Archive: A Shepherd’s Story

By Sara L. Anderson

At four o’clock several mornings a week you will find Bill Mason, pastor of the 5,200-member Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Okla., beginning his devotional time. By six he’s at a local hospital praying with a church member that may be about to undergo surgery. Mason will often remain in the waiting room with anxious family members until the operation is over. Even when an early morning visit is not necessary, Mason makes trips to the hospitals at least four days a week.

Why does the pastor of a large church spend so much time doing what would often be relegated to a junior staff member? Mason feels that hospital patients and family members “are more likely to be open to the things of the Lord.”

He adds, “There are practical things I’ve found I can do to assist families, as well as dealing with spiritual needs.”

This sense of caring for a person’s emotional, physical and spiritual needs is a hallmark of the Asbury congregation’s evangelical emphasis. Consider the following efforts:

• Under the leadership of staff member Dick McKee, approximately 800 Asbury members have participated in 18-month discipleship groups, and another 1,500-2,000 have completed a 14-week class on the basics of the Christian life.
• For years the church has helped financially and volunteered labor to the UM-sponsored Frances E. Willard Home for troubled girls.
• The church’s United Methodist Men’s group, numbering about 100, has done volunteer painting and repair work for several UM campgrounds and the Little Lighthouse School for preschool children with vision, hearing and birth defects.
• Approximately 1,750 attend Sunday morning worship services, and Sunday school attendance has nearly equaled that figure.
• About 400-500 people are involved in the single adult ministry.
• Church staff operates Destination Discovery, an after-school and summer program for children and families living in densely populated, low-income, public housing projects. The program helps youngsters develop new skills, tutors students and provides recreation opportunities. Still, the desire behind this effort is to bring people into a vital relationship with Christ.
• Asbury’s mission budget totals more than $500,000 annually, including World Service apportionments. The funds are distributed to individuals and organizations in Tulsa, Okla., in the United States and around the world.
• An Alcoholics Anonymous group has met in the church building for more than 20 years, and Mason has worked with programs dealing with alcoholism since the beginning of his ministry.
• For six months of the year a group goes to a pre-release center for the state’s correction system every Saturday night and conducts services for the inmates.

These types of ministry flow from the people’s love for Christ.

“Jesus gave us the Great Commission to go into the world baptizing and teaching, and then He gave us the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself,” Mason says. “I can’t separate the two,” he adds. “I don’t imagine that anyone who knows and loves the Lord can be insensitive to the needs of people.”

Sara L Anderson is the associate editor of Good News.