JANUARY 2021
COMMUNICATION BRIEFINGS
|
|
FEATURED ARTICLE
"Liberating Our Faithful Fire"
|
CELEBRATIONS
New Years
Martin Luther King Jr.
|
IN MEMORIAM
Elder Eddie Griffin
Rev. Dr. Edgar Wallace
|
UPCOMING EVENTS
Lift Every Voice & Sing Choir Project
Let Us Pray (Second Tuesday)
Fifth Sunday "Hour of Power"
Dismantling Racism
|
BOOKS SPOTLIGHT
Spirit Prayers
A Book of Legacy
|
CONNECTIONS
Stay Connected
Your Contact Information
Visit Our Website
|
|
The vision of the National Convocation is to be a leaven in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) under One God as One Church with One Mission in the world, as a voice promoting pertinent issues related to the African American Church, carrying out the biblical mandate to transform lives. |
SELAH will feature the vital ministries of worship, education, justice, advocacy, fellowship, and discipleship that abound throughout our congregations as well as ministry resources, and Convocation events that are crucial for discerning future ministry and leadership of the National Convocation. There is strength in community. Please send congregational updates, ministry concerns, and prayer needs here.
|
|
"Shut up in our bones:
LIBERATING OUR FAITHFUL FIRE"
Layers of aspiration and identity await our discovery as 2021 begins. As we greet the possibilities of this New Year, the fire that is “shut up in our bones,” homes, churches, and communities, grounds our attention and determination. Grieved by the forces of isolation and oppression, and the active resistance of his colleagues, the prophet Jeremiah gives voice to a fire rooted in relational wrestling with the role of the word in his work and in the wider community (Jeremiah 20:9). The fire “shut up in his bones” closed the door of denial and silence, and deepened his commitment to the work of God that was already underway. It is not a long term fire but an interim fire that calls him forward in accountability to the community and to God. With gratitude and reverence, I am writing to invite us to liberate the fire “shut up in our bones,” and to rediscover and live out the truth of our souls and our associations in the coming year. We don’t have to wait for the next biennial session to gather, we can discern God’s vision for our future and gather for reflection through monthly events online. Exciting and substantive “Fifth Sunday gatherings” have been planned, in addition to monthly prayer events and updates every second Tuesday on zoom led by leaders and members from every Convention.
The National Convocation is a beacon for wholeness in the Black Church within the context of the movement for wholeness in the Christian Church over against the forces of fragmentation that undermine the flourishing of all of God’s beloved children. It includes almost 600 congregations and ministry settings (and counting) across the United States and Canada as we continue to nurture and welcome new churches and emerging leaders. I am deeply honored to serve in this sacred call as Interim Administrative Secretary and Associate General Minister and President to work with the Board of Trustees and with each of you to ensure that significant resources are invested in discerning future ministry, and in strengthening and amplifying the voice and leadership of the National Convocation. I have been privileged to meet many of you during my previous work at Disciples Divinity House of the University of Chicago, as an anti-racism core trainer, new church founder in Ohio, and as a previous chaplain, pastor, and interim pastor in the Christian Church Capital Area. I look forward to meeting many more of you over the next two years as we fulfill our call together to liberate and make space for the index of fire that is present throughout the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Layers of ministry and movement await our support and planning. The fire of National Convocation, our wrestling and our work, is rooted in the vision of Preston Taylor, Rosa Brown, Rosa Page Welch, John Compton, and the historic ministry of Conventions that pre-date the abolition of slavery beginning in 1830. Many Disciples have spent time with fire under quarantine over the last year in response to COVID-19, and many years before that in response to inherited distortions of identity. Innovative ways of accessing our fire have developed over the last year. Join us in making space for meaningful support and planning during our fifth Sunday gatherings on zoom led by our fellowship groups. Our first “Hour of Power” on Sunday, January 31, will be led by the Fellowship of Black Disciples Clergy Women.
Layers of vision and community await our fellowship. If Jeremiah had been acquainted with a community of support akin to the National Convocation, would the story change? If he had been nourished by fellowship with colleagues that shared vision and covenantal strength with one another rather than the derision and competition he experienced, would Israel have responded to his leadership differently? The fire shut up in his bones is not a fire at rest or simply a repository of possibilities. It is not a consoling living room fire constructed for comfort, nor is this a fire of wrath. Jeremiah liberates his faithful fire by naming it and allowing it to spark attunement and resiliency out of steadfast commitment to the God of his ancestors and a future beyond the politics of silence. You are invited to join us every second Tuesday as we gather for updates and prayer led by all of our siblings and leaders from every Missionary Convention and expression of the National Convocation including the Southern District churches, Western District churches, the Kentucky Christian Missionary Convention, Texas Christian Missionary Convention, and many others.
This interim period is a special period to revisit our shared past, to support and strengthen one another, and to prepare for the future. It is an intentional time of assessment and visioning, narrative transformation, and healing. It is a time to activate and liberate the fire shut up in our bones as we clarify mission, test new possibilities, and expand imagination. I am here to serve, welcome, and make space for the leadership of the Holy Spirit at work in our fire. I plan to meet with 10 churches and leaders each week to learn more about your strengths, adaptive capacities, and needs. I will attend your services and special events online. Please send updates and announcements for SELAH via email, stay tuned for more details about upcoming events on our website, and connect with us on Facebook. Thank you for your faithful service, support, and ministry during these liminal times of shift and adaptation. With great anticipation, I look forward to joining you in boldly serving our shared movement for wholeness in 2021.
Rev. Yvonne T. Gilmore
|
|
Rev. Yvonne T. Gilmore
Interim Administrative Secretary for the
National Convocation
|
|
New Year's Prayer:
Dear Lord God,
Thank you for bestowing upon our family a new, fresh year. We praise and glorify you for your goodness and grace, and we would like to lift this year up to you. May you be the center of this family this year, as the previous years have been. We ask that you walk with us, O Lord, wherever the year would take this family.
We humbly ask for your protection, Lord God. Please drive us away from harm, and keep your children physically, mentally, and spiritually secure and healthy. May you cover and protect us with your most precious blood.
We would also like to take this opportunity to pray for the strengthening of this family’s bonds. May this year be a time for all of us to have an even deeper and more unified relationship with one another. Give us peace within our hearts and minds, so we may be able to listen to and understand each other better.
We also thank you, Lord God, for all the blessings you’ve given the past year. Thank you for the blessings that have yet to come. We know that you will never forsake us, and we are grateful, no matter what may happen. We give thanks for the shelter above our heads, clothes on our backs, and food on our table.
May you bless this food we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
|
|
Isaiah 43:19
Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Psalm 20:4
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
|
|
MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2021
On the third Monday of January every year, we celebrate the birthday of civil rights leader and activist Martin Luther King Jr. While today’s civil rights landscape still has a ways to go before achieving true equality, MLK’s historic contributions to racial justice for Black Americans are undeniable.
Martin Luther King's Day is more than a day off! Take some time to learn more and to celebrate in meaningful ways. Here are a few ideas:
-
Educate yourself and those around you, because history classes rarely gave us the whole truth. The ways in which the topic of race in America is taught in history classes around the country vary drastically, so make sure that you have a good understanding of why there is a day dedicated to MLK.
-
Talk to your older family members. For Black Americans—talking to your older family members could be especially enlightening. Many of us have grandparents who are living history, and who may very well have attended a protest or watched King on television.
-
Do some good. It is a day of service, after all—If you are able to go out and give your time by cleaning up neighborhoods, serving at a soup kitchen, or just spending time with members of a community in need, then start by searching for volunteer opportunities near you.
-
Create. Use King’s message of acceptance and justice for the marginalized to inspire your art. Write. Paint. Make music. Whatever mode of expression you prefer, use the day as a springboard to let your talent be your activism.
-
Support organizations that fight for racial justice. Don’t forget to support organizations that make it their mission to fight against racial injustice. Join a protest, raise funds, and learn more about the work that Black Lives Matter and other organizations are doing to empower Black communities.
-
Support a Black-owned business. You can’t have equality without equity, and Black business owners often face additional barriers to their success because of their race. For a day that is about giving back, you can also empower individuals by supporting Black businesses in your community or online.
However you choose to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., make it impactful and meaningful to you and your family.
|
|
|
|
Rev. Dr. Edgar Allen Wallace, beloved Pastor of First United Christian Church in Xenia, Ohio, died on December 2, 2020, at the age of 76. A devoted public servant and educator, he served as Vice President of the Xenia City Council, and as a professor of social work at Wilberforce University for many years. At Bethel Christian Church, his first Disciples ministry, he developed Bethel Housing, a fifty-one unity HUD 202 for the elderly. He also served churches in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. In Lexington, he served as President of the Lexington National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Read more here.
|
|
|
|
Elder Eddie Evans Griffin, beloved elder at Park Manor Christian Church in Chicago, IL, died on December 21 in hospice care. She served as a key officer of the Board of Trustees at Disciples Divinity House of the University of Chicago, and also served on the General Board on the Time and Place Committee, and the New Church Start Committee. She was a pioneer in several realms, having been the first Black student to enter, and subsequently graduate from, the master’s program in social work at the University of Illinois. Most of her professional career was at the Chicago Child Care Society. She began as a caseworker and became a senior administrator. At Park Manor, she was also a chair of the board and chair of the Christian Women’s Fellowship (now Disciples Women).
Her father, Lorenzo Evans, was the first African American staff of the National Convocation in Christian education, beginning in 1947; in 1960-61 he became one of the first group of the merger staff of the NCMC and UCMC. He was a co-founder of the Star Supporter scholarships. Read more here.
|
|
CALLING ALL SINGERS AND MUSICIANS
to join the Disciples Virtual Choir project
The National Convocation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) invites you to join the Disciples Virtual Choir as we present the anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” in February. A poem written by James Weldon Johnson, it was first recited in 1900 by a group of 500 children. The poem was set to music by Johnson's brother, John Rosamond Johnson, in 1905. Since then, the enduring anthem has been sung all over the world. It is included in almost 30 hymnals, including the African American Heritage Hymnal. It is often referred to as the “Black National Anthem.”
Let’s join our voices in singing a song of faith, courage, and hope to encourage each other during this time of isolation. Singers and musicians of all ages are invited to sing or play along with their musical instrument. We hope to see all of the faces of Jesus in the choir, and that our siblings from every expression of the church will join in singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Follow the directions listed on our website.
Please submit your video by January 27.
|
|
Back in September, the venerable Southeast Symphony Orchestra celebrated 70 years as the oldest predominantly minority orchestra in the United States with a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After a performance of Gustav Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony, 250 musicians from the Southeast Symphony, Southeast ...
|
|
|
PRAYER LEADERS BY CONVENTION |
|
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
|
|
Indianapolis, IN - National Convention
Mid-America & Northeast Regional African-American Convocation
Piedmont District Convention, South Carolina Missionary Convention
Southern & Western District of Churches of Christ (Disciples of Christ)
Kentucky Christian Missionary Convention & Ohio African-American Convention
Alabama-Northwest Florida Christian Missionary Convention
Texas Christian Missionary Convention
Goldsboro/Raleigh Assembly, Goldsboro (West of Tarr River)
Michigan and Oklahoma African-American Convention
MOKAN Fellowship & Mississippi Christian Missionary Convention
Washington and Norfolk District of Churches of Christ (Disciples of Christ), East of Tarr River
Pacific Southwest African-American Convocation
|
|
FIFTH SUNDAY HOUR OF POWER |
|
All Convocation churches and clergy are invited to gather every fifth Sunday. Each fellowship group will be invited to share in leading 20 minutes of worship followed by a 40-minute panel and conversation about their visions for the future. |
|
January 31
May 30
August 29
October 31
December 5
|
|
Fellowship of Black Disciples clergy women
Young adults
Men
Clergy fellowship
Advent led by clergy partners w/ focus on family connections
|
|
JANUARY 10TH, 17TH, 24TH & 31ST |
|
|
SAVE THE DATES: JULY 20-23, 2022 |
|
 |
SPIRIT PRAYERS
by Dr. Devoree Clifton Crist
Spirit Prayers: Praying Through the Pandemic and Social Unrest. These prayers were written in response to the fear, anxiety, and pain caused by the pandemic. The book is now available on Amazon as an ebook and as the printed book for pre-order. The printed book release is Feb 3.
|
|
|
|
A BOOK OF LEGACY
by Rev. Dr S. W. Hylton Jr.
Dr. Hylton's book is in the final stages for observation and reading and this applies to those that knew Dr. Hylton or for those willing to learn about his religious and social contributions.
For questions, contact Sam Hylton, son of Reverend Doctor S. W. Hylton Jr.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
