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130th Weekly Edition 2010 GRR CURRENTS |
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JOYS and PRAYER CONCERNS |
Our hearts are heavy with the tragic earthquake in Haiti. Please refer to our webpage for details: www.grrcc.org. Two immediate opportunities exist to help: to give to the special appeal through our WEEK OF COMPASSION, designated to Haiti, and 100% will go to relief efforts through our workers and partners in ministry in recovery efforts. Donations may be made online at http://www.weekofcompassion.org, they can be sent to our office and we will forward as usual, or you can send them to Week of Compassion in Indianapolis. The second opportunity is to make baby kits and hygiene kits for Church World Service. Details are linked on our webpage to CWS. Their warehouse for all states west of the Mississippi is in Little Rock, Arkansas! Wendy White, the daughter of Rev. Linda White, is in intensive care at UAMS hospital in Little Rock. Please pray for healing of pneumonia and autoimmune disease that wrecks havoc in her body. Kaylee Rector, granddaughter of Rev. Ron Rector, was a patient of Arkansas Children’s Hospital this past week, with severe pain of unknown origin. Ron continues his battle with MS and we ask for prayers for their entire family. Rev. Tommy Carney, FCC Blytheville, AR had outpatient surgery this week and is home recovering. Doing well and sends greetings. |
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NEWS and EVENTS |
Minister’s Spiritual Life Retreat. Our annual Spiritual Life Retreat for Ministers will be April 12-14 at St. Mary of the Pines, Chatawa Mississippi. Fr. Paul Patin, Spiritual Director with the Jesuit Spirituality Center in rand Cateau, LA will be our leader. The focus of our retreat will be Spiritual Discernment. Mark your calendars, more info will follow concerning cost and registration. Disciples Mission Fund has a new look online! The link below will take you to Disciples Mission Fund's website to view Comparative reports of offerings received by region. www.disciplesmissionfund.org. Disciples World. The award-winning journal of news, opinion, and mission for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), will cease publication after almost eight years. Click here to see the full press release. Disciples World website, www.disciplesworld.com. Foundation Course for Ministry. The Foundations for Ministry Course which covers 24 topics over a 14 week period is scheduling a new session to begin in May. If you would like to participate or to receive more information please contact: Rev. Stephen Wallace at (501) 217-9129 or swallacegs@aol.com. Disciples Women. As we continue to work on our Quadrennial Assembly service project to bring an end to human trafficking, I wanted to bring to your attention this new film, co-produced by George Clooney, that deals with the sexual exploitation of children. Called “Playground,” we have written to the publicist of the film to see if there is a possibility of having a showing at the theaters across from the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro during QA next year. Meanwhile, please help publicize this new film so if there is a showing in your area women might be encouraged to attend. Adonna Boman. http://www.nestfoundation.org/film/. Click here to see the latest issue of ‘VOICES’ newsletter and ‘Umaja’ newsletter. QA Speakers, Preachers and Teachers. Opening Night, Wednesday, June 23rd Bishop Vashti McKenzie serves as the 117th elected and consecrated bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and is the first woman to reach this level of leadership. Bishop McKenzie is a former journalist and is often described as “an electrifying speaker.” Thursday, June 24th Joanne Kagiwada is a native Californian and retired attorney. Her law degree led her to direct Disciples work in international affairs and to represent the Disciples at the National Council of Churches. She was instrumental in lobbying for the official government apology to Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II. Her late husband, David, is remembered on David Kagiwada Memorial Sunday for his leadership of Disciples Asian American ministries. Friday, June 25th Rev. Evelyn Nieves is a native New Yorker and former elementary school teacher. Evelyn and her husband, Moises, also a Disciples pastor, founded the Christian Family Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Bronx in 1996. Saturday, June 26th Rev. Amy C. Gopp is also a Disciple who serves as the Executive Director for Week of Compassion, the relief, refugee, and development ministry of the Disciples church. Amy served for four years as a peace activist in Croatia and Bosnia. Sunday, June 27th Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins, General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will serve as the closing speaker. The Rev. Watkins has served as a pastor and missionary in Congo (the former Zaire.) She was recently recognized by President Obama as one of America’s most influential religious leaders. Daily Bible Study will be led by Dr. Sharyn Dowd, Pastor for Spiritual Formation and Mission Engagement at First Baptist Church of Decatur, Georgia. Sharyn is a New Testament scholar and author of two books on the Gospel of Mark. She taught New Testament and Greek at Lexington Theological Seminary (KY) and Biblical Studies at Baylor University (TX). Be at QA…you don’t want to miss any of these outstanding women!! Disciples Institute. Disciples of Christ – 19th Century Roots – 21st Century Mission. One-Day workshop at Park Hill Christian Church, Saturday, February 27, 2010, Dr. Amy Artman, Instructor. As Disciple churches across our nation are looking at redefining their mission and ministries, all of us would probably be surprised to learn the similarities between today’s issues and the issues our founders faced. We would probably also be impressed by the ways they addressed those issues. The things we take for granted as Disciples: · RESTORATION of NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY · CHRISTIAN UNITY · PRIESTHOOD of BELIEVERS · OPEN COMMUNION · BELIEVER’S BAPTISM have been part of us from the beginning! Are these things that the world needs? If your people could share this good news, would your church be a more vital, more effective, more transformed? Of course it would! Take a moment to consider the difference it will make when your people can build on their heritage as they follow God’s Spirit into the future! Then plan to bring your entire congregation to this workshop! Each church can bring its entire congregation for a single fee of $200.00! Contact Deitra Blackwell – 501-517-2474 or deitra.d.blackwell@comcast.net – for more information. Available Now from Chalice Press: A Travel Guide to Christian Faith (by Dawn Weaks) has three components. The Before You Go booklet gives first-time seekers an easy-to-understand synopsis of the Christian faith. If they wish to learn more, the Traveler's Edition serves as a student workbook, while the Tour Leader is for the instructor. ·one (1) copy of the Tour Leader ·ten (10) copies of the Traveler's Edition ·ten (10) copies of the Before You Go To order, call 1-800-366-3383 or click here: A Travel Guide to Christian Faith Group Package. FCC Slidell, LA is building a Community Center on their site in March 2010. The facility will be used as a mission outreach to the community. Disciples Volunteering is sponsoring the Blitz Build. If your church is interested in participating in the build, you can call Brenda Tyler at 317-713-2642 or go to www.disciplehomemissions.org/Volunteer/SpecialProjects/SpringBreak.htm FCC is asking for materials donations form churches, individuals, or companies. Click here to see the list of materials needed. Contact Josh Baird at 985-778-6915 or at joshbaird@hotmail.com if you can donate. Also, for more information, you can call Rev. Susan Lassalle at 985-643-8623. Black Ministers Retreat 2010. The office of Black Ministries is happy and excited to announce that the Black Ministers Retreat of 2010 will be held March 1-4, 2010 in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Our host for this event will be Bishop Chester L. Aycock, Presiding Prelate of The Goldsboro-Raleigh District Assembly of The Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ International. This will be a historical moment for the office of Black Ministries, Disciples Home Missions, the Black Ministers Fellowship and National Convocation. In the thirty-five year history of Black Ministers Retreat, this will be the first time that this event has been hosted by one of the Assembly Churches. The Black Ministers Retreat is a national church event and is open to all clergy of the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ and the United Church of Christ. Please feel free to pass along the attached information. Karen Jones, Admin Asst, Phone: (317) 713-2672 or toll free (888)346-2631, kjones@dhm.disciples.org, Web site: http://www.discipleshomemissions.org Disciples' Bicentennial History Book and Workshops. There are less than two months left during the Disciples’ Bicentennial Anniversary! We would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the publication of The Disciples: A Struggle for Reformation, our bicentennial history (2009) authored by D. Duane Cummins. It is the successor to Journey in Faith, written by McAllister & Tucker in 1972. The reviews for Cummins' new volume are highly favorable, strong and solid. cumminsdd@gmail.com, 255 Sears Lane, Swanton, Maryland 21561, 301-387-8088. |
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STAFF UPDATES |
From Barbara Jones: I am in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Disciples Women Staff Fellowship. It has been 15 years since I attended this function as a part of my job and it has been a joy to return. We are hard at work on program planning for this next year for Disciples Women, Quadrennial Assembly, and future plans for the Women’s Ministries in the church. Next weekend I’ll be performing a wedding for a special couple in New Orleans on Saturday and preaching in Fort Smith on Sunday! From Rick Hamilton: This weekend I PLAN to worship with Ivy Chapel CC in Search Committees I am currently supporting: FCC Sherwood, AR FCC Mountain Home, AR Please contact me, in confidence, to inquire about any of the above Ministry Opportunities. From Michael Elmore: I will be attending Juliette Fowler Board Meeting this weekend and traveling home on Sunday. Search Committees I am currently supporting: FCC Leesville, LA FCC Lake Charles, LA FCC Gulfport, MS From Vance Moore: I returned from the Dominican Republic on Saturday night. We experienced much more than we expected. The earthquake in Haiti was also felt in Boca Chita, Dominican Republic, where we were staying. Certainly these tragic events will impact the timing of our global mission partnership with the Dominican people. Still, we went, we experienced and we were changed forever. The people we met (Dominican and Haitian) are some of the warmest and most open people I’ve ever been blessed to meet. In the coming weeks we’ll bring you up to speed on what future plans will be and how the Great River Region will respond to our commitment to be global mission partners. In the meantime, PLEASE respond to Week of Compassion to help (you can send checks to the regional office, made out to GRR with Wk of Compassion/Haiti on the memo line). One thing we’ve learned….if it doesn’t come from people of faith….. it doesn’t normally come. Search committees I am currently supporting: FCC Newport, AR On a personal note: Over the last 4 ½ years I’ve seen many things happen as a result of Hurricane Katrina - things that have changed peoples lives. And, now, I have a change of my own to share with you - a little over a year ago I met Gwen Till, a widow and evacuee of Hurricane Katrina. She came to church one Sunday with her friend Louise from Westside Christian. Since then, we’ve gotten to know and love each other. I’m thrilled to share with you that we plan to be married on February 6, 2010 and we’d like to invite you to come to the wedding! The ceremony will be at Westside Christian Church at 2 pm with Barb conducting the service. There’ll be lots of friends and family there (as will Gwen & I) – we’d love it if you would c’mon down!! How ‘bout that for a “God Thang”! Westside Mission: I returned to Westside on Sunday morning and WOW, there I found 100 teens and sponsors from the Great River Region. We worked, we worshipped, we prayed, we had fun. Thanks to Sara Rozzell (GRR Youth Staff), to Diana Negron (Westside Chaplain), the folks at FCC Greater New Orleans (helped with housing) and all the folks at Westside Christian Church. GREAT JOB!!! We’re booking groups for late spring and summer 2010. Come on down, there’s plenty of work, fellowship and opportunities to serve! WHERE DID YOU SEE GOD TODAY? From Sara Rozzell: 2010 Summer Camp Dates: More youth dates available on the youth page at www.grrcc.org. |
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