The lyrics to the Oklahoma State Anthem are from the words of the hit Broadway musical Oklahoma! by Oscar Hammerstein II. For those who aren’t familiar with the lyrics, I’ll provide a snippet:

There’s never been a better time to start in life
It ain’t too early and it ain’t too late!
Starting as a farmer with a brand new wife–
Soon be livin’ in a brand new state!
Brand new state—gonna treat you great!

These lyrics have a ring of truth for my wife, Grace, and me. Aside from being almost newlyweds (we were married in 2020 with a wonderfully quaint Covid-style ceremony on our front porch), we have moved to a brand new state. Exactly a year after our marriage, I received a call from Stillwater, Okla., RPC on Apr. 18, 2021, to become associate pastor with the purpose of planting a church in Oklahoma City.

In June 2021, we found ourselves packing a U-Haul so that we could answer the call to go west. While neither my wife nor I are farmers, we both saw the Lord’s perfect timing in our adventure coming to Oklahoma.

Canadian Upbringing

I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta (a city of about 400,000 people some 350 miles north of the Montana border). I was raised by Christian parents in the Protestant Reformed Churches of America—a conservative Dutch Reformed denomination. I am very thankful for this Christian upbringing, especially for the grace of God in raising me as a covenant child. Fairly early in my childhood, I felt the call to pastoral ministry. I heard a sermon on Matthew 9:35–38 and left convicted of the need for men to preach the gospel. Later I went to a university in Edmonton, with the intentions of going to seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

But the Lord had other plans for me. I came to certain convictions about preaching and found myself in the RPCNA in 2016. Before I knew it, I was embracing many of the distinctives of the RPCNA and came under care of St. Lawrence Presbytery. My pastor strongly encouraged me to attend the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and, after a year of full-time seminary studies from a distance, a Western Canadian boy was boarding a plane to fly to Pittsburgh, Pa., in Aug. 2018.

Married Life

Two years later I was married to an amazing girl (who also happened to be the daughter of the Old Testament professor at RPTS) and had graduated from seminary. At this point, my wife and I had no idea what the future held for us. I had graduated and was eligible to receive a pastoral call. She had roughly one more year of nursing school before she was set to graduate and commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. She was in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps hoping to become a flight nurse. As you can imagine, when we started dating this was a topic of major concern for us. We spent many hours discussing whether it was possible for us to pursue marriage if I was going into the pastorate and she was going into the Air Force. Eventually, we determined it was possible. From our understanding at the time, she would be able to select several bases at which to serve. We would try to candidate at churches that lined up with Air Force bases and pray that God would direct our steps.

Candidating across the U.S.

I set my mind on candidating at various RP churches, and in June 2020 I found myself exiting a car and being blasted by hot Oklahoma wind. We had a lovely time in Oklahoma. We fell in love with the church there in many ways that we were not expecting. When I had initially talked to Grace about where we could end up living, I told her I could not imagine being anywhere farther south than Pittsburgh.

We were asked back to candidate again at Stillwater RPC, but then we found out some news about Grace’s Air Force commitment. While we initially thought she would be allowed to select a base, we then found out that, since she was becoming a nurse, her first base assignment would be one of only eight bases, none in Oklahoma. We immediately informed the Stillwater session of this development, and they asked us to consider trying to get Grace out of the Air Force. We prayed about this and determined that we would try to get out of the Air Force.

After a good deal of back-and-forth with the Air Force, she was discharged in February 2021. This was certainly not an easy time for us, but the Lord graciously sustained us as He revealed His will. When we eventually heard that she was discharged, it came as quite a shock for us, but we let Stillwater RPC know and were invited back to Oklahoma City. About a month or so after a very enjoyable visit with the church, we heard news that I had been called as associate pastor of Stillwater RPC.

Moving to OKC

We packed up the U-Haul and we newlyweds were off to a brand-new state. The words of Proverbs 3:5–6 rang immensely true for us over those tumultuous months. Proverbs 3:5–6 says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” How true such a verse is, and what a comfort it is to trust in the Lord as we wait upon His will for our lives!

We arrived at Oklahoma City on June 23, 2021. After several months of settling in, Stillwater RPC petitioned the Midwest Presbytery for OKC to become a mission church. On Nov. 4, 2021, the Oklahoma City exploratory work became an official mission church of the Midwest Presbytery!

Oklahoma City RPC

OKC RPC is a group of about 9 families—28 baptized and communicant members. We also have about 17 adherents who are taking membership classes. We are immensely thankful to the Lord for the way He is building His church.

We are a nice mix of younger and older families. Almost all the core families were members of Stillwater RPC, who daughtered the OKC RPC once they transferred their memberships. After Stillwater RPC had a sending service for us on Nov. 28, 2021, we had our first morning worship service on Dec. 5 at a building we are renting in downtown OKC. I am currently preaching through the Book of Acts, taking special note about what the church looks like and how Jesus Christ is pleased to grow His church. Apart from our time of worship, we also try to have a fellowship meal each Sunday, as well as an afternoon meeting. Our afternoon meetings consist of a mix of singing of psalms, prayer, and a sermon discussion. These are enjoyable times as we share food together, worship our God through the glorious gift of music, and engage in prayer for one another.

We have a Wednesday night Bible study and have gone through Proverbs, Ruth, and are currently working through Ecclesiastes. The men of the core group meet the last Saturday of the month for a prayer breakfast, and some of the women have been meeting to do a Bible study. It has been a joy to pastor this congregation, and I am thankful for each one of them.

Over the years, the core group has gotten to know and minister to a boys home called the Genesis Project. This home treats abused boys aged 6–12. We had opportunity to have a thanksgiving dinner for them on Nov. 18 and were able to give each boy his own copy of the Bible. It is our hope and prayer that we can continue to build a relationship with these boys and that the seeds we have planted might bear much gospel fruit.

We all share a desire to proclaim the glorious gospel of our great God and Savior in a city that is situated neatly in the Bible belt. A bunch of us regularly go out street witnessing in downtown Oklahoma City. We pass out tracts, I do street preaching, and we try to find opportunities to pray for others. While many profess Christ in this area, there is a famine of solid Reformed churches. There is a need for people to come to Christ and to be discipled in the Word of God. Please pray for us as we strive to be faithful to the Great Commission in OKC.