Disciples Together, April 2024 Edition

Disciples Together

Regional News of the Christian Church in the Upper Midwest

April | 2024

Covenant People

Rev. Josh Patty

Regional Minister & President

We covenant.

As regional minister, I’m privileged to participate in many of these covenants. When ministers are commissioned or ordained, they make solemn and sacred promises for how they will serve and the gathered congregation makes promises on behalf of the church. When ministers or congregational officers are installed, we again covenant – leaders accepting responsibilities and duties and congregations promising to support this leadership.

These promises are undergirded by prayer. They are a sacred trust, often shared with some grace due to our imperfections. The sacraments of baptism and communion are covenantal, though we don’t often use that word to describe them.

Through faith, we promise to serve. We promise to deepen our relationships with God and let this deepen our relationships with others around us. We love. We forgive. We hope.

In covenant, we share and support. In recent days, we’ve finalized some annual reports for our region and region’s congregations. 65% of our region’s congregations provided annual information through the ALEX database (long known as the Year Book report), which is higher than the 57% reporting rate throughout the Christian Church. Last year, 85% of our congregations provided financial support of regional and general ministries. Notably, our region had a 4.3% increase in Disciples Mission Fund donations (compared with a roughly 6.5% decrease denomination-wide).

I’m encouraged by these examples of our shared covenant – this snapshot of how we are supporting each other in the Upper Midwest and beyond. I’ve been excited by the Visioning Together conversations so far, and the ideas people have shared for ways to be Disciples Together into the future. Our Elders Together groups begin this month, summer church camps are only a few weeks away, and more.

We pray. We grow. We love. We imagine. We dare. We forgive. We hope. We covenant.

Where in the Upper Midwest is Josh?

Josh's travels take him across our four-state region to share in worship, support, and celebrate your ministries! Here's where Josh's travels have taken him in the last month:

March 19 - Visioning Together, Capitol Hill Christian Church, Des Moines, IA
April 3 - Funeral of Chris Morton, Bethany Christian Church, Lincoln, NE
April 7 - Worship, First Christian Church, Mason City, IA
April 9 - Visioning Together, First Christian Church, Burlington, IA
April 13 - Visioning Together, First Christian Church of Iowa City, Coralville, IA
April 13-16 - General Board of the Christian Church, Chicago, IL

2024

Regional Calendar

For more details go to the Regional website:

uppermidwestcc.org

Apr 19-21 CCC Work Days

Apr 24 Visioning Together, Ames - 12p

Apr 25 Operations Council

Apr 26-28 CCC Work Days Rain Date

May 2 Praying Together - 9:30a

May 6 Early Bird Camp Registration Ends

May 12 Pentecost Special Offering

May 18 Ordination of Casey Brown, Panora, IA - 2:30p

May 19 Pentecost Sunday; Pentecost Special Offering

May 23 Operations Council

May 31 Summer Camp Begins!

June 6 Praying Together - 9:30a

June 27 Operations Council

Oct 19 All Congregational Gathering

2024 Regional Prayer Calendar

Regional Video Archives

Wanting to Be an Easter Peep, an after Easter sermon by Rev. Lisa Grace
Praying Together, Apr. 4
Prayer, by Rev. Joshua Patty, following the Perry school shooting

Listening & Visioning Together

What does it mean to be Disciples Together in 2024? What are we doing? What are our priorities?

Our Regional Minister, Rev. Josh Patty, will be holding listening & visioning sessions throughout the region in March, April, and May. All sessions will be in person and on Zoom. More sessions will be added in the coming weeks. Keep on eye on the regional newsletter and the website!

Elders Together

The Region is offering an opportunity to elders and the equivalent spiritual leaders from across the congregations of the Upper Midwest to engage in study, conversation, and relationship building through a program ministry designed especially for elders. This is a monthly Zoom meeting, starting in April and going through October. Groups typically meet during the fourth week. See the region’s website for more information. The deadline to register is April 18.

Our Website Has a New Look!

Our website has received a much needed update! Be sure to go and check it out. A huge thank you to Rev. Lisa Grace, our Transitional Executive Regional Minister, for all of her hard work.

The URL remains the same.

For more information. Planning on coming out to help? Email Crystal.

Rethink Children & Youth Summit

Passionate about nurturing the spiritual growth and faith formation of children, youth, and their families? Sign up for this FREE online workshop. Experts in the field will delve into these vital ministries, providing insights, practical tools, and strategies to foster a strong foundation of faith. The summit is May 20-24, 2024. Learn more and register here.

Praying Together

Join with Regional Minister Josh Patty for fifteen minutes of prayer on Thursday, May 2 at 9:30 am via YouTube or Facebook. A recording of the prayer time will be available on regional YouTube and Facebook pages.

Unpacking the Core Competencies of DisciplesNEXT: Contemplative Action

What does contemplative action look like day to day? Join Rev. Brian Frederick-Gray, Director of Justice and Advocacy Ministries for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and Rev. Dr. Jose Martinez, Minister of New Church Strategies, for a New Church Ministry webinar that explores this core competency of DisciplesNEXT, its connections to spiritual formation, and what it has to do with New Church! Register.

Thriving Together is a workshop series for congregations, rooted in questions the church is asking right now. This free workshop series is offered to congregations attending as a group of 3-8 persons, with one clergy and one lay leader. The workshops are on April 20, April 27, and May 4 at 12 noon. For more information.

After Easter Sermon

Rev. Lisa Grace's sermon "Wanting To Be an Easter Peep" is available to churches in the Upper Midwest for use on any Sunday after Easter. The sermon, based upon John 20:19-31, can be streamed from the region's YouTube or downloaded.

Pentecost Special Offering

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, God is singing a new song: not a song of judgment, but of welcome and forgiveness; not a song of superiority, but of humility and grace; not a song of hoarding, but of sharing everything we have! God’s movement for wholeness is already underway. Our job is to listen, and learn, and follow – supporting leaders and communities as the Spirit calls them into being, laying down a new song for a new generation.

Your gifts to the 2024 Pentecost Offering, received in most congregations on Sunday, May 12, and Sunday, May 19, are divided equally between your regional ministry, which supports local new churches, and New Church Ministry, which trains, equips, and assists emerging leaders to be “movement initiators.”

Learn more and access resources here.

Region Offers Demographics Service in 2024

Our Upper Midwest region has recently subscribed to a demographics service associated with MissionInsite in order to help congregations understand the community around them as well as assist with ministry and mission planning. Rev. Dr. Doug Pfeiffer, Senior Pastor at Park Avenue Christian Church (who has used this service extensively in the last 12 years) can help congregations with reports that offer specific details about local community interests, educational and income levels, ethnic backgrounds, beliefs, as well as implications and suggestions for specific religious and spiritual goals and emphases.

If you are interested in such reports and valuable insight into your local neighborhoods/communities, please contact Pastor Doug (515-720-0689) or Regional Minister Josh Patty.

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Christian Church in the Upper Midwest | http://uppermidwestcc.org