Tulsa World: Slide Show: Church is born again

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Slide Show: Church is born again
Volunteers give face-lift to Turley house of worship

Carbondale Assembly of God member Jackie Dallas (right) hugs Turley Assembly of God member Jolett Harjo as Harjo and her fellow church members tour their newly renovated building Wednesday evening. Dallas and her husband, Bill Dallas (left), were among the Carbondale members who worked on the Turley church's makeover. STEPHEN HOLMAN/Tulsa World

By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer
Published: 6/4/2009 2:20 AM
Last Modified: 6/4/2009 6:30 AM

Laughter and tears of joy flowed freely Wednesday night as members of the Turley Assembly of God got their first look at the radical makeover that transformed their church building in one week.

"Wow. This is unbelievable. This is incredible," Turley pastor J.J. Jennings said over and over as he walked through the building for the first time.

Member Jolett Harjo, who was raised in the Turley church, cried and hugged people as she toured the building.

"It's amazing. I'm so excited about this," she said. "This is going to be awesome."

One week ago, Jennings handed over the keys to his aging, dated building to the members of Carbondale Assembly of God, a large, prosperous church in west Tulsa.

Neither he nor his members knew what the Carbondale crew would do.

"We had no idea. I trusted these people," Jennings said.

Working 14 hours a day for seven days, teams of 40 or 50 workers from the Carbondale youth group, young adult group and men's group ripped out walls, carpet, plastic floor tile, drywall, ceiling tiles, light fixtures and furniture.

They scraped, sanded, painted inside and out, cleaned, replaced a sign, cut down trees and pulled weeds.

They installed carpet and doors and ceramic tile and light fixtures. They built walls and closets and drop ceilings and cabinets.

They created a state-of-the art youth room with three flat-screen televisions, video games and modern black furniture.

In all, Carbondale invested $30,000 cash and about 3,500 man-hours in the transformation.

Carbondale pastor Phil Taylor said, "People gave to us 10 years ago when a tornado blew away our building, and we just want to help keep that going.

"Change can be scary," he told the Turley members.

Carbondale member Chuck Marler took two weeks of vacation from his job as a United Airlines pilot to direct the project.

"I enjoyed doing it," he said. "God taught me to use my hands, and I'm using them for his kingdom now."

The makeover was the brainchild of Jeff Walker, the youth pastor at Carbondale.

"I've always wanted to help a church that's less- fortunate," he said. "We try to do this at least once a year."

The Turley project is Walker's third makeover since he has been on the staff at Carbondale.

On Monday, Holly Lahr, a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, sat on the ground behind the church, washing and organizing dishes from a pantry.

"This church really needed a lot of help," she said. "Whatever we can do to help them reach more people will be a blessing. I'm just glad to do what little I can to hopefully make a difference."

In addition, Carbondale has agreed to pay the salary of a youth pastor for the Turley church for one year.

Chris Rathbone, 25, who grew up in the Carbondale Assembly, has accepted the position.

"There's just a few kids here, but they're excited," he said.

The new youth room will help, he said.

"I can envision it more now. We've got some good tools to work with."

Slide Show

To see all of the Tulsa World slide shows, go to tulsaworld.com/photos.

Bill Sherman 581-8398
bill.sherman@tulsaworld.com By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Turley Assembly of God undergoes makeover," which was published on 6/3/2009.

	Report Comment Missy,,M, no thanks (6/3/2009 11:03:36 PM) How nice is this?
	Report Comment The Bug, Tulsa (6/4/2009 12:01:45 AM) Great to see people get together for something positive. Good Job guys.
	Report Comment 08OSUgrad, Tulsa (6/4/2009 12:42:13 AM) Kudos!
	Report Comment Bball Fan, (6/4/2009 5:35:27 AM) The folks at Carbondale Assembly of God church are awesome and what ongoing gifts they have provided for Turley Assembly of God church. It gave me goosebumps reading this article.
	Report Comment Its Chon, (6/4/2009 6:19:51 AM) That's a really great story of the church in action. So cool.
	Report Comment BayouGirl, Owasso (6/4/2009 9:49:42 AM) What an awesome gift! Definitely God's love in action. I would like to see a picture of the finished project just to satisfy my curiosity.
	Report Comment J C OK, Tulsa County (6/4/2009 3:15:09 PM) Carbondale Assembly of God has a wonderful group of people. They have such a good heart and love for others. I know many of them. The church at Turley must have hit hard times. Yeas ago it wa a small but great church. My brother-in-law was a local Assembly of God pastor for years. This is how I know the two churches and their members. I am not a member of the AG now but find the AG churches much more responsible than many of the churches of today. God Bless all of these good folks.
	Report Comment Idon'thateverything, (6/4/2009 10:57:49 PM) june 13th there is an open house at Turley Assembly from 1-5. Feel free to come out and see the work in action.
	Report Comment scooter2, (6/5/2009 11:01:03 AM) Mr Lightning That was years and years ago and none of people alive today had anything to do with it. Second of all how would you know if anyones repented??? Third you must believe in Jesus, sinse you obvisouly believe in Lucifer. Yet you call Gods Holy Word a black book of death?? That statement scares me. You need to find salvation for your soul, and get out all that unnecessary hate in your heart, or Lucifer awaits you my friend..
	Report Comment scooter2, (6/5/2009 11:05:35 AM) And Excuse me but the Indians have been given back alot of their lands, given free healthcare, roll cards with numerous benefits to them. Alot has been done to help them. They seem to be fairing out very well with their casinos. Don't look like they are doing too badly.
	Report Comment justme&theboys, Tulsa (6/5/2009 2:53:15 PM) This is really a good church. I do business with them and have attended church here a few times just to visit- so I know these people in several ways. They are ethical, warm, friendly and truly great examples of Christian love. God bless you all. And, good luck to Turley's church too!

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