In This Issue:
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Our Mission: "Multiplying Leaders, Ministries and Healthy Churches"
BUILDING AGENDA HARMONY
"How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity...For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore." (Psalm 133:1,3)

God is glorified and his mission in the world advances greatly when groups of churches lock arms together in his name to multiply his Kingdom. When God's people enjoy unity and agenda harmony , they are unstoppable! David  writes, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity" (Psalm 133:1). "For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore"(Psalm 133:3). Our churches and districts throughout the world are gaining agenda harmony! What is agenda harmony?  Let's define it.
 
Agenda : "an outline or plan of the things that must be done" 
 
Harmony : "a unified arrangement of parts with a common focus"  
 
Putting these two words together, agenda harmony occurs when the members of a local church, district, field, or region work together for a common objective, with a common purpose, in a common spirit.
 
The apostle Paul knew the importance of agenda harmony  within the church and wrote, "If you have any fellowship with the Spirit...then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose" (Philippians 2:1-2).  How good and pleasant it is when churches have these four characteristics. They are: 1) like-minded, 2) have the same love, 3) one in spirit and 4) one in purpose.
 
As a team of leaders, we believe this is not just a suggestion or an option to God. "The Lord bestows his blessing, even everlasting life" (Psalm 133:3), only where there is unity and agenda harmony. Only where people are one in spirit and have the same love will we see lost and broken people come to Christ. It is when local churches, districts, fields and regions are "brought to complete unity  that the world will know" Christ's church as he designed us to be (John 17:23). We do not contend for unity in local style or strategy, but unity through our shared commitments to interdependence  and the agenda of Jesus.[i]

Paul urges every church leader to "make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:2). Unity of the Spirit does not mean uniformity. We can walk hand in hand without always seeing eye to eye. We operate locally and interdependently within districts to build healthy, multiplying Nazarene churches. The health and mission of God's church always begins with our local church. But at the same time, the vision of Jesus is much bigger than each local church.  What is at stake is the salvation of the planet - "Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Jesus gives every Christian the commission to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). This includes both the people who live around us and those who live around the world.
 
The above paragraphs are part of a chapter entitled, "A Great Future Together." Thank you for your prayers as we write this summer. Pray that this will continue to be a fruitful time. Thanks to each of you for being Christ in Action. Great days are ahead - you are loved.



[i] The Church of the Nazarene is unapologetically connectional.  We are an interdependent body of local churches organized into districts in order to carry out our mutual mission of "making Christlike disciples in the nations" (Manual par 200, Nazarene Essentials).





Dr. Larry McKain, Superintendent
Chicago Central District
Church of the Nazarene

PRETEEN MISSION TRIP

The preteens on the Chicago Central District are invited to on our Preteen Mission Trip, October 11-13, 2019, at the Salvation Army Church in Kankakee. All fifth and sixth graders are eligible to participate. The trip will begin on Friday evening at 7p and finish after lunch on Sunday afternoon. The cost is $40 per person and registration is due by September 25. 

We are in need of adults to attend, along with the preteens. An online registration form can be found here. Payment should be handled through the local church. Please help us spread the word and mark your calendar! We are excited about this opportunity for our preteens! 

SALVAGE YARD BIKER CHURCH

Last Sunday Salvage Yard Biker Church, under the leadership of Dave and Suprema Diveley, celebrated their five-year anniversary at College Church University Avenue. They celebrated with five baptisms and a baby dedication!
DISTRICT WORK AND WITNESS TRIP

Join friends from around our Chicago Central District on this amazing Work & Witness trip to Nairobi, Kenya. We will be working at Africa Nazarene University to help them update all of their classrooms in celebration of their 25 th  Anniversary of the university. 

Our trip will be from May 10 - May 20, 2020. The cost is $2,000. All project funds are being supplied by the CCD NMI district council. Please contact Lynne Utter at  lynne.utter@ccdnmi.org  or Ralph Goodwin at  rsgoodwin@comcast.net  for more information.

DEPUTATION SERVICE AVAILABLE SERVICES

Below are some opportunities for upcoming deputation services on the district.  Email Denise Anderson at  ccddeputation@gmail.com  or call 815-370-4318 with any questions!
  • Phil and Denise Anderson (serving at Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center, Cactus TX - replacing Rolf and Debbie Kleinfeld who had to cancel their tour)
    • Available dates:
      • Sunday AM Sept 15
      • Monday - Friday PM Sept 16-20
      • Sunday PM Sept 22
    • They also have other available dates through the fall semester.  
  • Dan and Melody Anderson (serving in Uganda)
    • Available dates:
      • Monday Oct 21
      • Tuesday Oct 22
      • Saturday Oct 26
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

Many leaders from the Chicago Central District attended the Global Leadership Summit last Thursday and Friday. Many thanks to Olivet Nazarene University and Gathering Point for hosting this event! It was a wonderful time of learning, inspiration and connection. 

We hope you can join us for next year's event!
TEEN QUIZZING 
The annual teen quizzing kick-off is approaching! Quizzing is an excellent opportunity for teens to hide God's word in their hearts and also to develop relationships with other teens from their church and district. The curriculum is a great tool - it functions as a built-in Bible study! 

If you have teens from your church who would like to participate, consider pairing with another church from our district to create a team. Check out this Teen Quizzing promo video here and contact district teen quizzing director, Ron Marklund, for more information. 
ISRAEL TRIP

The Mundelein Church is leading a trip to Israel, and there are limited spaces available.  It is an 8 day trip from June 8-15, 2020, and the cost is $2,700. This cost includes everything, including airfare. If you are interested, contact Pastor Doug Ward at  dward28@sbcglobal.net , and he will email the complete itinerary and any other information you may want.  
UPCOMING DATES

Mark your calendar!
  • Saturday, August 17 | District Advisory Board Meeting
  • October 11 - 13 | District Preteen Mission Trip 
  • September 5-6 | Theological Leadership Conference at ONU
  • Thursday, September 12 | District Mission Strategy Team
  • Thursday, October 3 | Pastors on Purpose and District Mission Strategy Team
  • Saturday, November 2 | Cultivate at Kankakee First
  • Thursday, November 7 | District Mission Strategy Team
  • November 15-16 | Ministerial Self-Discovery Weekend
  • Saturday, November 16 | Children's Bible Quiz, Location TBA
  • Thursday, December 5 | Pastors on Purpose and District Mission Strategy Team
  • Thursday, January 2 | Pastors on Purpose and District Mission Strategy Team
  • Saturday, January 4, 2020 | South/Southwest Mission Area Dinner
  • Saturday, January 11, 2020 | Board of Ministry Training Day
  • Saturday, January 18, 2020 | North/Northwest Mission Area Breakfast
  • Saturday, January 25, 2020 | Central Mission Area Dinner
  • Saturday, February 1, 2020 | Ordination Interviews
  • Thursday, February 6, 2020 | Pastors on Purpose and District Mission Strategy Team
  • Saturday, February 15, 2020 | Southern Mission Area Breakfast
  • Saturday, February 22, 2020 | Chicago Mission Area Breakfast 
  • Saturday, February 22, 2020 | Children's Bible Quiz, Manteno
  • Thursday, March 5 | Pastors on Purpose and District Mission Strategy Team
  • Saturday, March 7, 2020 | District Advisory Board Meeting
  • Saturday, March 7, 2020 | Children's Bible Quiz, Kankakee First
  • Saturday, March 28, 2020 | NMI Convention
  • Thursday, April 2 | Pastors on Purpose and District Mission Strategy Team
  • Saturday, April 4, 2020 | Children's Bible Quiz, Kankakee Westbrook 
  • April 17 - 18, 2020 | District Assembly
  • Thursday, May 7 | Pastors on Purpose and District Mission Strategy Team
  • May 10 - 20 | District Work and Witness Trip, Nairobi, Kenya
PRAYER REQUESTS AND CELEBRATIONS

Your prayers are appreciated for Robyn Luttrell. Her heart-related epileptic seizures continue and the ocular ones, affecting her eyes, cause much pain.    

Your continued prayers are appreciated for strength and full recovery from Bill Wiggins's recent stroke.

Please pray for Pastor Andrew Twibell. He is undergoing an MRI to check some abnormalities. Please pray for healthy brain matter and no signs of reappearing cancer. 

We would love to hear any prayer requests or celebrations from our district pastors to include in our weekly communications. Please email us so we can lift each other up!
UPCOMING LEADERSHIP COMMUNITY EVENTS
 
September
Mon, Sept 9 - Joliet Crystal Lawns   6:30 - 8:15 pm
Sun., Sept. 15 - Oak Lawn First - 6:00 - 8:00 pm
 
 
October
 
 
 
November
Sun., Nov. 3 - Oak Lawn First  6:00 - 8:00 pm
Mon, Nov 11 - Joliet Crystal Lawns   6:30 - 8:15 pm
 
 
December


Please send us dates for your upcoming 2019 Leadership Community gatherings - we would like to promote those in our newsletter! 


If there is any way we can serve you better, please let us know!