Great River Region Newsletter April 25, 2014 Rev. Barbara E. Jones, Regional Minister

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1 Great River Region Newsletter April 25, 2014 Rev. Barbara E. Jones, Regional Minister PO Box , Little Rock, AR, 72219, Phone: (501) Website: JOYS We celebrate with and extend our congratulations to Rev. Shannon Speidel and her husband, Dakota, upon the birth of their daughter, Marilyn Jean Speidel, born in Little Rock... 6lbs, 9oz, 20 inches long. Shannon is at the Little Rock Air Force Base Chapel as the Protestant Parish Education Assistant. Missionary Available for Congregational Visits in October: Xuyen Dangers, missionary serving in Laos, is concluding her term of service as a consultant for development in Laos for Church World Service and Witness (NCCC). Global Ministries will be responsible for her transportation to the region and we request that the receiving congregations provide housing, meals, and local transportation. EXPERIENCE: ICMC/U.S. Embassy, Bangkok, Thailand, Orderly Departure Program, translator, interpreter, caseworker, counselor CWS/Laos/Vietnam, program assistant for social development 2002-Present Church World Service and Witness (NCCC), consultant for development in Laos and Vietnam, including projects with Disciples and UCC connections CONCERNS Be aware that your Regional Elders as well as Barbara Jones are available to your clergy for support and pastoral care. Often we have clergy with health concerns that are not listed in the CURRENTS by their request. Do let us know if there are concerns that we can share for the region to include in their prayers. Regional Elder Lucian Lee had trees down on his home/property in Camden, AR following the storms on Palm Sunday. Not a good way to lay down branches before the King of Kings, Lord of Lords on the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Lucian, many prayers in the cleanup Barb

2 *** Notice*** The Southern Clergy Retreat that was to be held at St. Mary of the Pines on May 19 th -21 st has been cancelled. DISCIPLES WOMEN DATES Disciples Women Workshops: Mississippi April 26 th at Covenant Christian Church bring a salad to share! Arkansas May 3 rd at FCC, Hot Springs registration fee is $7 Quadrennial Assembly June 25-29, 2014 at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta. Time to register NOW, it s only two months away!!! Some Pickering scholarships are still available once you register, forward your application for scholarship and your registration receipt to Wendy at the regional office. Disciples Women Retreats Arkansas August 8th-10th (4H Center, Ferndale) Mississippi September 19th - 21st (Eagle Ridge Conf Center, Raymond) Louisiana October 10th - 12th (Wesley Center, Woodworth) Don t forget to renew your Just Women subscription!! (If you don t have a subscription, you might want to get online today and order!!) Effective this year, the spring Study issue is now written BY Disciples Women FOR Disciples Women. This year s study, Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice With an introduction from our General Minister and President, Sharon Watkins this study includes lessons about Ruth and Naomi, Bathsheba, Jephthah s daughter, Tamar (David s daughter), Esther & Vashti, Sarah & Hagar, Rachel & Leah and, finally, Hannah & Elizabeth. The issues that I pre-ordered are selling like hotcakes!!! Guest Speakers: Eugene Boring, Brite Divinity School Zedric Clayton, Real Faith Christian Church Regional Assembly 2014 November 7-9 Park Hill Christian Church North Little Rock, Arkansas PRE-ASSEMBLY EVENT FOR CLERGY On Friday, November 7, from 9 am 3 pm based on Dr. Boring s latest book, An Introduction to the New Testament: History, Literature, Theology. Registration required.

3 Dick Hamm, The Columbia Partnership Sharon Watkins, General Minister and President First Christian Church, Fayetteville, AR. Rev. Ryan Pfeiffer, Pastor. 166 years ago, FCC was established after a 12-day meeting in 1848 led by Rev. Robert Graham, 26, and Rev. John T. Johnson, 60. Since then, the community of faith has weathered the destruction of two of its churches, both to fires -- one during the Civil War, and one on December 18, 1912 in the coal furnace. The present church building was rebuilt over the course of 17 months at a cost of $25,000 and officially dedicated on May 24, Over the years, the congregation has continued the legacy of preserving the building while balancing a modern vision for ministry for many generations. The community is cordially invited to celebrate both the past and the present with First Christian Church on Sunday, May 25, at 10 a.m. with a special worship service and meal to follow. To attend lunch, please RSVP for tickets at EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES IN THE CCDOC Executive Director of Week of Compassion President of Higher Education and Leader Development Regional Pastor (Minister) Christian Church in Oklahoma Regions with Interims Northern California / Nevada (Mary Jacobs Transitional RM) Southwest (Coretha Loughtheridge Acting RM) Greater Kanasas City (Donna Rose-Heim Interim RM) Capital Area (Bob Perry) Congregations in Pastoral Search and Call: FCC Slidell, LA Yellow Pine CC, Sibley LA (in negotiations) From Regional Minister Barbara Jones: barb@grrdisciples.org:

4 Palm Sunday s Egg Hunt at TCU was rained out, but none the less, we had a bunny good time. They were attempting horn frog signs but three wiggly boys with bunny ears was probably the most to expect. Kenny, Rilee, Andrea; Brooke, Tyler, Kris, and Austin. I left there at noon and stayed ahead of the tornados. After a week in the office working on follow-up from trips and , I drove up to KC to spend Easter with my parents. During a Facetime conversation after church on Easter, Kris and Brooke shared good news that bunny 3 is in the oven and should be done Nov 14. I was not able to attend Elder Young s funeral in Hot Springs, but I did attend Rev. Dr. Roger Sledd s funeral in Nashville on Monday. Both Elder and Roger were on my search committee in Quite a few congregations are working on internal issues right now, and I don t talk about those, but be aware that there are great resources available for setting policies for your church with the Treasurer s Handbook on the website. Just type Treasurer s Handbook in the search bar. Also, it s easy to keep track of your minister s compensation by using the Letter of call for the initial setting of the compensation package, and then use the annual update, also online. This weekend is the Mississippi DW workshop, next week I ll be in Florida with Disciples Church Extension for a conference M-W, and the Arkansas DW workshop is that weekend. My comprehensive exams are also being done in the midst of this, so if I sound distracted when I talk to you, my brain may be deep into nonprofit management or or or The end is May 14 and I may have to block off some educational days to focus and not become ABD. Wendy is driving tomorrow and the back seat of the van is where I ll be with the middle seat set up like a desk. That will buy me study time on the drive to and from Byram, MS. On the road again ( From Melanie Willis, Youth Coordinator: youth@grrdisciples.org: Youth Ministry Workshops: Our Louisiana workshop was great! We had 17 participants across seven congregations. There are two more opportunities to participate. Anyone in your congregation who touches the life of your youth is welcome. youth@grrdisciples.org to get your name on the list. Here are the details for the remaining two workshops: Arkansas - April 26 at First Christian Church, Ft Smith, AR 10am 3pm, *Lunch provided Mississippi - May 3 at Covenant CC, Terry, MS 10am 3pm, *Lunch provided Additions to Camp Booklet: Magnolia Camp and Conference. June 16-21, Roosevelt State Park, Completed 3 rd 12 th Grades, $ Registrations Due May 16 th Magnolia Camp has a rich 80 year history in Mississippi. Activities include bible class, art class, praise dance class, morning watch and evening vespers. Josie McClorine from Port Gibson, MS directs Magnolia Camp. Josie has been working with Magnolia Camp & Conf for over 40 years and dedicates her heart to the youth and program.

5 Eighters Camp July 4 July 11, Completed 8 th Grade Only. Register by April 30 th - $365 Register after Apr 30 th - $390 ***Register at Eighters camp is a very special camp offered only to youth who have completed 8 th grade. We combine with Greater Kansas City and Oklahoma to bring this unique experience to our youth. We travel to Tall Oaks Campground in Linwood, KS to participate. All those south of central Arkansas will meet at First Christian Church, Hot Springs on Friday July 4 th. The region will then travel to Northwest Arkansas to pick up those from that area. We will travel on to Kansas from there. Commissioners: HUGE congratulations to our commissioners for the year! Allison Matthews, FCC Bentonville, AR Allision Ruff, Park Hill CC, N. Little Rock, AR Christopher Williamson, FCC Monroe, LA Grace Featherston, FCC Ft Smith, AR Laura Yawn, FCC Rogers, AR Macy Grimsley, FCC Bentonville, AR Martha Pearce, FCC Pine Bluff, AR Pierce Lehman, FCC Tupelo, MS Tanner Thomason, Park Hill CC, N. Little Rock, AR Adults: Stacy Eastwood, Ronny Nowell, Cody Robertson and Sarah Dowd Summer Interns 2014: MORE congratulations go to our newly announced Dream Team 14 Bowen Cermack, Katrina Harrell and Luke Fryauf. They start June 9 th! Bowen s home church is FCC Tupelo, MS. He is currently studying biochemistry at Ole Miss. The best part of camp for him has always been the people, so he s excited to be able to give back to the people who gave him so much! Katrina comes to us from Kings Highway CC in Shreveport, LA. You may recognize her last name. Her big sister, Megan was one of the dream team 13! Katrina is studying business and marketing at LSU. Luke is our lone northerner, coming from FCC Rogers, AR. Like Bowen, his camp relationships have meant the most to him. Being with those people again is what he s most looking forward to. He s studying business at the University of Arkansas. Camp Counselor Applications: If you d like to be on staff for one of the camps, it s not too late to get your form in! Visit the website to download the camp booklet and Counselor Registration Form or youth@grrdisciples.org We ll pass those names on to the directors and start picking our staff ASAP! Discovery Camp Director: We re over-the-moon excited that Sarah Dowd from FCC Monroe, LA will be returning as director for Discovery camp! The line-up is as follows:

6 Discovery Sarah Dowd, FCC Monroe, LA JYF Renee Eakin, KHCC Shreveport, LA Chi Rho Yvonne Taylor, FCC Baton Rouge, LA CYF Ronny Nowell, FCC Rogers, AR CAMP!: And last, but NEVER least. Camp Booklets are on the website! According to a recent survey done by Chalice Press, 75% of the pastors they surveyed said that camp had a big impact on their call to ministry. Another 20% said that without camp, they would probably be working in a different field. Something magical happens at camp! Download your camp booklet today to get information on all things camp: dates, directors, sample schedules, Counselor registration and Camper registration forms! DUE MAY 16 th. ATTENTION GRR YOUNG ADULTS: The Young Adult Retreat (YAR) was a smashing success! We had 31 young adults across 10 churches. Unfortunately, we had to cut it short due to weather, but we ve already rescheduled the retreat. Here are the details: September at Camp Couchdale. $85.00 National Benevolent Association: XPLOR Residency: NBA XPLOR is a faith-based, 10-month, congregationally-hosted residency program designed for 21 to 30 year olds looking to explore lives of care and service giving them the opportunity to unleash their own potential, while positively impacting their community. We encourage you to check it out! Pinnacle Outreach Ministry. This new venture in ministry is an extension of Pinnacle Structures, Inc. of Cabot, Arkansas, and the Great River Region. Our theme for outreach is "Helping Equip the Faithful for the Work of Christ." Pinnacle Outreach Ministry is providing a copy of An Introduction to the New Testament to each congregation through their senior pastor. The author of this great book is world renowned New Testament scholar and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) minister, the Rev. Dr. M. Eugene Boring. In addition to the book, Dr. Boring will be coming to our Regional Assembly in November to lead a one day (9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.) pre- assembly event for all ministers in our region. Dr. Boring will also lead two workshops for lay persons and clergy. I hope you join me in grateful anticipation of Dr. Boring's visit, and that you will be able to join us at our Regional Assembly, November 7-9, at Park Hill CC in North Little Rock, Arkansas. In Christ's service, Miles Cook, Director. milescook@outlook.com, Great River Region. National Disciples of Christ. Missouri School of Religion courses. Global Ministries.

7 Week of Compassion. Week of Compassion is the relief, refugee and development mission fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. We seek to equip and empower disciples to alleviate the suffering of others through disaster response, humanitarian aid, sustainable development and the promotion of mission opportunities. Disciples Home Missions. Disciples Mission Fund. To Give online go to Disciples Mission Fund is the common fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Disciples Mission Fund supports 72 ministries of wholeness as close as your local congregation and reaching around the globe. As a Global Mission church, we understand that equipping congregations for mission includes learning from, learning with and offering support to our partners beyond the borders of the United States and Canada.