President's welcomePresident's welcomeOctober/November 2004: Johnny Wray has been invited to contribute to this month's welcome. A Seed Planted Yields Abundant Results. Join this Souper Effort! You've all heard the Parable of the Mustard Seed? (Matthew 13: 31-32) A man took a tiny mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds and planted it in his field. When it grew, it grew into a tree. Jesus used this parable to tell us that, with God's help, little can be made much. Like the tree from which the mustard seed grew, the Souper Bowl of Caring began as a tiny seed of an idea. A prayer that went like this,
"Lord even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us be mindful of those without a bowl of soup," inspired youth at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC to collect dollars in soup pots for the hungry the next Super Bowl Sunday. They went a step further and shared the idea among their friends at various churches in their area. That first year, 22 churches collected $5,700 to help hungry and hurting people in their community. Since then, the Souper Bowl of Caring has spread to communities in all 50 states and some other countries. Young people hold soup pots at church exits on Super Bowl football Sunday and ask each worshipper to drop in $1 as they leave services. Some groups collect non-perishable items too. Each youth group sends their collection to a charity they select. None of the money is sent to Souper Bowl headquarters. But each group contacts the Souper Bowl of Caring at 1-800-358-SOUP(7687) or at www.souperbowl.org to report their collection. By reporting, participants can see what happens when everyone works together for the good of others. Since the first Souper Bowl in 1990, more than $24 million has been collected for food banks, soup kitchens and other charities that help people in need. And all of this has been led by youth. To add another dimension to Souper Bowl weekend, a service component was added in 2000. Youth work in soup kitchens and food banks the Saturday before Souper Bowl Sunday in an effort known as the Souper Bowl Service Blitz where young people all across the United States serve charities on that day. In 2004 over 15,600 youth joined together in service to others. The Souper Bowl of Caring helps young people see that with God's help they can make a difference in the world by "loving their neighbors." If you would like to learn more about how you can help those who are hungry through the Souper Bowl of Caring, visit www.souperbowl.org or call (800) 358-SOUP (7687). The theme for Souper Bowl of Caring 2005 is Souper Heroes. Each young person willing to change the world by collecting dollars in soup pots and working in a food bank or soup kitchen to help others is a hero. We hope you will join the team. It is not too early for youth groups to begin planning for their participation in this great effort. Disciples Home Missions and Week of Compassion encourage Disciple youth to consider naming Week of Compassion as one of the charities to receive a portion of the raised funds to help hungry people. To assist Disciple youth groups make their Souper Bowl of Caring events a success, they are encouraged to contact either the Week of Compassion office or Disciples Home Mission for resources. See this page for contact information. The Rev. Johnny Wray, director of Week of Compassion, is a native of West Point, Miss., and a member of First Christian Church, Jackson, Miss. August/September 2004: An anniversary seemed a good time to score a new poplin suit. It's light weight and a new one might fit better. My Anniversary Partner (MAP) wasn't sold on that idea. She was tight lipped about her own idea and I was afraid it would be something for which I would hold vast disinterest. The big day came and I got what she thought best: mandolin lessons. My heart sank. I hid it as well as possible. For years I entertained fantasies of playing mandolin in a bluegrass band. Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs & Co. were my stars of the Grand Ole Opry. I once watched the Cluster Pluckers, live and in person, and went so far as to count the miracle. I marveled that forty fingers, ten thumbs and fifty three strings on six instruments could make so much beauty in such a hurry with nothing plugged into a wall. Oh but that would be the life, playing such miraculous things of such plaintive beauty. Alas, my fantasy would never have legs. I was way too old to give it a thought. MAP was of another mind. I went for my lesson knowing with absolute clarity of sound mind the fellow would be a gentleman and give us our money back, or a crook and let me suffer it out. In fact, it turns out I have a knack for it. MAP was right (again) and I was wrong (etc.) and I can learn to read music after all. More, it seems I have something approaching an ear for it, and sufficient dexterity. It's possible for me to read music after all. I have enough soundtracks of quaint and rural music playing in my head for a Time/Life series. More than all the above I also have a fresh reminder that education of all kinds can bless us at all ages. Moreover, none of us always knows what's best. There are wonderful opportunities we can miss if we don't have others who know we don't know everything, even about ourselves. Make that, especially about ourselves. After all these years I finally have a teacher who thinks I have talent. I also have finely developing calluses on my left hand and I can tune for myself. My repertoire is limited at present. I'm great at Amazing Grace and I'm fast learning the Arkansas Traveler. Twelve more songs, three more chords and a mandolin of my own and I still won't be ready for a diesel engine bus and two hundred one night stands. I'll keep at it. What's to lose by trying? I already have the Stetson and I can manage a string tie. I've got even got a lot of suits but some are a little tight. June/July 2004: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every earthly weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 12:1-2A Better men and women than I have been on my mind lately. They have been like a great cloud of witnesses in and around my office. It started because of portraits of Alexander Campbell and Barton Warren Stone. These founders of the Disciples inspire me because of their devotion, wisdom and a general willingness to be inconvenienced for the cause of Christ. The crowd grew recently when pictures arrived from the Disciples of Christ Historical Society. I had asked for them with little idea I would be so moved by them. Now they hang out in the halls reminding me to be my best self. There is D.S. Burnett, founder of a forerunner of Disciples Home Missions called the American Christian Bible Society. He looks pretty solemn. There is Dr. James Barclay who said, "Here am I. Send me." He and Sister Barclay were our first Disciple missionaries. They left family and friends and a successful medical practice in Virginia, to share a Disciple's version of the Christian faith in the unfriendly environment of Jerusalem. Down the hall are those who led the United Christian Missionary Society through good times and bad, in season and out of season. They are F.W. Burnham, Stephen Corey, Robert Hopkins, Harry McCormick, A. Dale Fiers, Virgil Sly and T.J. Liggett. All, all better men than I. There are also those who have led DHM: Kenneth Kuntz, John R. Compton, my dear friend, Ann Updegraff Spleth, and my personal hero, Raymond E. Brown. I stand on those shoulders and I pray I do them some degree of justice. We all stand on the shoulders of others. They are our parents and pastors and Sunday school teachers. They are the colleagues who came before us and the people who founded the churches we attend. They are Bible translators and missionaries, home and foreign. They are tithers. We stand on the shoulders of many who exercised devotion and wisdom and a willingness to be inconvenienced. Many of their pictures hang on church walls and in our homes. We must not forget them. We do not live in fat days. These are pretty lean times for congregations, and the agencies designed to support them in ministry. You might well get discouraged. If so, I invite you to remember those who led where you serve through other bad times. For instance, I will think of Stephen Corey. He led the UCMS during the Great Depression. He will cheer me on. Someone else will encourage you too if you call them to memory. They will all cheer us on. April/May 2004: Recently I had a great experience at a "First Christian" church in a county seat in the middle of the Breadbasket. The pastor's robe was black and the choir's were maroon. It could have been anywhere. It was Olathe, Kansas. First Christian Church, Olathe, Kansas represents Disciples' at our best. No. It's not "cutting edge." It's not "The Church of What's Happening Now." It's not trying to be. It's trying to be faithful and it's succeeding. These particular Jay Hawk Campbellites are worth our observation. They care for their children, by providing good Sunday schools, and making sure they go to camps and conferences. The children visit Disciple colleges and are encouraged to attend. In worship this congregation spends the time needed remembering those in special circumstances. They have two worship services and not a one is contemporary but both are well planned and executed. Both are well attended. Both are focused on making it a good experience for the main "audience," i.e.: God. These Olathe Disciples are involved in their local community but outreach extends well beyond their city limits. They go on mission trips every year. They give generously to Disciples Mission Fund. The congregation and minister like each other. The pastor takes pastoring seriously, but not himself. People like that. The congregation appreciates his ministry, and his family. Ministers like that. I can say of this church what I've said from Redondo Beach, California to Myrtle Beach, S. Carolina. "If I lived in this town, I'd join this church." What about yours? What would a visitor say? I'd be glad to be there. DHM Establishes Office of Disciples Volunteering In order to expand hands-on mission opportunities for Disciples in the United States and Canada, and make best use of human and monetary resources, Disciples Home Missions announces the establishment of the DHM Office of Disciples Volunteering. Volunteers in Mission, Vision Builders! Construction, DHM internships, leader development trips, various church-wide mission projects and 9-11 Respond to the Call are encompassed in this office. These changes are immediate. Carl Zerweck, III, is Director of the DHM Office of Disciples Volunteering. Jayna Powell is the Project Coordinator for Volunteers in Mission. Zerweck continues to coordinate Vision Builders! Construction and Powell will recruit and train interns and write mission resources. Although the office is based in Indianapolis, Zerweck currently resides in Plano, Texas. Powell is deployed in Baltimore. DHM Executive Vice President, Jane Lawrence, serves to keep DHM's goals: developing leaders and congregational transformation, in the forefront. Brenda Tyler completes the office staff as administrative assistant. February/March 2004: My guess is about fifteen to twenty minutes. That's about how long most folks will give reading this issue of The Home Mission Advocate. Some will spend longer reading every single line and thinking about how to use something or noticing where someone has moved or something like that. Most folks will skip right over a lot of things and focus on what strikes a fancy (That means if you're still reading this I might want to say thanks!) Fifteen to twenty minutes. As you so spend these minutes I'd like you to reflect on the common themes. Let's see, there's a couple of great stories of the youth and youth ministry leaders making strides in developing lifelong Christians and developing leaders. What great good news this is for Disciples and all God's people. There's the story of the organizing pastor of a congregation in Houston. What a remarkable and inspiring experience for him but what an eternity changing experience, for those who come to Christ through this new ministry. Look around and you'll see announcements of events. What kind of events? Lots and lots! There's the Black Ministers' Retreat and the Children Worship and Wonder Conference. Vision Builders! Construction opportunities and Volunteers in Mission and work trips in Appalachia. There's even an event on line for those interested in thoughtful discussion. You'll find a joyous announcement regarding Disciple Men and another about Guideposts for Disciple Women. There's an important announcement about a brand new Kids to Kids program. Lots more can be found including a great recipe for pancakes in honor of Disciple's Men's International Day of Pancakes coming March 20. All these various things are obviously different but they share the common theme of being opportunities for Disciples of Christ to share in the Good News of God's great love for all people. They share the common thread of being life changing experiences. They share the promise that new people will come to know Jesus Christ and that those who do know him will grow in service to him. All these different stories and announcements share the critical fact that they are made possible because dedicated congregations support the Disciple Mission Fund. They are possible because individuals make a point to support this ministry in sacrificial ways. These missionary efforts represent someone's coins prayerfully dropped into a Blessing Box. They are ministries made possible through our generous giving to the Week of Compassion and the Easter Offering. A personal note: what we are giving I have received. As the song goes, "Thank you for giving to the Lord. I was a life that was changed." Enjoy the paper. You still have 13 minutes. |
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Home Mission Advocate published by Disciples
Home Missions |
