Contact: Bob Baker, (918) 688-7777 May 7, 2021
2021 Diocese of Oklahoma Men’s Retreat led by Father Matt Marino at Saint Crispin’s Episcopal Camp and Conference Center April 29-May 1
You may remember Father Matt’s online presentation in November, “Engaging Millennials”, that was organized by the Brotherhood for a nationwide audience. He has a great understanding of how we can best connect to younger generations in our attempts to grow the church and carry on our tradition. He was scheduled to lead our 2020 OK Men’s Retreat, and fortunately he was able to carryout that plan with us a year later instead.
His thoughtful retreat theme was “Encounters with Jesus”, introducing five encounters with our Lord in John’s Gospel using these catchy titles for each session: 1) Nic at Night; 2) A Woman at Noon; 3) Sight for the Blind; 4) Life for the Dead and 5) Returning Well. We also discussed the 7 “I am” Statements in John: the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Gate for the Sheep, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way and the Truth and the Life, and the True Vine.
Friday evening was especially poignant with the sharing of the video production from Trinity Parrish/Saint Augustine’s compelling “Service of Shadows” in the tradition of Tenebrae concluding with our Holy Eucharist. We had 18 men attending from several churches throughout our diocese.
There was also some free time for any who chose to hike up to the stone labyrinth or around the lake to appreciate God’s gorgeous scenery on this beautiful weekend.
As Saint John’s/Tulsa Brotherhood has organized a number of our Diocesan Men’s Retreats, we have taken the opportunity to invite retreat leaders to preach at our church on the Sunday following the retreat. Father Marino preached a homily on the vineyard that was well received.
Father David Bumsted, our new rector, having moved recently from Orlando had the opportunity to visit with Father Matt about their ministry experiences in Florida and Oklahoma. A “fun fact” is that our guest’s visit was bracketed by hamburger lunches at the famous Arnold’s in Crystal City on the way from the airport to Saint Crispin’s and at Society Burger on Cherry Street in Tulsa en route back to the airport. It was a great joy having Father Matt visit us.