After having moved hither and yon all my life long, I returned to Tulsa in 1976 and felt like I had come home. It is good to be back! Almost as soon as the plane landed, I re-enrolled in the University of Tulsa and slowly worked to finish my degree in Religious Education, because by then I had two young children. In 1986 Phillips Theological Seminary in Enid opened a branch in Tulsa so I enrolled to answer the call God had extended to me many years earlier. I have never known a time when I did not believe myself to be a Child of God. My parents were always active in Presbyterian congregations everywhere we lived; their fathers and grandfathers were all Presbyterian ministers, even one great-grandfather. The Church is my first home.
Since 1989, I have been pastor of three congregations: The Federated Presbyterian-Christian (Disciples of Christ) in Checotah, First Presbyterian in Wagoner, and St. Andrew’s Presbyterian in Tulsa. For several years, overlapping and interspersed, I was Stated Clerk, Director of Congregational Resources, and Assistant to the General Presbyter of Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery. I retired in 2013 and began teaching Domestic Violence Awareness and Nonviolent Communication to the inmates at David L. Moss Correctional Center in Tulsa, stopping only when Covid interrupted life as we knew it. Now, after a most comfortable retirement, God got my attention again and called me to be your Interim Pastor.
I have a daughter with three daughters and a son with two sons. Richard Wilson and I have been married since April 2000, and he brought me two “bonus” sons. Richard and I have enjoyed doing genealogy research, attending lectures, yardwork and walking along the RiverTrails. My hobbies include, sewing, woodworking, stained glass construction, needlework, gardening, and most recently antique pendulum clock repair.
It is truly a blessing to be among you finding out what God has for us next!