Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:
Every once in a while, it is good to take a step back from life and work and ask: Who are we? What are we doing? What are our goals? It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut, to keep doing things we should’ve stopped doing years ago, to not get around to living the way we want to.
Well, your Regional leadership recently did that. We began late last year with a leadership survey, and then in January our clergy and our board met with a consultant from Ministry Architects to discuss mission, values, and strategic goals. Our new mission statement:
We nurture, equip, and inspire all toward God’s inclusive love, bold justice, and faithful transformation.
Anidamos, equipamos, e inspiramos a todos hacia el amor inclusivo de Dios, la justicia audaz y la transformación fiel.
The Region works to nurture and develop leaders and congregations. This includes the work of the Commission on Ministry, the New Church Ministry Team, and the Congregational Vitality Grant Team. The Region also works to inspire our leaders and congregations to work towards transforming ourselves and our society to be more in line with God’s inclusive love. This involves the work of our Anti-Racism Team, our Border and Immigration Ministry, and our Global Missions Team.
We also named five values that we want to guide our ministry and our life together:
Courage. Honesty. Willingness. Inclusivity. Justice.
Valentía. Honestidad. Disponibilidad. Inclusividad. Justicia.
We are asking all Arizona Disciples to consider how these values are present in our lives, in our congregations, and in our ministries. We hope we have the courage to face difficult questions and situations with honesty. We want to be transparent and accountable. We want to be willing to listen to each other, to sit with each other, to consider alternative viewpoints, rather than judging or jumping to conclusions. We want to be inclusive to ALL – because no one likes to feel excluded, and because NOTHING can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:37-39) And finally, we want to recognize and work against the presence of all kinds of injustice and discrimination, as we seek to move toward what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called “the Beloved Community.”
This is who we are as Arizona Disciples, and who we want to be. May God be with us on this journey, and may we be courageous enough to go where God calls us.
Dios les bendiga!
Pastor Jay
Regional Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Arizona
