In this issue:
DISCIPLES RAISE GIVING LEVELS AT BEGINNING OF NEW YEAR
Giving by Disciples through Disciples Mission Fund increased in February for the second consecutive month. Giving rose by 28.9 percent in January over the same period in 2006. Some of the increase is attributed to a number of 2006 gifts that were received after the cut-off for the end of the year.
Disciples giving continued on a strong upward trend in February. Disciples congregations contributed $1,975,760 or 7.23 percent more than the same period in 2006. Some researchers believe the decline in mainline Protestant giving has begun to bottom out. Others attribute stronger giving patterns to an increased focus on the importance of mission. To read more about the upward trend in Disciples giving, visit: www.disciples.org/dns/releases2007/07033.html
EASTER SPECIAL OFFERING TO BE RECEIVED IN EARLY APRIL
The Easter Special Offering will be received in congregations on April 1 and April 8. Your gifts to this offering help ensure that the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will continue to be and share the Good News of Jesus Christ from your doorsteps to the ends of the Earth. The offering benefits Disciples general units, whose work translates your gifts into mission and ministry that changes the lives of many around the globe.
Look for a thank you note in your bulletin soon. It will be from someone whose life changed because of your generosity. To learn more about the Easter Special Offering, go to: www.churchfinancecouncil.org/pages/dmf/easter07/index.htm
DISCIPLES CARE NETWORK ILLUSTRATES ONGOING BENEVOLENT MINISTRIES
Benevolent care ministries within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) exist in many places around the United States and Canada. A new group, the Disciples Care Network (DCN), is in the process of identifying and formalizing relationships between the many social and health organizations that provide ministry in this area. The goal is to help raise the profile of the groups and allow each to share ideas.
The network estimates that Disciples-related benevolent care organizations serve between 13,000 and 15,000 people and have a combined annual budget of $150 million. The network believes it is important to make people aware that benevolent care ministries continue to exist within the Church, even as the National Benevolent Association (NBA) reorganizes following its 2004 bankruptcy. "The National Benevolent Association recognizes that benevolent care through social and health services and programs takes place throughout the U.S. and Canada by Disciples-related entities other than just through the NBA. While the NBA has long served as the social and health services general unit of the Church, the NBA endorses the DCN and is honored to be a partner in the network.", said Dennis Hagemann, president of the National Benevolent Association. To read a DisciplesWorld article on the network, go to www.disciplesworld.com/newsArticle.html?wsnID=11018
GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOURCE GROUP INFORMATION NOW AVAILABLE
Want to be a dynamic global mission church? What does the Bible say about peace and war? How can Disciples accomplish estate planning efficiently? Are their ways to improve successful outcomes in new church planting? Strategies and information to address these questions and others critical to the continuing growth and success of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), will be given in nearly 80 resource groups at the General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas.
The resource groups will be held during the afternoons of July 23 and 24 at the Fort Worth Convention Center, where the Assembly will be headquartered. To learn which workshop you'd like to attend as well as get a more precise description of each resource group, visit: www.disciples.org/ga/resourcegroups/
DISCIPLES AND UCC LEADERS PUSH TO END HOSTILITIES IN SUDAN
A pastoral letter calling for an end to the genocide in Sudan and prodding the U.S. to take a tougher stance against the Sudanese government was released March 7. The letter says, "As Christians, we realize that we must share in the responsibility to protect human life," and is signed by Disciples General Minister and President (GMP) Sharon Watkins, United Church of Christ GMP John Thomas, Global Ministries Co-Executives David Vargas and Cally Rogers-Witte, and Africa Office Executive Sandra Gourdet.
Both church bodies passed a resolution, "Promoting Peace for All in the Sudan," in 2005 calling on Sudan to end what has been widely recognized as genocide against its own citizens, and to engage with the international community in efforts to obtain a comprehensive peace that includes Darfur. Members of the two churches are urged to stand in solidarity with the People of the Sudan/Darfur and to continue to pray, study and discern as well as participate in such efforts as the Dear Sudan campaign. To read the pastoral letter, see: www.disciples.org/dns/releases2007/07034.html
DISCIPLES VOLUNTEERING HAS OPENINGS FOR SPRING BREAK WORK
If you'd like to make a difference at a century old Disciples church during your school's spring break, the Disciples Volunteering Alternative Spring Break Program may be right for you. During the weeks of March 23-April 7, volunteers can help with repair work on First Christian Church in Clarkston, Wash. The church is experiencing new congregational vitality and transformation, in part because of the commitment of a larger, partner church. There is space available for each week in Clarkston. To read more about this and other upcoming opportunities go to: www.disciples.org/dns/releases2007/07035.html or visit the Office of Disciples Volunteering website at: www.discipleshomemissions.org/Volunteer/ODV.htm
BOOK BY FORMER GENERAL MINISTER TO BE AVAILABLE MARCH 21
Dick Hamm, former general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), has written a book titled, "Recreating the Church: Leadership for the Postmodern Age." The book is being published by Chalice Press and is part of The Columbia Partnership Leadership series, and will be available beginning March 21.
Hamm is a founding partner and president of the Columbia Partnership, a community of Christian leaders seeking to assist churches in sustaining Christ-centered ministries. He served as general minister and president of the Christian Church (DOC) from 1993 to 2003. He currently speaks, coaches and consults churches on the subject of church renewal. For more information, or to preorder the book, which is $19.99, call: 1-800-366-3383 or go to www.ChalicePress.com
BETHANY COLLEGE STUDENTS WILL PLAY STEELERS IN CHARITY GAME
The Pittsburgh Steelers football team will send some of its "men of brawn" to Bethany College for a charity basketball game between the Steelers and Bethany students. The game will be held at Bethany's Hummel Field House on March 27.
"I am very appreciative that the Steelers are taking the time to come to Bethany and help us raise money," said Chase Butler, a student co-organizer of the event. Admission is a $7 donation with all proceeds going to charity. Bethany College is associated with the Christian Church (DOC) and located in Bethany W.Va. To learn more about this event, see: www.bethanywv.edu/welcome/news/pittsburgh-steelers-footballers-basketball-team-
FORMER NBA VICE PRESIDENT BECOMES ITS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
The National Benevolent Association (NBA) has hired Sterling C. B. Ellis as chief operating officer. Ellis, who formerly served the organization as vice president for the NBA's housing management until 2005, will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the NBA headquarters and its service units, focusing on strategic plan implementation, program development and fiscal management.
"My goal is to implement our strategic plan and make the NBA a leader in compassionate and caring services that it once was," said Ellis. He was most recently a vice president with Stern Brothers & Co. in Clayton, Mo. To get more information about Ellis' appointment, see: www.disciples.org/dns/releases2007/07038.pdf (PDF)
CCU AND 'DISCIPLESWORLD' SPONSOR UNITY DINNER AT ASSEMBLY
The Council on Christian Unity (CCU), a general unit of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and "DisciplesWorld" magazine will sponsor a dinner on July 25 at the 2007 General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas. The theme for the event is "Celebrate unity for the next generation." Krista Tippett, host of a weekly program on public radio, will be the dinner speaker.
Tippett is author of the book "Speaking of Faith" and a graduate of Yale Divinity School. "Her first-person interview style on the radio fosters real dialogue with people of faith about real issues of faith," said Verity Jones, editor of DisciplesWorld. Tippett's book will be available for purchase at the Assembly. Cost for the dinner is $25. For reservations, contact: Rozanne Robertson at 317-713-2586 or rozanne@ccu.disciples.org For more information about the dinner, see: www.disciples.org/dns/releases2007/07036.html
ANNUAL 'STATE OF BLACK CHURCH SUMMIT' WILL BE HELD AT TCU
Scholars, advocates, preachers and students will meet at Texas Christian University (TCU) for the third "State of the Black Church Summit" and Awards Banquet on March 23. The annual gathering includes a summit meeting during the day and awards dinner that evening. It is co-hosted by Brite Divinity School and TCU, which are associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and located in Fort Worth, Texas.
The theme of the summit is "Liberating the Oppressed: The Black Church Facing American Crises." The registration fee for the dialogue and luncheon will be $15 per person. Renita J. Weems of Vanderbilt Divinity School, a renowned theologian and an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), will be the keynote speaker. The awards banquet will be a formal dinner where several people will be honored and will cost $125 per person. For more information, call 817-257-7580 or see: www.disciples.org/dns/releases2007/07037.html
PLANNING UNDERWAY FOR KICK OFF OF BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
In conjunction with World Communion Sunday 2009, a Great Communion of the Stone-Campbell movement will occur in communities throughout the United States and Canada, and around the globe. Using the occasion of the bicentennial of Thomas Campbell's "Declaration and Address" (1809-2009), the Bicentennial Task Force is issuing a new call for unity among all congregations in the Stone-Campbell movement - the Churches of Christ, Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
The celebration will kick-off at the World Convention of Christian Churches in Nashville, Tenn. July 30 - Aug. 3, 2008. Following a mass communion service at the close of the convention, people will be asked to return to their communities and begin preparations for joint communion services in October 2009. By the end of this year a website will be online to offer educational, promotional and liturgical help for congregations. For more information, contact the Bicentennial Task Force at mail@discipleshistory.org.
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