by New Church Ministries New Church Ministry met Rev. Debbie Griffin, the Senior Minister of Downtown Disciples, last summer at General Assembly. Since the pastor’s congregation is based in Des Moines, IA, it offered worship services, hosted pre-assembly activities for general ministries, prepared a meal for regional ministers and chaired the local GA mission committee. […]
2020 vision
LabOratory Church provides space for health, healing, hope
by New Church Ministry, Pentecost 2020 Rev. Amie Vanderford has experienced trauma. She knows what it’s like to distrust others; how damaging isolation can be to recovery. That’s why she and her husband, Thaddeus Shelton, launched The LabOratory Church. This new church offers safe space for those with mental illness to worship, cultivate strong connections, […]
2020 Special Day Offerings share ‘Rejoice’ theme
While the timing and resources available will be unchanged for congregations, you may notice a theme emerging in the Special Day Offerings of Disciples Mission Fund (DMF) this year. “Rejoice” is woven throughout the Easter season’s lectionary texts, and as we celebrate the culmination of the 2020 Vision, we see so many causes for rejoicing […]
General Minister and President reflects on General Assembly
August 2019 Dear Church – My heart is still singing from the holy time we shared in Des Moines last month. The Spirit was present and real in worship. The discussions were deep in the workshops. The joy was tangible at the meal events. Our programming for youth and young adults included education about the […]
Original Bethany Project group celebrates 20th year
by former General Minister and President Dick Hamm In 1997, the Church was seeking ways to help the church develop “deep Christian spirituality”, which became a part of the 2020 Vision. I thought the best place to start might be with regional ministers who are called to be models for ministers, so 16 regional ministers […]
