A Brief History of the Catholic Charismatic Movement in Eastern Oklahoma

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service (CCRS), of the Eastern Oklahoma Diocese, serves to help all persons to know the love of God the Father; to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; and to experience and be empowered by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. CCRS provides new experiences of the Holy Spirit that grow one’s relationship with Jesus and His – Our Father. CCRS teaches and promotes the growth of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit described by St. Paul (1 Corinthians 12:8-10): the Gift of Wisdom of inspired judgement; the Gift of Knowledge to understand holy things; the Gift of Faith to believe in and trust in God; the Gift of Healing to share God’s power; the Gift of Miracles to display God’s actions; the Gift of Prophecy to declare a message from God; the Gift of Discerning Spirits to recognize God’s presence among people; the Gift of Tongues to praise God in an unfamiliar language; and the Gift of Interpreting Tongues to understand and share the meaning of tongues.

CCRS offers to all Diocesan parishes multidimensional programs of educational seminars,  Masses with healing prayer teams afterwards, weekend retreats with nationally known speakers, and scriptural-based publications and videos.

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Oklahoma has diverse roots stretching back to the late 1960’s, when a small group of students at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, were baptized in the Spirit. Similar experiences occurred soon at three nearby universities, University of Notre Dame, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, where Ralph Martin and Steve Clark emerged as leaders of Catholic charismatic renewal.

In Oklahoma, the Holy Spirit breathed prophetic messages to both Native Americans and European Americans in Tulsa, in Oklahoma City and elsewhere in Oklahoma. In 1967 a small prayer group began meeting at St. John University Parish, Norman, with Fr. Dale Dirkschneider. In the same year, Dr. Kevin Ranaghan from Notre Dame University inspired a group of Catholics and Evangelical Protestants at Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Then in 1970, Fr. Francis McNutt and the Benedictine Sister Superior met a small group in the home of John and Ginny McCann including Dr. Howard Irvin of ORU, and all received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. From this nucleus, grew several prayer groups that met in Tulsa homes. At Church of St. Mary, Tulsa, Gary and Ann LeGere formed a small group that in 1976 moved to St. Ann in Broken Arrow. In late 1974, Ginny McCann, Rita McCarthy, Carole Scott, and Mary Ann Putman formed the Sanctuary Prayer Group (SPG) and began regular meetings at Church of the Resurrection. This group drew 12-50 or more people each week from different denominations, becoming ecumenical and continued until 2020.

As the renewal grew, in 1997 CCRS became a part of the Diocese through the leadership of Rita McCarthy. By 1980 the Diocese of Eastern Oklahoma appointed Fr. Peter Wells as liaison for the renewal to coordinate the many small prayer groups. Some years later Fr. Jack Gleason served as liaison to CCRS led by Carole and Bob Scott, and since 2005 Sheila Michie and Charles Michie have led CCRS.

Since the 1980’s, CCRS has sponsored “Life-In-The-Spirit Seminars” in parishes throughout Eastern Oklahoma. These seminars provide experience and teaching that promote a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. CCRS teams up with pastors to offer Friday evening Holy Mass with adoration, praise, personal healing prayers that renew one’s relationship with the Body of Christ. Periodically during the year, CCRS presents weekend conferences featuring national speakers through Pentecost Today USA, CHARIS, who promote Baptism in the Holy Spirit, unity in the Body of Christ and service to the poor. These conferences introduce Oklahoma Catholics to many national leaders of the Charismatic movement. In previous annual meetings, the Gifts of the Spirit were shared by guest speakers such as Bishop Sam Jacobs, Sr. Nancy Keller, Dr. Mary Healy, Neal Lozano, Fr. Art Cooney, Fr. John Paul Joyce, and Fr. Harold Imamshah.  During each conference prayer teams are available to pray for a wide range of personal needs including physical healing, emotional healing, relationships, and/or proxy prayers for family members and friends.

The Sanctuary Prayer Group (SPG) was one of the longer-lasting and well-known groups in Eastern Oklahoma. The weekly meetings joined Catholics with Episcopalians and members of evangelical denominations. Gifts of the Spirit were abundantly shared within this group and flowed outside as well. Healing, prophecy and visions occurred during the meetings and afterwards in private homes.

The following story illustrates an example of how the gifts of the Spirit have been flowing among the people. This experience was recalled by Kathryn Grant, a member of the SPG. On December 30, 1997, Kathryn prepared a brief talk for the group, and as she rested, began praying “Lord, what do you want to say to the people?” She, then, had a vision of a woman in native dress, her head bent low as she sewed. She was completely absorbed in memories as she stitched. A great buffalo robe was covering people with “The Plan” written on a very fine precious hide. It was as if the people were folded into the very map of God’s plan. She saw very strong sinews stitching the moccasin together. She saw a large bone needle, very sharp, smooth, strong, an excellent tool. She saw a very large single beaded moccasin as the vision ended.

Kathryn immediately called two Native American women in Osage County, who explained that each tribe had a unique style of making moccasins. And at that very moment tribes were meeting with Christian denominations to plan how to come together.

The next day at the Sanctuary Prayer Group meeting Kathryn shared her vision. Carole Scott immediately received a clarifying prophecy: “This is the year of remembrance [meaning recalling and bringing together], this is the year I will re-member you. This is the year I will cover you, enfold you in my plan, bring you together like stitching on a moccasin, I will pull you together. You will be my bone-needle and my sinew-thread and by my hand I will stitch the Great Moccasin.”

Carole explained that the writing on the deer skin was God’s secret plan for His Kingdom. This prophecy reminded members of another prophecy years ago by a priest from the charismatic school in Steubenville, Ohio. He said that the Spirit was bound in Oklahoma until healing occurred between Native Americans and European Americans. A Pentecostal minister also prophesied that the two groups needed to forgive, so God could move in Oklahoma. A few years later an Oklahoman priest repeated this prophesy.

Then in the spring of 1998, six women of the Sanctuary Prayer Group, Church of the Resurrection, and Margaret Gray and Mary Jo Webb from Sacred Heart Catholic Church, in Fairfax, Oklahoma visited with members of the “Church On The Rock” in Oklahoma City. This group was committed to a prophetic vision of reconciliations between Oklahoma Native Americans and European Americans across the state. While at the meeting, Margaret experienced a vision of the person who was speaking; she saw that woman become a bellows, which blew and sparked a fire for Oklahoma.

Early in the 21^st Century an Osage visionary, Mary Jo Webb, prophesied that the Lord would shine His Spirit on the Osage tribe and the prophesy would be seen all over the world. Then in 2017, the non-fiction book, “Killers of the Flower Moon” by David Grann, was published, which documents the murders of Osage people by European American interlopers, who seized their properties and oil rights. This book became a “Best Seller” in America. The book was soon followed by the release on October 20th, 2023, and nation-wide showing of the feature film, “Killers of the Flower Moon” directed by Martin Scorsese. Both the book and the movie received great reviews and impacted many Americans as well as persons in other nations. These two art forms truly “shone a light on the Osage People.”

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service in Oklahoma continues today under the leadership of Charles and Sheila Michie, members of Christ the King Parish. Prayer meetings on the second Tuesdays of each month are held at Church of the Madeline in Tulsa. A week-end conference with Dr. Mary Healy is planned for February 27-28, 2026. Planned events and activities are on the CCRS website: https://ccrstulsa.com/. The Oklahoma CCRS is associated with Pentecost Today U.S.A. , (formerly called National Service Committee).  Charles Michie was formerly a board member and he and Sheila now both serve on the Council of P.T. U.S.A.