Studies Begin in Tulsa
Justin Schell is the Lead Mentor for our Tulsa Learning Community. He shares how its going and how it serves to equip new church planters.
It's 6:45am, Monday morning in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a few cars start to pull into the parking lot. Before the sun is up, these students and mentors will start their weekly seven-hour journey through church history, preaching, and biblical studies. One might think of that as a burdensome task, but the energy in the room is high. Students and mentors are all agreed, studying with Union is not only filling their heads, but setting their hearts aflame as well!
Whether a youth pastor or a pharmacist, these students are hungry for robust theological education. In a city with many churches, there is a striking lack of evangelical training for ministry. Before the Union Learning Community launched this year, they'd each debated moving their families to other cities in the U.S. or simply finding an online program. You can imagine their excitement when they found out that a world class program was starting in Tulsa, and at a fraction of the cost of comparable U.S. programs.
All these students are considering long-term work in church planting and we pray that these are only the first fruits! Through Union, not only do they now have access to great education, Union will continue to provide them with great resources throughout their ministry lives. Into the future, with Union Mission, their church plants may even find their first financial support.
Will you please pray for the Tulsa Hub? Pray also for the Lord’s help as we continue to grow. Churches around the U.S. are contacting us, eager to hear more about the Learning Community model and how it might be brought to their cities. One thing is clear, the U.S. needs more Gospel saturated, Christ-centered churches. The way leaders for the U.S. church have been trained recently hasn't been able to keep up with the need, nor produce the kind and quality of leaders so desperately required. Pray with us that through partnerships with churches and ministries around the U.S., that a new generation of Jesus loving, Gospel ministers would be equipped, resourced, and launched out for mission.