hopeful that as a nation and certainly as individuals, we will commit ourselves this Advent season to thinking differently about where we’re going and why we are trying to be prepared.  Believe me, thinking about these questions will be easier if you’re part of a group which is part of the reason I’m inviting you to join with us.  We worship together at 11:10 a.m. and we talk with one another about faith issues and life concerns at 9:35
a.m. every Sunday.  We would love to have you join us.

Christmas is coming!

Warren Jensen, Interim Pastor

The United Church of Norman, UCC

P.S. Don’t forget Robin Meyer’s lecture at our church (1017 Elm Avenue) this Thursday, Dec. 8th at 7 p.m.   He will be discussing his newest book due out in February entitled:  “The Underground Church: Reclaiming the Subversive Way of Jesus.”  I hope you’ll make this part of your Christmas preparations!

Thursday,
December 8, 2011 – 7:00 p.m.

1017 Elm Avenue
– Norman, Oklahoma

Dr. Meyers, Senior Minister, Mayflower Congregational UCC Church, Oklahoma City, will read from and discuss his new book, “The Underground Church:  Reclaiming the Subversive Way of Jesus.”

Speaker Series:

“Influential
Theologians of Today”

Hosted
by

United Church of Norman – UCC

www.normanucc.org  

Future
Speaker:

Bishop
John Shelby Spong

Friday,
April 20, 2012

Saturday,
April 21, 2012