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Meeting People where they live
By Boyce Bowdon

During the 30-minute drive to his office every weekday morning, Lee Allen listens to his favorite radio station. “I enjoy their music,” says the businessman. “And I like Tom Harrison’s stories. They are interesting and inspiring and help get my day started right.”

Lee is one of thousands who listen to Tom Harrison, senior pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Harrison’s one-minute story is carried during drive time Monday through Friday on six Tulsa FM radio stations.

Dr. Harrison’s assistant, Victoria Williamson, says the program—called Perceptions—is one of Asbury’s most effective outreaches to the community. 

“I get lots of requests for copies of these stories and many people have come to our church after hearing Tom on the radio.”

Conceived by Durelle Durham, a member of Christ UM Church in Memphis, Perceptions was first used successfully in 1985 by Dr. Maxie Dunnam, who was then senior pastor of Christ UM Church.

People of all ages listen to Perceptions, Harrison says, but the target audience is people under age 40 who are not active church members.

“We air our program on secular radio stations because they are the stations that people we want to reach listen to most,” Harrison explains. “We don’t preach and we avoid politics. We don’t talk about how wonderful our church is or tell the times of our worship services. Instead, we say a good word about life and our perception of it. We present the message of the Bible in the vernacular.”

The spot ends with these words: “I’m Tom Harrison, and these are perceptions from Asbury United Methodist Church.” That’s the only mention of the church, but it’s enough to tell listeners Asbury cares about people.

“Perceptions helps us meet people where they live, and meeting people where they live is the key to our ministry,” says Harrison, who is now in his 16th year as senior pastor of the 8,000-member congregation, one of the nation’s largest United Methodist churches.

“If we don’t meet people where they live, we’ll never meet them at all,” Harrison says. “We can’t be faithful to our calling if we live in an isolated, monastic setting and wait for people to drop in and become like us. To reach people for Christ, we must be culturally relevant and true to the gospel.”

Jesus modeled meeting people on their own turf, Dr. Harrison points out.

“The Book of Acts tells us that early followers of Jesus didn’t wait for everyone to come to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit sent them into Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”

Meeting people where they live is a vital part of the Methodist heritage, he says.

“Even though John Wesley felt it was reprehensible to preach in the fields to coal miners, he was willing to discard his tradition of preaching in formal settings in favor of reaching people. The world was his parish.”

Meeting people where they live has to do with attitude, Harrison says. “If our hearts are engaged in reaching people, then we will find the methods to minister to them.”

To minister effectively in today’s world, churches must recognize that people have different interests, concerns, and needs, he says.

“People are not all alike and they are at different places in their journeys. So, to meet people where they live, we must offer a variety of ministries in a variety of settings.”

 Here are some ways Asbury seeks to minister to its diverse audiences.

Worship Services. Every Sunday morning Asbury has five worship services. Each is designed to minister to a specific group of people with music and worship styles that help them feel God’s presence and power.

A traditional communion service is at 8:00 in the Mason Chapel; a contemporary praise and worship service is at 9:15 in the sanctuary; an “Open House” worship service is at 9:15 in the Community Life Center; a traditional worship service is at 11:00 in the sanctuary, and a modern service is at 11:00 in Venue 68, Asbury’s student ministry center.

Worshippers in all five services hear Harrison’s sermon. His message in the sanctuary at 9:15 is simulcast in the Open House. It is also recorded and projected on big screens in Venue 68 during the 11:00 modern service. An associate pastor and a worship band lead the Open House service—held in a casual environment where coffee is available. The modern service at Venue 68 is also led by associates and is especially for youth.

Harrison wears his robe for the 8:00 and 11:00 services, but he wears a sport shirt for the 9:15 service. “If I wore a tie at that service, I’d be the only one wearing one,” he explains. “I don’t change the basic content of my message, but I do adapt how I present the message to fit the needs and interests of the audiences. This helps meet them where they live.”

Student ministry. Nearly two years ago, Asbury purchased an ice skating rink located on property adjoining the church. They have remodeled the building into a ministry center primarily for students.

Designed and developed to meet needs and interests of youth, the new facility is called Venue 68. In addition to space for study, worship and recreation, it has an auditorium and a coffee shop. But at least one thing is conspicuously absent. The building doesn’t have a sign identifying it as a part of Asbury United Methodist Church.

The Rev. Todd Peterson, Asbury’s senior high ministry leader, says Asbury’s youth feel Venue 68 is their space, not their parents or their grandparents. “A ton of our students invite friends to come here on Wednesday nights for our worship service.”

Peterson says the 850-seat auditorium—equipped with high-quality sound and projection equipment—is used for a variety of student ministries, including Christian concerts, which attract youth from the community. Approximately 1100 people attended the first Christian concert.

Asbury’s coffee shop—called Kaffe Bona—also attracts visitors, Peterson says. “Union High school is across the street and many of our students come over at lunch and bring their friends. It opens a door for kids to come in and be a part of what we are doing.”

Multiple outreaches. Asbury provides a variety of Sunday school classes, short-term studies, and small group activities. The church also offers divorce recovery help and support groups for those suffering from Alzheimer’s, cancer, grief, and other challenges. Celebrate Recovery is available for persons with “hurts, habits, and hang-ups.”

Asbury meets people where they live by focusing heavily on mission work that demonstrates God’s love.

The church builds a Habitat for Humanity house every year; sponsors a literacy program to help young people; provides resources for an “at risk” elementary school; sends hundreds of Asbury teenagers to impoverished areas to build or repair homes, and serve in other ways. Construction and medical teams from Asbury serve in the Tulsa community and around the world.

Where they lived. Organized in 1962 in what was then a fast-growing area of Tulsa, the church was named after the first Methodist bishop in America, Francis Asbury, who followed Wesley’s example and took the gospel to the people rather than waiting for them to come to the church.

Each of the church’s first two ministers served one year each. In 1964, a new minister was appointed. On a hot afternoon in June, the Rev. Bill Mason and his wife, Jayne, and their children drove up in a red Volkswagen convertible.

Immediately, Asbury people knew their new pastor was not typical. Mason—38 and fresh out of seminary—had never been pastor of a church. For 12 years before entering the ministry, he was a partner with his mother and uncle in a thriving office supply business in Oklahoma City.

Mason says when he started his ministry at Asbury, he didn’t feel qualified to be a pastor, even though he had graduated from seminary. But he says he had learned several lessons in the office supply business that he knew could help him as a pastor.

 “I had learned that you don’t sell office supplies if you are antagonistic and picking fusses out of people. And I had learned that a pastor cannot be faithful to God and to people without listening to people and working with them patiently.

“My years in business also taught me that if people bought office supplies from me, it was because I had something they needed and wanted. And I came into the ministry knowing that if visitors come to this church we had better have something they need and want. If we don’t, then they have no reason to come back; they ought to go to some other church.”

When he was in business, Mason was an outside salesman, calling on people all day every day. As a pastor, he kept calling on people all day and nearly every night. He visited members and prospective members in their homes or wherever he could meet them.

“I never will forget the first time a family joined our church that I had not called on first,” Mason said with a chuckle. “It kind of hurt my feelings. A part of me wanted to say, ‘Can you wait until next Sunday to join? Let me come to see you first.’ But, of course, I didn’t say that.”

When members went to the hospital, Mason visited them faithfully. If they were to have surgery, he was at the hospital to greet them when they arrived, and he stayed with the family until the doctor gave them a report.

“One of the most emotional days of my life was when I had to admit I couldn’t call on all the hospitals like I had been,” he recalls. “By that time we had nearly 5,000 members and hospitals were scattered across Tulsa. I simply didn’t have the strength to do it anymore.”

After 29 years as senior pastor of Asbury, Bill Mason retired in June 1993. Under his leadership, the church grew from 118 members to over 5,200, and the annual budget climbed from $10,000 to $2,500,000.

Tom Harrison was appointed to follow Mason. More than 15 years have passed and Mason continues to serve as pastor emeritus.

“Bill and I have the same attitude toward ministry,” Harrison says. “We believe that to be faithful to the Great Commission, meeting people where they live is crucial; it is not an option. And we believe to meet people where they live, we must go to them, not with an attitude of anger, judgment, and condemnation, but rather with love, acceptance, and forgiveness. That’s what Jesus did.”

Boyce Bowdon was a United Methodist pastor for 20 years and director of Oklahoma Conference Communications for 24 years before he retired in 2005. The author of three books, Dr. Bowdon is writing inspirational articles and books in retirement.



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