The Northwest Region seeks to move from the image of a region as a provider of goods and services to a regional ministry that connects congregations to each other and the wider Church. The region’s work will be led by Sandra M. Messick, the new regional minister of the Christian Church in the Northwest.
The Northwest Region voted to become a global mission region at its regional assembly in 2009. As a result, it is in the process of selecting a global mission partner somewhere in the world to work with on a long-term basis. The region will pursue this mission priority through its growing partnership with Global Ministries, a common witness of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ.
“We’ve identified six priorities for the coming year out of our mission plan,” said Messick, who was installed as regional minister Oct. 17. “The mission piece is one of the key objectives of that plan. What it means is that if the region is also Church, not just a collection of churches, then how is the region impacting its world and our world beyond the region?”
Messick served as pastor of North Hill Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Spokane, Wash., and interim minister at University Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Seattle, Wash. She graduated from Christian Theological Seminary with a master of divinity degree, cum laude, in 1990. She also has served other congregations in Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The Northwest Region’s geographical area is comprised of the states of Washington, Alaska and northern Idaho.
The region has a smattering of ethnic congregations, including two Hispanic churches, two Korean congregations, a Samoan church, and a Sufi congregation. “The objective is to take our pro-reconciliation initiative out of a task group that just works on its own and make it a part of all that we do in the region,” Messick said. “Everything that we do in the region should have that as a thought behind it.”
Over the past 15 years the Northwest Region and the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Church of Christ have had a partnership with the Presbyterian Church in South Korea. That relationship has brought Christians from South Korea to the United States and has seen Christians from the Northwest Region travel to Korea.
“We know from that experience how we are enriched by our linkage to that part of the church in the world. That was done long before Global Ministries was having regions and conferences become involved with global ministries and regions,” said Marvin Eckfeldt, a retired Disciples pastor from Kent, Wash., who was instrumental in preparing the Northwest Region to become a global mission region.
Congregations that have made global mission a priority, meaning that they have supported the goal through financial, personal and educational initiatives, are the churches that are growing and being energized, Eckfeldt said.
“I feel like Sandy is the right person for the right time. She was not unknown to us. She was a very capable pastor in Spokane and a very effective interim minister at University Church in Seattle,” said Eckfeldt, who served as the pastor at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Kent for 33 years.
The Northwest Region’s other priorities include youth ministries, nurturing and supporting new churches, stewardship, pro-reconciliation/anti-racism, transformation and upgrading regional facilities. Its congregational transformation program is called Journey of Discovery: http://www.disciplesnw.org/Journey/journeyparticipants.htm
“I feel very honored to be in this position, very fortunate,” Messick said. “I’m here at a great time. We’ve had great interim leadership in Rebecca Hale and this region sits at a really good place to be regional minister. Two areas that I really want to see us make some progress on are the youth ministries and supporting our new congregations.”
Messick and her husband, Tom, have two children, ages 12 and 16. She accepted the call as regional minister partly because of the transformation work that the region has already begun, and because she has served churches on both sides of her state.
By James Patterson
