Local Missions
There are many opportunities to get involved in local missions at St. James United Methodist Church. Please check the Mission Update section of this Web site for current projects or contact the person listed below.
Cookson Hills
Ministering to the Native American people in rural Oklahoma since 1948. The Cookson Hills Center is a project of the United Methodist Church. It is the only rural mission program in the Oklahoma Conference, the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, the united Methodist women and the General board of Global Missions.
Ongoing programs include a thrift store, food pantry, craft co-op, home repair, counseling, weekly lunches for seniors, emergency assistance for housing and employment, a Christmas store, and children, youth, and adult education programs.
Contact Melodee Papke at mel.papke@yahoo.com, Deb Walsh at ddwalsh@cox.net, or the church office for more information.
Crisis Pregnancy Outreach (CPO)
CPO is a full-service agency meeting the needs of young women facing unplanned pregnancies and couples hoping to adopt. Services include:
A home with a Christian family during pregnancy
Counseling provided by trained professionals
Childbirth classes
Labor and childbirth coaches
Weekly support group meetings
A mentor who will help guide you through this life-changing experience
Parenting classes
For more information, contact Teri Burnett at teri.burnett@cox.net.
Exodus House
Exodus House is a six-month temporary residential project established for the purpose of equipping released ex-offenders and their families to become productive, self supporting family units. It is a ministry of the Oklahoma Conference UMC.
Saint James sponsors an apartment in which we refurbish, repair and furnish for a ex offender. If the resident completes the six month program they take the furnishings to their new home. Our goal is to support our resident in a structured Christian community.
Our current resident is making great strides in completing the program. She and her children attend Saint James regularly.
There is a great need for volunteers in this worthy ministry to help guide the family through the process of becoming independent.
Contact Angie Miller. Phone 296-3518, E-mail aamtok@yahoo.com.
Kairos TORCH in Oklahoma
Crime among youthful offenders is the most rapidly growing segment of corrections. The number of institutions for youthful offenders has doubled since 1995. This presents a unique opportunity for the Church to be physically present in ministry to this segment of the incarcerated community. Kairos has developed Kairos Torch to facilitate ministry to youthful offenders.
Torch, a local ministry supported by St. James Missions, is an introductory, two-day program from youth ages 24 and under who live in juvenile detention or correction facilities.
The weekend is a combined effort of an ecumenical, Torch Team to introduce young men and women to Christian concepts as a means of making better choices for their lives.
The initial weekend is followed with an established mentoring program that involves one on one mentoring sessions.
You can get involved by volunteering, being a team member, mentoring, sponsoring a youth, making a cash, tax-exempt contribution, making cookies for Kairos Weekend (see Web site for details), and/or becoming a prayer warrior. For more information, contact Debbie Vanderveen at debvanderveen@yahoo.com or phone: 918-638-4119.
H.A.M.
Once a month, volunteers from St. James help load food, deliver the food to Harvard Avenue UMC, bag the food, and then distribute it to persons in need throughout the neighborhood.
More photos: H.A.M.
If you would like to get involved in this ministry, contact B.J. Love through the church office at sjctulsa@sbcglobal.net
Restore Hope
Restore Hope restores families in crisis to economic and spiritual vitality. Contact: Howard and Ona Lee Cootes.
Salvation Army
St. James has been cooking breakfast for the homeless since 1991 and several of our Sunday morning crew have been with us the entire time. You, too, can help! No special skills are required. If you can crack eggs or wipe down tables or be a friendly face to hand out cups of orange juice, you can do it!
More Photos: Salvation Army ministry of St. James.
We are diligent to try to meet the needs of our less fortunate brothers and sisters in other ways as well. We regularly take prayer requests committing to pray for them in the coming week. We have been able to bring back specific needs right away (i.e.: a pair of shoes, a much-needed coat, or a bicycle for transportation). We have brought people to church and then taken them back to the Salvation Army. We have also given them rides to work - there is no city transportation on Sundays. The women of St. James also provide blankets during the summer.
Where do I go? Meet us downtown at the Salvation Army located at Archer & Denver.
When should I get there? Be there at 6:15 am. We prepare food from 6:15 - 7:00 and serve from 7:00 to 8:00, then cleanup the trays, pans, and tables. You should still have plenty of time to get back for Church or Sunday School.
What do I need to bring? Just your smiling face! St. James provides all the food, cups, napkins, etc.
For more information, contact Gary and Janet Soderstrom at 299-2145.
