About Us

 

Learn about the Cross and Flame emblem

Nichols Hills is a United Methodist congregation. Many have remarked that the United Methodist Church is probably the most representative and the most mainstream denomination in all of America. It is a denomination with a current membership of over 8 million people.

The United Methodist Church is a "connectional" church. That means that every local congregation is connected to all of the other United Methodist congregations throughout the world and the principal place where that connection takes place is through an Annual Conference, which is presided over by a bishop. In the Oklahoma Annual Conference alone, there are approximately 700 different congregations.

Our Annual Conference is connected to a jurisdictional conference, the South-Central Jurisdiction, made up of all the United Methodist churches in the Nebraska , Kansas , Missouri , Arkansas , Oklahoma , New Mexico , Texas , and Louisiana . And the five continental jurisdictions of the United Methodist Church (along with others beyond the continental United States) are bound together by a General Conference which meets every four years and which updates The Book of Discipline which defines the polity of United Methodism.

 

Connectional churches are different from congregational churches. Each congregational church is autonomous and is governed entirely by its own Board of Directors or Trustees. As a connectional church, the majority of the decisions that we make at a congregational level are made entirely by our various committees and boards. However, being a connectional congregation, we also participate in a wider decisional arena that's simply that of our own congregation and its officials.

United Methodism is a remarkable blending of evangelical Christianity and sacramental Christianity. John Wesley, our founder, was a priest in the Anglican Church in England in the 18th century. He began a renewal movement

 

that went quickly beyond the Anglican Church and essentially could be described as evangelical.  As the colonists kept coming from England to America and some of them had been greatly touched by Wesley's ministry in England, there was a desire to develop a new church here in America as well. With Wesley's approval, the Methodist Church, which later became the United Methodist Church in 1968 came into being in the United States . It contained the sacramental theology of the Anglican Church in which Wesley was a priest as well as the evangelical theology that quickly sprung up on the American frontier. In the early 20th century the Methodist church was a front runner for the social gospel.

 

 

 

Timeline of Nichols Hills UMC:

1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000
1940's:	May 17, 1945 - Corporation formed; prospectus Issued; Walter T. Vahlberg, Architect May, 1945 - 3 lots obtained (#17 & 18 purchased for $5000; #l6 Donated by G.A. Nichols) 1948 - The Methodist Church of Nichols Hills (commonly called Nichols Hills Methodist Church) June 11, 1948 - First Quarterly Conference; election of Board of Stewards June 20, 1948 - First service held in home of Mr/Mrs. A.J. Bullard, 1212 Glenwood Ave. Subsequent services held at Nichols Hills Town Hall, Avondale & Western October 31, 1948 - First service In stone chapel: 56 members; $24,000, Vahlberg, Architect (by June 1949: 81 Charted Members)
1950's:	October, 1951 - Educational wing to east (classrooms, dining hall & kitchen); 134 members PROJECTING EVENTUAL MEMBERSHIP OF 1,500 $72,000 including tile roof for chapel; Frankfort Short, Architects January, 1952 - Lot #19 deeded by Mrs. G.A. Nichols & 3 daughters: Mrs. Morgan Cox, Mrs. John W. Coyle, and Mrs. Nichols Burwell 1953 - Lot #20 deeded by Mrs. Nichols & 2 daughters: Coyle & Burwell 1955 - Offices, classrooms & a basement "to be used temporary fellowship hall" according to Mrs. George Bixler, church historian 1948-62* 500 members; $240,000; MASTER PLAN shows Fellowship Wing.
1960's:	October 1961, - Sanctuary completed; chapel converted to parlor; 1,100 members - $300,000; Wright & Selby, Architects June 26, 1966 - Dedication: Memorial Garden & Leonard McMurry sculpture of Jesus 1968 - The United Methodist Church of Nichols Hill (by national mandate)            1968 - Basement Fellowship Hall remodeled (now Choir area)
1970's:	January 1, 1972 - 1,452 members June 3, 1973 - Mortgage burned on Twenty-fifith Anniversary of Nichols Hills Methodist
1980's:	December 6, 1987 - Groundbreaking for Fellowship Wing November 8, 1988 - Consecration of Fellowship Wing: $1.75 Million including furnishings
1990's:	October 1995 - Dedication of remodeled parlor May 1998 - Membership: 1,606 June 1998 - Completion of Renovation of Pre-school children's Area June 21, 1998 - Fathers day the founding Fathers and Mothers were honored exactly fity years and one day after the first worship September 1998 - Nichols Hills United Methodist Church of (made common name official) Octobers 31--November 1, 1998 - Fiftieth Anniversary Homecoming Celebration Tapestry project in Sanctuary completed "The Women and the Tomb"
2000's:	The time is now and Nichols Hills is active and continuing to create our story there are a multitude of ministry oppurtunities for the whole body of Christ.  We are always growing and searching for new way to express our faith and discipleship in following the way of Jesus Christ.

 Pope Lectures

A Memorial

Speakers have included:

Dr. Michael Goldberg, noted Jewish theologian

Dr. Justo L. González, scholar in church history from Cuba

Rev. R. Grace Imathiu, preacher and teacher from Kenya

Dr. D. Stephen Long, systematic theologian from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Dr. J. Philip Newell, expert in Celtic spirituality from Scotland

Dr. Bryan Stone, evangelism scholar from Boston University Shcool of Theology

Dr. Robert D. Webber, New Testament Scholar from Lancaster Pennsylvania

Dr. Lovett H. Weems, Jr., Wesleyan scholar

 

 

Learn more about John Wesley

With our sacramental roots and our evangelical roots, we are positioned right in the middle of the Christian family throughout the world. Some United Methodist congregations will emphasize different elements of our tradition, from evangelical to social justice and to sacramental and liturgical. Although there are many different emphases all have a place in the United Methodist family. Maybe that's one of the reasons why United Methodism has been referred to as the most representative and main stream of all the denominations in America.

At Nichols Hills United Methodist Church, you will find a blending of both the evangelical and sacramental emphasis, hopefully a very well balanced in all of our services.