|
In October of 1953, First Baptist
Church, Kingfisher established a
mission called Broadway Baptist
Chapel to better serve the populace
on the east side of the city. On
September 12, 1954, Broadway Baptist
Chapel became Broadway Baptist
Church, renamed Oak Street Baptist
Church in March of 1966, and our
church had its beginnings. Rev. Earl
Rogers was the first pastor and
there were 26 charter members, which
grew to 32 by the end of the first
day.
Burl Bawell was called to
pastor upon the departure of Earl
Rogers in 1959. Burl Bagwell
resigned in April of 1963 amid a
division in church members between
Full Gospel verses Southern Baptist
ideologies. Burl and his family left
with the church’s blessings shortly
after resigning. In July of 1963,
A.L. Burchel was called to pastor
and stayed a little over a year
before leaving to teach in an Indian
school in
New Mexico.
During this time, several women in
the church, most notably – Mrs.
Grant Lessley, were recognized by
the Central Association for their
outstanding missionary work
throughout the WMU.
A pulpit committee was
elected and A.B. Jones was called to
pastor in July of 1964. A building
committee was elected and a building
fund established in order to pursue
relocation of the church. Plans were
drawn up and approved to relocate to
the corner of Will Rogers Drive and
Oak Street. Oak Street Baptist
Church corporation was formed by the
church and a contract was given to
C.A. Covington Construction to start
construction of our church. Oak
Street Baptist Church was dedicated
in an impressive ceremony on March
13, 1966.
For reasons not in
evidence other than a division in
the membership, the pulpit was
declared vacant in May of 1967. A.B.
Jones and family were called to
First Baptist Church Gracemont and a
new pulpit committee was elected.
Marvin Ward was called to pastor in
September of 1967 and was ordained
in a fine ceremony at our church in
October of that year. Marvin Ward
accepted a call to First Baptist
Church Garber in November of 1968
and yet another pulpit committee was
elected.
L.B. Flanigan was called
to pastor in February of 1969, and
during his tenure, several
noteworthy events and
accomplishments occurred. In
September of 1969 we celebrated our
15th anniversary with a
basket lunch and a special music
program and an access hall was
constructed by the men of the
church. In June of 1970, Rev.
Flanigan married Marie Faircloth and
a constitution committee was elected
and the product of their efforts was
duly adopted by the membership in
October of 1970.
Rev. Flanigan completed
his degree requirements at UCO
during the summer of 1972 and was
accepted to Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.
Upon Rev. Flanigan’s departure. Don
Hines served as supply pastor until
November of 1972 when Bill Hobbs was
called to pastor. In January of
1973, the church membership began to
negotiate the purchase of a house at
314 W. Locust as a parsonage. After
the purchase was complete, the men
of the church remodeled the
residence, including a new roof, to
make it more comfortable.
Bill Hobbs resigned in August of
1973 and Don Hines served again as
interim pastor. In January of 1974,
Oak Street Baptist
Church ordered 100 bibles to be
placed in people’s homes. Don Hines
served as the interim pastor until
may of 1974 when the motion was made
to have Dan Sisler come for a few
weeks and try out for the position.
The church called Dan Sisler to come
as pastor in September of 1974. The
Sislers initiated a youth program
which quickly grew to have 35
members. The church enjoyed lots of
parties and fellowships such as
Valentine’s banquets, swimming
parties, Halloween parties,
cantatas, pie suppers, and the like.
In the late 1970s the first public
address system was purchased and
used in the sanctuary.
Bill Arndt and Larry
Babcock began working with the youth
in 1976. In 1979 the church had its
25th anniversary. They
celebrated by having an all-day
worship service which included food,
fellowship, and several guest
speakers such as former pastors.
They also produced a church
directory with pictures and contact
information of the church’s members.
In that year the church membership
rolls totaled 67 people. On December
21st 1980, Oak Street
ordained Larry Babcock as a deacon.
On
June 1, 1984 the church celebrated the Sislers’ 10 year
anniversary at Oak Street Baptist
church. Over the course of several
years a lot of physical improvements
were made to the church building.
These improvements included: wood
paneling in the fellowship hall,
painting the inside and outside of
the building, new blinds for
windows, baptistery curtains,
ceiling fans, carpeting, addition of
the front porch, sidewalks, trees
and shrubs planted, and buying new
office supplies.
During this era, the
church offered survival classes for
new members. They taught new members
about the church’s beliefs and
constitution and bi-laws. The church
also instituted both children and
adult vacation bible school. Oak
Street won and association award for
having the fastest growing Sunday
School in Central Association. The
debt on the church building was
retired. The first youth minister
was hired on a part-time basis.
There were also birthday parties at
the nursing homes as well as
caroling at Christmas time.
Andy Overman came as
interim pastor after Dan Sisler
left. In September 1989 the church
celebrated its 35th
anniversary. Duane Cook and L.B.
Flanagan, an earlier pastor at Oak
Street, brought the messages. Many
members present and past were
present. The Church was seeking a
pastor and in January of 1990 called
Gary Gresham. In May, he was
ordained by Oak Street Baptist
Church along with his former pastor
– Dr. John Morton of
Springdale
Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.
Betty Gresham, the pastors wife,
organize a backyard bible club that
we were very involved in. A youth
rally, led by the
Springdale
youth was held and revivals were
also held in the fall and the
spring.
In 1991, John Dean was
ordained as a deacon and the message
was brought by his grandfather,
Eugene Dean. In February, Gary
Grisham resigned and Butch Ward was
called as interim pastor until
August when Kim Brooks was called as
full-time pastor. We were very
active in several areas. Operation
Love was started to provide food and
clothing for the needy with the
opportunity to witness and
distribute Christian literature. In
1992, young people from Kim’s former
church in Edmond came to canvas the
town for after school children. This
did not develop into an after school
project. There were two seminars
held by men from Kim’s former
church.
Kim Brooks resigned in
August of 1992 and after serving as
the interim pastor, Robert Coburn
was called to be Oak Street’s new
bi-vocational pastor. A puppet
ministry was started by Joyce Brown
and Doris Broyles. Robert Coburn
resigned in July of 1994 and had
heart surgery. On September 11th,
the church celebrated our 40th
anniversary. Many past pastors and
members came. In November, Kirk
Sutton, from Crescent accepted the
call to be bi-vocational pastor.
Kirk served from 1994 through 2003.
Several youth directors came between
1994 and the present including Jeff
and Shayla Hurlbutt, Steve and Amy
Clark, Gary and LaShawn Kochenower,
Lynn and Annie Warner, Danny and
Angela Reich, and currently Shane
Bennett. Two of these men and their
families went on to pastor other
churches and we feel blessed by
being a part of that journey.
Each year, we had a
Vacation Bible
School and a revival. An average of
7 youth went to Falls Creek each
year and Christmas Cantata’s were
performed also. The youth have held
a Valetine banquet as a fund raiser
for Falls Creek and a New Years Eve
watch party is held each year. In
the past few years, some women have
gone to the Falls Creek retreat as
well as the men on the following
week in the spring. The church
provided the pastor and his wife
with the means for several years to
go to Brazil on a mission trip.
Special dates:
1997 – Neal Brown was
ordained as a deacon
1998 – The new sound room
and sound equipment was built
1999 – The Sanctuary
ceiling and lighting was remodeled
by the members
1999 – Two Youth went to
Mexico with a group from Edmond
2000 – Two Youth went to
Mexico with a group from Edmond
2003 – The parking lot
north of the church was built
2004 – The Church members put in new
front doors
In September 2003, Stephen Clark was
called back to the church to be our
bi-vocational pastor. He was
ordained as pastor by his church in
Martha, Oklahoma
shortly before coming here. In 2004,
the church celebrated its 50th
anniversary and had L.B. Flanigan,
Bob Coburn, Andy Overman and Kirk
Sutton to speak. The music was led
by Scott Dean. Stephen was here
until July 2005 when he was called
to full-time ministry in
Cheyenne, Oklahoma.
Since the Clarks’
departure and through the first few
months of 2006 we have had different
men fill the pulpit. We are
currently in the transition program.
|
