Churches Unite To Better Tulsa

Saturday, December 8th 2007, 5:09 pm

By: News On 6

New Life Christian Center, a church in North Tulsa, met with Liberty Church, a South Tulsa congregation, on Saturday afternoon at McLain High School. The News On 6â€™s Chris Wright reports the event was called Revolutionizing Our Community or ROC. Organizers say it was a great first step towards some positive change in North Tulsa.

The entertainment portion of Saturday's Revolutionizing Our Community epitomized what the event was all about. Choirs from New Life Christian Center, a predominantly black church, and Liberty Church, a predominantly white one, sang as one.

"We believe it's our community and it's our responsibility, so we're taking responsibility for our community, to turn our community around," said New Life Christian Center Bishop Gregory Davis.

To help with that effort, Bishop Davis enlisted the help of Liberty's Pastor Paul Taylor. The two have been working on bringing their congregations together for the past two years.

"That was our vision to give this gift to this community at Christmas time, so we could get out of our own area and do it for ourselves, and help some other people," said Liberty Church Pastor Paul Taylor.

After sharing the stage, the two groups shared some candy canes, and then a meal.

"They've been very instrumental, Liberty has been there for us, they know what our vision is, they know how much we love our organization," said Rita Abdul-Kareem of New Life Christian Center.

The congregations discussed that vision over lunch. New Life Christian Center says it is dedicated to developing better schools and better job opportunities in North Tulsa. Liberty Church is committed to help, and the two groups say Saturday was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

"Everyone will tell you that it was time well spent, it was just a great day," said Paul Taylor.

Revolutionizing Our Community was not limited to members of New Life Christian Center and Liberty Church. A hot meal was served to any member of the community who wanted one.

Watch the video: Churches Working To Unite Tulsa