December 17, 2019

405.789.8812 8100 NW 23rd Street Oklahoma City, OK 73127

We will be out

of the office

December 25, 2019

thru January 1, 2020

We hope you have

a Merry Christmas

and your

New Year

will be blessed.

The Christmas Benevolence Fund helps provide Christmas to families in need. Your donations will help to provide food for a holiday meal as well as gifts

such as clothing, shoes, and toys for children. Please mark checks in the memo with “Christmas

Benevolence” or “Christmas families” and place in offering plate or turn into the office. These funds will be used to purchase gift cards for church families in need of help making their Christmas a little better this season.

Christmas

Benevolence

Fund

Thank you to the Western Oaks Congregation for their overwhelming vote in favor of the 2020 budget. The vote was 54 Yes and 3 No, with one ballot abstaining.

The budget represents a projected roadmap for the coming year in terms of expected revenue and expenses. As in past years, the budget utilizes some income collected in past years to fund service anticipated in the next 12 months. This year’s budget, in fact, is very similar to last year’s and runs a similar deficit.

We run a very tight ship in terms of expenditures. Standing committees have very small budget allocations and most of our staff are part-time employees who going without raises for the coming year, again . Our pri-mary expenditure growth over the past 12 months were in terms of utility and maintenance costs. Garbage collection, phone services, and electrical service all showed rate increases and things break or leak and have to be repaired. We can help reduce some of these cost increases by turning off lights when we leave rooms and making sure the programmable thermostats are not changed (It happens quite frequently, the pro-grammed thermostats setbacks are altered and potential electrical savings are lost when the programming is erased). We can also reduce the frequency of use of the copy machine and the number of copies made (especially those that are color). It should also be noted that although we are actively looking for a new youth director, as long as the vacancy exists, there will be a savings in personnel costs.

But the bottom line is that as a member-supported institution, our general fund increases only with increased numbers of pledges and increased dollar amounts of those pledges. If you have not yet made a pledge of financial support for 2020 to Western Oaks Christian Church, it is not too late to do so. If you did make a commitment of giving, will you consider increasing your pledge?

We are not known as an extravagant organization. Expenditures are carefully researched and purchases judi-ciously accounted. But we must expand our giving and grow our membership if we are to maintain our repu-tation as an organization Loving God and Serving Our Neighbors. We must join together to sustain and grow the programs, people, and outreach that embodies this remarkable church on the west side of Oklahoma City.

Sincerely

Bob Melton

According to Kids

I was watching a video about the Christmas story

as seen through the eyes of kids and discovered

many points that were not covered in the gospel

stories. Such as, the smell was really bad when

Jesus was born, after all it was a barn. It is not

the version we hear Linus quoting from the Bible

but rather it is filled with the many things adults

have shared with kids, the inferences of children

and of course the misconceptions many of us

have.

Did you know Mary was doing laundry when the

angel appeared? In one video a child says, “and

Mary said ‘how can I have a baby I am not even

married’ and then Joseph freaked out.” They

went to “befferham on a donkey, no maybe it

was a camel.” The shepherds were camped out

in the fields when an angel sang to them

“Glorius”. There was also a variety of gifts given

to the baby Jesus including, gold, a toy giraffe,

silver, frankentint, Frankenstein, a stuffed animal

hippo, and some diapers.

What they all got right though is when they said

this baby would change the world and that this

baby was the best gift ever. Indeed, Jesus is

the best gift we have ever received and every

year we remember the arrival of this gift on

Christmas day.

We may not fully understand the hows and

whys, we don’t always get the pieces of the

story correct and we have the magi showing

up in the stable instead of the house two years

after the birth. But what really matters is at

the heart of the story, God loved the world so

much that Jesus would be born to teach us of

that great love. He is the Prince of Peace,

wonderful counselor, and the hope for all the

world.

As we wait excitedly for that wonderful day,

anxious to unwrap presents and see all the

smiles and happy faces, let us remember the

best gift always has been a little child who was

born so that we could live a life of love and

hope.

I hope you have a merry Christmas!

Faith Lairson 12/21

Betty Singleton 12/22

Montana Pursley 12/22

Bob Smith 12/22

Thomas Jewell 12/23

Alex Wilkinson 12/28

Rocky Fearing 12/30

Eric Gray 12/30

Lynda Gervais 12/31

Reeca Young 12/31

Abby Frank 12/2

Natalie Griffin 12/3

Erin Jewell 12/4

Dana Andrews 12/11

Jessica Wall 12/11

Linda Cobb 12/12

Wendy Wilkerson 12/14

Josh Wilkerson 12/16

Michelle McConnell 12/17

Mikayla Sharp 12/18

Charli Meador 12/19

Thank you to the group who came to our house the evening of December 8 to sing familiar carols and share delicious cookies, too.

It was good to see old friends, and some new fac-es, also. What a wonderful way to start the Christ-mas season.

Thanks again,

George & Dean Lunsford

December & Church Events

Dec. 22 Lessons and Carols 11:00 am Choir presentation

Dec. 24 Christmas Eve 6:00 pm Family Candlelight Worship

Christmas Eve 11:30 pm Midnight Candlelight Worship

Dec. 25 Season of Christmas begins

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Dec. 29 First Sunday of Christmas Rev. Dr. Thomas R. Jewell, preaching Worship 9:00 am Sunday School 10:00 am Worship 11:00 am

Connect congregations to each other

• Foster faith development

• Gather Disciples in camps, conferences, and assemblies

• Nurture a new generation of pastors

• Assist churches in calling new ministers

• Participate in the global mission of the church

• Empower new communities of faith

• Represent the church in ecumenical gatherings

• Respond to disasters in Oklahoma

• Walk with those in conflict

• Lead the church to address racism

• Inspire leaders to experiment and create

• Witness to the power of God to make ALL things new

Please offer a gift to the Christmas Offering to support Oklahoma Regional Ministries in our work to:

100% supports Oklahoma Regional Ministries

December 15 & 22

Do you want to talk with Rev. U’Ren at the office?

Go to our WOCC calendar page:

www.woccdoc.org or directly at

https://calendly.com/revuren

December 2019 17 Personnel Meeting 6:00pm Admin Meeting 7:30pm 24 Christmas Eve Worship 6:00pm 28 Christmas Eve Worship 11:30pm 29 Benevolent Offering

January 2020 4 CMF Breakfast 7:30am

7 Elders Prayer Breakfast 7:30am

8 Bridge for Fun 1:00pm Caring and Sharing 4:30pm

9 Disciple Women 6:30pm

12 Elders Meeting 12:15pm

Chili Cook Off 6:00pm

14 CWF Meeting & Lunch 10:00am

19 Caring & Sharing Meeting 4:00pm

21 Elders Prayer Breakfast 7:30am

Personnel 6:00pm

Admin 7:30pm

22 Bridge for Fun 1:00pm

Caring & Sharing Meal 5:00pm

24 Family Game Night 6:00pm

“Loving God, Serving our Neighbor”

8100 NW 23rd Street

Oklahoma City OK 73127

Church Staff

Senior Minister: Rev. Daniel U’Ren Associate Minister: Rev. Julia Jordan Gillett

Admin Assistant: Cindy Cannon office@woccdoc.org

Music Director: Dr. Ronald Manning

Pianist: Rosa McCroskey

Praise Band Leader: Ben Frantz

Praise Band: Cheyenne Pursley, Natalie Griffin, and Zach Jones

Sound Technicians: David Gillett & James Frank

Custodian: Lawrence Johnson

Nursery Attendants: Shaylee White and Janet Harper

ATTENDANCE

12/15 9 AM 36 11 AM 98

12/2 9 AM 32 11 AM 97

«Name»

«Address»

«City»

GIVING

12/15 General $2,949.00 Blessing

Fund $25.00

12/8 General $5,690.00 Blessing

Fund $00.00