wfn.org | December 1997 Digest

[DISCNEWS.parti@ecunet.org (DISCNEWS)]

                                             December 1997

  Disciples struggle with diversity in church
                    leadership

     INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- Four months after the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) opened its
most prayerful and intentional discussion on
racism to date, race was at least one factor in
the rejection of an African American candidate as
regional minister of Georgia.  

     Had he been elected, the Rev. William H.
Edwards would have been Georgia's first African
American regional executive. He also would have
been only the second African American regional
minister called in any of the denomination's 36
regions. Edwards is currently executive pastor at
Memphis' Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church.

     At the 1997 General Assembly, Disciples
General Minister and President Richard L. Hamm
drew attention to the fact that no person of color
presently is serving as a regional minister.
"Unfortunately, that's still the case," he said,
in reaction to news about Edwards.

     Hamm was in Chicago for a meeting of the
steering committee for the  racism discussion when
he learned of the decision in Georgia. For him,
the action reinforces the importance of the
discernment process in helping the whole church
grapple with the issue of racism.

     Edwards failed to receive the two-thirds vote
necessary from the regional board to forward his
name to the assembly, meeting Nov. 14-15, said
Regional Minister David L. Alexander. The Georgia
constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote
to forward a nominee's name to the assembly. The
individual must also receive a two-thirds vote
from the assembly to receive a call.  

                     *****
                        
      Torres to conclude ministry in 1999

     INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- After more than 40
years in ministry, the Rev. Lucas Torres will
retire in May 1999 as national pastor for Hispanic
Ministries in the Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ).

     Torres assumed the new post in 1983, coming
to Indianapolis from an Orlando, Fla., pastorate. 
Prior to that he served congregations in the
Bronx, N.Y., and in his native Puerto Rico for 23
years. In the 1970s he was director of program
services to Hispanic and bilingual congregations
with the Division of Homeland Ministries. 

                      *****                                     
     Sweeden called as Kansas regional
                 executive
                       
          INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- The Rev.
     Patsie Sweeden will begin the new year
     as regional minister-elect of the
     Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
     in Kansas. She succeeds the Rev. Ralph
     L. Smith.
      
          Sweeden assumes the new position
     Jan. 1, 1998. The Kansas native
     previously served as deputy regional
     minister and staffed the northeast
     district there. The Kansas region has
     41,000 members in 136 congregations.
     
          She returned to Kansas after
     serving as associate regional minister
     for the Christian Church (Disciples of
     Christ) in the Central Rocky Mountain
     Region. Sweeden's background includes a
     stint as a volunteer management and
     organizational structure consultant. She
     also has served congregations in
     Boulder, Colo., and Liberal, Kans.
     
          The new regional minister earned a
     master of divinity degree in 1991 from
     Illiff School of Theology and a bachelor
     of science degree in 1983 from St. Mary
     of the Plains, Dodge City, Kans. She has
     done further study at the University of
     Colorado, Boulder, and at Illiff.
     
          Sweeden has two grown daughters,
     Patti Takata and Nikki Sweeden.
     
                   *****
                       
     South Carolina, Arizona regions name new
                 executives
                        
          INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- Two more
     regions of the Christian Church
     (Disciples of Christ) will begin 1998
     with changes in administrative
     leadership. 
     
          Beginning Jan. 1, 1998, the Revs.
     Arnold C. Nelson Jr. and Dennis L.
     (Denny) Williams will serve as regional
     ministers of the Christian Church
     (Disciples of Christ) in South Carolina
     and Arizona, respectively. 
     
          Nelson has been pastor of Pulaski
     Heights Christian Church, Little Rock,
     Ark., since 1984.  He previously served
     as pastor of First Christian Church,
     Camden, Ark., and held a part-time
     regional staff appointment. While there,
     he also was active with the Arkansas
     Conference of Churches and Synagogues
     and is a former chairperson of the
     Little Rock Religious Forum.
     
          Williams currently is senior
     minister of Saguaro Christian Church in
     Tucson where he has served for 15 years.
     While in the Arizona region he was
     chairperson of the personnel committee,
     vice moderator and moderator. He now
     serves on the General Board and its
     Administrative Committee, where he
     chairs the Time and Place Committee. He
     also is a trustee of the National
     Benevolent Association, St. Louis. 
     
                    *****
     
     Church leader speaks out against human
             rights violations
                        
          INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- Five years
     ago the Rev. Arlindo Marcal helped bring
     to light human rights violations in the
     tiny country of East Timor. Ever since,
     he has continued to be a unifying voice
     for the Protestant Church of East Timor. 
     
     
          The religious leader recently was
     in Indianapolis, sharing his story with
     members of the Christian Church
     (Disciples of Christ). While at the
     Disciples Center, Marcal picked up an
     "Award of Affirmation," presented to him
     by the Common Global Ministries Board
     during the 1995 General Assembly. 
     
          The award is "given to individuals
     whose prophetic witness is a sign of
     God's reign in the world," said the Rev.
     Pat Tucker Spier, president, Disciples'
     Division of Overseas Ministries. It
     often is given to people "who are in
     risk-taking ministries."
     
          Marcal played "a significant role
     in giving voice to the East Timorese
     Church," Spier said.  "At a significant
     meeting of the World Council of Churches
     in Hong Kong he requested that East
     Timor be able to speak for itself rather
     than being included in the Indonesian
     voice."
     
                   *****
                       
     Jackson accepts Washington, D.C.,
                 challenge
                        
          INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- Next spring,
     another Rev. Jackson is set to "march"
     on Washington, D.C.  Beginning April 1,
     the Rev. Alvin O'Neal Jackson becomes
     senior minister of the Christian Church
     (Disciples of Christ)'s "national
     cathedral" -- National City Christian
     Church.
     
          Leadership changes in congregations
     ordinarily don't merit such attention.
     This one, however, is different because
     of the stark contrasts involved. Jackson
     currently is senior pastor of
     Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church,
     a predominantly black congregation in
     Memphis, Tenn. The 8,500-member
     congregation is the largest in the
     Disciples of Christ denomination.
     
          After 18 years, Jackson is leaving
     a successful ministry there to assume
     the leadership of a predominantly white
     congregation of 500 or so in the
     District of Columbia.
     
          Jackson's call to National City
     means "we can have a truly integrated
     congregation that would make a wonderful
     witness in our nation's capital," said
     General Minister and President Richard
     L. Hamm.  In addition, the congregation
     "could increasingly become a force as a
     social witness on behalf of the whole
     Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
     in the nation's capital."
     
                    *****
     Case named editor of The Disciple
                  magazine
                       
          INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- The Rev.
     Patricia R. Case has been named the next
     editor-in-chief of The Disciple
     magazine. Currently associate editor of
     the publication, Case will be the first
     woman editor in its 134-year history.
     
          The Oklahoma native was an award
     winning journalist in Oklahoma City. She
     previously worked as assistant editor of
     the Enid Daily Eagle and as public
     relations director of Phillips
     University, also in Enid.  She joined
     The Disciple magazine staff in 1990. 
     
          Case is the only person ever to win
     first prize for three years in
     succession in an Associated Church Press
     writing awards category. She is a member
     of the ACP board of directors. 
      
          Case has a bachelor of arts degree
     in journalism from Central State
     University, Edmond, Okla., and a master
     of divinity degree from Christian
     Theological Seminary. She also studied
     at Phillips Graduate Seminary, Enid,
     Okla.
     
                   *****
                               
       NCC General Assembly approves
            ecclesiology report 
                       
          WASHINGTON, D.C., -- Five years of
     study culminated in the presentation of
     a redirected understanding of the
     purpose and goals of the nation's
     preeminent ecumenical body which one
     delegate called "one of the most
     important internal documents the
     National Council of Churches has
     considered in years."
     
          The General Assembly of the
     National Council of Churches in Christ
     accepted a report from its Ecclesiology
     Study Task Force that, if actively
     pursued, will refocus the council on
     closer relationships both internally and
     externally.
     
          The task force "grew in part out of
     the Eastern Orthodox Churches' concern
     that other churches did not seem to be
     sufficiently invested, that they did not
     take seriously enough what happened
     within each other's fellowship,"
     explained the Rev. Michael Kinnamon,
     dean of Lexington (Ky.) Theological
     Seminary and chairperson of the task
     force.
     
          "For example, right now the
     Presbyterian Church is wrestling with
     concerns about human sexuality, yet we
     do not talk about it in our common life
     together," Kinnamon said.  "We could be
     sharing these kinds of things and
     lifting them up in prayer.  Just as the
     joys of one should become the joys of
     another, so should the struggles of one
     become the struggles of another."
     
          The Rev. Paul Crow, Jr. of the
     Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
     said that the task force was one of the
     most enriching and visionary groups he
     had ever worked with but he was
     disappointed that the original purpose
     was not fulfilled. The NCC "must learn
     how to be comprehensively diverse, not
     selectively diverse," said the president
     of the Disciples' Council on Christian
     Unity.
     
                   *****
                       

DISCNEWS - inbox for Disciples News Service, Office of Communication, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), PO Box 1986 Indianapolis, IN 46206, tele. (317) 635-3100, (DISCNEWS@ecunet.org) Wilma Shuffitt, News and Information Assistant; (CWILLIS@oc.disciples.org) Cliff Willis, Director of News and Information; (CMILLER@oc.disciples.org) Executive Director