|
|
DivorceCare leadership team: Antoinette Christophe, John Basel, Lillith Trewick
( Director) Dawn Basel
DivorceCare - How it Came to Be
by Lillith Trewith
I am passionately moved to help individuals heal after suffering the pain of separation and divorce. Ten years ago, I experienced this traumatic life event and know intimately the effects of loneliness, loss of hope, bitterness and anger, feelings of rejection and shame, fears for the future and daily exhaustion.
Two years ago, after moving to Houston, I felt led to build a DivorceCare ministry here at First Christian Church. With the support of my pastor, Dr. Michael Dunn, I trained and equipped three facilitators to assist with our small group. We successfully completed our first semester on April 20, 2016. God did an amazing work in the hearts of the participants throughout the program. It also spurred Dawn and John Basel, husband and wife team, to facilitate a new group at their home church, Cypress Creek Christian, this fall.
How Divorcecare has Changed our Congregational Life:
Interestingly, over 73% of our DivorceCare attendees were not from our church, and one-half did not profess to be followers of Christ.
DivorceCare became a welcoming entrance point for participants to experience the life of our church. Here are some ways that our congregation has been affected by DivorceCare:
- DivorceCare brings into focus the needs and care of those going through divorce or separation.
- DivorceCare helps our church to grow. This is due to the fact that DivorceCare draws people from outside of our church. These "guests" often join the host church.
- DivorceCare introduces people to Christ.
- DivorceCare empowers our church to minister to many people at the same time.
- Divorcecare leads to healing, and at times, the restoration of marriages.
Anonymous quotes from our recent participants at First Christian Church:
"I loved praying before and after our meeting."
"The group facilitators were real, genuine, present and amazing."
"It brought me in touch with others. The facilitator was supportive and inspiring".
"It was helpful to meet others in a similar boat and hearing stories of hope and insight."
|
|
Ready to launch
 It was a meeting that Monique Spells attended at a Disciples General Assembly a few years ago that inspired her to launch a new church project. During the event, she listened to heartfelt and powerful stories from other new church planters. As the planters gave their testimonies, they candidly revealed their experiences - the good, the bad and the God-moments. Following the event, Monique felt the call and used her gifts to launch Levi's Table in Indianapolis, which focuses on young adult African Americans who feel passionate about the witness of Jesus and seek an open and affirming fellowship where, according to her, "they can gather without fettered identity or loss of the valuable praise and worship ethos of the black church experience." Read more about what your Pentecost Offering does.
|
Get ready for YOUR
Mission Gathering!
Use the videos and other materials online to brush up on the identity statement. You also might find the Justice Primer (8 pgs. with guide) and Justice Devotions (34 entries) to be helpful. Global Ministries also offers a new three-session adult curriculum called REACH.
Join the prayer effort and receive weekly prompts for prayer and action.
Find out more and sign up for information on the Mission First! page. You can also share your stories of mission on the Mission First! Facebook group.
|
|
|
|
| News in the Church Other News |
|
|
Pre-Event for 24th Biennial Session of the National Convocation includes lay, clergy
The Pre-Convocation Lay and Clergy Leadership Institute will take place on Thursday, July 21 from 9 am - 4 pm. It is an opportunity for leadership development for both clergy and lay leaders.
The cost of the pre-event is $50 and includes breakfast, lunch and materials. It is co-sponsored by The Institute for African American Faith and Life, Black Disciples Endowment Fund and The African American Clergy Institute Development Office.
If you have already registered for the 24th Biennial Session of the National Convocation, contact Kimberly Caudle at: (317) 713-2406 or by email: kcaudle@disciples.org . For a partial listing of workshops available for the Pre-Event and the Biennial Session - look here . |
|
|
NAPAD opens search for executive
 We invite applications for the position of Interim Executive Pastor (IEP) for North American Pacific/Asian Disciples (NAPAD) Ministries.
|
|
|
If you are interested in advertising in future issues of the Disciples News Service, please contact Fred Jones |
| Events, Resources and Ministry in Action |
|
 Events |
May 25, 2016
1:00 p.m. CST / 2:00 p.m. EST
May 20-21
Aug. 7-11
Find more events on the calendar hosted by Chalice Press
|
|
 Resources |
|
 Ministry in Action |
Kids to Kids: Responding to the Flint Water Crisis
How important is good, clean water to your everyday life? What would your life be like without it?
This intergenerational guide is designed to educate adults and children on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan (and beyond) including background on how this crisis came about, connecting faith to actions, and ways to respond for all ages.
________
Middle East pilgrimage
Learn about the many different partners that Global Ministries works with in the Middle East through the four-part blog series by General Minister and President Sharon Watkins. You can also learn more about the Middle East Initiative by Global Ministries on their website.
|
|
You can find ways to plug into mission and more through these ministries.....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, look at that!
We have an app now, Disciples! Available in both the Apple store and Google Play (for Android users), you can download this handy tool either by going to http://disciples.org/app or searching for Disciples of Christ BlueBridge on either site (This may be more challenging since we are new to the stores and don't have a lot of reviews yet to move us up in the ranking.) Not only will we be providing app-only content, but this will be invaluable to General Assembly participants next summer as we beef up the content for the event as it approaches.
|
|
The Disciples News Service, also known as The DiscipleŽ, is distributed weekly or as needed by Communication Ministries. For changes to your subscription options or to subscribe to this newsletter, please visit:
disciples.org/dns/subscribe-to-dns/
If you are interested in submitting news for distribution in the Disciples News Service, please review our "Guidelines for Submitting News and Information to Disciples News Service":
disciples.org/dns/submitting-news/
|
The next deadline to submit news for consideration
in the Disciples News Service:
Friday, May 20, 2016
|
|
|
|
|
|
