Editors Note: To increase opportunities for spiritual development, more than 11 different chapels are offered at Oklahoma Christian University. Assistant Features Editor Cynthia Knox organized this series to provide insight and encourage attendance of alternative chapels available to students. These stories were executed by students in a sophomore-level journalism class. We would like to thank the sponsors for their willingness to share their chapel with the Talon. If you attend this chapel, please comment and share your experience with the Oklahoma Christian community.
In an effort to provide Oklahoma Christian University students with alternatives to “Big Chapel,” Bible Kick Back (BKB) is a new devotional in the Brew on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. BKB provides an in-depth perspective of everyday life with Jesus while building relationships and drinking coffee.
Last fall, David Skidmore, an Oklahoma Christian employee, began providing students with a unique opportunity to obtain kudos.
“BKB is actually about knowing Jesus,” Skidmore said. “At BKB, we’re not looking at the concept or theory, we’re looking at the person. I think you can unfortunately be so busy doing many things that are good “church” things but kind of miss Jesus in the process. It’s laid-back environment. The name BKB just kind of fits the vibe. You come in and talk about Jesus. We’re gonna have a good time and we’re gonna kick back.”
Skidmore said BKB is all about finding Jesus in your everyday life, “because Jesus is in all things.”
“We do it up in the Brew, so it probably feels a little more different than your normal church experience,” Skidmore said. “[Jesus] wants to do stuff with us. He doesn’t want to just sit in the Bible building.”
Freshmen Colton Tarrant has attended BKB since last fall and said he was first interested in the devotional because he found encouragement and enjoyed the messages.
“I attend BKB because of the man who organizes and teaches at it, David Skidmore,” Tarrant said. “David and I became very close after meeting each other at the first BKB service, and throughout our relationship, he has brought me so much encouragement. He has taught me more about being receptive of the Holy Spirit and listening to the things He is telling me than anybody else has.”
Tarrant has become a regular at BKB and said he tries to bring people whenever he can. In doing so, Tarrant said he hopes they can get the same unique and life-changing experience out of the devotional.
“I try to attend every week,” Tarrant said. “The only times I haven’t been there were times that I just couldn’t make it for whatever reason, but I definitely try to make it a priority to go. It became one of the devotionals that I always looked forward to attending and always tried to bring people to.”
Tarrant said a message of baptism at BKB changed his life and the lives of his friends as well. Through BKB, he said he has experienced moments which truly happen once in a lifetime.
“A few weeks ago, I was sitting with some friends in the Brew during BKB, listening to David speak over baptism,” Tarrant said. “My good friend, Maddie, felt so moved by his lesson that she decided to get baptized later that night. We didn’t even wait until BKB was over. We just got ready, and I was blessed with the opportunity to baptize Maddie in the freezing cold water of Arcadia Lake.”
Sophomore Paris Holtzlander, along with a few other Oklahoma Christian students, has attended from the beginning and even had a hand in helping with the start up of BKB.
“If there is BKB on Thursday nights, you’ll find me there unless I’m sick or have an intramural game,” Holtzlander said. “It’s one of my favorite nights of the week.”
Holtzlander is a leader at BKB and said she enjoys the “sense of comfort and understanding.”
“I attend BKB because it’s more of a small group,” Holtzlander said. “David has this sense of comfort and understanding when he is talking. You don’t feel like you are in chapel or listening to a sermon, you feel like he is speaking to you one on one, because he speaks about issues and things us college students face or go through.”
Holtzlander said BKB brought her some unexpected friendships and she saw her own life changing in the process.
“BKB is honestly the highlight of my week,” Holtzlander said. “David is an amazing guy and an amazing leader. You can see God working through him in so many ways and he’s changed my life in so many ways, just from creating a relationship with him and others from BKB. I’ve met some amazing people through BKB of different backgrounds, ages and grades, and these relationships I’ve made I can see lasting a long time.”
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