Whaa-Hoo! CCSW Medals in the Spirit Games at General Assembly
A gold medal was won by Randall Hill from Austin, Texas, one of our pastors in the Ordination track! And, a Bronze medal was won by Southwest Strikers Team A - one half of the Regional Ministry Team!
Our purpose of the Spirit Games was to engage General Assembly participants in a fun-filled, spirited competition while raised awareness and funds to support New Church projects nationwide. For further information, see "Regional Staff Bust a Move!" below.
We are proud to announce that many people dared to take the challenge. More than 145 individuals participated in the 2009 Spirit Games competition to benefit New Church Ministry.
The complete list of Spirit Games WINNERS are shown below.
The INDIVIDUAL category:
- The Gold medal goes to Randal Hill from Austin, TX
- The Silver medal goes to Elek Buday, from United Christian Church, CA
- The Bronze medal goes to Donald Mins Jr. from Avon Christian Church, IN
The TEAM OF 4 category:
- The Gold medal goes to Summers Team, from First Christian Church Mt. Carmel, IL
- The Silver medal goes to Three Plus One Team from First Christsian Church Wilmington, NC
- The Bronze medal goes to Southwest Strikers Team A from our Southwest Region
And the YOUTH GROUP category:
- The Gold medal goes to Overland Christian Church, MO (Winners of the Wii System for their church)
- The Silver medal goes to Florence Christian Church, KY
- The Bronze medal goes to Hillyer Memorial Chrisitan Church, NC
Wii System WINNERS are:
- Overland Christian Church, MO (Youth gold medal winners)
- Kate Summers, IL
- John May, NC
On behalf of New Church Ministry, a general ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and supported by Church Extension, thank you to everyone who participated in the 2009 Spirit Games and New Church Ministry appreciates your support.
Technology Broadens the Access To the General Assembly Experience
We Disciples meet every other year in General Assembly. Last week, we held our 2009 General Assembly in Indianapolis, the home of the General Ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). For those who couldn't attend physically, the use of technology provided remote access; we were able to attend virtually. The use of these technolgies made an impact on Disciples throughout the Southwest Region.
Click here to read a report on the use of these new tools at the website of Central Christian Church of Dallas.
Sunday: Dani's Last Report from General Assembly
Dear CCSW Family,
What a GREAT General Assembly!!!! Today ended in Disciples preachers preaching all around town in both Disciples congregations and other denomination's congregations! Ten preachers were part of our CCSW family!We know that all the preachers shared God's Word in WONDERFUL ways across this county!
THEN....the Assembly's final gathering for a Concert and Celebration of Communion. Joined by our ecumenical partners in the United Church of Christ and in the Stone-Campbell family, we broke bread with many people from the Indianapolis community -- we became the "movement for wholeness in a fragmented world" as we intentionally worshipped together. Music of all kinds set the Table in incredible ways: The All-Assembly Choir, the Indianapolis Children's Choir, the All-Assembly Youth Choir, the All-Disciple Worship Band, Carrie Newcomer, Donald Lawrence, and the leader of the band, Rev. Bill Thomas......no matter what kind of music you like in worship -- it was there!!! And the house was rockin'! You simply MUST view the video of Donald Lawrence's piece in the service where the All-Assembly choir (average age was probably 67 years of age) were singing this hip-hop(ish) song -- and dancing and dancing and dancing....it was a BLESSING!!!
And, now, time to go home.... it's a lot like camp....no one really wanted to leave, but we have to go. And we will carry with us this sense of being part of this gathering -- and more importantly, feel the leading of God's Spirit to go home and make a difference -- being a part of solutions and conversations, answers and hospitality, seeing God's face in our neighbor and truly enabling healing -- one opportunity at a time -- healing the nations.
Thanks be to God for the ministry we share! I'll be back in my office on Wednesday... Traveling home tomorrow and I think I'm going to take Tuesday off! :)
Blessings,
Dani
Saturday: From Dani at General Assembly
Dearest CCSW Family,
"Suddenly....suddenly...." with those words Dr. Frank Thomas, senior pastor, Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church ("The Blvd" is how they advertise themselves now!) stirred us up in REVIVAL!!! God is at work! God is challenging us with a future that is unknown and, yet, SURE!!! Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!!! You brought it into our hearts and stirred up the Holy Spirit in us....thank you, Dr. Thomas!!!! And, suddenly --- we are not the people we were when we arrived!!!!!
Okay....the whole day was General Assembly at its best! Honest, respectful, thoughtful discussion on critical issues....CCSW Disciples standing at the Green Microphone (In favor) AND at the Red Microphone (Not in favor) and at the Procedural Mike (Why are we doing this?) --- and representing the CCSW in its breadth and depth and height and understanding of who God calls us to be.....and it was NOT contentious or difficult or uncomfortable. It was brothers and sisters in Christ having serious conversation about serious issues!!!! THIS IS WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO DO AND TO BE! Thank you -- all of you -- for participating in such a wonderful example of being church!!!
The afternoon was again filled with learning and exhibit hall wandering - and more conversations -- in every nook and cranny of the convention center people were catching up or forging new friendship or sleeping or reading or tweeting or just taking in what it is to be a part of this GREAT church!!!
Okay...tomorrow is another day at General Assembly -- full of Disciple preachers all across the community...and then a concert -- where we were invited to bring our neighbors that we have met in Indianapolis and gather as a bigger community for marvelous music and a feast at the Table of the Lord! Can't wait to tell you all about it!
I'm going to sleep now....it's been a long day! God is good....all the time!
Blessings,
Dani
General Assembly Video Also Carried on This Site!
The regional website is also carrying the video from General Assembly. All of the live webcasts are over but you can still the the on-demand replays if you missed any of the sessions.
Click here to see the video at this site.
Click here to see the video from disciples.org.
Friday: My Note Tonight from General Assembly
Dear CCSW Family,
Too tired to write a book tonight! Dr. Sharon Elizabeth Watkins preached an AMAZING sermon tonight!!!!
Please go to the site where you can see the recorded and live .... Worship leadership included youth, children, adults, old adults, older adults, youth and adults working together! Did you read that list and think of folks in your congregation who might need to be included in worship leadership where you worship? God is calling us to a NEW future, friends.....hang on and let's get busy!
Lots and lots of CCSW Disciples everywhere.....thanks be to God for your witness and mission and ministry!
Thanks for those of you at home who are reading this information and praying for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and engage in the ways that are available to you where you are! How great is technology -- it brings us together as the people of God proclaiming Jesus Christ in Indianapolis and Dallas and Houston and Beeville and San Antonio and Amarillo and (put your town here)....Thanks be to God!
More tomorrow!
Blessings,
Dani
Sunday Worship Opportunities with CCSW Preachers
Preachers from the Southwest Region are preaching as guest preachers in churches in and around Indianapolis on Sunday, August 2, 2009.
Click here to see the list.
Thursday: Great Day at General Assembly!
Dear CCSW Family,
I'm at the General Assembly and it confirms for me that the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) ROCKS!!!
This morning, Moderator Newell Williams gave Disciples History lesson 101.....he is a great teacher! We are so blessed to experience his leadership this biennium as moderator [and to have his leadership at Brite Divinity School where he serves as President!]
This afternoon - conversation happened....in lots of ways, in lots of little groups, and that process will continue....
Tonight, Dr. Doug Skinner [pastor, Northway Christian Church, Dallas, TX] spoke straight to the matter from Genesis 3 about sin and consequences and confession and repentance. [They gave him the easy stuff! :)] and God's question to our spiritual parents, "Where are you?" or "Where art thou?" - as I learned it as a child....Doug spoke to our hearts when he reminded us that God was not asking because God did not know, nor did God need to ask them their exact location, but God was speaking to their hearts and their spirits and giving them an opportunity to 'fess up - step forward - name their error.....and they didn't. The choice they made was the "stone thrown into the pond of human existence." AND, the question is really to us...."Where are YOU?"
Where are you, Dani? Where are you, Doug? Where are you, (insert your name)? This call to repentance was moving and meaningful and challenging. Doug, I apologize at my terrible paraphrasing of an excellent sermon....but it was very helpful to who God calls us to be for the future!!! And we were called to prayer....the WHOLE assembly! What a powerful time to really be in touch with our own choices, our own sins, our own lack of saying "I'm sorry, please forgive me" in a sincere and life-changing way. Thank you, Doug!
AND...then the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Southwest gathered!!! OH MY -- what fun! Friends, family, old friends, new friends, friends who just came to eat our food and breathe God's Spirit in our midst! Thanks to all who were there! The Regional Ministry Team (the Area Ministers and I) worn our "Bowling shirts -- at our spiritual retreats each year, we have taken a night or two to learn Wii bowling. We're pretty good (really!) Charlotte Hoppe, our TRA Area Minister is our captain because she got the highest score!!!! Anyway, we decided that we would support New Church Ministries by entering Spirit Games when they advertised a Wii tournament. Well, today we went in our bowling shirts hoping for a Wii bowling tournament where our Wii bowling teams (Southwest Strikers A & B) could compete. Well, it was Wii dancing!!!!!!!! What a hoot! I'm sure there will be video somewhere.....it was hilarious! If you see those videos, be prepared to LAUGH! No, I don't think we are going to win the competition!!!!!!! BUT, it was fun and it was for a GREAT cause.....support New Church MInistries!!
Okay....tomorrow is another day to hear God's word, experience God's presence in this great big Disciples family, and to hear a great Disciples preacher - Dr. Sharon Elizabeth Watkins, enlighten us!
Pray for this church that we will have the courage to face the future to which God calls!
Blessings,
Dani
Reports From General Assembly
General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) starts Wednesday, July 29, 2009 with pre-assembly activities starting last Sunday.
All this week we will be featuring reports from General Assembly directly from people from the Southwest Region. Reports will be posted as soon as they are received each day so return to this page often for the latest news and information directly of the field.
Tonight, Saturday, August 1, we have the fifth report on General Assembly from Jimmy Percival, an elder at Alamo Heights Christian Church, San Antonio, TX.
Click here to read Jimmy's report.
CCSW GA Reception a Success
Last night folks who have traveled all the way from the Southwest gathered for a big party in Indianapolis! With cake, fruit and veggies and cheese in one hand, lemonade in the other - we saw friends and colleagues from our own areas and from across the region. With such a big region - its always fun for us to be in the same room together - face to face! Other GA attenders who wanted to catch up with their SW friends knew where to find us and dropped in. There were also pastors networking, exploring possibilities for pastoring churches in the Southwest.
Dani welcomed us and told the group our Wii dancing of the morning. She and all of us area ministers were weargin our bowling shirts for the occasion. We may have to make those shirts part of every gathering!??? There are pictures on www.discipleworld.com of our Wii dancing escpades. Maybe Bill Anderton will figure out how to connect to them from our ccsw and area websites? (I did, see below ;-)
Time at the computer is only very early morning or late at night - maybe I'll report some more serious news next time.... but I am finding Twitter - don't make fun! - a useful tool communicating brief updates to my TRA folks back at home - anyone can listen in though. I hope everyone is also making use of reports and even live streaming video of GA.... this is definitely a new way of doing assembly!
From Rev. Charlotte J. Hoppe
Area Minister/President - Tres Rios Area
Regional Staff Bust a Move!
From Rev. Charlotte J. Hoppe
Area Minister/President - Tres Rios Area
CCSW regional staff competes this morning (Wednesday) in New Church Ministry Wii competition. We were hoping to bowl - we excel at that - we practice on our retreats! But New Church has a different strategy - its Wii dancing. We will prevail, however, dancing in our bowling shirts! All to raise money for New Church Ministry! You may see the famed shirts tonight at CCSW reception - and have a chance to contribute to New Church!!!
News Feed from General Assembly
We have set up news feeds direct from General Assembly. The pages that are linked below will show all of the news directly from General Assembly as soon as it is posted by disciples.org and DisciplesWorld.
Click here to see the news feed from Disciples.org.
Click here to see the news feed from DisciplesWorld.
All Tweets from Twitter Tagged with "#ccdoc"
The Twitter community came up with hashtags to add tweets to a category. Hashtags have the "hash" or "pound" symbol (#) preceding the tag, like so: #ccdoc. Hashtags allow us to see all tweets from everyone using Twitter that add the #ccdoc hashtag to their tweet. Please note that the opinions expressed are from the person making the tweet.
Live Video from General Assembly
Worship services and the State of the Church will be streamed live via the web from the Indiana Convention Center. Webcasts will be begin approximately 30 minutes before each service and will be displayed from this link. Viewers will be able to chat live during the webcast and those using Twitter will be able to tweet directly from this page. (Twitter users: status updates will be marked with the #docga09 hashtag.)
Times listed below indicate when the webcasts will begin and do not reflect the actual starting time of the event. Please view the General Assembly Schedule for more information. Times are approximate. Check this page often for updates.
** All times are in Central Daylight Time:
Sat., August 1, 6:30pm - Evening Worship
Sun., August 2, 12:30pm - All-Assembly Concert and Closing Communion
All webcasts and their associated services will be streamed using UStream (http://www.ustream.tv/). This free web streaming service allows the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to stream worship services from the 2009 General Assembly without the need to pay for video distribution services. Webcasts will include small advertisements in the lower-third of the screen. These ads are managed by UStream.tv and not the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
