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June 2007

The Pastor’s Column

by Dianne Kovacs Peters

Full Circle

The phone rang. “We have a great ministry opportunity for you,” exclaimed Frankye Johnson, my District Superintendent. “I’m going to let Dan (Pulver) tell you all about it.”

“Dianne, we’d like you to go to Crown Heights in Oklahoma City,” said Dan. “The cabinet thinks you are the right person to help them with visioning for their future and plans to renovate their building. Do you know much about the church?”

“I sure do,” I replied. “That’s where I went to church as a little girl! My grandfather (Hal Whitten) was a founding member.”

My earliest memories of church are all about Crown Heights. I liked sitting with my parents and grand-parents on the soft, burgundy velvet pew cushions, looking at the beautiful stained glass windows. I loved singing in the children’s choir, wearing our light blue robes — we felt so grown up! I have very fond memories of Vacation Bible School, including building a Palestinian-style house with a flat roof, using sugar cubes. I loved learning new hymns in Sunday School when Miss Jane would come to our classroom to play the piano. This is the place where I learned that God loved me and created our whole wonderful world. This is the church which gave me my first red leather Bible, which I still have. Here are my roots in United Methodism, well-tended by my parents, my grand-parents, and this community of faith. 

What an amazing privilege it is to be returning to the church where I was rocked in the nursery! I bring with me 23 years of experience as a United Methodist pastor, a kind and loving husband, Jeff Peters, and my twenty-year-old daughter, Amanda Kovacs. Jeff is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman. He forecasts severe weather for the entire country from the new weather building on the south side of OU’s campus. He also works constantly rotating shifts — days, evenings, and midnight rotations — in a five week cycle, including weekends and holidays. This means he’ll be working some Sundays, but otherwise, you’ll see him right down front. Amanda has just completed her sophomore year at the University of Massachusetts in North Dartmouth. She comes home for an occasional visit, but her school life and her job are in New England. She loves art history and is considering a Masters’ degree in Social Work.

Keeping Jeff’s commute home from work as short as possible is a safety issue for us, because he is often deeply fatigued, especially after midnight shifts. We live on the far north side of Norman, which means his drive time is 15-20 minutes. With the gift of I-35 nearby, my commute to Crown Heights is only 20-25 minutes, so we feel very fortunate. This does mean that we won’t be able to live in your lovely parsonage, though I am glad that the church is allowing Rod’s family to continue living there while they search for their new home.

I have always been available to my congregations basically 24/7, and that will continue to be the case. You can reach me at the church office, at home, (360-6241), or on my cell phone (823-2546). If there is a crisis in your life or a loved one has had to go to the hospital, I want to know and will be happy to come and be with you. Having grown up in Oklahoma City,   I pretty well know my way around, and traffic here is nothing compared to the year I lived in Dallas! I look forward to getting acquainted with each of you and hearing about your dreams for Crown Heights!

Blessings, Dianne Kovacs Peters

This Month in Worship

 Sermon Titles & Texts

     June 10     Homecoming

                      Luke 15:11-24

                      Prodigal son returns home

                      Second Sunday of Pentecost  

     June 17     She Has Shown Great Love

                      Galatians 3:23-29

                      …neither male nor female…all are one

                      Third Sunday of Pentecost

     June 24     When You’re Weary

                      Matthew 11:28-30

                      Jesus offers rest

                      Fourth Sunday of Pentecost

Bob Anthony Selected to Serve on

General Conference Delegation

Every four years, delegates from every Conference of the United Methodist Church gather to consider items of governance and practice for the denomination. This Conference is composed of equal number of clergy and laypersons elected by their peers. At our Annual Conference meeting this past week, Bob Anthony from our church was one of those elected to serve in the Oklahoma Conference delegation at the General Conference in 2008 in Fort Worth. Congratulations Bob on this honor!

Special Gifts

In memory of Jean Mager

Peggy Sanders

Chancel Choir Dates

by George Massey

Many Thanks to Rod Newman

What a pleasure it has been to work with Rev. Newman for the past six years! His support of the overall Music Ministry and all musicians involved was very much appreciated! On behalf of the music ministry, we wish him and his family the best in all of their future appointments and feel fortunate to have been included in his wonderful leadership at Crown Heights.

Chancel Choir Schedule  

The choir will take off July and August and return in the fall beginning with rehearsal on Wednesday, September 5.

 Work Day at the Church

June 30

The Trustees have scheduled a work day on June 30 to enhance the beauty

of our property. We will begin working at 9:00 a.m. Everyone is welcome to

stay as little or as long as you like. Wear your work clothes and please join us.

Children’s Ministry

by Ryan Steer

Children’s Choir

We will continue to meet over the summer at 9:45 to begin preparations for Vacation Bible School coming up in June and Music Camp coming up in July. We may also explore other activities and crafts during this time!

Vacation Bible School

June 18-22

We will be hosting Vacation Bible School June 18-22!  Although it may seem like short

notice, we expect it to be a very successful and exciting event that helps children grow

closer to God and their church community.

Registration forms will be heading out to parents via email or may be picked up in the church office with Stacy. If you have any questions or would like to help, please contact Myka Plunkett at 580-276-8238 or Julie Williams at 760-3226.

Children’s Council

June 27

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, June 27, at 6:30 p.m. in the Parlor. We will be discussing Music Camp among other topics.

Music Camp

July 16-20

Our Music Camp presentation this year is “Peter Cotton’s Tale,” a musical modern day example of the story of Peter and celebration of the summer season!  Music camp will give children the opportunity to learn a musical in the span of one week, as well as the experience of some exciting field trips! Music Camp is for children who have completed kindergarten through fifth grade. Registration forms may be picked up with Myka in the nursery or with Stacy in the church office. The cost is $90 per child and registration closes Wednesday, July 4. We need parent volunteers and chaperones to assist with activities and supervision on fieldtrips. If you’re interested, please call Music Director, Ryan Steer at 412-5566 or Choreographer, Myka Plunkett at 580-276-8238.

Hello, Goodbye

We are so incredibly sad to see the Newman family leave us but wish Rod and his family all the best at their new location! They have been tremendously helpful in bringing this community closer and in creating a strong church foundation. We will miss you!   However, we are pleased to welcome Dianne Peters into our family and hope she finds our community as warm and open as we do! Welcome Dianne!

Annual Peanut Butter Drive

For several years Crown Heights has helped to supply peanut butter

for the food closet at Skyline Urban Ministries.

So “get on board” and let’s all get involved by bringing jars of peanut butter to the church during the month of June. For more information, contact Aaron Gean at 524-2849.

 With Grateful Hearts

My family and I want to express our deep appreciation for your support over the last six years. When we came here in 2001, I knew of the wonderful people and heritage of this congregation, having served as Associate Pastor here some ten years earlier. Now all four of us have been blessed by our relationships formed here and are forever strengthened because of this experience. 

The kind remarks and best wishes received through the mail, in notes, and in person mean a great deal to me. We are still rejoicing from the wonderful lunch last Sunday in celebration of our common ministry. Thanks to Sally Hayes for sharing her gifts of cooking and hospitality and to Beverly Endicott as our Administrative Council Chair for coordinating this event. We thank everyone for your generous gifts presented at that time.     

As we move to Oklahoma City University, we go borne on the wings of your love and prayers, with appreciation in our hearts for all you mean to us.

Rodney Newman

 Missions

Whiz Kids 2007 Great Success!

WHIZ KIDS this year was filled with successes, fun, and a great amount of love. Twenty-six Putnam Heights’ students and their tutors built extraordinary relationships with each other. Hugs and smiles were commonplace and tutors volunteered extra time with their children, taking them to the zoo, the art museum, the Omniplex, birthday meals, and theatre performances. 

Reading scores for the WHIZ KIDS were higher than ever this year, with each Whiz Kid making great strides in reading. The children learned how their actions can make the world a better place as they met with Demetrius Johnson in three gang prevention programs. Each week tutors learned new ways to help their children from an experienced reading specialist from Putnam Heights who knew each child well.

We had three wonderful celebrations together. One was at

Christmas when all the children’s families and our church family

enjoyed a festive evening meal together. At the end of the

tutoring year, we watched a movie together with all the theatre

treats of Hideaway pizza, popcorn, drinks, and candy bars.

The last celebration was with about 300 other WHIZ KIDS and

their tutors from across the city at Crystal Lake, where we ate,

explored, fished, and took boat rides. And one of our WHIZ

KIDS, Megan Dixon, was a very proud artist when she learned

that the t-shirts worn by everyone at the lake party had her

original design on them.  

Crown Heights members participating in WHIZ KIDS this year were tutors Marcia Brown, Mike Brown, Taffy Fellingham, Aaron Gean, Glen Gean, Christina Graves, Hilary Jones, Greg Jorgensen, Bruce Pitts, Paige Selby, Carol Weaver, and Libby Wheat. Julie Armstrong provided snacks and Janet Kingsolver was a coordinator for the program.

We hope to welcome 50 WHIZ KIDS this September and you are invited to be a part of their lives. Being a tutor/mentor takes 2 hours a week on Thursday afternoon, a willingness to open yourself to give to and receive from an elementary aged child, and faith that God will provide you with everything you need to show His love to a very special child.

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