Alphabet soup

Ever wonder what those Disciples acronyms mean ... like DOC, CWF and WOC? You'll find the definitions below, thanks to ODW.

Disciples General Ministries

CCF Christian Church Foundation, Inc. Helps Disciples make a difference forever and discover the joy of serving Christ through sharing their accumulated resources.

CE Church Extension. Provides a variety of funding services to congregations including establishment of new congregations.
CBP Christian Board of Publication. Book store and publishing house, located in St. Louis.

CFC Church Finance Council, Inc. Carries the responsibility of receiving financial contributions, dividing and distributing contributions, keeping records of all giving to BMF, Week of Compassion and Reconciliation and providing information about financial matters.

CCU Council on Christian Unity, Inc. Founded in 1910 and is charged with keeping the Gospel vision and imperative of working for the unity of God's fragmented church and world before Disciples and the entire ecumenical movement.

CWF The World Christian Women's Fellowship was formed in 1955 in Toronto, Canada. There is a four-day retreat for invited persons every four years ahead of the World Convention of Churches of Christ. The president for World CWF comes from the country hosting the next World Convention. The Vice President comes from a different country, usually across the globe.

DHM Disciples Home Missions. Committed to equipping Disciples for Christ and connecting people to the life changing love of God.

DOM Division of Overseas Ministries. In partnership with the United Church of Christ, enables Disciples to share in effective and wide ranging ministries of evangelism, witness and service around the world.

HELM Higher Education and Leadership Ministries. HELM develops leaders for the church in partnership with 27 institutions of higher education, student ministries, and other institutions. This was formerly the Division of Higher Education.

NBA National Benevolent Association.

PF Pension Fund. Serves by providing contractual benefits such as the Pension Plan for ministers, missionaries and lay employees and as the Board of Ministerial Relief and Assistance.

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More denominational alphabet soup

CHI RHO Name of the church's fellowship group designed specifically for junior high school age youth. Chi and Rho are the first three letters in Christos—the Greek word for Christ.

COCU Consultation On Church Union. Nine denominations including the Disciples of Christ, that work together to nurture Christian unity and agree upon a theological statement about the nature of church, membership, confessing the faith, worship and ministry.

CWSF Church Woman's Staff Fellowship. Regional staff (paid/ volunteer/part time/full time) persons who coordinate women's ministry/program (including CWF) in all 35 regions.

CYF Christian Youth Fellowship. Designed for high school age youth—grades 9 to 12.

DAWN Disciples Advocacy Washington Network. Local group in the Washington D. C. area that coordinates legislative network.

DJAN Disciples Justice Action Network. Network of individuals and group representatives related to justice issues.

DMF Disciples Mission Fund. The "unified" budget and funding process of the entire denomination.

DOC Disciples of Christ. The correct name of our Denomination is Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. In many places we are simply referred to as The Disciples.

DPF Disciples Peace Fellowship. A fellowship of people who believe war is "pagan, futile and destructive of the values for which the Christian faith stands." Membership is by subscription.

DWM Disciples for Women in Ministry. Name of the network of clergy women—licensed and ordained—which is committed to the support, nurture and advocacy of women in ministry.

GMP General Minister and President. An office which nurtures the relationships and and promotes the flow of information among the various parts of the Christian Church. W. Chris Hobgood is serving a 21-month term as GMP.

HELM Formerly Division of Higher Education, now known as Higher Education and Leadership Ministries. Carries responsibility for the health and effectiveness of the relationship between the Church and its related institutions of higher education.

ICWF International Christian Women's Fellowship. Established in 1949. The purpose is "to provide opportunities for spiritual growth, enrichment, education and creative ministries to enable women to develop a sense of personal responsibility for the whole mission of the church of Jesus Christ." Includes Canada and the United States.

KAM Kentucky Appalachian Ministry. A joint ministry between Disciples Home Missions and the Christian Church In Kentucky that provides intentional ministry with 50 Disciples congregations in the Appalachian region of Kentucky.

NEA National Evangelistic Association. Provides motivation and methods to help congregations become more effective in accomplishing Jesus' Great Commission to "go and make disciples." Offices in Lubbock, Texas.

ODW Office of Disciples Women. Directs/coordinates work with church women.

PORTG Program and Organizational Resources Task Group. A partnership between Disciples Home Missions and Christian Board of Publication to design, develop, and promote the use of program resources and organizational materials for the CWF and other groups of women.

PF Pension Fund. The Pension Fund supports congregations by providing an excellent pension plan that has increased contractual pensions by 528.71% since 1973. It also has health care insurance, savings programs and tax information for both lay and clergy employees. 

WAW Women's Action Web. To provide a North American learning and training event for Disciples women related to the International Christian Women's Fellowship social action emphasis.

WEF Women's Endowment Fund. Established in 1990 to give women an opportunity to contribute to a permanent fund that benefits the work of women in the church.

WOC Week of Compassion. The disaster relief and humanitarian assistance program fund of Disciples.

W-T-WW Woman-To-Woman Worldwide. A program that puts North-American women in personal contact with women around the world. Each fall, W-T-WW offers journeys and experiences to the country of the upcoming geography study.

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Ecumenical alphabet soup

BFW Bread for the World. Christian citizens' movement in the USA organized to influence policy about issues of hunger.

CDF Children's Defense Fund. Nonprofit organization which lobbies for children, especially poor, minority, and disabled children.

CEFR Community Education and Fund Raising Program. A sub unit of Church World Service and Witness. Crop Walks, Blankets Kits and Layette Programs are among the sponsored events.

CORA Commission On Religion in Appalachia. A church and community partnership to assist and resource economic transformation in Appalachia.

CPSDV Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence. An interfaith project which provides resources on sexual and domestic violence from a faith perspective. Offices in Seattle.

CWSW Church World Service & Witness. The relief, development and refugee assistance arm of the National Council of Churches—offices in New York & Elkhart, Indiana. Includes the Committee on Global Education, a program to network and promote education.

CWU Church Women United. A national movement of Protestant, Orthodox and (in some places) Roman Catholic Women.

ECPAT End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism. A global campaign to address the prostitution of millions of children. "There are one million children in prostitution in Asia alone." ECPAT was the 1992 to 1994 mission emphasis for World CWF. U.S. offices in New York, international offices in Bangkok.

JWWG Justice for Women Working Group of the National Council of Churches—addresses pay equity, health concerns and a wide variety of issues regarding women.

NCCC National Council of Churches of Christ. A cooperative organization of 32 churches in the United States seeking to promote ecumenism, work for justice and promote causes consistent with Christianity. Offices in New York.

PCEM Program Committee for Education in Mission. An ecumenical structure of 15 Protestant Churches in the United States and Canada whose purpose is to develop, write, and provide a variety of resources for children, youth and adults on health and wholeness, human rights, world peace, cross-cultural understanding and ecumenical mission efforts.

UCC United Church of Christ. A denomination formed from Evangelical, Reformed, Congregational and Christians (those who did not sign on with Campbell and Stone in 1832) who are in partnership (mutual recognition of ministry, mission, and members) with Disciples.

WCC World Council of Churches. A cooperative organization of more than 300 churches from around the world seeking to promote ecumenism, work for justice and promote causes consistent with Christianity. Offices in Geneva.

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