wfn.org | Black Ministers explore the 'call' and the spiritual

["Communication Ministries" <wshuffit@cm.disciples.org>]

disciplines
Date: April 15, 2002
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
E-mail: news@cm.disciples.org
Web: http://www.disciples.org

Contact: Suzanne DeMoss Brown, director of communications, 
Division of Homeland Ministries 
(888) 3462631 or sbrown@dhm.disciples.org 

02a-25

INDIANAPOLIS -- "The call (to ministry) is never a once and
for all thing. Discerning what the call means is a
life-long experience," according to William Edwards,
associate general minister and president, Indianapolis,
Ind. Edwards addressed the theme by encouraging
participants to "Explore, Examine and Evaluate (their) Our
Call." More than 200 African American clergy and lay
leaders gathered at the 28th annual Black Ministers'
Retreat, held March 18 to 21, 2002, at Lake Junaluska, a
United Methodist Conference and Retreat Center near
Asheville, N.C.

William L. Lee, pastor, Loudon Avenue Christian Church,
Roanoke, Va., guided attendees in exploring the retreat's
theme, "The Spiritual Disciplines." Lee led the group in an
experience of the spiritual discipline, Silence, reminding
pastors, "...before you assist someone else...care for your
own spiritual well being."

The young adult praise team along with the music and song
leadership of Ronald Hubbard, the retreat's minister of
music, "touched my heart and quenched my thirsty soul."
Also, the preachers during retreat worship services were
Melvin Brown, pastor, Zion Pilgrim Christian Church,
Ridgeville, S.C.; Denise Bell, senior associate pastor of
Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, Memphis, Tenn.;
Ozark Range, retired director of Black Ministry, Division
of Homeland Ministries and Cynthia L. Hale, senior pastor,
Ray of Hope Christian Church, Decatur, Ga.

Attendees, also participated in workshops on topics such as
sermon preparation, conflict resolution, new pastors, new
congregation establishment, stewardship education and
congregational vitality.

In the only action taken at the retreat, participants of
the 2002 Black Minister's Retreat voted to send a letter to
Patricia M. Tucker, president of the Division of Overseas
Ministries, condemning the "dismissal of the Rev. Mary Anne
Glover from her position on the board of the Division of
Overseas Ministries." Glover is associate regional pastor
of the Christian Church in Ohio (Disciples of Christ).

The Black Ministers' Retreat is sponsored annually by the
Division of Homeland Ministries, a general unit of the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). However, actions
taken are not necessarily the position of Homeland
Ministries. Homeland Ministries commits to connecting
people to the life-changing love of God by developing
partnerships throughout the Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ) that strengthen congregations and leaders to make a
difference in the world by revealing the light of Christ.

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