General Assembly News - Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

From General Minister and President Sharon WatkinsMovement. Wholeness.Welcome. Table.The keys to our Disciples identity statementwere all in evidence at the 2013 GeneralAssembly in Orlando. At worship, we literallygathered around a table. In business we wrestledwith what it means to be whole thoughof different opinions. In education, we were equipped for themission of healing and wholeness God invites us to share.Much has been said of our decliningnumbers – however, at GA 2013,Disciples celebrated the blessing andthe mission God calls us to right now.The Sunday night Celebration ofMission (formerly known as State ofthe Church) was an invitation to ministryin the 21st century context. The21st century is a time of increasingdiversity, of technological revolution,and where our neighbors do notknow the love of God. But this iswhere we are called to share God’slove. God has often made much ofsmall numbers. The story of Gideonin Judges 6-7 comes to mind. AtGeneral Assembly we celebrated themission of congregations and regionaland general ministries – all workingto manifest the wholeness of thereign of God at hand. We shinedlights in the darkness and we noted:If we look to God’s future rather thanour past, we face a bright horizon.Our internal wholeness was tested atGA. Current events and a neighboringconvention as well as currentswithin our own Church shaped theassembly in ways we could not haveimagined. The movement of the Spiritseemed strong as the assembly consideredtwo emergency resolutionsand an Item for Reflection andResearch – all dealing with controversialand painful issues around raceand racial justice in the United States.True to our Disciples character, we donot hold a singular perspective aboutthe events that led to the death ofTrayvon Martin and the GeorgeZimmerman verdict nor about theSupreme Court decisions regardingthe Voting Rights Act of 1965 –events that affected a collective gaspof despair among Black and Brownbrothers and sisters just at the timewe met. It seemed fortuitous, however,that the NAACP convention wasright next to ours. It meant that weDisciples, as a movement for wholeness,had an opportunity to extendthe ministry of presence with hurtingbrothers and sisters. It meant thatmembers of the NAACP ReligiousAffairs committee could reciprocateand offer heartfelt greetings to us.Welcoming all to an open table was atheme throughout, but especially aswe approached resolution GA-1327- Becoming a People of Grace andWelcome to All. It reaffirmed our corevalue that even in our differences ofopinion and approach; we cometogether at the Lord’s Table. The discussionsshowed we are not all ofone mind on nearly any issue, nevertheless,whether we identify as aconservative, moderate or liberal,God does not label us as anythingbut God’s beloved child. As hard as itmay be, we Disciples strive to liveinto that welcoming posture shownso vividly in the life of Jesus.We launched an identity initiative tohelp Disciples witness to our callingin Christ, based on the four keywords of the identity statement.Movement: both of the Spirit and ofour own Church communities;Wholeness: our struggle to be unitedbut not uniform, diverse but notdivided;Welcome: to all, though not necessarilyaffirming all points of view;Table: that place where the story ofJesus is enacted, where we meet theliving Christ, become again the Bodyof Christ and are sent forth with thelove of Christ to love our neighbor.We are Disciples of Christ, a movementfor wholeness in a fragmentedworld. As part of the one Body ofChrist, we welcome all to the Lord’sTable as God has welcomed us. AtOrlando, we reaffirmed that the Tableis broad and diverse, but there isroom for all.CHRISTIAN CHURCH DISCIPLES OF CHRIST | JULY 13-17, 2013 3