Disciples History & Polity Course
Brite Divinity School will once again be offering the on-line Disciples History & Polity course, taught by Dr. Mark Toulouse. Mark has really been a driving force behind having this offered again, even though he is no longer at Brite, which we all appreciate! The registration forms for students and for mentors can be downloaded form the links below.
Click here for the Registration form for students.
Click here for the Registration form for mentors.
Clergy Sexual Misconduct Prevention Seminar
The Bluebonnet Area will be offering a Clergy Sexual Misconduct Prevention Seminar on Saturday, August 22, 2009 at Rolling Oaks Christian Church, San Antonio, Texas from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Click here for the Registration form.
“Community ON Purpose, Community WITH Purpose”
by Rev. Dani Loving Cartwright, Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in the Southwest.
Continuing the emphasis on the release of the Southwest Regional Guiding Vision for ongoing transformation, Southwest Regional Minister and President Rev. Dani Loving Cartwright delivered a heartfelt message to several hundred Disciples at the North Texas Area Assembly, Sunday May 3, 2009 at Northway Christian Church in Dallas.
A smaller version of the video and an audio-only version are available at the North Texas Area website at www.ntaccsw.org.
Her message beckoned for building communities centered in the sustaining and abiding power of the true vine, Jesus Christ. She gave several personal community building experiences requiring faith, sacrifice, new relationships and courage from her early pastoral ministry in East Texas. Referring to John 15:1-8 and the new Regional Vision, Dani passionately encouraged our pastors, leaders and churches, to prioritize and practice deep prayer, Bible study and Biblical literacy in the church. She maintained the church needs to be compelled in its motivation by inviting conversation around the scriptures.
Through the courtesy of the North Texas Area, this video is freely available for your use in your church's website in two video resoltions. Click here to go to the North Texas Area website for the instructions for embedding this video in your website.
Interview with the Founder and Director of the Free Burma Rangers
The current episode of the weekly Bible-study podcast of the Westside Café produced by Central Christian Church of Dallas includes an in-depth interview with the founder and Director of the Free Burma Rangers that provide incredible humanitarian- and medical-relief efforts in Burma.
The Free Burma Rangers provide living examples of "serving beyond ourselves" with love and compassion to oppressed people under brutal political rulers.
You don't want to miss this special episode! It can be downloaded via Apple iTunes (links at the website below) or heard directly from the web pages of the Westside Café.
Click here for details about this special episode.
Or, visit http://www.cccdt.org/westsidecafe.
The Working Draft of the Guiding Vision Is Available
This draft was proposed by the New Day, New Direction Team on 01/06/2009 has been revised by the Regional Council on 02/27/2009. and is now a working document. The new version is posted at the link below.
It is hoped that EVERY congregation in the region will have some opportunity to talk about the Guiding Vision! God is calling us to a “new day” and it’s going to take all of us to discern that “new direction!”
Click here for details.
2009 General Assembly Will Explore Wholeness for All
Disciples from all walks of life will gather in Indianapolis from Wednesday, July 29 to Sunday, August 2, 2009 for the church’s biennial Assembly. Attendees will come from across the United States and Canada – and in many cases from around the world – to worship, learn, fellowship and discuss the future of our Church.
The 2009 General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will center its work around Revelation 22:2 …“And the leaves of the trees shall be for the healing of the nations.” In choosing this verse as the centerpiece and guiding scriptural reference, organizers seek to complement the Disciples’ new identity statement (We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world) with a theme of relevance, energy, conviction – and healing.
Click here for details.
Click on the "start" arrow below to play the promotional video.
Submit Your Questions For General Assembly Wholeness Café Conversations
What questions do you believe Disciples need to engage as we serve in today's mission context?
General Minister and President Sharon Watkins invites Disciples to do what we do best: engage in meaningful conversation that leads to wise action. As we strive to be a "Movement for Wholeness in our Fragmented World," Watkins has called the Wholeness Café -a conversation of 6,000+ Disciples - an opportunity for Disciples to sit face-to-face to address what it really means to live into our newly stated identity. The Wholeness Café will take place on July 30, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the 2009 General Assembly in Indianapolis.
The questions you share with us may be used as part of the Wholeness Café. You can have input into those questions by responding by May 10 to the survey at the link below that will help focus our conversation:
http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2if17kgfu4aj0xo/start
Bob Williams Elected to Foundation Board
Bob Williams, a member of Warren Avenue Christian Church in Dallas, TX, has been elected for a three-year term to the Board of Directors of the Christian Church Foundation.
Click here for details.
Two New Church Leader Videos Added
The North Texas Area of the CCSW has added two new videos to its website that provides video and audio recordings of training on various topics for leaders of churches, lay, licensed and ordained. They are continuing to build a library of resources to which members and leaders of churches in the Region can turn in the search for personal and professional growth.
The two additional church leader training videos that have been added to the NTA training library brings the total to seven videos with over eight and one-half hours of multimedia training available to you.
The two new videos were recorded at the April 2009 Licensed Ministers Training session.
Click here to go to the NTA Church Leader Traing page of the NTA website.
It’s a Whole New Day for CYLS! Doing Things a Whole New Way!
The mission of the Southwest Regional Youth Ministry Council of the Christian Church Disciples of Christ) in the Southwest is to empower youth as servant-leaders through Jesus the Christ. In achieving our mission, one of the goals is to open Christian Youth Leadership Seminar (CYLS) to ALL our youth, not just those who serve their Area councils. As many of you know the RYMC has struggled to find a balance between meeting the needs of ALL our youth and providing time for each Area council to plan for their events.
The RYMC has developed a new and innovative program that we believe will be the solution.
Click here for details.
Recent News & Announcements
10/28/2008 - Forthcoming Book: Global Voices on Biblical Equality
10/21/2008 - CD Available of Friday Night Worship at Regional Assembly
09/26/2008 - How You Can Help With Hurricane Recovery
09/26/2008 - Hurricane Ike Recovery
From Disciples News Service
Here is what is happening around Disciples as reported by the Disciples News Service:
- Well-Known Recording Artist To Lead Assembly Youth Choir
- Micah Ministry Reaches Out To The Needy In Kansas City
- Disciples Invited To Celebrate New Ecumenical Center In Berkeley
- Sermons On Presidential Inauguration May Be Included In Library Of Congress Collection
- Church Extension Announces New Board Composition
- Deadline Approaches For Submission Of General Assembly Items Of Business
- Disciples Pastor Selected For Leadership Program At Wabash College
- Church Extension Gets Grant For Green Building Pilot Studies
- Disciples Urged To 'Green' Assembly By Offsetting Travel Miles
- Disciples Minister To Teach University Classes On Mediation
- Campus Ministries At Northwest Christian Hold 'Soup Nights'
- Disciples Minister To Address Students At Missouri College
Click here to see the Jan. 7, 2009 issue of Disciples News Service.
New Book: I Was a Stranger: Hope for a Hidden World
Rev. Feliberto Pereira and Chris Kelley have written a book titled I Was a Stranger: Hope for a Hidden World. It recounts how Feliberto’s own experience as a refugee from Cuba blossomed into Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries.
Click here to go to the official website for the book.
Click here to go to the Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries home page.
Click here to go to the media page to hear the recordings of the June 1st combined worship service of Central Christian Church and Northway Christian Church when the book was launched.
