Northeast Fellowship is a thriving new church plant located off Hefner Road in Northeast Oklahoma City that just celebrated its first year of ministry.
Oklahoma City, Northeast Fellowship’s story, though, began much earlier with a church that met at its current location for many years—Lone Star Baptist Church. Started in 1959, Oklahoma City, Lone Star had met for decades. But due to challenges had to shut their doors in 2021.
The remaining members believed God was not through with them, and they didn’t want to give up on their beloved fellowship. So they committed themselves to finding a way that God could continue to use the building and continue to work in their community.
The members reached out to Harvey Sparks, who serves as pastor of Oklahoma City, Portland Avenue. Sparks had previously served as interim pastor at Lone Star. Sparks suggested they reach out to the North American Mission Board and utilize the building for a new work, a new church.
That’s when God began to move. Sparks approached Chris Gulley, pastor at Oklahoma City, Cherokee Hills because of the Pastoral Residency at the church.
In turn, they met with Stephen Brown, who was helping in their college ministry and a part of the Pastoral Residency program at the time. After talking with his wife Sabrina, speaking with close friends, and seeking the Lord through prayer, it became abundantly clear that God was calling him to begin a new Church in Northeast Oklahoma City.
The process was long and arduous. But through it all, God continued to affirm the call to plant.
When the announcement was made to Cherokee Hills that they would be the sending church for a new church plant, Stephen wasn’t sure if anyone would come alongside or even want to join, but the members of Cherokee Hills stepped up in a big and faithful way.
Cherokee Hills ended up sending eight families, including Preston Norman to pastor alongside Stephen, and a few single folks to help start this new church plant. With those committed individuals and the two original couples from Lone Star Baptist Church on March 17, 2024, the first service was held at the newly established Northeast Fellowship with a humble membership of 25 adults and 10 children.
The church has been active this past year. The identity of Northeast Fellowship is to be a church who “gathers to know Christ” and “goes to make Him known.”
These two things are the guiding principles in all ministries, teachings, and decisions. They’ve put on numerous community events and have had incredible responses.
In their very first Back to School event, Northeast Fellowship was able to give away more than 300 backpacks to children and feed over 400 people. They’ve also partnered with two schools, Britton Elementary and a homeschool group called Oaks Homeschool Co-Op. The church continues to serve the community with prayer walks, events, and meals.
As the church celebrated its first full year of ministry in March, Pastor Stephen Brown said, “We are blessed by all the Lord is doing. Northeast Fellowship is growing, and we remain confident that the Lord will continue to use our church to reach our community and make Christ known!”
Reflecting on the journey that led up to this church plant, Harvey Sparks said, “At Portland Avenue, Kingdom growth is one of our core values, and church planting enables us to multiply our efforts in advancing God’s kingdom. Through new congregations, the influence of the Gospel reaches beyond the limits of our individual church, impacting more lives for Christ. Since partnering with Northeast Fellowship, we have witnessed God’s hand at work in remarkable ways. First, it has been inspiring to see a small, dying church—Lone Star—catch a vision for reaching future generations by investing all that God has blessed them with into a new work. It was not an easy decision for them to shut their doors and give their assets to a new work but they were willing to step out in faith for the sake of God’s glory.”
Sparks added, “We have seen how God providentially brought together various churches to help establish this new ministry. As a smaller church, we could not have done this alone, but through partnerships with Cherokee Hills, Surrey Hills, and the SEND Network, we have been able to be a part of something truly extraordinary. God receives all the glory for orchestrating it. We have seen God move within our own congregation.”
Send Network Oklahoma in a ministry partnership that exists to plant healthy, multiplying churches throughout Oklahoma. For more information about the Send Network Oklahoma, visit https://www.oklahomabaptists.org/sendnetwork.
