A "Refugee" Church on South Harvard Avenue
Fellowship Congregational UCC sits on South Harvard Avenue near 29th Street in Tulsa, just minutes from the University of Tulsa and the city's midtown neighborhoods. The congregation calls itself a "refugee" church, gathered together from people who mostly grew up in different traditions, many of them deconstructing past theologies and reconstructing a healthier, more robust faith. Members come from Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Methodist, Quaker, and Unitarian backgrounds, along with "none-of-the-aboves," professional agnostics, and active atheists. Their shared motto, taken from Jesus's prayer in John 17, is "that they may all be one."
Fellowship is part of the United Church of Christ, a denomination forged in 1957 from several Christian traditions and known as a church of firsts, including the first to ordain a woman (Rev. Antoinette Brown in 1853) and the first Christian denomination to ordain an openly gay man (Rev. Bill Johnson in 1972). The UCC is non-creedal and non-hierarchical, and each congregation is financially self-sustaining and follows its own conscience in matters of moral, cultural, and political importance.
Worship on Sunday Mornings
Sunday worship begins at 10:30 AM and features piano, the adult choir, and often instrumentalists or guest musicians. The congregation sings hymns together, both familiar and new, and prays together. Communion is celebrated every Sunday at a table open to everyone, a deliberate expression of the church's welcome.
The sanctuary is a separate building on the east side of the property, closest to the main parking lot. A sign on the south side of the building marks it, and visitors arriving only for worship can enter through the west doors where greeters will answer questions. Four gender-neutral restrooms are located in the sanctuary building.
The Music Ministry
Music has long been central to life at Fellowship. The adult choir meets weekly on Sunday mornings to rehearse and sing in worship, offering hymns, responses, and four-part choral anthems. Special seasonal music during Lent and Advent sometimes brings together choirs from other local churches. Children have the opportunity to sing in worship several times a year, an introduction to music that often leads to joining the adult choir later on. Talented instrumentalists are invited to share their gifts through solos or by accompanying choral anthems. Music Director Paul Sweet, who holds degrees from the University of Central Oklahoma and has worked with the Tulsa Symphony and Council Oak Men’s Chorale, keeps the motto, “Make room for visitors. Join the choir.”
Family Ministries: Movie Nights, Pub Theology, and Art
Fellowship’s family ministry is designed to be as variable and diverse as the families it serves. The church hosts a monthly “Movie Night” on the last Friday of the month, where parents sometimes share childcare and sometimes get a date night out. An LGBTQIA+ dinner group meets on Thursday nights at a local restaurant. Small groups gather for “Pub Theology” and an “Art and Spirituality” series that explores how faith is expressed through creative hobbies. Coordinator of Family and Youth Ministries Justin DaMetz, a former Tulsa Public Schools teacher with a master’s degree in theology and ethics from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, oversees the program alongside Children’s Church Assistants Alicia Urban and Lanie Willhoite and Youth Assistant Taylor Stephens.
An Open & Affirming, Antiracist Congregation
Fellowship is an Open & Affirming church, meaning that people who identify on the LGBTQ+ spectrum are included at every level of congregational life, a position the church considers especially important in the heart of the Bible Belt, where many have been wounded by past church experiences. The congregation has also dedicated itself as an antiracist congregation, committed to confronting the structures of white supremacy in the community and addressing its own racism. Members value welcome and inclusion, compassion, community, honest questions, and meaningful dialogue about the mysteries of living a life shaped by the life and teachings of Jesus.
Outreach Beyond the Doors
The congregation practices a “reverse tithe,” sending more than 10% of its budget out the door to help make the wider community stronger, with a stated goal of growing that percentage. Outreach partnerships include:
- The Tulsa Day Center, supporting work with the unhoused through food and clothing.
- The Little Blue House and the Wesley Foundation at the University of Tulsa, inclusive spaces on a mostly exclusive campus.
- Planned Parenthood and the Roe Fund, in support of women’s healthcare.
- The Queer Lit library, because banning books is anathema to a free society.
- The Council Oak Men’s Chorale, affirming art for all people.
- Youth Services, The Common Good, Meals on Wheels, Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, and Black History Saturdays.
The Pastoral Team
Rev. Chris Moore, born and raised in Oklahoma and ordained into the UCC in 2009, has served as lead pastor at Fellowship since late 2013. A graduate of the University of Oregon and Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, he is the founding pastor of First Congregational UCC of Norman and previously an Associate Pastor at Mayflower Congregational UCC in Oklahoma City. He currently serves as Board President for Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, on the City of Tulsa’s Children’s Mental Health Initiative Governance Team, and with ACTION, a broad-based community organizing effort.
Rev. Gina Woods, ordained into the UCC in 2015, serves as Pastor of Pastoral Care. A graduate of California State University, Sacramento, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Phillips Theological Seminary, she lives and works in Muskogee at the Oklahoma School for the Blind as an Orientation and Mobility Instructor. She is married to Dr. Julie Summers, Director of Outreach & Prevention Services for the Mental Health Association Oklahoma.
Rev. Jennie Wachowski-Estes, a queer, trauma-informed, clinically trained chaplain, joined the staff as Community Chaplain after more than 25 years as a member at Fellowship and ordination by the UCC in 2024. She also works at Phillips Theological Seminary as their Director of Spiritual Life and Chaplain.
Glen Jones has served as accompanist at Fellowship since 2005, playing for the choir, instrumentalists, and soloists; he has been playing for churches since he was 10.
What to Expect When You Visit
Fellowship makes the first-time visit a priority. Parking is available in the large lot that is the first left after turning onto 29th Street from Harvard, with a smaller lot further down on the northwest corner of the property. Every entrance is handicap accessible, with reserved parking at each entrance, and the church is a single-floor building with no stairs.
Come as you are. On any given Sunday you’ll find ties and collars alongside shorts and jeans, sneakers and high heels, t-shirts and dresses, all in the same place. Sunday School classes for adults, children, and youth meet at 9:00 AM, and a nursery is available from 8:45 AM to noon for children from birth through age three. Children are always welcome in worship; a quiet room in the sanctuary is available for anyone needing a little downtime. Children’s programming takes place in the secured main building with sign-in and sign-out procedures, and youth leaders wear special lanyards so they can be easily spotted.
Office hours are Monday through Thursday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and Sunday worship and Sunday School videos are posted on the church’s YouTube channel.