In this issue:
DISCIPLES MINISTERS LEAD PROTEST FOR JANITORS; TWO ARRESTED
Two Disciples ministers were arrested and another was detained for protesting low pay for janitors in Indianapolis on May 17. The Disciples, joined by two United Methodist ministers and a Franciscan priest, led a march of about 40 demonstrators to a downtown office building, where the ministers blocked the entrance to the building in a non-violent act of civil disobedience over low wages for janitors.
The demonstrators said the janitors received poor wages, scant benefits and were required to work long hours. The Disciples arrested were Linda McCrae, senior pastor of Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Indianapolis, and Leon Riley, a Disciples minister who also attends Central Christian. Another Disciples minister, Garnett Day, was handcuffed and then released. Police said the ministers face charges involving obstructing the right of way. To read more about this incident, see: www.disciples.org/dns/releases2007/07077.html
GENERAL MINISTER AND PRESIDENT THANKS DHM’S NELSON FOR HIS SERVICE
General Minister and President Sharon E. Watkins expressed her appreciation for the work of Arnold C. Nelson, Jr., president of Disciples Home Mission (DHM). Nelson announced his resignation on Monday from the position he has held for the past five years. DHM is a general ministry of the Church that commits to connecting people to the life-changing love of God by developing partnerships throughout the Church. DHM’s areas of emphasis include Christian education, congregational transformation, leader development, and men’s, women’s, and children’s ministries.
The DHM board is putting into place a transition team that expects to name an interim president soon. To read Watkins' comments, visit: www.disciples.org/dns/releases2007/07081.html
DISCIPLES HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT SCORES PERFECT 36 ON ACT
A member of United Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Country Club Hills, Ill., teenager LeRoy Weathersby, was one of only seven college-bound students in Illinois and one of 30 in the United States to achieve a 36, the highest possible composite score, on the February 2007 national test administration of the American College Testing Program (ACT).
Weathersby is a junior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Flossmoor, Ill. Howard Kennon, the pastor of United Christian, said the congregation is quite proud of Weathersby’s academic milestone. To read a newspaper story about Weatherby's achievememt, go to: www.disciples.org/dns/releases2007/07080.html
PENTECOST OFFERING SUPPORTS DISCIPLES PASSION FOR NEW CHURCHES
Disciples will observe the second Pentecost offering this Sunday, May 27. The Pentecost Offering is a key part of changing lives through new church starts.
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) recently reached the halfway mark of its goal to establish 1,000 new churches by 2020. The Pentecost Offering supports the passion among Disciples of Christ to start new churches. The offering is equally divided between the region in which the offering is received and general new church ministry. Disciples are encouraged to give generously. To download promotion materials for Pentecost, go to: cfcdnn.onapps.net/DisciplesMissionFund/2007PentecostMaterials/tabid/562/Default.aspx
SUNDAY MORNING PREACHERS FOR ASSEMBLY NOW LISTED
Dozens of Disciples pastors will fan out across the Dallas-Fort Worth area to lead morning worship services on Sunday, July 22, during the 2007 General Assembly. The ministers will be speaking at churches in or close to the Arlington, Dallas and Fort Worth areas. For a complete list and location of the morning speakers, churches where they will be preaching and host pastors, go to: www.disciples.org/ga/speakers/sundaypreachers
DSF OFFERS BOOKS TRANSLATED INTO KOREAN AND SPANISH
Disciples Seminary Foundation (DSF) recently announced publication of the Korean translation of “Joined in Discipleship” by Mark Toulouse and the Spanish translation of “The Faith We Affirm” by Ronald E. Osborn.
Both the Korean and Spanish language translations will be available for purchase at the DSF booth during the General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas July 21-25. DSF said it was thankful to the authors, translators and the Oreon E. Scott Foundation for making these translations possible. To find out more information about the books, contact the DSF offices at 909-624-0712 or visit their website at www.dsf.edu
ECUMENICAL GROUP NAMES RICHARD HAMM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT) has appointed Richard L. Hamm as executive administrator. Hamm is president of The Columbia Partnership, which provides coaching and consulting training and services, and previously served as general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The appointment of CCT ’s first full-time staff position was made by a unanimous decision of CCT’s Steering Committee, which met in Chicago, Ill., May 15-16. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a member of CCT.
CCT is composed of 36 churches and national organizations, representative of the diversity of U.S. Christian families, who are committed to meeting together for fellowship and worship and to working together on issues crucial to Christian witness in the USA. For additional information about Hamm’s appointment, go to: www.disciples.org/dns/releases2007/07079.pdf
HELM LEADERSHIP FELLOWS PROGRAM ADDS CLASS OF 2011
Six emerging leaders in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) have been named as the seventh class of Higher Education and Leadership Ministries (HELM) Leadership Fellows. HELM Leadership Fellows are selected based on their leadership potential, church participation, and academic promise.
The six new Leadership Fellows, who will all be incoming freshmen during the 2007-2008 academic year, are: Sarah Cheon, a member of Sallims Christian Church from Claremont, Calif.; Jenny Faenza of Central Christian Church in Springfield, Tenn.; Caroline Hamilton of First Christian Church in Lewisville, Texas; Jesse Stephenson, a member of Central Christian Church in Columbus, Ga.; Courtney Waters of New Direction Christian Church in Memphis, Tenn.; and Alexis Jo Westerhausen, a member of First Christian Church of Virden, Ill. For more information on this year's class, visit: www.helmdisciples.org
FOUNDERS OF ROWLEY SCHOLARSHIP FUND ACHIEVED GOAL
The Rowley Memorial Scholarship Fund, which assists Disciples graduate ministerial students, is a powerful legacy to the fund’s late founders, Ethel J. Rowley and her husband, Prescott T. Rowley, of Sacramento, Calif. The couple sacrificed a great deal to build an endowment that would help change lives and transform congregations for greater mission.
The Rowley Memorial Scholarship Fund, which was initially started with an investment of $3,500 in 1974, grew to $820,000 of endowed funds by 2007. Disciples Home Missions, which administers the fund, is currently able to offer $2,000 scholarships to 18 ministerial students. To read more about how the Rowleys built the fund, see: www.discipleshomemissions.org/Scholarships/Rowley.htm
INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN DISCIPLES MINISTER HONORED BY HOMETOWN
Noted Disciples minister Fred B. Craddock was one of four men honored by Craddock’s native Humboldt, Tenn. The honorees have made contributions to the city well beyond its borders in the military and in the fields of medicine, ministry and civil rights, according to the “Jackson Sun.” The award recipient must also be of outstanding moral character and have brought pride to the community. The four men were inducted into the first Humboldt Hall of Fame this month during the West Tennessee Strawberry Festival.
In addition to Craddock, an internationally recognized Disciples preacher and teacher, the honorees were: James T. Freeman, a longtime civil rights activist who built churches in Humboldt and East Africa; Dr. Carey S. Hill Jr., professor emeritus of medicine in the Department of Symptom Research, Pain Research Group, at the University of Texas' M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; and the late Brig. Gen. Claude Mitchell Adams, who had served as an aide to famed World War II Gen. George C. Marshall. To read more, see:
www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070521/NEWS01/705210305/1002
AREAS HIT HARD BY HURRICANE RITA SLOW TO RECOVER
With many aid groups focusing their relief efforts on the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina along the coastal areas of the Gulf South in August 2005, more inland areas that were pounded by Hurricane Rita a month later are in danger of being overlooked. Recovery work in one such community, Livingston, Texas, has slowed to a snail’s pace, even though the area was damaged enough to have been included in Texas’ federal disaster declaration.
In Polk County, where Livingston is located, winds of more than 100 mph tore off roofs, felled trees and destroyed vehicles. A $5,000 Church World Service (CWS) seed grant helped create the Polk County Disaster Recovery Team (PCDRT), but more help is needed. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a member of CWS. To learn more about Rita’s impact on Polk County, Texas, and how churches can help, go to: www.churchworldservice.org/news/archives/2007/05/685.html
DISCIPLES QUICKLY RESPOND TO WEATHER TRAGEDY IN KANSAS
The Office of Disciples Volunteering (ODV) in Disciples Home Missions (DHM) and Week of Compassion (WOC) have joined together to establish a “mission station” for tornado-scarred Greensburg, Kan., and other weather-related disasters in Kansas. The mission station is modeled after a concept that was used following the devastating hurricanes that impacted the Gulf South and southwest regions in the United States in 2005.
The Kansas mission station is being established in partnership with the Christian Church in Kansas regional office, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Pratt, Kan., and First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Kinsley, Kan. There is an urgent need for volunteers to help in the recovery effort. For more information and scheduling, call Tod Iseminger at 317-713-2649. To learn more about how to support recovery operations, see: www.weekofcompassion.org
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON WAYS TO COMBAT POVERTY WILL TAKE PLACE IN EARLY JUNE
Church leaders, anti-poverty experts and others are expected to attend “Pentecost 2007: Taking the Vision to the Streets” from June 3-6 in Washington, D.C. at National City Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The conference will feature a forum by several presidential candidates and include an address by Jim Wallis, a preacher, author, social activist and international commentator. Wallis, who will also speak at the 2007 General Assembly on July 25, is executive director of Sojourners/Call to Renewal, which is sponsoring the conference.
The mission of Sojourners/Call to Renewal is to articulate the biblical call to social justice. It has convened a major conference of church leaders, service providers, anti-poverty advocates and emerging leaders from across the country to mobilize the church in the fight against poverty for more than 10 years. The schedule includes a march to Capitol Hill, Congressional visits, and a Capitol Hill reception on June 5. To find out more, visit: www.centerblog.org
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