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Pastor Nathan
Allen came to Tulsa from Chicago, Illinois where he
received his Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran
School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). At LSTC he completed
a Biblical Studies Emphasis, a one-year pastoral internship at
St. Andrew Lutheran
Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and also interned
in the Ecumenical and
Inter-Religious Relations office at the ELCA's Churchwide
headquarters.
Pastor Nathan was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan where
he attended Kalamazoo College
(known affectionately by its alumni as "K").
At K-College, Nathan majored in Classical Studies and minored
in History and Latin. He was also active in the music
program playing Bass Trombone in the Kalamazoo College Symphonic
Band. He served as director and conductor of the student-led
Kalamazoo College “Fighting Hornet” Pep Band during
his sophomore and senior years. During his junior year,
Nathan studied in Rome, Italy, for a semester at the Intercollegiate
Center for Classical Studies.
Preaching the Word of God and administering the Sacraments
are at the heart of Pastor Nathan’s ministry at Joy Lutheran
Church. To read an excerpt of Pastor Nathan’s understanding
of Word and Sacrament as a means of receiving God’s grace,
click here.
Pastor Nathan is active in the Eastern Oklahoma Conference
of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod
of the ELCA. He is a member of the Synod's First Call Leadership
Team and the Synod's Discipline Committee. He also serves as
the Lutheran
Ecumenical Representatives Network (LERN) Liaison for the
A/OK Synod, is a member of the LERN Board, is Vice President
of the Board of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches, and has
been appointed to a four-year term as one of the ELCA's delegates
to the National Council of
Churches of Christ in the USA from 2008-2011.
Pastor Nathan and his wife, Laura, are proud parents of their
son born in May 2009.
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Director of Children's
Ministries -- Alicia Stephens joined Joy Lutheran Church
on June 1, 2009 as our first Director of Children's Ministires.
Although she was born in Texas, she spent most of
her life in the Tulsa area, particularly Broken Arrow. She left
briefly to attend college at The University of Kansas, where she
earned a bachelors degree in Human Development and Family Life,
specializing in Child Care and Development. She then moved back
to Tulsa and attended OU-Tulsa to earn a Masters in Human Relations.
Currently, she is finishing her Ph.D. in Education at Northcentral
University.
Alicia has held many positions in the field of Education,
including teaching young children and leading parenting classes.
Alicia is also a volunteer with La Leche League, helping with
the local chapter and serving on the La Leche League International
Grant Committee.
Alicia is very blessed to have a wonderful family. She and husband
Aaron have two children.
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Office Manager -- Cathy
Woods grew up on a ranch near Okmulgee where she spent
summers driving a tractor for the family’s hay baling business.
She graduated from Okmulgee High School then attended OU, majoring
in Broadcast Journalism. After graduation, she worked in Oklahoma
City for KOCO-TV (channel 5, ABC) and KWTV (channel 9, CBS) in
their promotions departments. After developing a small magazine
for an oil-related company, Cathy became the Public Relations
Director of the YWCA in Oklahoma City. During her 20-plus years
as a full-time mom, Cathy volunteered with the Jenks West Elementary
PTAG, the Jenks High School Orchestra Parents Group and her church,
St. Dunstan’s Episcopal. At St. Dunstan’s, she served
as Sunday School teacher, Sunday School superintendent, Altar
Guild member, Christmas pageant director, Outreach Ministry member,
Feeing the Homeless team member, and has played guitar and sung
with DunstanFolk, providing music for Sunday morning services
for almost 20 years. Recently, Cathy worked at the Borders at
81st & Yale as a part-time Bookseller/Children’s Specialist.
Cathy and her husband, Barry have three children;
her interests are: reading, playing guitar, acting, and creative
writing. She appeared in two locally-produced movies and American
Theatre Company’s “A Christmas Carol”. Cathy
also regularly records written material for the blind at the Oklahoma
Library for the Blind in Oklahoma City.
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Organist --
Diana Franchini |
Pastor's
Explanation of Word and Sacraments
Word and the sacraments
are fundamental to a Lutheran understanding of the means
by which we receive God’s grace. Through Word and
the sacraments, the people of God are reminded audibly,
visibly, and tangibly of God’s grace that comes through
faith in Jesus Christ. From these “means of grace,”
Christians receive “the presence of Jesus Christ though
the power of the Spirit as the gift of the Father.”(1)
These free gifts from God of Word and the sacraments provide
the grace needed for God to work through people who, though
made saints through Christ’s righteousness, still
struggle daily with sin. Through Word and the sacraments,
God sustains Christians in our continued ministry as bearers
of God’s kingdom until we reach the eternal kingdom
that comes through the “final revelation.” However,
until this final revelation—the second coming of Christ—takes
place, God provides the church as a model, albeit
an imperfect one, for God’s future kingdom.
Article VII of the Augsburg
Confession defines the Lutheran understanding of the
church: “The church is the assembly of saints in which
the gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered
rightly. And it is enough for the true unity of the church
to agree concerning the teaching of the gospel and the administration
of the sacraments.” (2) Therefore, from a Lutheran
perspective, the church is not just a community of people—it
is a community where the Word is preached and the sacraments
are administered. All persons gathered for worship who have
received Word and/or sacraments are empowered by the Holy
Spirit through this means of grace to do God’s will
in the world. Thus, the church receives the revelation of
God [the Word] through Christ and in turn carries this revelation
forth as a bearer of God’s kingdom.
(1)Renewing Worship
Volume II: Principles for Worship “The Use of
the Means of Grace: Principle 1” ( Minneapolis: Augsburg
Fortress, 2002) 98.
(2) Kolb and Wengert, The
Book of Concord, 43, #1-2.
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