Growing Congregation at Anglican Church

The Anglican Church of the Resurrection has been going through some exciting transitions recently.

The Anglican Church of the Resurrection, located next to Crossroads Free Will Baptist Church at 2525 W. Main Street in Jenks, has been going through some exciting transitions recently. “We started as a house church in March of 2006,” says Father Don Lawrence. “We met in Deacon Sam Gordin’s house and in the house of one of our parishioners. We did that for five months. But we were growing steadily, and we outgrew a house. So we went to Southern Hills Marriott and rented meeting space there, and we were there for about five months, too. We’ve been in our current location since February of 2007. This was a school – Jenks Christian Academy. We contacted Crossroads Church about leasing the space, and here we are.

“Our congregation is still growing. We have 35 to 40 worshipers on Sundays. We’re currently finalizing a purchase of land in Jenks south of 131st and Elm, and we hope to have a building there in two or three years – it will front on Elm. We’re also in the last stages of an affiliation with the Communion of Convergence Churches. This is a body that includes not only Anglicans, but Pentecostals and Evangelicals as well.”

The Anglican Church of the Resurrection holds worship services every Sunday at 9 a.m. “All baptized Christians of any denomination are welcome to receive communion with us. We celebrate Holy Communion every service, and we also always have the laying on of hands for healing,” says Father Lawrence. “We use the 1979 edition of the ‘Book of Common Prayer.’” Fellowship, with refreshments and snacks, follows the service, which typically runs about an hour. After that is Bible study, which usually gets started around 10:30.

“Families with kids are welcome,” says Father Lawrence. “We encourage children to take part in the services.” Additional programs are in the church’s future. “As we continue to grow, a Sunday school program will take shape,” says Deacon Gordin.

Father Lawrence was ordained in 1993, and his ministry has been primarily parish-based. Deacon Gordin was ordained in 1990, and he has been primarily serving mission churches. Both Father Lawrence and Deacon Gordin are bivocational clergy members – they have day jobs, too. Father Lawrence is Executive Director at Show, Inc., a non-profit organization that provides vocational training to people with developmental disabilities. Deacon Gordin is vice president of a gas and oil exploration company. “This is part of our vision,” says Father Lawrence. “The church will grow by the planting of new missions, ones that start like we did as a house church.” Thus the church grows not only through the efforts of the clergy, but through the efforts of the laity as well.

“We are Anglicans in the tradition of the Anglican Church around the world,” says Father Lawrence. “We believe that the Scripture is the Word of God. We accept the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds as statements of faith, and we recognize the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion as well as the Sacraments of Marriage, Unction, Confirmation, Ordination and Confession. We have oversight by bishops, and with Apostolic Succession, we trace our line of consecration all the way back to Saint Peter.

“We have a lot of shared components with the historical Orthodox churches. We’re somewhere in between the Catholics and other traditional denominations like the Presbyterians and Lutherans. Our worship is similar to Catholic worship, although there are some differences. In our church, people who are divorced and re-married can receive communion.”

“We’d really like to have people come be a part of our church, especially people with a passion for mission,” says Deacon Gordin. “We really are a family. We’re small enough you won’t get lost in the crowd.”

Referencing John 1:46, Father Lawrence says, “As Philip said to Nathaniel, ‘Come and see’ if this is where God wants you to be.”

For more information, contact

Anglican Church of the Resurrection

(918) 636-1850