RPCNA | Midwest Presbytery | Stillwater (Oklahoma, USA)
Organized: July 1991
- Elders: Pastor Bruce Parnell, David Carroll, Alan Noell, Jeffrey Spitler, Bill Wagner
- Deacons: Sam Parnell, Logan West, Dan Yost
- Members: 61 Communicant, 22 Baptized
Planted by the Lord
2021 marks the 30th Anniversary of the Stillwater Reformed Presbyterian Church. I would summarize our history with the praise,
“The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad!”
Ps. 126:3
Part of our history can be linked to God stirring the hearts of the RPCNA to evangelize and plant churches. At the RP International Conference of 1988, the Home Missions Board presented a vision to the denomination: “Seven More By ‘94.” The specific prayer was that the RPCNA would have seven more congregations by 1994. But more important was the underlying prayer that God would stir us up as a church to evangelize, to reach out to the lost, and to plant new churches. In God’s providence, the Stillwater RPC was one of those seven more by ’94!
As we reflect back on our history several characteristics rise to the surface, graces from God that continue to shape the life of the congregation today.
Prayer
The original core families labored diligently in prayer that God would establish an RP Church in Stillwater. In keeping with this vital means of grace, the congregation has recently renewed its commitment to the importance of prayer. Following Barry York’s article in Gentle Reformation we formed “Prayer Societies,” giving a variety of opportunities to pray and the encouragement to commit to meet together and pray together. Pray that we would be faithful in prayer.
Fellowship
From the beginning our congregation has hosted a “Fellowship Lunch” after Sunday morning worship. This has addressed a number of different needs but primarily is an expression of warmth and friendship shared together. Pray that we would strive to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
International
Throughout our 30 years, God has given us opportunities to share the gospel with men and women from many other countries. This represents over a dozen different nations that have been part of SRPC on some level. We have also had the privilege to send members of the church out to serve internationally as short-term and long-term missionaries. Even now, Bridget Carroll, a daughter of the congregation, is currently preparing to serve in the area of Bible translation in Nigeria. Pray that God would bless our witness with first-fruit converts to Jesus Christ.
Training
We have been blessed to receive a number of RP summer mission teams. We also have an active group of junior and senior high school students of our own, so we have used the summer mission teams as a way to help train our own young people in evangelism and service. This has included outreach in our community, Vacation Bible School, door-to-door distributions, evangelism training, and service projects.
Along with that we have had the privilege of having eight different men serve as a Pastoral Intern in Stillwater. Pray that the Lord would bless SRPC to be a church that equips believers to be rooted and established in their faith.
Resources
Based on the expertise and enthusiasm of a couple of tech savvy students at Oklahoma State University, we launched out on the internet in 1999 with a view to providing access to services to those who were sick or shut in. But now, after 20 years of posting online, our website hosts nearly 95,000 minutes of audio which is accessible free of charge around the world. We also have a Sermon Audio page. Pray that this resource might be a blessing to the local saints as well as a global resource.
Church Planting
In God’s providence, the Lord has enabled us to be involved in a variety of efforts in church planting. We are currently praying for and laboring toward planting a new congregation in Oklahoma City. This has expanded our vision for the work of Christ as we reach beyond our own community. Join us in praying that God would further equip us and would establish the work of our hands so that we might be able to plant other churches in Oklahoma and support those being planted in the Midwest Presbytery.
Get in Touch!
If you’re in the area, please consider visiting us! To learn more about us, as well as our contact information, please visit our website: StillwaterRPC.org.
Thanks to Pastor Bruce Parnell for compiling this information for the RP family around the world. If you want to see your congregation featured here, get in touch through our contact page. We’d love to hear from you!
