Far away or close to home, summer is mission trip season
By Heidi Bright Parales, DisciplesWorld contributing writer, May 22

There comes a beautiful moment of discovery every summer among kids on mission trips, said Lee Yates, associate minister at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Lawrenceburg, Ky.

“They realize that those they came to serve have been serving and caring for them. There is a moment when ‘the least of these’ becomes ‘us’ instead of ‘them,’ and we are all part of the body (of Christ),” he said.

These mission trips have reached a generation of kids who want to do more than talk about faith, who want more than a trendy youth program or contemporary worship service. full story . . .

2009 Outdoor Ministry Registration Information Is Available to Download. Click Here.

General Assembly 2009 Information

Teen spirituality for dummies and doubters
Current Cover Story of DisciplesWorld, By Alison Simon

It can be hard to “walk in the ways of Christ” today. I know. It’s not easy to live a Christian lifestyle when everyone around you seems to have given up on the 10 Commandments. Walking down the hallway at school, being bombarded by obscenities, did not make me want to stand up and share the word of Christ. It made me want to cover my cross necklace, duck my head, and scurry by. I wanted to be a “Sunday Christian” rather than an “everyday Christian.”

But I have finally figured out how to become an everyday Christian, and part of that is helping others who are struggling. So if you don’t know how to be a Christian without being ashamed, or if you simply doubt your faith right now, I’d like to share with you some steps I have discovered over the past several years that help me when I am struggling. full story . . .

Common ground elusive in abortion debate
The Christian Century, June 16

Will President Obama's plea for common ground on abortion during his speech at the University of Notre Dame persuade ardent abortion opponents to work with the new president? At first glance, it seems unlikely.

"Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction," Obama said to a mostly receptive audience May 17 at the nation's flagship Catholic university. "But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature." full story . . .

Religion news coverage is suffering, says journalism professor
The Christian Century, June 16

The 21st-century world cannot be understood without an understanding of religion, says religion journalist-turned-professor Gustav Niebuhr.

"It's a terrible irony that religion is so prominent in the world and yet so absent from the news," Niebuhr told a May gathering in Indianapolis of the Associated Church Press and the Evangelical Press Association.

An associate professor at Syracuse University teaching both religion and journalism, Niebuhr said that since his days as national religion reporter at the New York Times (1994-2001), newspapers have been cutting back on news about religion and the civil society with which it intersects. full story . . .

Majority rule?
Editorial, The Christian Century, June 16

Churches often put things to a vote for the same reasons that countries go to war: voting is the way one side can impose its will on the other side. We vote because we don't have the imagination to think of other ways of making decisions or resolving conflicts. We vote because we don't have the patience to live with ambiguity, or the grace to live with differences, or the endurance to commit ourselves to a long process of seeking a consensus. full story . . .

Week of Compassion

Pakistan: Largest Displacement Since Rwanda
Thursday, June 4, 2009 - Week of Compassion asks for your prayers and support as we attempt, through our trusted partner organizations, to accompany the scores of displaced and traumatized persons in Pakistan. This is a grave situation. Recent fighting between Pakistani military forces and Taliban insurgents in the northwest part of the country has uprooted more than 2.5 million people; heavy shelling, bombardment and continual cross-fire have compelled innocent people to flee their villages. It is expected that the number of uprooted persons could soon rise to three million. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has said that it may become the largest displacement since Rwanda and has already declared the exodus the biggest ever in the world during the past 15 years. Needless to say, there is urgent need for hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid for relief efforts.

South Carolina Wildfires
April 29, 2009 -- The wildfires that raged through South Carolina this past week left a trail of devastation. However, no Disciples families or churches were directly affected, reports Rev. Sotello Long, regional minister for the Christian Church in South Carolina. Ecumenical efforts are underway to reach out to the community as Myrtle Beach and the surrounding areas slowly recover. Week of Compassion is making a solidarity grant to the North Myrtle Beach Red Cross to support the efforts of our local Disciples churches involved in the recovery efforts. As one local elder put it, "Now we pray for rain and renewal for folks who have been directly affected." Visit the WOC website to make an online donation.

What Can We Do about the Swine Flu?
Week of Compassion is monitoring the swine flu outbreak. As more information and specific needs emerge, we will work alongside our partner organizations to respond. For helpful information on what you can do to guard against the swine flu, please visit here.

Around the World, Around the Year: Where in the World Have We Responded This Week?

Disaster Responses:
Philippines, typhoons
Pakistan, assistance to IDPs
Sri Lanka, humanitarian response
Sri Lanka, relief for IDPs
India, Cyclone Aila
Bangladesh, Cyclone Aila
West Virginia, flood relief
Illinois, hurricane recovery

Development and Long-Term Recovery:
Haiti, community development
Congo, agricutural & community development

Work Trip Grants Available
Work trip grant applications are downloadable at www.weekofcompassion.org, and scheduling and other information is available by calling the Office of Disciples Volunteering at 888.346.2631.

Disciples of Christ Coffee Project
The Disciples of Christ Coffee Project, a partnership between the Disciples Home Missions, Week of Compassion and Equal Exchange, is a way for your congregation to join hands with small farmer communities across the world. You can put your faith into action by using fairly traded coffee, tea, chocolate and snacks in your congregation and by learning about how our consumer choices impact the global community. Through the Project farmers receive fair prices for their crops, affordable credit and long term trade relationships with a trading partner they can trust, Equal Exchange. In addition, for every pound of fairly traded products Disciples order through the Project, Equal Exchange makes a donation to the Disciples Hunger Relief and Food Security Fund.

Military Chaplains
They carry no guns, yet US military chaplains are considered a force multiplier in the war theater. Today, in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military expects chaplains to meet the spiritual needs of troops. But it also recognizes their importance in everything from counseling the young soldier crying in his bunk over a Dear John letter to being a leveling moral presence among troops trained to fight and kill. Reporter Lee Lawrence spent three months with dozens of military chaplains in Iraq and Afghanistan. She profiles six of them in a weekly series.
full story . . .

Read the Newspaper that Service Personnel Read: the Stars and Stripes.
Click here to visit the website.

 

Cane Ridge Day 2009 will celebrate music
By Walt Johnson, DisciplesWorld contributing writer, June 6

PARIS, Ky. — The joyous sounds of singing, clapping hands, tapping feet, dulcimers, guitars, banjos, and an antique reed organ will fill historic Cane Ridge Meeting House on June 27 during the 2009 Cane Ridge Day.

“We want the annual event to be a memorable “Celebration of Music,” says Cane Ridge’s curator, James Trader. “The entire day is dedicated to music.”

John Opsata, pastor of First Christian Church, Frankfort, Ky., and a professional musician and leader of the Kentucky Men’s Chorus, will give a presentation on historic music at Cane Ridge and will perform and lead the singing the music from pioneer days. full story . . .

CCK Summer Camp Season Opens this Weekend
June 6

The summer church camp season opens this weekend at Camp Kum-Ba-Ya and Camp Wakon' Da-Ho. The Region expects to welcome 700+ this summer to our outdoor sanctuaries. Outdoor Ministry is a partnership of all the Disciple congregations in Kentucky who provide the volunteers and funding necessary to operate KBY and WKDH. It is at camp where God can become real for the first time. The intentional community at camp provides safe space for persons of all ages to learn the language of faith, test their beliefs in conversation with other Christians, and learn a model of service as campers live together.

This summer two new faces will tend the organizing of camp operations and volunteers. Rev. Jerry Johns will provide oversight and resourcing for Wakon' Da-Ho and Rev. Mike Weber will provide oversight and resourcing for Kum-Ba-Ya. Jerry serves as pastor for Providence Christian Church in Nicholasville, and Mike serves as Interim Pastor at FCC Benton. They each bring gifts and skills suited for this ministry of the Region. We are grateful to Jerry and Mike for their willingness to serve in this capacity. We are also thankful that their congregations are gifting the time of their pastors to the Region for a small honorarium. Contact Greg Alexander if you have questions about this or other ministries of the Region.

Pentecost Sunday service brings hope for two churches divided by history
By Rebecca Bowman-Woods, DisciplesWorld news and website editor, June 5

GOLDSBORO, N.C. — Members of two faith communities with common roots in the nineteenth-century Restoration Movement came together for worship and fellowship on Pentecost Sunday, marking the possibility of a deepening relationship between the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Churches of Christ, Disciples of Christ International, sometimes referred to as the Assembly churches.

The event brought together two groups that began as one but separated more than 140 years ago when the annual meeting of North Carolina Disciples in 1868 passed a resolution dividing the church along racial lines. full story . . .

Obama Pins Mideast Hope on Limiting Settlements
By ETHAN BRONNER, The New York Times, June 5

JERUSALEM — Iran seems to be hurtling toward nuclear weapons capacity, Hezbollah could win Sunday’s election in Lebanon and Hamas is smuggling long-range rockets into Gaza again. So why is President Obama focusing such attention on the building of homes by Israeli Jews in the West Bank? full story . . .

Israeli officials: U.S. leaves no choice but to okay Palestinian state
By Haaretz Service, June 5

Government sources in Jerusalem also told Israel Radio that the quicker Israel adopts the road map for peace as the preferred diplomatic initiative, the more likely it will ward off American pressure to concede to a Palestinian state within the framework of an alternative plan that is less agreeable to Israel. full story . . .

What are you investing in?
By Jeremy Carper, The Christian Science Monitor, June 5

Investment implies placing value in some operation and expecting a positive return. In the market, there are no guarantees, so some reluctance is, perhaps, understandable.

But there's another way to look at investment, and that's through a spiritual lens. Here, investment is not risky behavior. It's putting trust in God as the great source of all good. The return isn't measured in terms of cash, but in an increased awareness of God's presence. But can this be practical? How can it relate to the human situation, where retirement investments have dropped precipitously and experts forecast a recovery in terms of years, not weeks? full story . . .

Jobless rate hits 9.4 percent, a 25-year high
By Ron Scherer | Staff writer, The Christian Science Monitor, June 5

Momentum in the jobs market is finally starting to swing in a better direction. For the past four months, the pace of job loss has slowed. Now, in another sign of better news for the US economy, the loss of jobs slowed in May to 345,000, lower than expected and half the average decline of each of the past six months, the government reported Friday.

But in a sign of how slowly companies are adding to payrolls, the unemployment rate rose from 8.9 percent in April to 9.4 percent last month, the highest rate in more than 25 years. full story . . .

Religious leaders call on churches to tone down rhetoric following boy’s suicide
By Rebecca Bowman Woods, DisciplesWorld news and website editor, June 3

DECATUR, Ga. — After the suicide of a boy whose classmates allegedly called him “gay” and teased him for being an immigrant, a Disciples congregation in Decatur, Ga., hosted a prayer service to honor the life of 11-year-old Jaheem Herrera.

During the April 24 service at First Christian Church, religious leaders also called on Georgia’s faith communities to tone down the rhetoric when teaching and preaching on hot button issues such as homosexuality and immigration.

Herrera, a fifth-grader whose family emigrated from the U.S. Virgin Islands, hanged himself at home on April 16. Family members told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he took his own life after enduring months of bullying by classmates. They called him gay and a “snitch,” his stepfather told the newspaper. full story . . .

Churches without the church
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald | Correspondent, The Christian Science Monitor, May 31

NEWBURYPORT, MASS. - When Barry Diamond first told fellow ministers that his Las Vegas church was preparing to leave its 12,000-square-foot rental space in April and worship instead in members' homes, they warned him he was "committing ministry suicide."

But Pastor Diamond and The Village, as his nondenominational church is known, have survived. Fifteen homes now hold intimate services twice a month. On other Sundays, they dip into funds previously earmarked for rent and use them for special events and outreach, such as a May block party for local African refugees. Now other church leaders want to know how they might follow suit.
full story . . .

Several Disciples protest Calif. Supreme Court’s Prop 8 decision
By Rebecca Bowman Woods, DisciplesWorld news and website editor, May 27

Although the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) does not have an official position on gay marriage, members and clergy with some California congregations are speaking out against the state’s Supreme Court ruling to uphold Proposition 8. The constitutional amendment, approved by California voters in November, defines marriage as being between one man and one woman.

Gerry Brague, pastor of Chalice Christian Church in San Carlos, Calif., marched with his husband, Allen Foster, and several church members in San Mateo on Tuesday. They were among thousands who took to the streets following the court's 6-1 decision to uphold Proposition 8. Gay activists had challenged its constitutionality. full story . . .