Elizabeth Bird to Bring Chapel Message Nov. 28

November 16, 2012

Elizabeth Bird, a 1998 OBU graduate, will bring OBU's chapel message on Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 10 a.m. in Raley Chapel's Potter Auditorium. The community is invited to attend the service.

Her message will focus on Psalm 46. The 2012-13 theme for OBU's chapel messages is "The Psalms," with C. H. Spurgeon's "The Treasury of David" used as a backdrop for the series.

Bird, daughter of the late Leon Lee and Nancy Carol (Henson) Bird, is Keetoowah Cherokee. She currently serves as the self-governance coordinator for the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.

She earned a bachelor's degree in American studies from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., in 1991. She earned a bachelor's degree in Christian studies from OBU in 1998 and a master's degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., in 2007.

Bird serves as an adjunct professor in the OBU School of Christian Studies. She teaches various ages at Elm Tree Baptist Church in Tahlequah, where she serves as education director. She also serves as regional director, for Oklahoma and Texas, for the Notre Dame Diversity Board. She is a member of the Notre Dame Club of Tulsa and the NSU Alumni Association in Tahlequah.

Prior to tribal administration, her career focused on youth in leadership, education, employment, incarceration and juvenile justice arenas. In 2001, she received the William D. Reynolds Alumni Award from the University of Notre Dame for "work toward improving the lives of Native American youth."

While attending OBU, she was named to the President's Honor Roll. In 2007, she received the Academic Award from the Southeastern Seminary's Education Department.