A Disciples Presence in the Twin Cities

A couple of weeks ago in a meeting, somebody asked me, “What is the current ministry of First Christian Church?”  My response off the top of my head was, “To be a community of people loving one another.”  That’s what I think we do best; of course, the future of the church requires becoming much more so.

Now that I’ve thought about it a bit more, I would also add that the current ministry of FCC is to be a Disciples presence in Minneapolis.  There is something distinctive about the Disciples of Christ:  Our emphasis on the table, our call to individual responsibility in growing one’s faith and understanding of Scripture, our commitment to ecumenism and cooperative ministry with others, our emphasis on mission, altogether are hallmarks of Disciples.  We are a somewhat quirky people in the context of mainline Protestantism, and I think that that is largely a good thing.

As we continue movement towards what we’ll be doing in the future, we are still called by God to work on our ministry in the present:  A ministry of evangelism and welcoming new and returning folks to the Body, a ministry of meeting needs and helping people, a ministry of sharing the distinctiveness of Disciples in the neighborhood and community.  We’re going to keep plugging away at these as we continue to navigate the course towards the future.

On a different note, Sunday, August 29, will be the second anniversary of the sale of our building to MIA.  We will be lifting that up as a theme in worship, a matter of grieving and closing.  You might, between now and then, think of those memories that are most important to you about the history here; I may be asking you to share them.

I’d like to see YOU on Sunday,

Bob

Category: Pastor's Blog, pastor's column