Christmas in July: St. Luke’s Tulsa, Christmas Pageant
As we celebrate Christmas in July, we are highlighting the story of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Tulsa and its recent Christmas Pageant, a project funded by our Diocesan Congregational Vitality Grants.
Last Christmas Eve, St. Luke’s hosted a neighborhood-focused pageant built on a three-year partnership with nearby Owen Elementary School. In 2024, St. Luke’s received a $500 Experimental Vitality Grant to host a Neighborhood Block Party, inviting families from Owen Elementary and the surrounding community. The block party was a success, hosting numerous students and their families, which inspired even deeper community engagement.
The primary goals for the Christmas pageant were to:
Proclaim the Gospel, specifically the Christmas story.
Build community by fostering connections among Owen Elementary families and deepening the church’s relationship with them.
Practice "soft evangelism," hoping participating families might feel welcomed to worship regularly at St. Luke’s.
Learn and grow as a parish by organizing a Christmas pageant of this scale.
Deepen participants’ spiritual journeys and their relationship with God in Christ.
In September, members of St. Luke’s met with Owen’s principal to seek permission to recruit students. Because the school serves a large Spanish-speaking population, bilingual invitations were sent home to over 400 students.
To support participating families, St. Luke’s hosted Sunday afternoon rehearsals for six weeks leading up to Christmas. Each practice was followed by dinner in the parish hall. Every week, church volunteers stepped up to shepherd students, lead rehearsals, and serve meals. Following the Christmas Eve service, St. Luke’s hosted a celebration reception, gifting food and Bibles to every child.
When asked where he saw God throughout the project, Fr. John shared, “In several places, but primarily in the joy of the children on Christmas Eve, along with their families. As noted in our report, "On Christmas Eve we had about 160 people at the service (the year before, attendance was 52); 34 children participated in the pageant (23 from Owen, 11 from our congregation); and we provided gifts and Bibles for the participating students." One Owen family has started attending St. Luke's regularly, and the mom is in our choir.”
Offering advice to other congregations looking to do similar outreach, Fr. John shared, “Build relationships first—we had been an Owen partner for 3 years and developed relationships with the principal and staff, including some teachers; they trusted us. Be hopeful but prepared to see more "interest" than actual participation. View this kind of ministry as "planting seeds." One vignette: One of the Owen students, a fourth-grade boy, had a beautiful voice. One of our parishioners had a vision of him singing Silent Night at the conclusion of the Pageant. It happened, but not in the way she imagined. But the boy looked up at her after the service and said, "This was the happiest day of my life." It warmed her heart (and the hearts of many others), and we hope he will remember this event and that eventually it will bear fruit in his life.”
