COVID-19 resources available
The Office of the General Minister and President has compiled a collection of resources and statements from Church leadership in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in partnership with Week of Compassion, National Benevolent Association, and others. We are updating this page with more resources as available. | | Easter offering received Sunday | |
As congregations look for ways to worship together virtually, the Easter special offering can still be part of your celebrations together. A variety of resources are available to share in your congregation, like videos, PowerPoint slides, children's activities, and more. | | Online Easter service to feature General Minister and President as speaker
Disciples will be able to share an online Easter service featuring Rev. Terri Hord Owens as speaker. Suzanne Castle and Andra Moran ( Brim Project) are organizing a full-on worship service to be posted on YouTube Easter Sunday morning.
Included in the service will be a sermon, children’s moment and time of communion as well as music with lyrics. It will be posted on the Disciples YouTube channel.
Individual components of the service such as the sermon, children’s moment, communion meditation and an offering meditation will be available on Friday, April 10, for those congregations that would like to slot the additional material into their own service. These will also be posted on the Disciples YouTube channel. | | | | Communication Ministries coordinates Church's response to COVID-19 pandemic
For more than two months, Communications Ministries, part of the Office of General Minister and President (OGMP), has worked to connect and support the whole Church, as the COVID-19 coronavirus spread around the world, growing from outbreak to pandemic. This important call to nurture and serve congregations and other expressions of our Church has taken a new meaning in recent months, and this work is funded by your gifts to Disciples Mission Fund core support and the Easter offering.
While no one knows what the next month(s) will bring, Disciples can rest assured that all of our Church’s communication efforts are devoted to connect and care for our congregations, our wider Church, and each other.
Communication Ministries, part of the Office of the General Minister and President, is one of many general ministries supported by your gifts to the Easter special offering, received in many congregations on April 12 (and throughout the year via designated giving online). | | | | 2020 Experience to change
"Without a doubt, we have been changed through the 2020 Experience. It has been 'Real!' as we have learned to be Church together in new ways and have grown in relationship and love. Understanding the times we are living amid COVID-19, we are saddened to communicate that the 2020 Experience, “It’s Real” will not take place as originally scheduled in July of 2020. The ministries of the National Convocation, NAPAD and the Obra Hispana will enter into a time of discernment regarding the future of this experience." ( PDF en español) | | | | Invitation to join in prayer
Healing Spirit, we thank you for the work you are doing in the Christian Church in Ohio. We also thank you for the sense of covenant and purpose you are instilling in the leadership of the region as it moves forward to do your work and will with renewed vigor. | | | | Invitation to join in prayer
Healing Spirit, we thank you for the work you are doing in the Christian Church in Ohio. We also thank you for the sense of covenant and purpose you are instilling in the leadership of the region as it moves forward to do your work and will with renewed vigor. | | | | What does it mean to “love your neighbor” in the midst of a pandemic and shutdown?
Faith leaders have their hands full trying to figure out new ways of being church together in this season of social distancing. Churches may also be looking for safe, innovative ways to respond to unprecedented needs in the community. “Create and Continue Community Connection from your Couch,” the latest episode from the New Church Hacks webinar series, offers suggestions for how churches can care for people when they literally can’t be close to them.
- Learn to build a response team, identify assets in their congregations, assess community resources and needs
- Explore options for community ministry
- Inform and organize the congregation for their community care ministry
- Conduct worship online but also connect the dots in between worship services
Joining us on the webinar will be Heidi Unruh (Coauthor of Churches That Make a Difference; Hope for Children in Poverty; and The Salt & Light Guidebook), Joy Skjegstad (Author of Seven Creative Models for Community Ministry; Starting a Nonprofit at Your Church; and Winning Grants to Strengthen Your Ministry) and Katy E. Valentine (Coach at katyvalentine.com and founder of Creative Christian Spirituality, LLC). | | | | Applications open for HELM scholarships
The Leadership Fellows program is a leadership development program for Disciples undergraduate students. Each of the four years of undergraduate education has a different focus: Community, Transformation, Global Awareness, and Mentoring. Click here to learn more about the Leadership Fellows program and to access the online application.
For Disciples students pursuing a PhD in the field of religion, HELM offers two scholarships, the William Gilbert and Florence Leonard Jones Scholarship and the Ann E. Dickerson Scholarship. Click here for more information on these scholarships and to access the online application.
All application materials for both the Leadership Fellows Program and PhD scholarships must be received by April 30. If you have questions, please contact Jon Barnes. | | Additional resources and opportunities
| | | | National Benevolent Association extends XPLOR 2020-21 application deadline
The NBA initiates ministries designed to establish and grow partnerships with health and social service supporters and providers. Drawing upon this rich history, NBA continues to assist Disciples to join systemic justice work with direct care and action. In 2014, we launched NBA XPLOR, a prophetic movement of young adults who are considering lives of care and service. The Residency provides 10-month professional development and vocational discernment opportunities for 21- to 30-year-olds to live simply in community and engage in direct service and justice work. Through NBA XPLOR, we partner young adults with Disciples congregations, regional and general ministries, and wider communities—positively engaging neighborhoods, the congregations, and the young adults. We are currently accepting applications for our 2020-21 cohort. Applications for this XPLOR cohort will be received until all spaces are full. Your applications are welcome and you will be contacted immediately with updated news on openings. For questions and more information, contact Rev. Ben Bohren. To learn more about the XPLOR program, visit nbacares.org/xplor. | | More opportunities to put ministry into action
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