Sunday Morning at 3201 South Elm Place
Arrow Heights Baptist Church sits just off the intersection of 101st Street and South Elm Place in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a few minutes southeast of Tulsa. Each Sunday the doors open early for a full morning of teaching and worship. At 9:00 a.m. the Sunday Morning Small Groups meet across the campus, with classes for every age, from nursery through senior adults, that study the Scriptures and build intentional community. At 10:15 a.m. the whole church gathers in the sanctuary for the Sunday Morning Worship service, which runs to about 11:30 a.m.
Visitors who cannot make the drive can join the same 10:15 a.m. service through a livestream on Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook. For those who want to plan a visit, the church asks guests to let them know ahead of time so a host can welcome them. Dress is casual and the atmosphere is relaxed. The address is 3201 S Elm Place, Broken Arrow, OK 74012, and the mailing address is PO Box 3520, Broken Arrow, OK 74013. The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m.) and is closed on Fridays.
A Church Built Around the Word
Arrow Heights describes itself in five plain commitments: it is a church family, a Word-centered church, a church that believes in Christ over all, a local church together, and a church that wants to glorify God together. The church's preaching style flows directly from those commitments. Pastors preach expositionally, working their way through books of the Bible one short passage at a time so that the text, rather than a topic, sets the agenda. Songs are chosen the same way: every selection is rooted in Scripture, drawn from writers like Matt Boswell, CityAlight, Sovereign Grace Worship, and Keith and Kristyn Getty, alongside the historic hymns that have shaped the church for centuries. The goal, drawn from Colossians 3:16-17, is for the gathered body to teach and admonish one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
The doctrinal foundation is set out in a detailed statement of beliefs that covers the Scriptures, the Triune God, man, salvation (regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification), God's purpose of grace, the church, baptism and the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Day, the Kingdom, last things, evangelism and missions, education, stewardship, cooperation, the Christian and the social order, religious liberty, and the family. Baptism is by immersion of a believer, and the Lord's Supper is observed as a memorial of Christ's death. The office of pastor and elder is reserved for qualified men; women are also gifted for service in other roles. Marriage is defined as the union of one man and one woman in covenant for life, and children are described as a blessing and heritage from the moment of conception. The full statement links to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.
Kids, Students, and a Preschool on Site
Children's ministry at Arrow Heights runs from birth through sixth grade and is built around two weekly touchpoints. During the 9:00 a.m. Small Groups, children from birth through sixth grade receive age-appropriate Bible teaching. During the 10:15 a.m. worship service, nursery and childcare are available for children from birth through age four; children ages five and older attend the service with their parents. A digital check-in system and security policies are in place for the children's areas.
On Wednesday evenings during the school year, two programs run from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Kids! Cross+Training serves children ages three through fourth grade and recaps the previous Sunday's Bible story, connects it to Jesus, leads the children in hymns, plays games in the gym, practices Scripture memory in small groups, and works through the Big Picture Questions from The Gospel Project. Area 56 is the church's ministry designed for fifth and sixth graders, partnering with parents to meet social, emotional, physical, and spiritual needs. Area 56 begins with the wider group in the gym for hymns, then breaks into its own class time.
Students in grades seven through twelve have their own ministry built around ten core commitments: keeping the Word of God central, holding a proper understanding of conversion, emphasizing the importance of the local church, teaching sound doctrine, teaching how to read the Bible, prayer, developing a culture of discipling, equipping parents, equipping godly volunteers, and creating a freedom to ask questions. Students meet on Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. in the Student Center for an inductive Bible study of Romans, and on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. for Students Midweek, which opens with hangout time, includes a game, a lesson, and small-group discussion. Annual events include The Student Institute, The WKND (D-Now), Church Camp, the Kansas City Mission Trip, Camp Regen, and Cairn. The student ministry contact is austin@arrowheights.org.
WEE Ministry Preschool operates on the campus as a weekday early-childhood program and is closely tied to the church. Its mission is to further the mission of Arrow Heights by helping children grow physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. Program goals include helping children understand themselves and their families, respect and like themselves, recognize that God loves them and that Jesus is their friend, learn to play well with others, develop large- and small-muscle skills, enjoy sensory and creative experiences, and grow in trust and love. The preschool can be reached at laura@arrowheights.org or (918) 451-1815.
Small Groups, Cross+Training, and GriefShare
Adult discipleship at Arrow Heights flows through three overlapping rhythms. Sunday Morning Small Groups at 9:00 a.m. include classes that discuss the upcoming Sunday sermon text and others that walk through doctrinal, biblical, and theological studies. Class leaders include Johnson, Cunningham, White, Lamle/Ratliff/Story, Miers/Gilliam, Fenderson, Murray, and Kollock for the sermon-text groups, and Rowan/Copeland, Call, Crockett, Flynt/Jergensen, Hernandez, and Durler for the doctrinal studies. A women's study class led by Williamson meets on Tuesday mornings during the school year. Anyone interested in joining a Small Group can email info@arrowheights.org.
Cross+Training is the church's midweek equipping ministry. In its current 2.0 form, Cross+Training groups meet in homes, coffee shops, workplaces, and other locations across the Tulsa metro, in men's and women's groups of about five to seven people led by trained facilitators. The point of moving outside the building is to make disciples in a way that is more flexible, more relational, and more accessible, especially for people who work evenings or who serve in other ministries on Wednesday nights. Each group is walking through Remember and Rehearse by J.T. English, a study of the Bible's covenant story, with a short teaching video each week and about an hour to an hour and a half of discussion and prayer. The semester opened with a kickoff gathering on September 9 before groups dispersed across the metro.
GriefShare is a thirteen-week Christ-centered grief support seminar designed for anyone who has lost a spouse, child, family member, or friend through death. Each session includes a video with experts, ministers, and Christian counselors, followed by small-group discussion and a personal Bible study between meetings. GriefShare is offered twice a year and meets in the Student Center, Room 101. The next session begins in September on Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m.
Worship Through Song
The worship ministry exists, in the words of the church, to magnify the glory of God in Christ through song. The team pursues undistracting excellence with a variety of instruments, supporting both the great hymns of the faith and the best of biblically rich, doctrinally faithful modern worship. The aim is a singable style that sounds like a community of rescued sinners teaching and admonishing one another and making melody to the Lord with grateful, joyful hearts. Those who want a preview can listen to the church's Spotify playlist to hear what the congregation has been singing together.
Sending the Gospel Out
Missions at Arrow Heights is not a single program but a core value that shapes every ministry and the use of every dollar. The church is a cooperating Southern Baptist congregation, and a percentage of every undesignated gift goes to the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program, which funds state convention and SBC missions and ministries. The church also takes part in three annual Southern Baptist offerings: the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions through the IMB, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions through the NAMB, and the Edna McMillan Oklahoma State Missions Offering, which supports ministries across Oklahoma such as disaster relief, refugee ministry, foster care, addiction care, deaf ministry, associational camps, and Camp Perfect Wings for children and adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Each month the church emphasizes a specific mission or offering so the congregation can pray, give, and go together. Short-term mission trips are a regular part of the calendar, with the church partnering with IMB and NAMB missionaries in places like Africa, Canada, Colombia and Panama, Kansas City, the Czech Republic, New York, Japan, and Central Asia. Recent and upcoming teams have served in New York City, Colorado, and Colombia, and three trips are scheduled for 2026 in New York, Kansas City, and Canada. The Arrow Heights SEND Offering helps offset trip costs for members who feel called to go. Mission-trip information is available from Pastor Rich at rich@arrowheights.org.
Local Outreach in Tulsa
Arrow Heights members also serve close to home. The church supports a range of ministries in the greater Tulsa area through prayer, financial giving, and weekly volunteer hours. Local partners include Hospitality House, Get Out the Bus, ShareHouse, The Spring (formerly DaySpring Villa), Hope Pregnancy Center, Arms Around BA, and the Owasso Baptist Children's Home. Members from Arrow Heights have helped lead several of these ministries, and the church is also an active member of the Tulsa Metro Baptist Network.
For those unable to leave home, the Homebound Ministry reaches out to members whose physical limitations keep them from attending worship, Bible studies, and other gatherings. Inspired by Matthew 25:31-46, the team offers visits, sends cards, and helps homebound members stay connected to church life. Anyone wanting to learn more can reach the ministry at rich@arrowheights.org.
Leadership and the Pastoral Team
Arrow Heights follows a Bible-shaped pattern of congregational leadership. Pastors, sometimes called elders or overseers, serve together on the Pastor/Elder Council as biblically qualified men vetted and approved by the church. Their work is to lead, feed, and protect the local body in keeping with 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. Ministers, who may be men or women, are gifted for specific service in particular areas of church ministry and serve under pastoral authority. The church's ministry contacts include Pastor Rich, who oversees the missions focus and the Homebound Ministry; Austin, who leads the student ministry; and Laura, who directs WEE Ministry Preschool.
Getting Connected
For newcomers, the easiest first step is a Sunday morning visit. Anyone who wants to learn more or pursue membership can attend MERGE, the church's informational class that explains who Arrow Heights is, what it believes, and how it lives out Scripture as a local body. MERGE meets at 9:00 a.m. in Room 222 and is a prerequisite for church membership, though it is open to anyone who simply wants to understand the church better. Giving is available online through the church's giving page, in person during the worship service, by mail to the church office, or through the Church Center app. Sermon audio and video are available on the church's Vimeo and YouTube channels, and the Arrow Heights Podcast carries Sunday messages along with weekly Q&A episodes where pastors answer listener questions.