I was in Indianapolis earlier this week for the General Board Meeting of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada.

Since we’ve developed this practice with our leadership board here at FCC Scottsdale, it only seems fair to do the same thing for the General Board…so without further adieu, here are “The Three Things” you should know from that meeting!

1. We formally nominated the Rev. Terri Hord Owens as our candidate for General Minister and President of the denomination.
   So there is a little bit of confusion in the church on this one. The General Board is NOT tasked with calling the next President of our denomination – only the General Assembly can do that. What the General Board does is affirm the nomination of a candidate selected by the Search Committee that is then forwarded on to the whole church for a final decision. So at the General Assembly in July we’ll have the chance to call a new GMP, and our candidate is the Rev. Teresa “Terri” Hord Owens.
   
   Rev. Terri is the Dean of Students at the University of Chicago Divinity School where she works with ministers in training, helping to develop the leaders of our tradition and other protestant denominations. In addition to that fulltime job, Rev. Terri also serves as the Senior Pastor of First Christian Church of Downers Grove, IL. That means that she has a unique, first hand understanding of bi-vocational ministry and what it means to serve in a small church context.
   
   What’s more, ministry is a second career for Rev. Terri. She has over 20 years of corporate experience where she served as an executive and consultant with technology companies. She specialized in working with large teams, restructuring organizations, and creatively meeting the needs of large scale operations.
   
   You can learn more about Rev. Terri by clicking here.
   
2. We formally launched a new Mission Imperative for the church.
   We have been doing a two year Mission First! Pilot Project as a General Church. As a part of that process more than 80 Mission Gatherings were held throughout the United States and Canada, with the intention of hearing directly from our churches and rallying around a common mission imperative.
   
   At the General Board Meeting the Mission Council unveiled our Mission Priority: “God calls us to work with and for children, youth and young adults so together we may share and receive the good news of Jesus Christ by creating communities of healing, learning and transformation.”
   
   The hope is that this Mission Priority will help orient the work of local congregations, focus the programs of General Church units, and foster cooperation between local churches.
   
   You can learn more about the Mission Priority and the Mission First Project by clicking here.
   
3. We approved a boatload of reports and resolutions for General Assembly this summer.
   
   The whole church will be gathering in Indianapolis this summer for General Assembly from July 8-12. In the build up to General Assembly we received reports from all of the General Units of the Church and the Regions as well (and that was really exciting! There are incredible things happening in the name of Christ!). We also edited official resolutions for consideration (which is about as boring as it gets, but is nonetheless necessary work!). Those reports and resolutions will posted on the GA Website shortly.
   
   You can learn more about General Assembly by clicking here.