EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an expanded article based on the 2020 Cooperative Program Prayer Guide for Oklahoma Baptists. For more information, please visit www.oklahomabaptists.org/cp.

Griff Henderson, who uses sports like pickleball to build relationships, does the same with basketball and golf.

“I enjoy participating in sporting events, and I’m a Thunder and a Sooner fan,” Henderson said about the NBA basketball team in Oklahoma City, and the football team at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. “This (interest in sports) has given me a great opportunity to meet many people who need to hear about the love of Jesus.”

Now he has a new opportunity, one that expands his ministry focus much like pickleball combines the elements of tennis and ping pong for more participation.

Henderson, regional ministry partner for northwest Oklahoma including metro Oklahoma City, partners with pastors, churches and associations “with the goal of advancing the gospel,” he explained.

Henderson moved to Edmond when he was 3. He graduated in 1984 from Oklahoma Baptist University with a degree in religion and sociology, in 1991 from Southwestern Seminary with a master’s degree in religious education, and in 2016 with a doctorate in education from Midwestern Seminary.

“Early on, in my ministry years, I never saw myself as a senior pastor, but then God called me to be one,” Henderson said, having served 33 years in Oklahoma churches. His education provided him with theological as well as educational training that has given him “experience in a lot of different capacities in the local church: education, youth, outreach, senior pastor, and in rural areas and large cities.

“God has placed a deep love within me for the local church,” he continued. “I look forward to partnering with our pastors, local churches and associations to advance the Gospel.”

Henderson and his wife Shari, married since 1985, are the parents of two grown sons and two grandchildren.

Because of the generous giving of Oklahoma Baptists through the Cooperative Program, an amazing array of ministries are supported. This unified giving encourages fellowship with other believers all over the world. Collectively, Oklahoma Baptists are advancing the Gospel together. Learn more at www.oklahomabaptists.org/CP