Summer sanctuary
Houses of worship and faithbased groups will host a wide range of activities designed to combine faith and fun during the warm weather months.
As the sun begins to set on Friday evenings, the basketball court outside Christ Temple Community Church begins to attract young people — lots of young people.
For these youths, the church’s Midnight Basketball program has been a summer sanctuary of sorts.
The hoops fest will be the focus of some hoopla as it enters its 20th year.
Priscilla Meadows, the program’s director, said it will kick off June 8 with free food, a bounce house and crafts for elementary-age children, prayer and, of course, basketball. She said to markthe program’s 20th anniversary, the Oklahoma National Guard will be bringing a rock climbing activity to the event on June 8. Also, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Rolling Thunder Book Bus and the Thunder Drummers are scheduled to visit June 15, Meadows said.
Christ Temple, 2717 N Kelley, began the program as a way to take the Gospel outside the four walls of the church while offering tangible support for the surrounding community.
“We’re just out here to have fun and to provide a safe environment for kids to do something on a Friday night,” Meadows said. “It’s so important to let people know that we care about them in the community.”
As Memorial Day heralds the unofficial start of summer, other houses of worship and faith-based groups are gearing up for a summer of special activities.
Summer wouldn’t be complete without vacation Bible school. Churches like St. John Missionary Baptist Church,
Edmond’s First Baptist Church, Crossings Community Church, Norman’s Wildwood Community Church and All Souls’ Episcopal Church will host their vacation Bible schools during the first part of June. St. John will kick off its annual Bible school — with the theme “Gear Up, Get Read, Game On!” — with Family Fun Day on June 2, featuring a petting zoo, waterslide, train ride, live music and food.
The Edmond church’s “Game On!” VBS also is sports themed to help youths discover “God’s ultimate playbook.” And Chapel Hill United Methodist Church will host “Amped,” vacation Bible school that will be offered on Wednesdays in June, beginning June 5.
Crossroads Church, 8901 S Shields, will host an indoor festival called “Faith Blast” on June 10. The event will include worship, inflatables and carnival games.
Several churches, Quail Springs Baptist Church, will host outdoor movie nights. Quail Springs Baptist’s “Movies Under the Stars” series will be every Wednesday in June beginning June 6 with “The Empire Strikes Back.” The movies will be shown outside at The Hill, adjacent to the church’s main building at 14613 N May. Attendees may bring money for food trucks and also bring blankets or lawn chairs.
On the ball
Meadows with Midnight Basketball said the program always has attracted children from the neighborhood surrounding the church, northeast of the state Capitol. However, it also has drawn youths from all over the metro area, including suburbs like Edmond, Midwest City and the Putnam City area.
She said one such youth, Tilan Nolan, has been showing up at the church’s outdoor court since she was in eighth grade and visiting her relatives who live nearby. Meadows said Nolan plays on the Putnam City West High School girl’s basketball team and on anAmateur Athletic Union team during the summer. The teen, who will graduate high school in 2019, recently expressed her gratitude for the church’s hoops program.
“She said ‘Thanks for having Midnight Basketball and thanks for having this court because I get to come over here in the summer to practice so I can get better,’” Meadows said.
“This really touched me, and her story and others like it encourage me to continue on.”
Meadows, a career counselor for a local charter school, said the program is now run though a nonprofit she created called Saving Our Youth. She said it has been a success because of community partners like several deputies with the Oklahoma County sheriff’s department who provide security for Midnight Basketball. She said many of them like Marvin Sampson and Frank Avila have been longtime supporters of the program.
The program has received donations from many individuals, groups and organizations over the years, and there is always a need for more donations so that food and activities may continue.
Meadows said the program was boosted to another level in 2016 when Charles and Cassie Bowen donated funds for an actual basketball court to replace what the youths had been using, which was the church’s asphalt parking lot. Meadows said the Bowens also donated funds for food, T-shirts and signage for that entire year and followed up to do the same the next year.
She said the couple’s generosity has meant much to the youths who flock to the church on summer nights looking for a game of hoops, faith and fellowship.