Hello, Oklahoma Disciples.  I trust you are well today.  I’m thankful you and your congregation participate in the covenant we share as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma with your time, talents, gifts for ministry, vision, and financial support.

It has been 26 days since I began as Regional Minister. Some people have asked how it is going. As I told the Regional Board during our meeting on August 16th, I am experiencing the same challenges and grace that new regional ministers typically encounter. In many ways, it has been a normal beginning.  My experience as an Associate Regional Minister provided excellent on-the-job training for this new role in the life of the church.

At the start of the search process for a local minister or regional minister, the search committee asks each candidate the same set of questions. During the fall, I will publish my answers to the initial questions to give you a glimpse of my experience and help you get to know me better as we chart a course for the future of what the region can be, probably will be, with help and prayers from you, our congregations, and our clergy.

You will hear me say this often: there is ministry to do and gospel to be in your community that only you and your congregation can do and only you and your congregation can be.  That is true for our Region and this covenant we share.  Disciples, you are a blessing.

What is the role of the Region in helping the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) fulfill its Mission?

When a Region connects people, engages culture in service and dialogue, offers quality education, and challenges congregations and ministers to be good news in their context, it is witnessing to the way of Jesus and encouraging persons to claim his way and his faith in God within the diversity of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  It’s welcoming as we were welcomed, which we trust can lead to an experience of wholeness in our fragmented world and, maybe, help bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.(1)  The Region embraces covenant community, collaboration, and servant leadership.  In my experience, the Region’s role broadly includes:

  • Pastoral presence for clergy.
  • Interpreter between congregations, Regional ministries, and General Church ministries.
  • Nurturer and gatekeeper of the Order of Ministry through the Commission on Clergy.
  • Missional Ministry with children, youth, and adults.
  • Spiritual Direction
  • Content Curator or Creator
  • Coordinator (project manager)
  • Fundraiser
  • Advocate
  • Counselor
  • Mediator
  • Archivist

When a Region is engaged in these things, it is beginning to fulfill it’s role in the ministry and mission of our expression of faith, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Note
1. The phrase, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” was used by Martin Luther King Jr. in several speeches.  It is a paraphrase of a thought by the abolitionist Theodore Parker (1810-1860). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Parker