Regional Assembly Reflections

This past Friday and Saturday the 2018 Regional Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) In Kentucky was held at Beargrass CC in Louisville. It was a great event. The spirit of the Assembly was one of the best I can remember and it was my fourteenth CCK regional assembly.

It takes a lot of people to make a Regional Assembly happen. These wonderful volunteers deserve our deepest thanks for their work.

Beargrass Christian Church was a superb host. This is the third time that Beargrass has hosted the Regional Assembly since 1992 (the 1992 Regional Assembly was my first CCK Regional Assembly). The facilities are beautiful and spacious. The hospitality second to none. To the staff and members who so graciously volunteered their time to make us feel so welcome and cared for, Thank You!!

The Assembly Planning Committee is chaired by the Second Vice Moderator of the Region, who was Tommy Cook. CCK Associate Regional Minister, Linda Jones, provides the staff support to the Assembly Program Committee. Both Tommy and Linda, along with the members of the Assembly Program Committee and all the members of the subcommittees, made it all work exceptionally well. They do all the work. We get to come together and enjoy great worship, nurturing fellowship, learning experiences and even conduct a little business without worry because of the great work these folks do on all behalf. Again, a heartfelt thank you to
Tommy, Linda and those involved in planning and implementing this Regional Assembly!

For over twenty years, Rev. Jerry Johns, Senior Minister of FCC, Winchester, has been our on-site staging manager. Jerry transports all of the regional materials needed for the Assembly to the site. Assists the CCK staff in setting up the registration areas, workshops, attending to last minute details, and just making sure that nothing falls through the cracks. Jerry does this with a smile on his face and a genuine willingness to serve his region in his heart. We could not pull a regional assembly off without him. Thank you, Jerry! When you see him, give him a hug and a hearty “thank you” for all his great work.

If you spend any time with me you will discover that I am a bit traditional in my music preferences for worship. I appreciate the contemporary music that moves so many in our churches. It’s just a matter of personal preference. Having said that, I love the more contemporary music we have come to embrace as part of the CCK Regional Assemblies of late. In part, its because we have such great and gifted Disciples’ musicians who lead us. They lead us into a greater sense of God’s presence as we worship together. To all of our musicians, I offer my deepest thanks for all the work they put into this Regional Assembly. I knew I “had been to church” after each worship.

A couple of the takeaways from this Regional Assembly.

I announced that I will be retiring as CCK General Minister before the next Regional Assembly. No date is set as I work through other obligations that are part of this ministry. I’m not going anywhere for a while. We still have much work to do together.

Rev. Erin Cash, who has served exceptionally well as CCK Moderator this past biennium was elected to a second term. Recognizing the transitions that will take place around my retirement we needed Erin’s skills and understanding of the region to help steer these processes. I made this personal request of Erin with the blessing of the Regional Board. I am so grateful she agreed to serve another term and that the Regional Assembly agreed. Thank you, Erin!

The final piece I want to share is that the Restructure Committee of the Regional Board presented their plan for restructure and the process for engaging all of CCK in this conversation. The Committee’s report was received by the Assembly. The Regional Board and the Restructure Team will begin this process of engaging the region in these conversations in earl 2019. Stay tuned.

We are a strong region. We have great regional leadership. We have strong and gifted pastoral leadership throughout the region. We have awesome Associate and Contract staff doing great ministry on all our behalf. There is much to celebrate about our common witness as Kentucky Disciples. There is much to be thankful for.

So, let me close by offering my deepest thanks for all of you who give volunteer time, money, wisdom, encouragement and prayer support to this common witness and ministry. As Moderator Cash said in her sermon in the opening worship. CCK is you. CCK is me. CCK is all of us together. That evokes prayers of thanksgiving from me each and every day! We are a blessed people, indeed!

God bless!
Greg

CCK General Minister

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.