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What gifts do you possess that will enable you to be an effective Regional Minister in our setting?

One colleague generously describes me as a “strategic thinker.” I like to say I think about the “big picture” and manage the trip details.  My time as Associate Regional Minister has sharpened my “event planner” and “project manager” skills.  I turn my attention to the areas that need it most and structure my time based on different levels of attention that people, tasks, programs, or ideas require during a day, week, or month.  I appreciate and learn from history and tradition without being held captive by it.  I’m curious.  I like meeting people and learning how they are being good news.  I can be an early adopter of technology and adapt well to changing circumstances.   Initially, I’m better at remembering a person’s story than their name.  Mediation training helped me become a better listener, and I continue to hone my interpersonal, writing, and digital communication skills.  I think I am a good “talent scout,” which is how I classify the Search and Call process, but it is also how I approach work with committees, commissions, and teams.  I lead by example, and my leadership style focuses on putting people together and creating the best possible environment for them to flourish and learn from challenges.  I bring a youth minister’s eye for community, group dynamics, and leadership to Regional ministry.  My skill set, perspective, and experience could be a bridge to what our Region can become for the next generation of congregations, lay and clergy leaders.

Thank you for claiming and participating 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.

Disciples, you are a blessing.

Based on your reading of our Region’s profile, what approach would you take during your first three years to help us achieve our stated goals?

The Region’s current vision remains relevant: connect, equip, and empower to love and serve like Jesus.  It’s a compass for the mission of unity, not uniformity.  It’s a compass for the service and work of the Region and all Oklahoma disciples to be a movement of wholeness.  My approach would draw from a model created by George Bullard, asking the Region and congregations to consider what is faithful, effective, and innovative about our diverse ministries.  How can we identify and support innovative, effective, and faithful ministries in a connection and attention economy as we proclaim the good news of God? 

I don’t think this can be accomplished without humble hospitality, collaboration, storytelling, and data analysis.  I will collaborate in charting a course for the Region, taking the information from the listening sessions on the road to determine where clergy and laity are willing to engage and participate in creating a future aligned with the Region’s vision and mission.  There is abundant skill, experience, leadership, and dollars in our Region. The gifts for being the Christian Church in Oklahoma are among us and represented in the Regional Minister Search Committee. We have to build, in some cases rebuild, relationships and communication that can listen for the Spirit of God among us, pointing toward a future that presents ministry to do and gospel to be locally and through the covenant relationship between congregations, clergy, and the Region.

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. 

Thank you for claiming and participating 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.

Disciples, you are a blessing.

“May we all forgive” was tattooed on his arm
Like a sign from God or a hit and run
He handed me my coffee he just poured
May we all find the mercy we’ve been longing for

There’s a big wide sky filled with stars
That feels so close but feels so far
I’m tired of all the rage tired of all the worry
I’m ready for a great wild mercy
A great wild mercy

Carrie Newcomer, “A Great Wild Mercy.” (Light Records) 2023.

Describe your church in 3 words.

That’s what I’ve been asking clergy and laity as I’ve traveled the Region and corresponded with people.  How would you answer?
Email me your 3 words.

Last month, two congregations celebrated the installation of a new minister.    With liturgy and prayer, we celebrate their leadership, reaffirm their ordination or commissioning, and affirm their service.  First Christian Church in Pond Creek and Southern Hills Christian Church welcomed their ministers.  On October 12th, First Christian Church in Moore will install their new minister, Rev. Matthew Ricks.  Please put Regional Assembly, March 6-7, 2026, on your calendar and plan to attend my installation on the afternoon of March 7th.

The Northwest Area and the Northeast Area sponsor clergy retreats each year.  The Northeast Area’s retreat is typically held the Sunday after Easter, and the Northwest Area’s is in mid-September (just returned).  These retreats are for active clergy in the area, and when space is available, they invite colleagues beyond the area.  The retreats include continuing education, a completely free afternoon, vespers, and conversations with persons who share a call to ministry.   The Northwest Area retreat focused on clergy mental health.

• A clergy lectionary group continues to meet on Monday mornings to study scripture and share sermon ideas.
• The Commission on Clergy meets this month with candidates Incare on the journey to ordination or commissioning.  It’s exciting to have 7 people Incare (under the care of the Comm on Clergy).  The Commission will also hold an ordination council.
• The Executive Committee will meet to finalize the Region’s 2026 budget and present it to the Regional Board on November 1st.  At the fall Board meeting, our Commissions report on their 2025 work and plans for 2026. 
• The fall appeal for the Annual Fund was mailed.  Your financial gifts support the work and ministry of the Region.  The three income sources for the Region are the Disciples Mission Fund, the Annual Fund, and Endowment investments.  Through this funding, we respond to the needs of clergy and congregations, organize volunteers to offer camps, retreats, intergenerational education, or mission opportunities, and perform the administrative work of our Region on behalf of the denomination.  Thank you for your gift to the annual fund.

I trust that God will continue to bless us with gospel to be and ministry to do in our congregations and through this covenant we claim and share: the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma.  Thank you for reading.

Disciples, you are a blessing.

I’ve discerned the encouragement of colleagues, peers, mentors, and friends to pursue this position as the “still small voice” of God.  One of the strengths of our denomination is the intentional balancing of autonomy and community.  When I refer to the “community of faith,” the ideal I embrace is that we are friends, colleagues, and neighbors on a journey in faith who are accountable to each other, learn from each other, practice acceptance, and give voice to the good news of God we have experienced in Jesus, whom we call Christ.  

My experience as an Associate Regional Minister (Pastor) has influenced me. I’ve served in Oklahoma for fourteen (fifteen now) years and on the Kentucky Regional staff for nine years.  My portfolio in both Regions, as well as my time in congregational ministry, has focused on ministry with Children, Youth, Young Adults, Church Camp, and Christian Education.  My time in ordained ministry is characterized as a generalist with a specific set of skills and focus.  Continuing education has increased my skill set and competency in other areas in service to the Church.  Assisting congregations and ministers in the Search and Call process has been humbling and instructive.  It has helped me appreciate this vital role of the Region.  Offering pastoral care and support affirms the need to create space for community among ministers, laity, youth workers, and our congregations.  I’ve managed budgets, staff, volunteers, and pulled both Regions toward incorporating technology in telling congregational stories and, thus, the Region’s and denomination’s story.

Oklahoma Disciples, 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.  You will hear me say this or read 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.

There’s a gathering of spirits
There’s a festival of friends
And we’ll take up where we left off
When we all meet again.

Carrie Newcomer, “A Gathering of Spirits.” 2002.

Hello, Oklahoma Disciples.  I trust you are well.  Our Exec. Committee and Regional Board offer me a “Regional Minister’s Moment” at the meetings.  An edited version of my August words are below.  My September calendar is at the end of this post.

Each morning, I receive a pithy thought from a marketing guy named Seth Godin.  He’s been in the business a long, long time.  On August 6th, I received this thought.

The index is the search bar, the random access to the facts we can look up.
The table of contents, though, that’s a point of view. It’s a taxonomy of how to understand a complicated idea.
It’s the skeleton of the narrative and the pedagogy for learning.
We’re at risk of becoming all index.
The world could probably benefit from your table of contents.

If we imagine the Region as a little book, the title would be: Oklahoma Disciples Love and Serve Like Jesus.  The table of contents: Connect, Equip, Empower.  The index is full of lessons.  There are more chapters to write about the relationships, mission, and ministry of our congregations and the Region as we live into a future that we trust to God’s knowledge and care, who in kind, trusts us with the message and ways of Jesus in our fragmented world.  It won’t be easy, but the one we claim as Christ never said it would be.  We won’t always get it right, but Jesus never said we would.

It’s been a busy first month as I’ve learned the back-of-the-house functions and processes that the Regional Minister manages.  I’ve met with the Exec Committee, the Comm on Clergy Chair, the Regional Board, three congregations and their leaders imagining their future, and four of our five area minister groups.  I attended my first Regional Ministers Zoom, where I met new colleagues, some I’ve known along the way, and many I’ll get to know and benefit from their experience and faith.  Our General Minister and President, Rev. Terri Hord Owens, sends her “Hello and blessings.” to Oklahoma disciples.

All the things that I’ve observed over the years as an Associate when a new Regional Minister is called are happening.  Phone calls, emails, and mail from congregations, clergy, and the General church, oh my.  They are:

• Words of support and congratulations.
• Some are in personal or congregational distress and need to be heard, or are seeking prayer.
• Some are just curious if the new person will respond and how quickly.
• Invitations to fill the pulpit, to speak at a fellowship meal, visit the elders, or attend the next search committee meeting.

My time as Regional Minister begins with celebrations representing our congregations, denomination, and Christianity.  On August 24th, the Church celebrated the ordination of Patrick McKenzie into Christian ministry at New Vessels Christian Church in Oklahoma City.

There are three installations this fall.

• September 14th, First Christian Church in Pond Creek celebrates Rev. Diane Morgan. 
• September 28th, Southern Hills Christian Church in Edmond celebrates Rev. John Bain.
• October 12th, First Christian Church in Moore celebrates Rev. Matthew Ricks. 

Four congregations have ministry anniversaries that we know of this fall.

• I’ll worship with First Christian Church in El Reno on Sept 7th for their 135th anniversary of ministry.
• Waukomis Christian Church celebrates 128 years of ministry on Sept 21st.
• I’ll offer words of welcome and encouragement at In the Spirit Christian Church in Tulsa on October 5th for their 17th anniversary of ministry.
• I’ll worship with First Christian Church in Tahlequah on October 19th for their 110th anniversary of ministry.

Celebrations.  Did you see all the stories of ministry from this summer in the August Regional Roundup?  If not, subscribe today.  Some small changes are on the horizon for the Regional Roundup beginning in October.

The evening of October 5th, I’ll represent the Region at the inauguration of Rev. Dr. Douglas Powe as President of Phillips Theological Seminary.

The Oklahoma Disciples Foundation will celebrate 60 years of serving Oklahoma congregations on November 14th, and celebrate Rev. Kyle Maxwell for his years of service to the foundation and the Church.  I look forward to attending, celebrating ODF’s work, and the ministry Rev. Maxwell. Equipping is an investment.  The Oklahoma Disciples Foundation assists congregations and the Region with financial tools and endowment blessings from a cloud of witnesses committed to doing ministry and being gospel.

Equipping is an investment.  That’s what the Comm for Children, Youth, and Young Adults does through summer camp, retreats, and the Regional Youth Council.  The Comm on Laity is experimenting with digital continuing education this fall that will be offered “free of charge.” Learnings from this first step into digital continuing education will help plot a course for the Commission and for an Associate Regional Minister who will serve alongside the Commission on Laity and the CYYA to vision, create, and support intergenerational Christian education, life-long learning, and fellowship that empowers people to think, collaborate, dialogue, and act as followers of Jesus within the community of faith and as individuals beyond the walls or boundaries of the church.  This is a missional ministry.

All of this and more, from the priorities of our budget to our care for our neighbor, congregations, and clergy could/can empower disciples to love and serve like Jesus, because followers of Jesus do Jesus like things.  In our different contexts, I think that’s how we will recognize and measure goodness, mercy, and faithfulness, by what “we embrace, what we create, and who we include.” [Chocolat, (Miramax Films) 2000.]  

I trust that God will continue to bless us with gospel to be and ministry to do in our congregations and through this covenant we claim and share: the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma.  Thank you for reading.

Disciples, you are a blessing.

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