General Assembly 2023
In just over a week thousands of members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will gather in Louisville Kentucky for our biennial General Assembly, and a healthy portion of those will be from our very own Christian Church in Ohio. We are looking forward to showing Ohio pride throughout the Assembly. We do hope those who cannot attend in person will join worship via live stream or get the digital access package, both described elsewhere in this special newsletter.
If you are attending the Assembly in person, whether you currently live in Ohio or formerly lived here, we hope you will be ready for the Regional Roll Call that will happen at Saturday morning's opening session. Please plan to wear a shirt/T-shirt representing any institution in Ohio you would like to celebrate such as your local congregation, Camp Christian, Hiram College, the Methodist Theological School of Ohio, OSU, the Cleveland Christian Home, or any school or institution in Ohio.
You will also want to pick up one of our special Christian Church in Ohio placard's to wave proudly during the roll call. I will be passing these out before the opening session. And, of course, be prepared to embody our famous O-H-I-O!
If you want to connect with your Regional, Pastor, and President, I most often will be found in the exhibit hall at the College of Regional Ministers booth. Feel free to drop by and say "Hi!” and pick up a Christian Church in Ohio pin for your name badge.
In addition to the inspiring worship, educational workshops, informative exhibit hall booths, and fun opportunities for deepening friendships new and longtime, the business at this General Assembly will be incredibly important to the future of the church. We will be voting on the nomination for a second term of our General Minister and President, the Reverend Teresa Hord Owens (GA - 2345). We will also be voting on changes to our Design and Covenant (GA - 2343) which will help reshape the way we do Christ's mission and ministry better for the 21st-century. If you haven't already, please watch this brief video explaining the proposed changes: https://youtu.be/utHFvH-p1f8. You may also find helpful this wonderful video, explaining how business is done at the General Assembly: https://youtu.be/K4rmL_wZ76k. All business items can be read here: https://ga.disciples.org/business/
And as important as anything, please be in prayer for all those who gather, either in person or virtually that together, that we might be the Body of Christ incarnate and truly live out this year's theme, "The Kindom of God Within Us, Among Us” (based on Luke 17:20-21, Genesis 11:1-9, and 2 Peter 1:3).
Faithfully Yours,
Allen