Having served the Lord in professional ministry since 1976, I believe that, as Christians, we have a Christian responsibility to honor Jesus Christ by obeying His commandment to Go...and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit... (Matthew 28:19 NRSV).

Married to my lovely wife, Jan, for 39 years, I have two grown daughters. My oldest daughter, Michelle, is married and lives in Tulsa, OK. My youngest daughter, Jessica, is also married and lives in Arlington, TX. I have 3 grandchildren, Dillon (13), Rachel (12), and Kaleb (5), who live in Tulsa.

I graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1973. Attended Tulsa Community College and took several classes at other colleges including the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, and Langston University. My major course of study was music education. Currently, I am a Course of Study student at St. Paul's School of Theology in Kansas City. I anticipate graduation from this institution in July of 2016.

My professional ministry began in 1976, when I served St. Matthew's United Methodist Church in Tulsa, OK, first as a part-time Choir Director, and later as a part-time Minister of Music for approximately 20 years. In 1996, I was blessed to be offered and accepted a position as full-time Minister of Music at St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Tulsa. I served this congregation for about 10 years. Then, having been through candidacy for representative ministry in the United Methodist Church, I was blessed to be appointed by the Bishop and his cabinet to serve Cleora United Methodist Church in Cleora, OK, as their pastor. Next came an appointment to serve a two-point charge at First United Methodist Church in Beggs, OK, and at Schulter United Methodist Church in Schulter, OK. In 2014, these charges were changed, in that Schulter was deleted from the charge, and Mounds United Methodist Church in Mounds, Oklahoma, was added.

Ministerial strengths include equipping and empowering persons to achieve spiritual growth and to grow in Christian discipleship, planning, organizing, and leading pleasant, meaningful, and powerful worship experiences, and preaching. Administrative strengths include desk-top publishing skills, communication skills, and technical skills. I love working with children and youth, music, and small-group Bible studies.

A lawyer once asked Jesus, What must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus replied by quoting a passage from Deuteronomy, saying, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. And he said that all the other commandments hang on these two. (Luke 10:25-28). I believe that Jesus meant what he said - that we are to love God with all our whole being, and love and care for our neighbors the same way as we love and care for ourselves. Therefore, I am pledged to do my very best to honor these two commandments through attending daily to the spiritual disciplines of devotion, prayer, fasting, generosity, and service to God and church, and through caring for and about those whom God brings into the path of my life.

Yours in Christ,
Rev. Rich Brasher

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