Welcome to Christian Companion Senior Care

Local Services - Church Resource Guide

The Church Resource Guide is a resource you can use to find local churches with senior programs.

Many of these churches work with Christian Companion Senior Care in our overall objective to make your life the best it can be.

Feel free to review these listings and contact each of the resources directly for their specific services.

4005 N.W. Expressway, Suite # 252
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73116
Telephone: 405-948-0011

Church Resources
	Covenant Presbyterian Church: Rachel Jackson, Director of Christian Education A Senior Adult Ministry, SAM, is relatively new to this congregation, but it has been very successful. They meet once a month for breakfast or lunch and fun. Not only do they have several members who come, but they have also been attracting non-members. Many of their aging adults are still very active in serving their church. For the home-centered members they offer a transcription of the sermon, have visitors come by, help arrange mobile meals, and sometimes deliver the flowers from the service to their home as a cheery surprise. Rachel believes that many aging adults just need to feel needed. Amen to that!
	Church of the Servant - Dane Lemmons Church of the Servant has a very active senior's program with many seniors participating. Visitation teams visit home-centered members at least once a month. They prepare bulletins, cassettes, and videos to send out to those who request a copy. Also, they have a care team ministry similar to a Stephen Ministry which requires 13 months of training. Care ministers are trained to visit, listen, and encourage. They often see the need for respite services and will be starting a support group in the fall for children caring for their parents. Got an interesting example of how your church is serving seniors? We'd love to hear about it.
	Chapel Hill United Methodist Church Chapel Hill United Methodist Church under the direction of Robin Dickerson has multiple programs for seniors including a senior luncheon two times per month on the 3rd and 4th Wednesdays. On one Wednesday they invite in a speaker and on the other they play games. A 55+ retired fellowship meets on the 2nd Monday of each month also. The church partners with Epworth Villa for transportation to senior activities and events since several members of the church live at Epworth. Additional activities include Bridge and Canasta every Tuesday. Chapel Hill serves communion once a month to all homebound members and they are currently starting a new Covenant Care ministry to better serve their homebound members. They also have Stephen Ministries volunteers who help ensure that their homebound seniors receive the care they need.
	Christ the King Catholic Church – Oklahoma City – Richard Amend This parish has so many great ministries it’s hard to share them all! Highlights include a birthday card program for participants over the age of 75, a Bridge class in the fall and winter, a Centenarian Club honoring all those 100 years old or over in the state with a newsletter highlighting the lives of members and Friendship Cards which are greetings sent to seniors who live alone or are homebound once a month. Volunteers write a positive, uplifting message on each card. But we're just getting started! Healing Hearts is a support group for those individuals who have experienced the loss of a loved one. Home Delivered Meals brings a hot meal to home bound members every day. A unique Intergenerational Program matches K - 2nd grade students with senior members to exchange cards several times throughout the year. 3rd - 6th grade students make door decorations for nursing home residents and Junior High grades interview a senior and then write their life story which is put into a book format. One unique program is DayBreak, which is coordinated by both Christ the King and Greystone Presbyterian Churches. Senior adults meet weekly for lunch and a variety of activities. It’s great to see how brothers and sisters in Christ can work together to care for each other! Praise the Lord!
	CityChurch Frank Porter At CityChurch, the senior's ministry called Shepherd's Staff has a volunteer who calls homebound members once a week to check on their condition. The Shepherd's Staff ministry also coordinates three trips a year for seniors to get away and have some fun. One service group for seniors is called CPR (Church Property Repair). It's a group of retired engineers, technicians, carpenters and others who use their skills to provide mechanical and technical help that would otherwise be a considerable expense to the church. It's a great way for these seniors to serve.
	Crossings Community Church - Gene Cowgill, Pastoral Care This large church has multiple ministries for outreach to those in need, here are just a few: In Touch - Volunteers who have undergone a background check do visitation, make phone calls to ill or at home members on birthdays or other occasions. His Hands - Provides easy maintenance and short term assistance around the home. Transportation - Families arrange to transport individuals in their neighborhood who no longer drive to/from church services. Flower Ministry - Flowers donated from weddings/funerals are made into smaller arrangements and delivered to home of families who need cheer.
	First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City - Jay Allen, Associate Pastor & Director of Pastoral Care This church has a very independent and active group of 55+ members called "Young at Heart". They have one morning and one evening fellowship each month with a meal, program, games, or movie. There are a variety of ministry opportunities available for sending birthday cards, making contact with each other, praying together, etc. A congregational chaplain ministers to those who are unable to leave their home. This congregation is in the process of developing a Lend A Hand ministry that will be available to assist people with minor home repairs. What a great idea! Jay really believes there is a great need to provide education to our adults about how to be prepared for future decisions and changes that will occur as we age.
	First Christian Church, Norman Associate Minister: Catherine Bennett FCC of Norman has care ministry teams for their congregational needs. Care ministers visit seniors monthly and this is very important because they are the eyes and ears that report concerns to the church leadership. Home centered seniors are visited by the elders and given communion which is so meaningful. Some receive tapes of sermons; others have the option of transportation to/from services if requested. Other senior members are more active & meet for fellowship at the church on any 5th Monday of the month. They also have planned trips through out the year which helps provide the fellowship they need.
	Judah Christian Assembly Judah Christian Assembly is a church with a fairly young congregation. Pastor Donald D. Woody Sr. realized that the seniors in his church were not receiving the ministry that they needed. So the church formed SCOPE - Senior Christians Operating in Purpose and Excellence. They meet once a week to share concerns and plan activities. They recognized that they needed to make seniors more visible in the church so they began to include them as counselors in their counseling program and designate seniors to lead Sunday morning prayers.
	Lakeside Assembly Lakeside Assembly has a very active senior's program called the M & M's (More Mature). In addition to their weekly M & M's meetings and retirement center services, they have an exceptional program for home-bound members. Each week, a couple mails each home-bound senior a church bulletin, a cassette of the service, a copy of the devotional Daily Bread and an encouraging poem or story. Once a month, they assemble and deliver goodie baskets with cookies, fruit, small gifts (volunteers deliver them). In addition one of the pastors visits each homebound senior once a month. Every three months, Lakeside holds a six-week Grief Share program to help seniors cope with losses in their lives.
	McFarlin United Methodist Church (Norman): Polly Sandlin, Director of Senior Adult Ministry Bonus Years is the name of the senior adult group here. The care ministry is comprised of many visitors who meet and go out twice a month to those without family, who are widowed, etc. Programming for the group includes a monthly meeting for lunch with an interesting presentation (ie. mayor, OU professor) & trips, etc. Polly feels there is need for care for those living independently with a walker or cane. Polly also hosts an Alzheimer's support group at McFarlin UMC.
	Memorial Road Church of Christ – Edmond – Tom Boker The “Son Seekers” are a very active group of older adults who enjoy volunteering their time for various community events. When they accept an invitation to serve, the event is organized so that each individual is assigned a specific task for only 3-4 hours. This way, many can participate and no one gets overwhelmed or exhausted! Many of their church members are involved in ministering to the Son Seekers as well. Those interested in being encouragers are given a list of individuals who are homebound and asked to do whatever the Lord leads…whether that is to write a letter, send a card, stop for a visit, pray for them, etc. In addition, young families, or a several individuals, are paired with a member who lives alone or is homebound. They call once a week to visit and take care of any needs.
	Peace Lutheran Church – Edmond – Becky Schwendeman All members of the congregation are involved in a life service group for one month of the year. There are 20-30 families available each month, and the assignments are rotated every 11 months so that no group is taxed with needs that occur over the holiday season. Life service groups provide meals for funerals, rides, and assist the families in case of emergency, etc. When the need is known, the life service ministry leader makes the first contact to determine if the family wants assistance, what type of assistance do they need, and when would be a good time? This information is passed on to the co-leaders (there are 2 assigned per month), and then the co-leaders contact the “on-call” families of the month to provide care/needs. Peace Lutheran also has a Care Ministry that provides listeners, prayer, support, encouragement, and resources to those in need. This can take place in the form of a visit, phone call, card, etc. The care ministry team is trained (2 hrs/wk for 8 wks) by the pastor using the book Christian Caregiving by Ken Hautk as a guide. The training also involves lecture and role-playing. The Care Ministry is designed to minister to more medical types of needs such as death in the family, long-term care such as a stroke or cancer, surgery, or birth. The care ministers meet quarterly to talk about experiences (maintaining confidentiality, of course), brainstorm ideas, and learn about community resources that can be shared with family members during their time of need.
	Quail Springs Baptist Church Quail Springs Baptist Church has several programs that help seniors stay involved. On the first Tuesday of each month, the Leisure Live Wires meet for a luncheon with a speaker on a topic of interest. A group of seniors that love to minister in song – the Silvertones – sing in nursing homes and in the Sunday night service. Quail Springs has an especially effective homebound ministry under the direction of Carol Schaller. Each homebound member has a church member assigned to them to visit or call at least once per month. They also give the homebound member gifts on special occasions along with a large print “Open Windows” daily devotional. To make the homebound members more “visible” to the larger church community, Carol puts their pictures on a bulletin board at church. This is a great way to keep these homebound members from being forgotten or overlooked. They also give the homebound a “Birthday Card Shower” – a week before their birthday, Carol posts their birth date and address on a list for church members to “shower” them with birthday cards. Carol said two quotes have really motivated her are: “If Jesus were sitting in a nursing home, would your church have the time to visit and love him?” (As you have done it to the least of them…) Also: “The number one gift for a friend or loved one in a nursing home is you – your time!”
	Southpark Baptist Church - Retha Wright, Administrator Their JOY group (Just Older Youth) is comprised of members 60+. They meet once a month for a fellowship at the church and take occasional trips. They have a ministry that provides lap quilts, gift baskets, etc. to people living in a near by assisted living center. One of the most unique ministries this church has is a telephone ministry in which the senior adult Sunday School class is conducted via conference call to many who are at home. This is an excellent venue for those who are unable to come to church to be able to maintain relationships and interact with the same people on a weekly basis. The telephone ministry includes the class lesson, a special song, points of the morning sermon, and a time for prayer concerns. The church made arrangements with a phone company to set up the ministry, and the church provides the phones and the conference call without any charge to the person receiving the call. What an innovative way to reach people!
	St. Mark Lutheran Church St. Mark Lutheran Church in Edmond has a very innovative program that puts home-bound seniors in touch with each other every day. Rev. Mark Erier told us that each senior receives a phone call every morning and evening from another senior in the program. In this way, they can minister to one another and provide that human contact that we all need. He said the program was actually easy to set up and administer. A volunteer coordinator set up the calling schedule in a few hours and every three months, the schedule is changed so everyone gets to know one another.
	University Christian Church, Norman Pastor: Daniel Kitchel University Christian Church has a growing group of independent seniors. They are active serving church meals, folding newsletters, enjoying church activities and trips, and visiting/calling the home-centered members. Home-centered members are also contacted about twice a month by the church leadership who visit, make phone calls, or come by and pick them up for services. They have a new parish nurse volunteer, and many are taking advantage of those services. You might want to consider the possibility of developing a volunteer nursing service, especially for home-centered members. This is a real need and this might be a ministry just waiting for leadership in your church! The greatest need that Daniel has observed most frequently among seniors is the need for human contact and visits to develop a meaningful relationship - one that is based on love, not merely duty.
	Village United Methodist Church Village United Methodist Church has a great way of staying connected with their homebound members -- "Connections". Every other Friday, senior adults meet at the church where they pick up several cards with the name and contact information of the homebound member. The seniors make a visit or a phone call, or write a card to the person. If a visit or phone call is made, a brief report is written with an update of how the person is doing.... How have they been feeling? How's your family? Are you doing okay? Is there anything you need, etc. These report cards are given to Pastor Chuck Dollarhide to read. It keeps him connected to the members and he can follow up as needed. The program coordinator for this great and innovative program is Patty Pojezny.