Disciples Together
General News of the Christian Church in the Upper Midwest
January | 2021
|
|
With this edition of Disciples Together, the Christian Church in the Upper Midwest offers five regular newsletters focused on different areas of our shared ministry. These newsletters can keep you better informed and connected.
The newsletters are:
-
Mission Together (published first Tuesday of the month): highlighting stories of the work we are doing in Jesus’ name, plus resources to learn and better participate in mission
-
Worship Together (published second Tuesday of the month): offering resources and creative ideas to inspire our shared worship of God
-
Disciples Together (published third Tuesday of the month): providing general news and updates for the regional church, looking out about 10 weeks, so you can better share this information in your congregations and ministry
-
Ministry Together (published fourth Tuesday of the month): a resource of materials specifically selected for clergy
-
CCC News (published fifth Tuesday of the month): a quarterly newsletter from the Christian Conference Center
We are using Constant Contact to share these newsletters by email. This allows you to receive them in a timely manner. It also allows you to manage your subscriptions, so you receive the information most important to you. Feel free to subscribe to any or all of them! Congregations will also continue to receive a printed copy of Disciples Together. If you do not use email, you can request to receive a printed copy of any newsletter by contacting our regional office.
Click here to subscribe to any and all of these publications!
|
|
Clergy Chats with Regional Minister
Beginning next month, Rev. Joshua Patty will host bi-weekly chats covering a variety of topics. The February 3 conversation will be about planning for Ash Wednesday and Lent. On February 17, the conversation will consider “what comes next” for the church after the COVID pandemic subsides.
You can join these Zoom calls using your connected device or telephone every other Wednesday at 2 pm. Connect here or call in (1-312-626-6799).
|
You’re invited to “Let Love Flow” in the 2021 Week of Compassion Special Offering. This annual campaign, collected on Feb. 21 and Feb. 28 this year, supports the relief, refugee, and development ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). |
New Disciples Newsletters
from General Church
You can now sign up for email newsletters that bring you the news you want, whether that’s updates on justice efforts, messages from Rev. Terri Hord Owens, news from the whole church, or resources particularly for pastors. You may already be signed up for Disciples News Service and/or Disciples Together, but we’ve added Disciples Justice Ministries and Dear Disciples to the mix. You can also follow many Disciples ministries on social media.
|
DCEF Loan Approvals Exceed One Billion Dollars
On December 17, the amount of total loan approvals extended by Disciples Church Extension Fund (DCEF) to congregations in need exceeded $1 billion. Now in its 138th year, the financial ministry offers investments; building planning and capital fundraising services; ministry re-envisioning programs through Hope Partnership Services, a part of DCEF; and, support for the new church movement of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) through New Church Ministry, also a part of DCEF. To many, however, the ministry is best known for the aid it has provided to congregations in the form of more than 13,670 loans. Since the year 2000, more than half of this total — $565.7 million — has been approved for 1,509 loans.
When founded the Church Extension Fund, as it was then called, totaled just $2,605. Today the Disciples Church Extension Fund (DCEF), as it has been known since 2012, totals more than $184 million.
|
|
2021 Yearbook Reporting is open now! All yearbook reporting will be done through the new online function, ALEX. If your congregation has not submitted information for your primary ALEX user, please do so today here.
Training sessions on using ALEX will be held every Tuesday and Thursday through Feb, 4. Training sessions will be conducted on Zoom. This site provides the dates and the Zoom links. The General Office also hosted an information session in December. You can watch that Q & A session here.
Yearbook reports are due by March 15, 2021.
|
Don’t miss the rest and renewal of this year’s Minister’s Institute. You can sign up to retreat in community Feb. 8-10 or receive a retreat box to use anytime.
|
|
Christian Church in the Upper Midwest | http://uppermidwestcc.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
