The 2014 General Board Report of the Pennsylvania Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) US and Canada

Transcription

1 The 2014 General Board Report of the Pennsylvania Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) US and Canada Our Staff The Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr., Regional Minister and President Ms. Christine Johns, Office Manager and Assistant to the Regional Minister Ms. Renee Harvey, Bookkeeper (part-time) Ms. Rachel Neil, Youth Minister (part-time) The Rev. David Morris, East Side Camp Ambassador (part-time) The Rev. Arthur Mace, Office Assistant (part-time, volunteer) Our Moderators The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey T. Moore, Senior Pastor, Central Christian Church, Hermitage, PA The Rev. Heather Simpson, Senior Pastor, Central Christian Church, Uniontown, PA The Rev. Jana Quisenberry, Pastor, United Christian Church, California, PA Our Vision, Mission and Values By the grace of God made known through the commitment and graciousness of congregations and Regional leaders, the Pennsylvania Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) affirms the four priorities of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and has ordered its ministries to fit those priorities while living out its contextual vision, mission, values, and priorities. VISION Blessed with the Good News of Jesus Christ, we, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Pennsylvania, are called to participate in God's vision of salvation: life, love, justice, and peace. God calls the Christian Church in Pennsylvania as a covenant community around Christ s welcoming table. At that table, God embraces all, mends our brokenness, feeds our hungers, and nurtures our faith. God welcomes us and then sends us to serve in Christ s name and to invite the world to the table, anticipating the day when all will feast together. The congregations of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Pennsylvania are led forward into mission by our shared participation in God's vision,

2 anticipating the day when all will feast together.

3 MISSION The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Pennsylvania the welcoming people of God, joyfully serving and proclaiming Christ together, accept the mission: To pray and work for peace as agents of Christ's justice and ministry by calling our congregations to work in their neighborhoods and together in the region and throughout the world. To nurture and encourage loving and committed relationships in congregations and in the larger community. To respond to the needs and concerns of persons in all stages of life. To educate congregations in the basics of who we are as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and in the understanding of Christian faith and response: Christian Education, Evangelism, Stewardship, Service, Worship... To care pastorally for congregations, for clergy, and their families. PRIORITIES Spiritual Development, Revitalizing Congregations and New Congregation Establishment, Christian Community Development CORE VALUES Faithfulness, Welcoming Table, Christian Community, Nurturing Youth What We Celebrate: Ministries, Services and Events That Reflected Our Vision, Mission and Values Our third Annual School for Congregational Life that drew 150 PA Disciples to Toftrees Conference Center in State College, PA. Our focus was the vitally important issue of Christian Stewardship. Keynoting the event was the dynamic and thoughtprovoking Director of the Disciples Center for Faith and Giving, the Rev. Bruce A. Barkhauer. Several PA Disciples served as workshop and worship leaders, and a special offering was raised to support the Week of Compassion and the PA Region. Our 2013 Clergy Consultation, held in February, presented the idea of the Minister as Evangelist, and centered on the keynote leadership of the Rev. R. Wayne Calhoun, Sr., Minister of Evangelism, Disciples Home Mission. Just prior to Rev. Calhoun s time with us, 40 PA Disciples clergy experienced Anti-Racism training as required by our Commission on Ministry and in celebration of our church-wide priority. Engineered by our Regional Anti-Racism Team, the training featured the Rev. Chris Hobgood, Retired General Minister and President, and the Rev. Yvonne Gilmore, Associate Dean, Disciples Divinity House, University of Chicago. The 2014 Clergy Consultation featured keynote leadership from the Rev. Dr. Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder (on the faculty of McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago) and the Rev. Dr. William Crowder (Senior Pastor of Park Manor Christian Church, Chicago) under the theme, Preaching for Change. Just prior to this event, the PA Region hosted New Clergy Orientation and Boundaries Training for Clergy.

4 Our 2013 Camps and Retreats continue to serve as flagship ministry of the Region. By God s grace made known through committed youth and camp staff, the PA Region s camping program attracted over 200 children and youth, while our annual youth retreat featured approximately 50 youth. These events took place at Laurelview Christian Camp. Laurelview remains as the place Christian leaders are shaped and sent. About 30 people participated in our 2013 Women s Retreat keynoted by the Rev. Sèkinah Hamlin, Director of the Washington, DC-based Ecumenical Poverty Initiative. Men s Ministry, once under construction, is now underway with our PA Regional Men s Retreat set for fall 2014! Along with this, Disciples congregations in three western PA counties continue to gather as the Tri-County Men s Fellowship which meets every quarter. These gatherings are full of excitement and enthusiasm for the men of the church. As an organized body, the Tri-County group gives scholarships to Disciples, women and men, who are preparing for ministry and are under the care of the Commission on Ministry. Our Anti-Racism Ministry Team and Ministry continues its innovative approaches toward addressing this churchwide priority. In addition to partnering with our Commission on Ministry for clergy training, in January 2013, our Anti-Racism Team sponsored our first annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration during which it presented the Region s Drum Major for Justice Award to the Rev. Janet Hellner-Burris and her congregation, the Christian Church in Wilkinsburg (adjacent to Pittsburgh). The 2014 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration was held at the Benton Christian Church, Benton, PA, and keynoted by the Rev. Dr. Timothy James, Associate General Minister and Administrative Secretary of the National Convocation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The Drum Major for Justice Award was presented to Rev. Dr. David Mansfield and his congregation, Benton Christian Church. New Church Ministry Our New Church Ministry Commission is continuing to help the Region support the establishment of new congregations. We are grateful to God that our newest congregations, Iglesia Cristiana Discipulos de Cristo in Lebanon, PA and The Dwelling Place near Butler, PA., continue to thrive. Congregational Leader Development Ministries Our Regional Minister and President remains constant helping build and nurture congregational leaders through workshops and retreats that he himself leads in PA Congregations. They are as follows:

5 Transformation Conversations; Elders and Deacons Training and Retreats; Building Better Boards: Congregational Governance; Spiritual Retreats for Leaders; Congregational Visioning; Evangelism and Social Justice; and Understanding the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Maintenance, Promotion, and Funding Laurelview Christian Camp During 2013, the PA Region made the painful decision to end the employment of all paid camp staff in order to begin the process of moving into new ways to properly maintain, promote and fund the camp. Over 60 people turned out to a special meeting on Laurelview called by our Regional Minister and President. Those present expressed commitment to Laurelview and willingness to work creatively and cooperatively to make Laurelview more of the instrument of God that it was intended to be. Regional Assembly Our Regional Assembly is set for June 20-21, 2014 at Antiochian Village, Bolivar, PA. We are moving from a three-day format into a two-day event that will see us begin the Assembly on Friday afternoon, and end 24-hours later! Through this change, we intend to have a lighter, more flexible, and less costly (for all concerned) event! Regional Elders During 2013, the PA Regional called 10 people into service as Regional Elders who will assist the Regional Minister, the Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr., in providing pastoral care and support to clergy and congregations in their respective districts! The are Charlotte Morse, East Central; Rev. Dr. John Crist, Greater Pittsburgh; Tim Woods, Laurel; Rev. Dr. David Mansfield, Northeast; Rev. Dr. Sandra Jenkins, Northwest; Joyce Lambert, Southeast; Gene and Connie Sheller, Southwest; and Rev. Jerry Hoch, West Central. Regional Transformation A giant step toward experiencing God s transformation of Regional life was our First Annual Regionwide Planning Event in September. Roughly 40 PA Disciples came out to share new ideas and plans for 2014 ministries. Some of Our Challenges Embracing a New Way to be a Region With 60 congregations across broad, mountainous land, and one full-time minister on staff, the PA Region is a pastoral sized Region with much of its life and work flowing from the Regional Office and the Regional Minister. Along with this reality is the fact that so many of our congregations are in need of Regional ministries through which they experience God s transformation that leads them to deepen and/or reclaim passion for historic ministry emphases like

6 evangelism, enhanced Christian stewardship, social justice, peacemaking, and more. To do this, we must Experience Regional Transformation 2014 will be the year for the PA Region to seek a newer, more dynamic understanding of God s vision that leads us into becoming an Holy Spirit-driven agency of the transformation of individuals and congregations. We will need to adopt a Regional structure that enables that vision to be lived out. The next piece will be to expand that welcoming table orientation so that we will seek and cultivate a talented, innovative, and multicultural group of thinkers, leaders, designers, and implementers who can help us build on impactful existing ministries while designing new ones that are driven not so much by the Regional Office and Regional Minister, but by new configurations of ministry teams. Funding Regional Ministry It remains certain that PA congregational giving alone will not support the current ministry of the Region, and will not fuel the level of ministry that the Region needs in this era. Therefore, we will have formal conversations regarding the creation of a plan to raise money for our ministry. To accomplish this, we have formed a development committee that will seek the guidance creative PA Disciples as well as the Christian Church Foundation through our Zone Vice-President, the Rev. Dr. W. Darwin Collins. Our Hope New leaders with new energy who will emerge and work with renewed existing leaders to live as instruments of God in God s work of moving the PA Region into bold, innovative ministries that: help our congregations fully live out their Kingdom of God potential; enables generosity that sustains congregational, Regional and denominational ministry, to the Glory of God!