Pastors join together to ‘be a voice’ for state’s students

The Rev. Mitch Randall looked out into the pews of his Norman church on the Sunday after voters rejected a state question that its supporters said would give raises to Oklahoma public school teachers.

Randall said many of the educators in congregation at NorthHaven Church, 4600 36th Ave. NW, looked dejected.

“You could just see it in their eyes. They took that failure very personally,” Randall said. “It felt demoralizing and frustrating, and they felt like they had been abandoned not just by the (state) Legislature but also by the state.”

Randall said the memory helped fuel his desire to start a coalition of preachers to advocate for public schools.

He and several other metro-area pastors have created Pastors for Oklahoma Kids, an ecumenical advocacy group designed to come alongside public school teachers and students at a time when they seem to need more support.

The group had its first public meeting on Jan. 24 at First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City. About 60 clergy leaders gathered to hear from the Rev. Charles Johnson of Fort Worth, Texas, who is founder of Pastors for Texas.

Randall said Pastors for Oklahoma Kids is based on the same premise as Johnson’s Texas coalition.

Other founding members of the Oklahoma pastors’ group include the Rev. Todd Littleton, pastor of Snow Hill Baptist Church in Tuttle and the Rev. Clark Frailey, pastor of Coffee Creek Baptist Church in Edmond. Littleton and Frailey’s