So What Faith

Greg Smith

My Visit to Church of the Open Arms (#2281)

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This morning I was a first time visitor at Church of the Open Arms in Oklahoma City.

About Open Arms

Church of the Open Arms is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and started in 1997 on the campus of Mayflower Congregational UCC. Interestingly, my first ever worship in experience in the state of Oklahoma was at Mayflower.

The congregation purchased and moved into their current building in 2001. Open Arms called their current pastor, Rev. Kayla Bonewell, to serve as their second settled pastor in 2016. Previously the congregation was shepherded by founding pastor Rev. Kathy McCallie and interim pastor Rev. Victor Force.

Open Arms identifies as a progressive church that is open and affirming. Their core values include practicing inclusiveness, loving and supporting one another, and being faithful to the teachings of Jesus.

The church serves the community in many ways, including through an on site food pantry that provided food for more than 18,000 people last year.

Welcome

My wife and I arrived on the church campus about 15 minutes before the service and immediately noticed that the only parking lot was located behind the building. After parking, I watched where others were entering and followed.

Church of the Open Arms (Photo by Greg Smith)

Once inside we were greeted by Pastor Kayla before finding a bulletin and entering the sanctuary. As we entered the sacred space a number of children dressed in costumes were preparing for what we would soon learn would be an informal Christmas pageant presented during the service.

During the ten minutes we sat and waited for the service to begin the crowd grew from around 20 to 65. None of the folks greeted us or sought to engage us as they made their way to their seats.

Worship

The service began when the pianist and guitarist joined by two vocal song leaders, led the congregation in singing Joy to the World. The words to the hymn were shown on the screens in the front of the worship space setting the tone for all that would follow.

Song Leaders (photo by Greg Smith)

While a newcomer with or without familiarity to the United Church of Christ could follow along and fully participate in the service just by observing the screens, the printed bulletin provided an easy way to look ahead.

Worship (photo by Greg Smith)

The service followed a traditional Mainline Protestant liturgy with intentional modifications that matched the congregation’s progressive orientation. These changes included the words used for the Lord’s Prayer and Doxology.

The most unique aspect of the service was the Advent candle lighting. A church member spoke for several minutes in the role of storyteller, sharing a moving Christmas memory from the 1960s before proceeding to light the candles as the pastor read more traditional words.

An eight minute long spontaneous Christmas pageant filled the slot normally used for a sermon. While most of the young people had chosen roles in advance, they were given the opportunity to fill some of the missing roles – like Mary and Joseph – in real time. Then, adults were invited to fill the remaining roles. The pageant involved minimal acting and movement by the characters as a narrator and a few others read a script. Notably when animals were invited to join the growing scene, a man came forward carrying a swaddled dog.

Christmas Pageant (photo by Greg Smith)

The service concluded with a prayer of self-dedication and a congregational song.

Closing Prayer of Self-Dedication (photo by Greg Smith)

Kudos

Of all of the services I’ve attended in Oklahoma, today’s was the most informal and participatory. That approach was woven into the service itself extending well beyond the once a year pageant. The extended time of passing the peace included many folks walking all around the worship space to greet large numbers of people. Communion featured the pastor leaving the Table and going to a side of the sanctuary sans the elements to spend time in private prayer with anyone who desired such while two stations of bread and grape juice were each led by two students.

Additional Oklahoma Worship Experiences

My experience of worship at Open Arms today was my seventh time to worship in Oklahoma this year and my eleventh in the last two years. My prior experiences include: