“We really needed to address our structure problems. When they pulled open the rotten siding, there were birds living in the walls of the church,” said Tabitha Harris, a member of Kulli Tuklo United Methodist Church in Idabel, Oklahoma.
This small, rural church with a congregation made up of mostly Choctaw elders lost members, some to old age and some to COVID-19. This church and others of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference (OIMC) lack the physical resources to repair their buildings but their congregations are vitally important to their spiritual lives and their communities. Some of the churches, like Kulli Tuklo, cannot even get insurance to help maintain their buildings until some major repairs are made.
In 2020, Global Ministries therefore designated a significant portion of Native American Ministries Sunday funds for repair and reconstruction of Indigenous worship spaces.
Your gifts on Native American Ministries Sunday helps support the ministries of the Committee on Native American Ministries in their annual conferences. This offering serves to remind United Methodists of the gifts and contributions made by Native Americans to our society.
The OIMC has 83 churches in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, with members representing more than 39 tribes. Most grant requests for Native American Ministry Sunday funds from OIMC churches relate to building repairs – especially roofs.
After consultation, representatives from Global Ministries and OIMC agreed that providing a block grant directly to the conference was the best way to manage and prioritize the repairs needed across the conference.
The block grant supports the OIMC´s strategic priority to increase the vitality of existing communities of faith, revitalize congregations, and create a space where indigenous models of ministry can thrive. The local churches also contribute a percentage of the funds for their projects, including in-kind contributions.
Some of them got a boost from Volunteer in Mission teams who came to help with the work. During the pandemic, volunteer teams could not come, but afterwards, students from the Associated General Contractors of America Student Chapter of Kansas State University arrived to replace siding and a porch at the historic Kulli Tuklo United Methodist Church in Idabel, Oklahoma.
Kulli Tuklo, a Choctaw congregation, is one of the oldest congregations in the OIMC, according to the Rev. David Wilson, a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma who serves as the assistant to the bishop in the OIMC. “It was established after the Choctaw people were removed to Indian Territory,” he said.
The church is the site where many Native peoples gathered after that forced removal, known as the Trail of Tears.
In addition to the Kansas State students, a youth team from Wayne United Methodist Church in Eastern Pennsylvania also arrived to help with siding. Wayne UMC is a returning partner for this work. In 2019, their teams contributed to a complete rebuilding of Good Springs UMC in Oklahoma City.
“They were fun to be around,” Harris confirmed. “They liked to hear about our history and took pride in their work. We even raised a little money to send back with them, not much, but we thought we could help with their next project.”
Thanks to funding from Global Ministries, the South Central Jurisdiction United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, Wayne UMC, the Kulli Tuklo UMC and labor from the Kansas State University, the church is now in much better shape, with brand new siding and a new porch. The roof is still on the wish list.
excerpt from a story by Christie R. House, consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.
One of six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings of The United Methodist Church, Native American Ministries Sunday serves to remind United Methodists of the gifts and contributions made by Native Americans to our society. The special offering supports Native American outreach within annual conferences and across the United States and provides seminary scholarships for Native Americans.
When you give generously on Native American Ministries Sunday, you equip seminary students who will honor and celebrate Native American culture in their ministries. You empower congregations to find fresh, new ways to minister to their communities with Christ’s love. Give now.
