Curriculum Vitae

Full Name:  Rita Mary Bosico           Birthday:  August 25, 1965

Hometown: Haverstraw, NY              Currently residing: Ada, OK

Degrees: Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Biblical Literature

My story begins in Haverstraw, New York, 30 miles north of New York City.  I grew up as a PK - a "politician's kid" in this case. My father was in local government for 12 years (in the minority party) and I learned much about the issues of running a village and caring for its people; the administrative side and the managing side, the politics and the people. I learned how to listen to people's needs, follow instructions, work on a team, lead a team, have poise and professional phone manners, be a hard worker till the end, and work to win.  Our family was involved in several election campaigns for my father and his friends running for mayor, deputy mayor, and trustee.  Our house was the 'headquarters' so I observed campaign management first hand.  I was involved in the distribution of campaign literature, phone calls to constituents, making election signs and observing the creation of press releases, building a support base, and the voting and election process. In high school, I was on the local campaign team for Lew Lehrman for Governor of New York.  This basis was the environment that nurtured me towards a love of public relations, communication, community service and adminisration.  The other strongest influences in my life were the Roman Catholic church, growing up in an Italian Catholic family with strong religious identity and dedication, and a quest for performing music. 

After completing an Associate's degree and working at some major business and pharmaceutical companies, I moved to Orlando, Florida, at 22 and in January 1989 I experienced a series of personal call to ministry and sensed God’s anointing to the ministries of preaching, ministering with music, and praying for the sick and oppressed. According to the direction I received from the Lord, I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to transfer into Oral Roberts University for ministry preparation. There I completed a Bachelor's in Old Testament Literature, with a minor in music. I continued my studies at ORU for four and a half more years in the Graduate School of Theology and Missions completing a Master of Divinity and then a Master of Arts in Biblical Literature. While in seminary, I was chosen to be a teaching assistant in the undergraduate school of Theology and Missions. I was promoted to Head Teaching Assistant to lead 12 other T.A.'s , and to work with the hundreds of students taking the general education Bible and Theology classes, and the chair of our department, Dr. Cheryl Iverson. As part of my church experience, I attended Christ UMC (where the Rev. Bob Mansfield, one of my teachers, was Assoc. Pastor) and St. James UMC.
 
Two years after I finished my eight years at ORU, I was led by God to move to Ada, Oklahoma, to join in with a church and their college ministry Along with another ORU graduate, we established and taught at and the Victory School of Ministry, a Bible Institute in Victory Life Fellowship (a Foursquare church). After 2 years, as requested by the pastor, I established ties to ORU, through their School of Lifelong Education, to provide a joint certificate from both institutions using the ORU Bible Institute curriculum, resources and to afford the students peer accreditation of their completed courses.
 
Following that, I worked as the church secretary at St Luke's Episcopal Church in Ada and coordinated their outreach of food and clothes, called the Matthew 25 Mission. For three years, I maintained and expanded a large network of volunteers from the entire Ada community to help the outreach to grow and serve more people. From 2004 to the present, I have been on the board of a homeless service organization working with them to maintain their services and establish a more permanent solution to the rural homelessness in our area.

Since coming to Ada in August 1999, I have worked with two college ministries helping the students at East Central University: LifeHouse (part of Victory Life Fellowship, Foursquare), and the United Campus Ministry (United Methodist/ecumenical outreach), where I worked as the director's secretary, and continue to serve actively as their board secretary.

In March 2007, I was part of a ministry team sent out with the Rev. Scott Spencer from the UCM to the St. Mark's UMC in Maud, OK. After several months of ministering with music to this small congregation struggling for its viability, the church was closed in June, which was disappointing, but in meeting D.S. Guy Ames, the decommissioning of one church led to an open door for me. Through conversation, we talked about having both attended ORU. Through this connection, I was asked if I'd consider other posts like this one.

In July 2007, I was assigned as the supply pastor at two United Methodist Churches; Stuart and Gerty, Oklahoma where I preached, played guitar and assisted in leading worship. Each church now has its own website (stuartumc.1hwy.com and gertyumc.1hwy.com) and several newsletters were published.The Stuart UMC (4 members left) was 3 blocks from the K-12 school,  and so I took advantage of the special opportunities for transformational ministry by teaching guitar and piano for free at the church and turning the 1970’s fellowship hall into a retro 1950’s themed community coffeehouse called “the Rev” to help reconnect the church with the community -- especially its large student population which had no other place in town to meet, study or hang out. I set up the volleyball net, ping-pong table and got a swing set, but also set up a computer, printer and desk to be a homework area.  I used Back-to-school bashes, Easter egg hunts, a gospel concert and Fall Harvest festival to build relationships and try to overcome a scandal (from 20 years ago) that still kept the people untrusting of that church.  I admit that when I was appointed to Allen UMC after 8 months at Stuart, I felt a great sense of angst since I had just gotten to the point of being known and trusted by the students and adults, and the potential ministry success abruptly cut off with no sense of salvaging. It was a great sense of loss.
 
To sum up my passions, experiences, and purposes, I am a preacher, teacher, musician, marketer and manager. I am diligent and thorough, a problem-solver, a content person who brings peace, life, and humor. I work well by myself, like to do new things, don’t cause problems with coworkers, and I love to help people and make them feel comfortable, inspired, encouraged and uplifted. My networking skills have given me success in creating more ministries that can expand influence and maximize effectiveness, and create a relationship that enables the other participants to benefit from their involvement.
 
I am currently working on writing two books and working with Hyatt International Ministries to help establish their International Christian Women's Hall of Fame in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
 
I am a creative person with strong leadership qualities. I have an entrepreneurial zeal that enables me to launch ideas from the ground up and organize them into a stable and flourishing endeavor. I desire to use my creativity to make signs, presentations, brochures, charts and marketing items for activities or organizations. I also enjoy doing presentations. My experience, training, seminary education and character of being an analyst/thinker suit me for leadership. I am very capable in social services and enjoy opportunities where I can be busy with my work and serve a lot of people.

 
Rita Bosico, M.Div., MA
501 East 10 Street
Ada OK 74820
cell phone: 580-399-0137
email: ritabosico@yahoo.com
_____________________________________________________________

 
EXPERIENCE

Pastor
6/2008 - Present  United Methodist Churches at Allen and Gerty, OK
Local pastor leading the two congregations in small town and rural settings respectively. Preach back-to-back services on Sunday, plus a Wednesday evening meeting at Allen. Outreach to the local students, and to those at the local nursing home.

Pastor and worship leader
7/2007 - 6/2008  United Methodist Churches at Stuart and Gerty, OK
These churches both have long-established congregations with valuable traditions. I served these congregations by leading them in worship (singing, playing guitar), preaching sermons and lessons, and praying for and with them.  In many aspects, I am helped to renew their attention to their current needs and effectiveness in fulfilling their purposes, and to offer them opportunities to participate in the connectional aspects of the United Methodist Churches (activities, special offerings, and holy days in the church year). At the Stuart church, I transformed the fellowship hall into a community coffeehouse to provide opportunities for us to meet the people, serve them in kindness, meet their connectional needs, and by building relationships help to welcome them into the family and fabric of the congregation. Every Sunday afternoon, I offered free guitar lessons as another opportunity to build relationships and express God's love for them and encourage them in their talents.  Since there is a school just down the street (300 students Pre-K through 12) I have established several outreach events to invite the youth for fun, recreation, and building community among us. This has been successful among the middle-school aged students. I made inroads to establish a youth band and youth group to where they could have their own expression of faith and worship, encountering God and learning his truth in a way that reaches them effectively.  From this group, and partnering with the school's FFA (Future Farmers of America) I aimed to affect the town by establishing a food outreach, and even establish a student-maintained community food garden.  This would build an investment into people's lives, helping people at their basic needs, and making connection to the community through expressions of compassion and restoration. In this way, I planned that the church would mature in faith and express the nature of God in their lives, by expressions of people loving people, intending to model and emphasize Methodist founder John Wesley's directive to "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the places you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."
 
Assistant to a Certified Financial Planner / Client Rep
7/2006 - 5/2007  Premier Investment Advisory Services, Ada, OK
 
Director of Food and Clothes Mission
12/2003 - 3/2007  Matthew 25 Mission of Ada, Inc., Ada, OK (St Luke's Episcopal Church)
I directed the monthly Food Outreach of St Luke's Episcopal Church. I oversaw the entire operation of the outreach from start to finish: ordering the food from the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, coordinating volunteers, directing the food load in, sacking the food, and directing the registration and distribution to hundreds of households that came to our site. Over the years, I have been successful at making good rapport with other community helping agencies and churches of 4 different denominations. I did the public relations of the mission and brought awareness to the community by participating in the Community Council meetings at DHS (the helping agencies in Pontotoc County), 2-1-1 Information Referral Services, United Way events, and the Community Needs Awareness Council. I created the presentation board, brochures, handouts, patron surveys and kept the website information updated.
 
I used several fundraising efforts that were very successful in creating more financial support and community awareness of our outreach:
-  Redeemed receipts through a local grocery store who gives us $20 for every $1,000 in receipts. Avg $200/mo.
-  Applied to have the outreach be a United Way agency. We were accepted and received $4,500.00 (became a 501(c)3 org; I was Secretary of the Board of Directors); 
-  Wrote to the Episcopal Church Office NYC with a grant proposal to the United Thank Offering for expansion of our services . Awarded $10,000.
-  Applied to the Episcopal Church's Jubilee Ministry office in NYC for the organization to be a Jubilee Center
 - we were accepted as one of only 5 Jubilee Centers in the State of Oklahoma and a select few in the USA.  They trained me in the
                     philosophy, theology and practical issues of  "seeking peace and justice for the poor and oppressed". I was able to network with other
                     food outreaches around the country.
-  Applied to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and received a desktop computer to do food orders online. Received 2 laptop computers through a United Way agency for keeping our rosters in a spreadsheet for keeping our statistics and registration information. I advanced from just ordering the food, to maintaining  an emergency food pantry  (to help the homeless, and those in crisis without food. I collaborated with Ada Area Commty Emergency Services who had an office near me), to overseeing and directing the whole operation of the mission and recruiting volunteers to do the work, to launching community gardens for fresh produce for children and adults.

Church Secretary
4/2004 - 7/2006  St Luke's Episcopal Church, Ada, OK

Secretary for Director of Campus Ministry
1/2006 - 5/2006  United Campus Ministry, Ada, OK (former Wesley Foundation)
Supported the director of this United Methodist-based ecumenical campus ministry.  Created signs and flyers for events, and created mail-outs for churches in the state.  Supplied support for office needs as well as the board of directors.  Helped promote their various fundraisers.

Computer Tech Support / Customer Relations
8/1999 - 1/2004  Sykes Enterprises Inc, Ada, OK
Worked in a call-center taking in-bound calls of customers of PeoplePC, Toshiba computers, and SBC DSL service. 
Computer Tech Support:  Established customer information, assessment of the symptoms of malfunction and did technical troubleshooting to fix the problem by directing the customer over the phone (and by email) of what actions to take. I also updated the Knowledge Base with workable solutions that the other techs used.  On PeoplePC, I helped create the new knowledge base for other reps and techs. Trained a class out of state to take over the email-based tech support of the account.Customer Relations:  For Toshiba Computers.  I took customer complaints and used my skills to work towards 'keeping the customer', supporting the brand, and making them happy.  It required listening skills, a calm and peaceful attitude, extreme patience and working hard with personnel at Headquarters to see what could be done to satisfy the customer.

Director and Teacher at Bible Institute
8/1999 - 3/2003  Victory School of Ministry, Ada, OK
Raised up a new Bible Institute to train people for ministry in the church, as well as additional education in theology and the bible. Initially I collaborated with the original director in establishing ties with LIFE Bible College using their curriculum. When that proved too expensive for the students, we established our own curriculum and taught those classes ourselves.  After 2 years, I remained as the sole director and forged a relationship with the Oral Roberts University School of Lifelong Education to establish a Diploma Program. I continued as a teacher, administrator,  registrar.  Acquired a ministry library and a computer lab for the students.  Website:  vsom.1hwy.com

Minister to college students
7/1999 - 3/2002  LifeHouse, Ada, OK
Helped the students of East Central University develop their faith by mentoring them, preaching, playing music, and offering spiritual advice.

Office Temp for several businesses
9/1998 - 6/1999  Express Personnel, Tulsa, OK
Due to my varied talents and ability to adjust to changing environments, I was a temp for several companies including:     AAPG (American Association of Petroleum Geologists),  St Francis Hospital,  Honor Books Publishing Company, and  Lockheed Martin-Postal Technologies Inc.

Office Secretary
8/1997 - 9/1998  The Nature Conservancy of Oklahoma, Tulsa, OK
The company was the Oklahoma chapter of an international organization (tnc.org) which is committed to preserving certain lands that hold local ecology intact as well as ecosystems that depend on its stability.  I worked mainly for the director, Brita Cantrell with presentations and correspondence and supported them as needed in regards to the education, research and fundraising that they did.  Participated in several trips to the Tall Grass Prairie for the annual Bison roundup, and for the dedication of the Pontotoc Ridge Preserve and helped to coordinate their annual meeting with their members from across the state.  Did the data entry for an extensive survey of their members.

Head Teaching Assistant for Gen Ed Bible Classes
8/1994 - 5/1997  Oral Roberts University Grad School of Theology and Missions (Seminary), Tulsa, OK
After 1 semester of being a TA, I was promoted to lead a team of 12 TA's for the general education Old Testament and New Testament Bible Classes (of 600-800  undergraduate students) for 3 years. I taught the classes in the teacher's absence, and made frequent addresses to the students.  Coordinated the TA training classes.  I assigned a schedule of 3 discussion group classes for each TA, made seating charts for their classes in our auditoriums, kept attendance, prepared the students for tests, led the tests (distribution of materials, answering inquiries, observing the students, executing discipline), and overseeing the grading and post testing procedures.  I created the department's first computerized grade book for the TAs, complete with formulas, for accurate and easy grade calculations, attendance tracking and notes on students. Because of this, our TA's were more efficient and the information was able to be printed out neatly, was archiveable, and maximized time management.

Newspaper Columnist and Photographer
2/1993 - 5/1996  Oral Roberts University "The Oracle", Tulsa, OK

Rep in Admissions Dept
5/1995 - 8/1995  Oral Roberts University Grad School of Theology and Missions, Tulsa, OK

Secretary, Parks & Rec Offices
5/1988 - 8/1989  City of Maitland, Florida, Maitland, FL
Worked as secretary for the Director of the City of Maitland's Parks and Recreation Department.  Also assisted the employees directing the after-school programs, summer programs, city sports teams and registration in those events.  Served the public every day - both adults, parents and children.  Worked with the City Hall staff with communication, public meetings, and marketing our events to the community.  Assisted the staff in planning three new recreation centers and the bidding and contract process to renovate a tennis center.  Ended the job to continue my education in Tulsa Oklahoma.

 
BOARDS THAT I SERVE ON:
A.A.C.E.S. (Ada Area Community Emergency Services) assisting the homeless, preventing homelessness. Board member.

U.C.M. (United Campus Ministry) an ecumenical campus outreach at East Central University. Board secretary.