By naming our church with the name of the community in which it sits we are intentionally stating that our priority is the people who call Kendall Whittier home.
But, what’s in a name? Well, within this Tulsa community of Kendall Whittier there are 27,000 people whose names are important to Jesus and to KWC.
There is no mistaking our purpose, our vision, or our heart. The Kendall Whittier area is rich in culture and diversity, and we aim to celebrate the uniqueness of our community.
Kendall Whittier is also the name of the local elementary school, yet education has not always been prioritized. There are two zip codes that comprise the Kendall Whittier area – in one only 67% have a high school education yet the other is home to the University of Tulsa.
We aim to be involved in the local schools and promote the need for education but to also place a high priority on educating all who attend in the Word of God. Discipleship matters!
The school is named for Dr. Kendall, a pastor and statesman within the Presbyterian church, who felt strongly about the importance of education and the expansion of the church.
Dr. Kendall, served as the Home Missions Secretary for the Presbyterian church from 1861 – 1892. In that time, he oversaw church planting operations in the areas of America west of the Mississippi.
In a report Dr. Kendall wrote for their general assembly he stated,
“More ministers of the gospel are needed! Promising fields of labor are left wholly unoccupied; others, equally promising and once occupied are now abandoned to destitution and decay for want of me to cultivate them. Our present rate of increase will barely keep up the supply of our own church, but it is entirely inadequate to the growth of the country. Our duties extend to all the world. The church of Christ is essentially a missionary church.”
(General Assembly Minutes, New York, 1859)
We seek to keep planting churches and seeing the mission to go into all the world be fulfilled from within KWC. Helping other church plants, supporting missionaries globally, and partnering with local agencies while also engaging in our community is our goal.
John Greenleaf Whittier was raised as a Quaker and was forever shaped by its teachings. He is known as one of America’s greatest poets, and his writings were instrumental in the cause to end slavery.
Whittier was a strong, outspoken abolitionist, and he gained a large audience in the years leading up to the Civil War. His fight for justice for all men and women is notable.
The commitment to justice still stands for KWC. Economic and racial injustices are causes we will address in ways that are built upon the directives of Scripture.
What’s in a name? Community, education, missions, and justice. Kendall Whittier Church is a community dedicated to education, justice and the spread of the Gospel both at home and around the world.
KWC is an Assemblies of God church and adheres to their doctrinal stance and positions.