On Sunday, a group of eight Honors students joined Memorial Road Church of Christ’s small church ministry group for a service event at North Leach Church of Christ.
The students gathered at Memorial Road Church of Christ at 8 a.m. Oct. 12 to carpool to Watonga, Okla. After more than an hour on the road, they joined a small church for fellowship and a worship service.
Honors Advisory Council Chaplain Sydney Byers described the event further:
“We had a Bible class taught by Lynn McMillon,” Byers said. “We did some praise, communion, offering, and fellowship. Then we had a little break and got to meet some of the people who were from Watonga. They made a potluck lunch for us, so we got to share a meal with them as well.”
When Byers started planning the outreach, she sought input from the Honors community and decided that partnering with Memorial Road Church of Christ would meet needs without having to start something new.
“When I was trying to come up with an outreach project, a lot of people wanted something that was more meaningful and community-based,” Byers said. “I knew that they already had a really established group, so instead of creating something completely new, we just partnered with a program that Memorial Road Church of Christ is already doing: their small church ministry.”
The small church ministry finds congregations with about 10 or 12 members and partners with them to send a team for a joint service.
“We just took honor students with the group that was already going,” Byers added.
Byers said she comes from a well established church, so it is easy for her to take attendance numbers for granted.
“In these congregations that have eight people, if one person misses, that’s an eighth of your congregation. 10% of your group is already gone,” Byers said. “Groups like this that double or triple their attendance for a week are encouraging to them.”
Byers said she appreciated North Leach Church of Christ’s hospitality:
“A lot of people have lost the gift of hospitality,” Byers said. “They have given a lot to us and have made it a really good point to share a meal with us. There’s a lot in the Bible, especially about sharing meals, and I think that’s so helpful.”
Freshmen made up half of the students in the group.
“I was glad to see that,” Byers said. “I would hope that even if this isn’t particularly the ministry they want to be involved in, I hope they find something that they are really really passionate about. I hope that they find somewhere that they feel they are being used by the Lord and they can be impacting other people.”
Story Caperton, a freshman Honors student at the event, said her time at her small home church affected her view of the event.
“We had similar things happen where a bigger church would come and support us,” Caperton said. “It was really awesome and super helpful. I love that Memorial Road does the same thing and I could participate in that. It’s kind of like giving back where I was given.”
Caperton shared an interaction that stood out to her during the event:
“While we were there, there was this woman who made one of the desserts for us,” Caperton said. “She was telling us all about how there was a cooking competition and how she had tried a new dessert for it. It was fun because I just got to see what small town life was like.”
Coming from a different denominational background made the outreach a growing experience according to Caperton.
“I don’t come from a Church of Christ background, so this was kind of new,” Caperton said. “It wasn’t what I was used to. There’s something really good about getting out of your comfort zone that I think this kind of experience gives you. You won’t be comfortable, but you’ll grow.”
Oklahoma Christian University’s Honors and Bible department mailing lists carry information about upcoming service opportunities with Memorial Road Church of Christ’s small church ministry.
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