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Reconciliation Offering 2020: The Rocks Are Crying Out

I tell you, if you were to keep silent the stones would cry out. Silence is the absence of sound. To speak is to convey a feeling or opinion. This is not the time to be the absence of sound but to convey the injustice of those feeling the weight of racism and oppression. This the time to speak up and convey the truth of God’s love and equality for us all.

Matthew Tippell, Musician, Allisonville Christian Church, Indianapolis, IN

In Luke 19:39 to 40 we read that some of the Pharisees in a crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher rebuke your disciples.” “I tell you,” he replied “If they keep quiet the stones will cry out.” Though we know that God’s spirit will cause the stones to cry out if we remain silent, when it comes to being an anti-racist, pro-reconciling church, silence is not an option.

The form of this ministry may be changing,
but the need for addressing racism
has never been more obvious.

Your gifts to Reconciliation Ministry allow your communities and your congregations to ensure the human dignity of every child, to ensure all have access to Christ’s abundance, to fully flourish in education, and financial stability, and friendships across God’s human diversity. Won’t you join the chorus in shouting out Hosana, Hosana blessed are we who come in the name of the Lord. Thank you for your generosity.

To show up is more than a selfie at a protest, or a social media post… showing up means to cry with me, and to let the pain of my people’s tears move you to fight WITH those of us who are pushed to the sides because of the color of our skin, the thickness of our accents, or the documents we hold.

Yesenia Caldwell, Lay Leader, Iglesia Hermandad, Indianapolis, IN

About the Special Offering

The Reconciliation Ministry Special Offering is used to fund our Church’s mission imperative to become a pro-reconciling and anti-racist church utilizing experiential education, inclusive worship, and intentional dialogue. Our efforts to promote healing, relationship, and restoration in the whole family of God are enlivened by funds from this offering. Through it we are able to provide programs for leadership development, curriculum for dialogue and learning, and partnerships within the Church and our communities.

Recent events have reignited the conversation about human brokenness evidenced in the sin of racism and perpetuated in our institutional structures and systems. Your generous giving to Reconciliation Ministry is transforming lives and strengthening Christ’s witness in the world showing that we love one another, even as Christ continues to love us!

Donations on behalf of emergency grants to support impacted communities and congregations toward healing of racial unrest can be directed to the Reconciliation Annual Fund/Racial Justice Response.

The Reconciliation Offering will be received in congregations on Sunday, September 27th and Sunday, October 4th.

I choose to stand up for people of color because racism seems unbeatable. But if God can make the rocks cry out, then just imagine what He can do with people whom God has intentionally created with the capacity to love one another.

Chris Kozak, Central Christian Church, Indianapolis, IN

Why Have a Special Offering

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has a history dating from the 1960s of sharing our resources to address the racism of our society and the racism within our own church. We have called this process the Reconciliation Ministry.

We receive this offering in the fall and use the funds throughout the year to give grants to the pro-reconciliation/anti-racism initiative to organize to dismantle systems and structures that perpetuate this sin of division within the Church.

The 2020 Vision adopted by our church names this work as one of the four priorities of our mission together as a whole church. This voluntary annual offering is the only source of funding for this ministry.

So may our voices echo across the stones and across this land as we work toward the restoration of God’s beloved community.

Rev. Brian Gerard, Sr. Pastor, First Christian Church Louisville, KY

Donate to Reconciliation Ministry

CCOK3012020-09-02T14:56:41-05:00Sep 2, 2020|Congregations|Comments Off

Association of Disciples Musicians 2021 Conference in Tulsa

ADM Selects University of Tulsa as 2021 Site

The Association of Disciples Musicians is well on the road to preparing for its 2021 conference. The theme is “Holy Spirit, You Are Welcome Here.” They will meet at the University of Tulsa from June 21-26, 2021. ADM has made arrangements with TU to meet on the campus each summer through 2023. This will allow the organization to benefit from financial savings and see what effect staying in one location for a few years will have on ease of conference planning and conference attendance.

2021 ADM Clinicians Announced

Clinicians for 2021 are David Cherwien, organ; Suzanne Castle, worship; Joel Raney, choral; Andra Moran, emerging worship; and Nancy Krause, handbells. Our own Alin Cass will lead the Chapel Choir with Sara Collins as the accompanist. ADM president Katrina Cochran is excited to have these returning talented leaders in their respective areas of expertise.

If you are interested in leading an option session at the 2021 Association of Disciples Musicians Conference, please let Katrina know by texting 405-514-8647 or emailing [email protected]. The 2021 Planning Team is still working out those details.

Oklahoma Connections

Several Oklahoma individuals are active in ADM. Rev. Larry Metzger serves on the 2020/2021 ADM Planning Council, and Rev. John Malget is also involved in ADM activities. Incoming ADM president Brad Burnham resides in Tulsa and may be reached at [email protected] or 918-810-8630.

Download the September ADM newsletter

CCOK3012020-09-08T11:47:12-05:00Sep 2, 2020|Congregations|Comments Off

Faith in Action Reconciliation Grants Awarded to 8 Churches

We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one body of Christ, we welcome all to the Lord’s Table as God has welcomed us.

Living our identity is a great challenge in our world today, making our Pro-Reconciliation/Anti-Racism work even more critical. Through your generosity in supporting the Reconciliation Fund, The Faith in Action Commission has awarded approximately $20,000 seeking wholeness in 2020. These grants have gone to rural and urban areas and large and small projects. Some are offered by individual churches. Others are part of the work of communities. Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing with you more information about these projects. Here are just brief descriptions.

Central Christian Church, Enid—Enid Welcome Table—in coordination with other organizations in the Enid community a diverse population of food-insecure persons are provided a meal on Sunday evening
First Christian Church, Chandler, Bridging the Gap—Intensive program designed to lift people out of poverty, a debilitating impact of racism
First Christian Church of Midwest City, Eastern Oklahoma County Homeless—Addresses the needs of families who are homeless with children in school. It serves a very diverse population of all races and persons of Hispanic ethnicity
Simplicity Christian Church, Oklahoma City, Every Kind of Bird—Targets Reconciliation among all people who feel excluded from the general society, including people from the LGBTQ population
Stroud First Christian Church, Faithful Follower—Helps support a program that brings together Native American, black, and white youth from the community which includes a feeding program
First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Guthrie, Thankful Fest— Has a goal of creating more inclusiveness in a church that is 99% white in a community with 25% of the population being persons of color or Hispanic ethnicity
Shepherd Street Christian Church, Chickasha, Building Healthy Families—A predominately black church helping youth and their families flourish in a challenging world
First Christian Presbyterian Church, Pryor, The Meal—Building Reconciliation in a community with wide diversity and poverty

Reconciliation Funds were also awarded

To develop a lecture series piloted by Central Christian Church of Enid in cooperation with Phillips Theological Seminary regarding anti-racism that will be coordinated by the PRAR Team to make it available statewide
To Caminante to help address the discrimination impacting Haitian refugees in the Dominican Republic

Congratulations to all Faith in Action grant recipients. We thank you for serving your community in these important ministries.

CCOK3012020-08-13T14:27:28-05:00Aug 11, 2020|Congregations|Comments Off

Pandemic Updates for Congregations

Just a reminder: The Region follows the guidelines of the CDC and the Oklahoma Health Department. We strongly recommend that congregations remain worshiping on-line until new COVID-19 case numbers are declining consecutively for 14 days or there is some miracle.

When congregations choose to return to in-person worship, we strongly recommend that congregations develop clear protocols which include:

How to Return to In-Person Worship: One-way entrance and exits, seating arrangements, sanitizing processes, no singing, no passing of the peace, alternative ways of taking the offering and communion.
Best Practices for In-Person Worship: Hand washing, physical distancing, and wearing a mask.
When Someone is Diagnosed: When someone reports to the minister they have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and attended worship, notify all those present at the in-person worship so everyone can self-quarantine for 14 days, AND return to on-line worship for at least two weeks or more.

Where Congregations Are Today:
Congregations are sharing that attendance on-line is consistently well attended, and for the most part, giving is consistent and up. Celebrate!

Our largest congregations, Edmond FCC, Norman FCC, and Tulsa Harvard Avenue, have medical advisory teams. These congregations are continuing to worship on-line and have not yet set a date to return to in-person worship. Edmond FCC is offering early worship in-person but only by reservation.

In counties where the virus is low, mostly in west and northwest Oklahoma, congregations are worshiping in-person.

Our middle to small-sized congregations are all in different stages. Some are experimenting with in-person worship with clear safety protocols, including wearing masks while also continuing on-line worship. Some have experimented with drive-up worship, and this form of worship went well until it got too hot. Congregations returning to in-person worship are discovering they have VERY LOW attendance because members are very cautious about being in a crowd, especially when worship is in the highest identified place of contamination.

Even with all protocols in place, Oklahoma has three congregations who have had to return to on-line worship after a COVID positive individual attended in-person worship.

Again, the Region strongly recommends that congregations remain worshiping on-line until the numbers are declining for a consecutive 14 days. If your congregation chooses to return to in-person worship, we hope and pray that out of love of God and neighbor, all safety protocols are practiced, including wearing a mask.

Thank you for standing strong and faithful up against this mighty force of a highly contagious virus.

CCOK3012020-08-12T13:57:13-05:00Aug 11, 2020|Congregations|Comments Off

Love is an Action Word: 7 Part Series

Avoiding Complicity with Racism

Love is an Action Word, is a 7-part series presented by Reconciliation Ministries and the Office of the General Minister and President. Panelists include Margie Pride, Glen Miles, Judith Guy, and Josh Toulouse. Our very own Jeff Champeau will be the producer! This is a wonderful opportunity to take your pro-reconciliation anti-racism to the next level. Watch the replay!

Register now for this virtual series here.

CCOK3012020-08-11T10:15:35-05:00Aug 11, 2020|Congregations|1 Comment

Woodlands Christian Church Supports the Community: Shoe-A-Child

Woodlands Christian Church has an important outreach ministry called “Shoe-A-Child”, providing shoes to children in their church and local community. We thank Woodlands Christian Church, Verna Bateman and the Outreach Committee for their amazing ministry that serves and blesses so many. We thank God for your important ministry and servants hearts.

Verna Bateman, Outreach Committee says “What a wonderful experience seeing all those beautiful faces lighting up with their new shoes. This year was very different with having to deal COVID-19 virus. But with the Lord’s help, ever thing went amazing well. It was so different this year without having our wonderful volunteers from Woodlands Christian Church helping. We are so grateful for the staff at Encore Shoe Store who helped us this year more than ever. We are pleased to report that we served 45 children with new shoes. We would like to thank everyone who provided financial help with this annual event. It is only possible through your support. Lord willing, next year, will be back to normal.”

Thank you for a job well done.

CCOK3012020-08-11T10:05:50-05:00Aug 11, 2020|Congregations|Comments Off

Join NBA for a Virtual Seminar Where Faith Meets Social Good

National Benevolent Association (NBA) invites social entrepreneurs and Disciples who want to learn more about the world of Social Enterprise to our virtual SENT Seminar. Participants will experience online education on the importance of impactful work in our communities and lessons on how to plant and grow new faith-rooted social enterprises.

Topics Covered:
• Fundraising 101
• How to Build a Board
• Church and Social Impact
• The ‘Why’ of Faith-Rooted Social Enterprise
• Congregations Pivoting for Social Impact
• Social Service vs. Social justice
• Communication Strategy

Join us online for the Virtual SENT Seminar, Sept. 16–18, 2020. Register HERE

For more information, contact Rev. Darnell Fennell, Director of Social Entrepreneurship, [email protected], (314) 993-9000 ext. 6845

CCOK3012020-06-30T13:51:16-05:00Jun 30, 2020|Congregations|Comments Off

Western Oaks Christian Church Receives Award From Oklahoma State Department of Health

Congratulations to Western Oaks Christian Church for receiving the “Certified Excellence” award from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. We congratulate you on your award and accomplishment to become a certified healthy congregation. Thank you for going above and beyond to serve your church and community.

CCOK3012020-06-30T10:30:56-05:00Jun 30, 2020|Congregations|Comments Off