Sitting down to type, I must say that I find it daunting to try to recap the Regional Assembly for you. In a nutshell, let me say that it was a Spirit-filled time, which has a way of rejuvenating all who are present. I was excited to meet a number of people, both from West Virginia and from the larger church.
Betty and I left early Thursday morning (yes, I was awake on time for you nay-sayers out there) to travel to Huntington. I attended an "Elders Workshop" led by Dr. Peter Morgan (former President of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society). Often when I attend church meetings, there are only clergy-types. It was exciting to be among non-clergy-types, who took time to grow in their own faith. The discussions were helpful, and I've brought back a few ideas for our elders to try out in the future.
The Assembly opened officially with worship on Thursday night, featuring a sermon by Rev. Gloria Hernandez, who was ordained at Central Christian some years ago and is now Program Associate and Quadrennial Assembly Coordinator for Office of Disciples Women. She preached on spiritual gifts and recalled how friends in Fairmont had invited her to church several times before she attended and how she had grown in this congregation.
There were many speakers over the weekend (too many for me to mention all of them), but I should mention that I attended a workshop led by the current President of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society, Dr. Glenn Carson. He led a nice discussion fusing our history with some current challenges facing churches, especially the changing demographics of church members across denominations. And he and I had a chance to chat after the session, which was encouraging to me (I imagine that I will make a trip to visit the Historical Society sometime in the future for research purposes). There will be more about the Disciples of Christ Historical Society on this blog later this week or next, focused on their new website (a post I had been planning even before I met Dr. Carson).
The highlight of the Regional Assembly was the Installation of Rev. Thaddaeus Allen as the new Regional Minister and Rev. David Chafin as the new Deputy Regional Minister. The service was a great celebration of the promise of the church, featuring a wonderful mass choir (including Betty), the pomp of a clergy procession (in all our liturgical fineness -- which made for a rather warm evening), and a sermon by the General Minister and President Rev. Sharon Watkins. Much as I was excited by my installation service last week, I believe that Thad and his family felt the love for them. I had heard good things about Thad even before I moved to West Virginia (from people who've known him from long ago, such as one of his high school youth leaders), and I was excited to celebrate with him.
The business portion of the Assembly was reserved mostly for Saturday morning, when we received a series of reports from various church groups (Disciples Historical Society, Cane Ridge, Christmount, lots of others I've forgotten). We also received written (though not spoken) reports from the regional staff (which I haven't finished reading yet). Thad listed 24 goals for the upcoming year, both personal and professional -- I was excited that he wanted to foster clergy spirituality (#14), visit regional churches (#5), and "golf more" (#18), though I imagine his wife Jennifer was more concerned than excited that "become a better husband" rounded at the list at #24.
The only business item, as I mentioned in worship on Sunday morning, was the election of the new Regional Board. I was excited to hear from others that there were lots of new people elected to the Board, including myself as Chair-Elect of the Christian Formation Department. As a historian, I value tradition and the lessons and wisdom that our elders and those experienced among us can provide; but as a Christian (and this was true long before I was a pastor, or even thought about becoming a pastor) I celebrate that all among us have gifts and experiences which can benefit all of us if they are shared and if they are accepted. In this sense, I think that the election of a recently arrived, recently ordained, 31-year-old pastor is an excellent sign -- for my money, the only thing better would be a recently arrived, non-ordained, 31-year-old (or even younger) person. But progress is progress.
In a nutshell (a rather big nutshell), these are my thoughts and memories of the recent Regional Assembly. I was happy for the chance to attend and represent Central Christian. I'm sure that some of the lessons are still stewing in my mind and will randomly appear in the future.
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