Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:
I send you Greetings from the greater Cincinnati area where your Regional Moderator, Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea, and I have spent the last few days at the General Board meeting. These have been valuable days of meeting with General ministry staff, other Regional Ministers, and a number of wonderful leaders across our denomination. I want to share with you some highlights from our time here.
We officially recommended Rev. Terri Hord Owens for another six-year term as our General Minister and President, to great applause from the entire board.
Much of the discussion was around proposed changes to the Design, the governing documents of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, which will be voted on at the General Assembly this summer. Among the most notable changes:
- having an in-person General Assembly every THREE years instead of every two years
- allowing each congregation to have THREE voting representatives instead of TWO
- having on-line Assemblies as needed where all three voting representatives will be involved learning about and discussing any issues
We also discussed a number of Resolutions that will be brought to the General Assembly this summer. Among them are Resolutions which deal with:
- Israel/Palestine
- Food waste, food insecurity, and environmental justice
- Indigenous peoples
- Faith-based investing
- Christian Nationalism
We will soon be sharing the finalized texts of these resolutions with all of our congregations and encourage all Disciples to discuss these resolutions. Be looking for an opportunity to have a Region-wide discussion via zoom about these resolutions.
I also was able to have invaluable face-to-face conversations with the presidents of several General Ministry presidents, including DCEF, CCF, Pension Fund, Christian Unity and Interfaith Ministry, Treasury Services, Week of Compassion, National Benevolent Association, and with our General Minister and President, Rev. Teresa Hord Owens.
Finally — there is much excitement across our denomination over the Church Narrative Project. We were blessed to hear four wonderful stories on Sunday night that ranged in topic from “why not to wear a cheap bra” to “what happens when your husband is kidnapped.” We celebrate that Arizona will be the next Region to participate – April 28-29. I hope you all can join us for that event at Foothills Christian Church – you can register here.
Dios les bendiga!
Pastor Jay
Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona
Regional Calendar of Weekly Prayers
April
23 – Saguaro Christian Church led by Pastor Kelley Dick
30 – Sun City Christian Church led by Pastor Brett Winters
May
7 – Templo Cristiano Central led by Pastor Job Cobos
14 – Casa de Adoración Discípulos de Cristo led by Pastors Arturo and Janett Laguna
21 – New Church Ministry and the Pentecost Special Offering
28 – New Church Ministry and the Pentecost Special Offering
