SELAH - JANUARY 2022

JANUARY 2022

COMMUNICATION BRIEFINGS

WELCOME

The vision of the National Convocation is to be a leaven in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) under One God as One Church with One Mission in the world, as a voice promoting pertinent issues related to the African American Church, carrying out the biblical mandate to transform lives.

SELAH will feature the vital ministries of worship, education, justice, advocacy, fellowship, and discipleship that abound throughout our congregations as well as ministry resources; and Convocation events that are crucial for discerning future ministry and leadership of the National Convocation. There is strength in community. Please send congregational updates, ministry concerns, and prayer needs here.

FEATURED ARTICLE

A new year has dawned and 2022 is upon us. Renewed by the gifts of Christmastide, the practices of Kwanzaa, and the season of Epiphany, we greet a new complicated year and claim the resources of our faith “for a time such as this.” COVID-19 positivity rates are increasing, variants have emerged, and vaccinations are available while testing is less readily available. As we continue to mark these unprecedented times with adaptive ministry innovations and care for health and wholeness, we are invited to continue the life changing “in between” work of moving from possibility to purpose, process to discovery, and from agreeable possibilities to the “right reach” in courageous covenantal collaboration. We are invited imagine the work of being church for a time such as this among layers of transformative gifts and exponential possibilities for ministry.

"For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” - Esther 4:14

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"Once again as in previous years, we have seen the actual Vision and failed to do more than entertain it as an agreeable Possibility

To those who have seen The Child, however dimly, however incredulously, The Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all. "– An excerpt from “For The Time Being” by W.H. Auden

We are invited to imagine the holy work of healing at work among layers of capacious gifts, silence, historical harm, and trauma like Esther. There is so much we don’t know about Esther. We don’t why she was compelled by Mordecai’s questions nor do we know exactly how her faith informs her choice to serve others. Her quest is not to identify low hanging fruit, paths of least resistance or agreeable possibilities but life beyond the death imagined for her family. We don’t know why she was able to adapt in the face of traumatic events that disrupt the capacity to practice everyday life. We do know that the action of Esther disrupts the accumulations of the Persian empire, envisions advancement beyond her own personal interests, and redirects the calculations of perilous relation and death. Esther’s imagination invites us to imagine the stakes of our own inclusion in the liberating work of God and the stakes of our position in the work of healing today “for such a time as this.” We look forward to working with Rev. Dr. David Anderson Hooker and his approach to transforming historical harms through facing history, making connections, healing wounds, and taking action this year. More details are forthcoming soon.

We are invited to imagine God’s limitless love alive and at work among layers of covenant relation and community building. Your interest and participation is invited as we move boldly by faith beyond the narrative arc of our re-occurring nightmares and our best fairytale’s in 2022 to God’s vision for our future. Save second Tuesdays for “Let Us Pray” on your calendar. On January 11, we will be led by the Central Rocky Mountain region. Rev. Joan Bell-Haynes, Executive Regional Minister, will offer the centering thought, and Rev. Vinnetta Golphin-Wilkerson will lead us in prayer. Consider joining us for Legacy and Vision every third Tuesday. Rev. Terrell McTyer, Minister of New Church strategies, will be featured on January 18. Stay tuned for updates on the 2022 Experience: It’s Real. We are becoming a new church for a new time. We don’t practice faith alone. Together, we make a difference through prayerful witness, uncluttered and audacious hearing, careful discernment and planning, and prophetic action. Join us as we continue to look back as we move forward.

Thank you in advance.

UPCOMING EVENTS

JANUARY 11TH 7ET/6CT/4PT

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

in the Central Rocky Mountain Region

Invocation – Yvonne Gilmore

Litany – Aneesah Ettress, Evergreen Christian Church

Greeting and centering thought – Rev. Joan Bell-Haynes, Executive Regional Minister, Central Rocky Mountain region

Prayer – Rev. Vinetta Golphin-Wilkerson, Senior Pastor, Granger Community Christian Church

Announcements

ZOOM CONNECTION: MEETING ID: 5574704923 | PASSCODE: 096873

PHONE: 1-646-876-9923

JANUARY 18TH 7ET/6CT/4PT

Please note, you need to register in advance to attend this webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Zoom webinar.

Topic: The Black Church Mobilizing African-American Communities to Overcome Vaccine Hesitancy

When: Thursday January 13, 2022

@ 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM Eastern Time

When: Saturday, January 15, 2022

@ 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM Eastern Time

Click Here to REGISTER

You will receive an email the day before the training containing the training link. Please do not share the training link.

A ONE-TIME stipend of $500.00 PER CHURCH will be offered to the church of all participants. In order for the church to receive a stipend:

· Your onscreen participation is required for the full duration of the training

· Participants must complete the post-training survey

· Provide details as to how you'll be a vaccine advocate and influencer in your congregation and community, e.g., sermons, town halls, PSA's, social media, etc.

Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing and delivery of the stipend.

2022 Kirkpatrick Conference

Systematic Racism, Antiracism, and "Reconciliation" In Our Shared History and Tradition

Registration for the 2022 Kirkpatrick Conference is now open. This academic conference, Visions of Wholeness: Systemic Racism, Antiracism, and “Reconciliation” in Our Shared History and Tradition will be held March 18-19, 2022, at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The conference is sponsored through DCHS’s Kirkpatrick Lecture Endowment.

Bringing together leading Disciples and Stone Campbell scholars and church leaders, this is an academic conference open to the public. Papers and panel discussions will critically analyze the impact of systemic racism in Disciples and Stone-Campbell history and tell important stories of resistance to it from the earliest days of our movement to the present time.

We will conclude with a conversation about where we go from here as we live more fully into the antiracism priority we have claimed as a church.

Friday, March 18th

Rev. Sandhya Jha will open the conference on Friday morning. Rev. Dr. William Barber II, will present the keynote address on Friday evening of the conference.

Saturday, March 19th

On Saturday morning, participants will gather at Reconciliation Park in the Greenwood Community for a remembrance of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre.

Rev. Dr. Frank Thomas will be the preacher for the closing worship on Saturday, and Rev. Teresa "Terri" Hord Owens will give the charge as the conference closes.

The registration fee for the day and a half event is $70, which includes three meals. Register for in-person or Livestream attendance.

Conference Flyer

Speakers & Presenters

CONGREGATIONS IN FOCUS

"The Church Being the Church:" Disciples Leaders Visit Western Kentucky

An article published on December 15 by Week of Compassion.

On Tuesday, December 14, Kentucky Regional Minister Rev. Dr. Don Gillett visited several communities in Kentucky that were impacted by the recent storm. Week of Compassion staff accompanied Dr. Gillett on this pastoral visit as a sign of solidarity, sharing the prayers and words of support that have been offered by so many from across the wider church. They traveled to Mayfield First Christian Church and Second Christian Church, and to Princeton, where they visited with leaders from First Christian Princeton and First Christian Dawson Springs. They also went to the site of a church member’s home that was destroyed in the storm.

Members from FCC Princeton and other nearby Disciples churches were already there, helping to sift through the debris and recover personal items.

Read full article here.

Dr. Gillett reflected, “In my visit today, it was hard to see the devastation that the storm had left… to see homes wiped out and families displaced. But in that, I felt the spirit of God moving in the resilience and strength of the people. The resilience of the church to continue to be the church by sending out crews...by being a presence. Even with the church that was destroyed, FCC Mayfield, I saw hope. I saw joy. Even in the midst of the despair, I saw Christ being displayed. We know it’s going to be awhile, but we know that with Christ, all things are possible. We’re just doing whatever we can to come alongside churches and the people that have had such devastating loss.”

Please continue to “stay, pray, and give,” as we respond to emerging needs in these and other communities affected by the tornadoes. Local volunteers can connect with cleanup teams through First Christian Church, Madisonville (follow them on Facebook, or reach out to the church office). If you are interested in volunteering at a later date, once communities have had a chance to organize and assess needs, please fill out the interest form HERE.

An article by Katherine Burgess exploring the legacy of The BLVD on the occasion of their 100th anniversary was published on November 8 in Memphis Commercial Appeal. Below is an excerpt.

For 100 years, The BLVD 'has sustained itself with the help of God'

Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, known to many simply as “The BLVD,” was the first African-American church in the City of Memphis in the Disciples of Christ denomination.

The church was started with just 11 members, but 100 years later Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church sees 2,000 on a regular Sunday.

From South Memphis to Whitehaven to Downtown, the church has moved across Memphis, but consistently played an important role in the city.

Rev. J. Lawrence Turner, senior pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church

“I think that we’re trying our best even in a greater sense to continue that legacy in 2021 and beyond to be a faith community that is truly embracing all that comes with the city and the community and doing its part to make life better and not just point people to heaven but help them find meaning and wholeness and purpose here on earth,” said the Rev. J. Lawrence Turner, the church’s pastor who has served in the role since 2013.

Read full article HERE

Leaders from National City Christian Church were featured in a Washington Post article by Michelle Boorstein on December 23. Below is an excerpt.

Churches Face Painful Christmas Questions Amid New Surge

National City Christian Church was planning an amazing Christmas in 2021. An artist would paint a canvas right there during worship. Excerpts of Langston Hughes would be read. And after nearly two years of pandemic roadblocks, people would feel the intimacy, the familiarity of lighting one another’s candles while singing “Silent Night” in a darkened sanctuary, the spreading glow setting off all the feelings of a gloriously normal Christmas.

Then came omicron. And a sinking feeling.

“I sat down with my colleagues and we looked at each other across the table. And we were like: ‘What do we do?’” the Rev. Amy Butler, interim senior minister at National City, said.

Shut down last pre-vaccine Christmas and having begun meeting in person regularly again just in September, National City was really ready for Christmas, Butler said. But looking at the variant spreading and health officials’ guidance, church leaders decided this week to close the church and go virtual until next month.

Rev. Beverly Goines records a virtual Christmas Service at National City Christian Church in Washington D.C.

Read full article HERE

MINISTRY RESOURCES

HELM Leadership Fellows Program Application

The application period is currently open for those wishing to apply to be part of the upcoming cohort in the Leadership Fellows Program.

The Leadership Fellows Program seeks to cultivate and strengthen participants' potential for leadership through an intentional focus on the Christian community, societal transformation, global awareness, and leadership engagement. Students entering undergraduate education may apply to the program, which includes a scholarship, an annual retreat, and an international cross-cultural experience.

While the Leadership Fellows Program includes a grant, it is not primarily a scholarship program. Each year of the four-year program will include an intentional focus:

Year 1: Investigate the nature of Christian community
Year 2: Explore how faith communities help transform society
Year 3: Cultivate cultural competency and global awareness
Year 4: Leadership formation with a year of mentoring

The deadline to receive all application materials is March 31, 2022.

Click here to read the full application instructions and requirements.

Click here to begin your application for the 2022-2023 academic year.

The HELM Leadership Fellows Program aims to develop leaders through an intentional focus on four major areas, listed above.

Click HERE to begin application

Week of the Laity Resources

We will celebrate with you the love and strength of laity across the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) January 16-22, 2022.

It is our hope you will gather in safe ways to affirm lay leaders and edify their ministry in the world. As you start the year, these resources inspired by Simon of Cyrene will aid you in doing so thoughtfully. Simon of Cyrene was a North African man we find supporting the enfleshed church in Matthew 27, Mark 15, and Luke 23. We only know him because of what he did for another.

Let’s journey with Simon together!

Week of the Laity - Rev. Dr. Stephanie Buckhannon Crowder

Lecture on Simon of Cyrene for the Week of the Laity from Rev. Dr. Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder

Click HERE to access the Powerpoint

ALEX - 2022 Yearbook Reports

Now is the time! The ALEX system is open for reporting on 2021. Instructions, worksheet, and a list of congregational user tutorials are available to support you.

Please plan to make time to enter your information during February if at all possible so we don't have a logjam on March 15!

Tutorial sessions are available at a variety of times on Jan. 17, 19, 25 & 27, and Feb. 3 & 7

Click HERE for more information

How to Design Worship to Reach

In-person and Virtual Audiences

Most people are familiar with hybrid cars. They run on two kinds of fuel — electricity and gasoline.

But as the U.S. slowly rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s another kind of hybrid emerging: worship. Many congregations that scrambled to improve their digital presence during COVID have been returning to in-person worship. Most value the lessons and opportunities gained in the forced immersion of online worship services. After all, with this new outlet, congregations are no longer limited to their physical footprint. They can reach not only worshipers in lock-down or otherwise home-bound, but also worshipers as far as the Internet can reach.

With any innovation, managing the change requires intention, new technical skills, and a little luck.

Here are a few tips to help make the most of this brave new world of hybrid worship.

Disciples Church Extension Fund helps you make the most of this brave new world of hybrid worship.

Click HERE for more information

WELLNESS RESOURCES

12 Days of Wellness: Mental Health Tips from NBA Cares

To help with feelings of grief, depression, or anxiety some may be feeling this season, Joselyn Spence, Director of NBA’s Mental Health and Wellness program has recorded 12 tips that will help you get through this time of year with a bit more wellness in mind.

Click here to watch the 12 videos to help you navigate this season and all that comes with it.

Day 1: How to Handle Disconnection from Family Due to the Pandemic

Day 2: The Effects of Seasonal Depression and Less Daylight

Day 3: Dealing with Anxiety During the Holidays

Day 4: How to Handle Conflict with Loved Ones

Day 5: Setting Boundaries

Day 6: How to Make Time for Rest

Day 7: Acknowledging Grief and Loss This Season

Day 8: Managing Financial Stress During the Holidays

Day 9: Making Time for Joy and Play

Day 10: Children and Youth During the Holidays

Day 11: Older Adults

Day 12: Dealing with Change

Grieving Well: Addressing Grief and Depression for Clergy and Leaders

NBA’s Mental Health & Wellness Director Joselyn Spence and NBA’s Interim XPLOR/Young Adult Leadership Development Coordinator Rev. Rae Karim talk through grief strategies for clergy members.

This webinar explores the foundations of grief: what we grieve, how we grieve, and the ways we can grieve well. Also explores best practices for grief support.

Webinar: Addressing Grief and Depression for Clergy and Leaders

Watch the webinar recording above

Learn To Live: Mental Health Resource Available to all Actively Serving Disciples Ministers

Feeling stressed, sleepless, anxious, or discouraged? There is help. You're not alone.

One in two people will experience a mental health issue during their lifetime-and Pension Fund wants to help provide resources for you during those difficult times.

Introducing, Learn to Live, a free, confidential, online mental health resource for ministers and their families. Learn more at www.pensionfund.org/learntolive

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Learn more about available positions across the Christian Church here on our website in addition to the opportunities featured below:

CONNECTIONS

JULY 20-23, 2022

For more information visit: www.2022ITSREAL.org

Got questions? Email us at itsreal@disciples.org

National Convocation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)