Good heavens, Batman! A comic book store is the latest United Methodist outreach ministry

A mural on the wall of the new store featured a stained glass motif of Captain America, Superman — and the Cross and Flame emblem of the United Methodist Church.

Several ministers mingled with members of the community while Dr. Strange perused the shelves.

The colorful images and the Marvel superhero's appearance alongside local clergy hinted at the super-size mission of Sanctuary Comics & Books, 9420 N May: it's a new outreach ministry of Village United Methodist Church.

Sanctuary founder Nash Carey, 49, opened the store and ministry — his second ―in partnership with the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference, which provided the funds to get the new store up and running, and Village United Methodist, 2501 W Britton Road. The Rev. Elaine Robinson, the church's pastor, said Carey has been hired as the church's minister of community engagement.

Carey said the store in The Village will be much like the first Sanctuary Comics & Games store that he and his wife, Esther, opened in 2023 in Edmond. Similar to what the couple have continued to offer at the Edmond store, Carey said he hopes to build community around the intersection of faith and the realms of comic books and fantasy games at the new establishment.

More: This Edmond comic book store is offering sanctuary for fans and ministry for the faithful

And like the Edmond store, he said he wants the new Sanctuary to be, well, a sanctuary of sorts, particularly for people who are neurodivergent like himself. Along those lines, the new store also will host a Sunday fellowship where people will be able to play games like Dungeons & Dragons, followed by a Bible study led by Carey. He said a recent event at the Edmond store focused on the different concepts of strength.

"In this space, we are all champions, we are all the alpha nerd and we are all children of God," Carey said as he shared a prayer of blessing during the grand opening.

"This is a safe place designed to open up people's minds, a place where they can come together to build a community, to support and lift up each other and even to slay dragons together."

'Our new sanctuary'

Carey's close-knit Sanctuary-Edmond community, United Methodist Church leaders and Village United Methodist members helped celebrate the new store's grand opening. Carey said Edwin Lee, dressed as Dr. Strange, added just the right touch as an Avenger in their midst. Robinson welcomed the crowd to the new ministry, while the Rev. Derrek Belase, director of connectional ministries for the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference, performed the ribbon cutting.

Robinson said she has known Carey since he was one of her students at St. Paul School of Theology, a United Methodist Seminary at Oklahoma City University, where she is a professor. She said she understood his vision for Sanctuary as an expression of ministry and wanted to see it expand to include her church and the community surrounding it. She said the ministry also may be a potential revenue source for Village United Methodist, where church members liked the idea of joining forces with Carey for the unique outreach.

"Part of it is, Methodists have a vision of reaching people outside the walls of the church," Robinson said. "This is a place to build community and relationships with people who aren't regularly in the church."

Robinson said she and her church members have begun describing the store as "our new sanctuary."

"We've got a sanctuary in the (church) building. We've got a sanctuary here," she said.

Belase said in many ways, the new Sanctuary is part of the Oklahoma United Methodist Church's Dream a Church initiative that was unveiled in 2023 after United Methodists experienced a season of disaffiliation.

"I think a couple of our dreams are about revitalizing local churches," he said. "This is a huge part of that, when a local church can reach out and start a business to reach new people."

He said he liked Carey's idea of creating a place for people to have conversations about faith.

"We were happy to be a part of that and we were able to provide some financial support to get it off the ground."

Introduction to comics

Village United Methodist Church members like Judy Ellis and Pat Dollarhide said they liked the idea of offering Christian ministry within the new comics store.

Ellis said she and Dollarhide were among about 60 church members who helped prepare the store for opening. She said she knew about fashion because she once owned a dress shop nearby, but now she knows about comics, as well.

Dollarhide said she loved working alongside other church members to get the store ready.

"It's been amazing — I know more about comic books than I ever thought," she said. "It's a different world."

Carey said he was excited to get the second fusion of faith and comics open for business and ministry.

"It feels wonderful like it is the end of a very long race, and a little exhausting," he said. "But, for the most part, I feel energized with this deep burning energy, just ready to serve the Lord."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Good heavens, Batman! A comic book store is the latest United Methodist outreach ministry