These scenes are from Chidren's Vacation Bible School, Youth Group Zoom, Civil Rights Pilgrimage, El Salvador Adult Mission Trip and Belgium (Ingrid's home).
"The Holy Spirit will teach you everything, reminding you of all
that I have said." John 14:26
The Disciples of Christ have long pointed toward life-long discipleship as the key to building a growing faith. "Not that I have arrived," as the Apostle Paul says, "but I press forward." The very word, disciple, means learner; essentially one who has not yet arrived. When we stop mining the mysteries of God, preferring a list of doctrines over a dynamic relationship, we've halted the very process we were designed to experience. The Bible opens the door. Its context broadens our understanding. If God is still speaking, we've got much yet to learn... always. By expanding our dialogue with others, open to their wisdom and experiences, we grow in our own faith. Love leads to, and with, a broad mind.
Join us this coming week as we explore the spiritual import of broadening our own minds in our journey of faith. How can we as church continue to nurture broad minds in our members, and how might we create ministries that integrate broad hearts and minds in a wholistic and balanced way? Registrations are ongoing, so if you have not registered and would like to participate please click here to register for the time that works for you. You can also call or email John to register at 573.445.5312 x222 or jd[email protected].
The Discipleship Challenge
By Deb Ward
Co-Lead of the Vision Team
Hello Broadway Friends! As disciples, we gather together weekly as a congregation of the Disciples of Christ. I was thrilled when the star word I drew for 2020 was discipleship. There are many dimensions of the word disciple, and I was looking for my best way to be an example of that word. Looking forward during a time of pandemic was a challenge, and yet taking the time to envision our future together as part of the visioning process was my best way in 2020 to live out the discipleship challenge.
To be a Disciple of Christ is to be a learner of the ways of living that Jesus described to his disciples. At the core of his message was the power of love in action. Taking the time to discuss our vision and how to use our collective energy with members of the visioning team was the perfect way to explore our shared disciple-ness.
There was an amazing collective energy that the planning team brought to the visioning process. We were a group of individuals who brought a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, but we came together with shared values and goals that converged. The result of our work, the visioning statement and the master narrative, were inspired by the spirit and now we as people of Broadway Christian Church have the chance to give it life.
Now is the time that we offer these ideas to you. You've received your packets (or click here for the web version) and we offer to you the chance to engage with us. Now is the time for you to come and join us! Meet with us, pray with us, and work with us as we look for ways that we can portray our broad hearts, broad minds, and broad reach, and to explore the many ways that love shows itself. Now is the time to select the virtual discussion session that works best for you. Take the time to meet with us in that place where our pastors are engaging with us as we get ready for action.
When this pandemic is over and we are back together face-to-face, let it be with the memory of a time when we met, prayed, and determined how we can be the Broadway Christian Church we want to be going forward: the broad WAY that exemplifies the ways of living, sharing and
loving that we are called to be. I'll be there, and I'll be looking for you there too! See you soon!
Virtual Series: Middle and High School Youth
Have you ever had a question that didn't have a clear answer? Did you ever have a disagreement with someone who was so closed-minded that you couldn't even have a conversation with them without being told you're wrong! Join us this Sunday at 7pm for some mind-bending games and discussion around embracing our questions and broadening our minds in our journey of faith! Link in your parents' email!
Children's Virtual Pathways Focus
We are so excited to share this unit with our children! The next few weeks we will be learning about how Jesus called his disciples to help him teach God's messages of faith, love, forgiveness and hope. These stories can be found in Matthew 4:18-22 and Luke 5:27-32. We'll learn how Jesus called the expected to come serve with him and how he also called individuals who were considered "sinners" too. He placed his trust in them to change and be His helpers. Our hope is that our children will be able to understand that they, themselves, have been called by Jesus to be his disciples and that they have the power to teach and promote the core values of Christianity to all they encounter!
Aimee has already delivered the Virtual Pathways Sunday School kits last Saturday. If you have not signed up to receive one, just email her at [email protected].
Virtual Pathways meets over Zoom at 9:00 a.m. every Sunday morning. Check your email for the Zoom link from Aimee.
Monday Zoom with Mark, Terry & John
Join your pastors and friends on the Zoom @ Noon. The group meets for a bit less than an hour, and you never know whose face you'll see or voice you'll hear! Mark, Terry and John will be available over the noon hour this Monday for conversation and reflection - the casual and important moments that we miss on Sunday morning! Just click on the image and join the conversation.
Keeping You Informed...
Our Seat at The Table
In lieu of the annual city-wide breakfast to celebrate the life and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Broadway's own Director of Community Engagement, Adonica Coleman, was asked to host, and produce, a panel of community leaders getting to the heart of what racial equality looks like in our city at this time. This well-produced and deeply thoughtful, vulnerable, and honest panel entitled, "Where We Stand: Our Seat at the Table" is an accessible way to hear of the first hand accounts of what it's like to be a black woman in Columbia from some of our city's amazingly talented and engaged leaders.
What a great opportunity to listen in and imagine together what may be possible when we break down barriers and build up one another. Thank you, Adonica, for your heart, creative efforts, and strong community leadership! Watch Here.
Need Prayer Support?
Our prayer team is faithful to pray every Wednesday concerning the needs of our BCC family as well as concerns in Columbia/Boone County which directly affect us all. This is a part of what it means to be a church Where Love Leads. If you or your family members need supportive prayer, our team welcomes every prayer request. Please know that all prayer requests are kept confidential within the team. Contact the church office at 573.445.5312 or [email protected] with your prayer requests.
It's Not too Late to Join In!
Just a reminder to text "BroadwayCC" to 94000 to receive your unique Star Word for 2021! Remember to please input everyone's name in your household that would like their own Star Word.
2020 Giving Statements Sent Out
Please check your email inbox to ensure you have received your 2020 giving statement. If you have not received it, or have questions about what you received, please call or email Ingrid at 573.445.5312 or [email protected].
Friends & Family News...
Intercessions
Becker Family, Missy Blocher, Gertie Combs, Richie Crosset, Jana Day, Gay Gage, Joyce Godbee, Cathy Griggs, Molly Frost Holmes, Humlicek Family, Resa Kerns, Roma Kerns, Pat Klein, Barbara Maddex, Janie McArthur, Robert McArthur, Paul Meyer, Delta Murphy, Rainwater Family, Mary Regan, Cheryl Shigaki, Dorothy Sorrels, Marty Taylor, Jim Thorne, Gretchen Volkert, Beverly Walden, Ron & Jeanne Wright.
Thoughts and Prayers
to Kathy & Gary Moss and family on the passing of Kathy's Mom, Norma Myers, on January 15.
to Michelle & Tim Kersey on the loss of her stepfather in Texas on January 17.
Congratulations
to Rick and Terry Matheny on becoming grandparents. Their son, Michael and his wife Monica welcomed a baby boy on Christmas Eve, Mack Lawrence Matheny.
Birthdays This Week
January 21
David Holmes
January 22
Cassandra Gal, Chris Barron
January 24
Marissa Kraus, Maura Hall
January 25
Larry Tonyan
January 26
Ryan Grueber, Justin Long
January 27
Phyllis Hardin
January 29
John Poehlmann
January 30
Stephen Jones
In the Community...
Memorial for Covid Losses
A Prayer from Pastor Terry:
Set aside a moment of reverence to pause and turn off all lights and all electronics.
Darken the room you are in and step onto your porch with a candle or a flashlight.
To remember and offer our collective grief for those who have died, those who have experienced loss, and those who have stood on the front lines of rescue, healing.
A pause to honor those who have held witness and hands in the moment of last breath.
A deep breathing prayer and soft, hopeful exhale for all those now in treatment, healing and recovery.
Take a breath. Breath! Breath of God.
The nation lights one per hundred or 400 luminaries, each representing one thousand losses.
For you, for our neighbors, for our community, country and world.
Light and Breath of God, we open and send our collective grief.
The Lenten season is approaching and our period of isolation due to the pandemic is going to end soon. We will be returning to "normal". Recent events have also highlighted the disconnections in our culture and even in our faith lives. As we reestablish the "normal" we need to reconsider what it means to belong to one another in our homes, our communities, our faith groups and even the world.
The retreat content will be a three tier approach to understanding God's way of belonging as He claims each of us to respond to His invitation to belong in His kingdom for mutual flourishing in every culture.
