A SPIRITUAL WIND IS BLOWING

Some wise person said, "The only thing that remains the same is change. I believe our last year and half proves the adage. Change is afoot in all manifestations of the Christian Church (DoC), from the local congregation to the General Church. You may or may not know that a group representing the three regions of Greater Kansas City, Kansas and Nebraska are working together to understand the possibilities in this environment of change.

Three members from each region, plus the regional ministers, our General Minister & President, and Joyce McEwen Crane from the Kansas Leadership Center comprise the group. Kansas is represented by Laurie Lewis, current moderator; Ruby Brower, moderator elect, and Kelly Gindlesberger, past moderator.

After meeting several times, at the end of last August, the regional ministers convened the group and posed the question, where might God lead the three regions to collaborate and partner to fulfill more effectively the primary purpose of a region, which is to support and nurture local congregations?

Since that time, the group has been meeting regularly, at distance, to explore the question in its full breadth. Our exploration is grounded in the tenths of adaptive learning, as such, we are not proposing answers so much as determining the best questions to ask ourselves and stakeholders.

As we continue our work, we will be coming to you for help in our exploration. We need to gain your perspective on the relationship between local congregations and the regional church. We need to learn how you might benefit from the regional and general church to renew the vitality and effectiveness of your congregation in living out our common calling from Jesus the Chirst. We need your thoughts on how we might lower boundaries amongst our three regions to better utilize the talents and resources of a broader ministry.

Stay tuned for our questions and to see where the Spirit leads us all in our calling.
-Kelly Gindlesberger (retired minister from Shelton Memorial Ulysses, KS)

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a community of about 850,000 Christians in 3,800 congregations in the United States and Canada.

Two groups of frontier Christians came together in 1832 to form the foundation of today's Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

They shared the view that people should not be excluded from fellowship in the church because they didn't adhere to a particular human-made creed.

They used to say there is "no creed but Christ." Today's Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) still thinks that way.

We study the Bible to deepen our connection to God through Jesus Christ, and to discover what God wants us to do.