Weekly Letter to Northwest Clergy

from Area Minister, Bill Rose-Heim

Some have inquired about the Quickening Preview qualifying for continuing ed credit on your annual report. The answer is yes!

Operation Frontline is an effort to help families prepare tasty, healthy meals on a budget. With meat and fresh vegetable prices rising with those of cereals like corn and wheat, your making this information available to folk in your community helps them to associate the gospel with support that matters to many. http://www.strength.org/operation_frontline

We have long known that most of the people born after 1980 seek information and opportunities first on the Internet. Those 28-year-old Disciples of Jesus that don't come to your church are most likely going to the church that they found on the web. Brian Bullock, our area webmaster, just took away the last excuse any congregation might have for not having a solid web presence. Click here http://www.nwareacc.org/webservices.html for more information.

For less than most congregations pay for bulletins in a year, your congregation can start reaching younger people and provide you and your congregational leadership team with an inexpensive and highly effective communication tool. Brian is also able to coach your web design and update team. (The Area Office will even spring for his travel.) While we are on the subject of web communication, we see too many "dead" websites among congregations with an on-lone presence. Some have not been updated in two years. Best to be off-line than to announce to the Gen-X'ers in your community that the Annual Men's Fish Fry Supper is coming up on September 10, 2004!

By the way, we appreciate those of you who catch errors on the area website and report them to Brian brian@lathropmoonline.com.

Christianity Today featured a compelling article about a documentarycovering the reconciliation taking place in Rwanda. This could be a very helpful tool for classes in your congregation (or sermon illustration) covering the power given by Christ to disciples to forgive.Christianity Today - Laura Waters-Hinson

What if Disciples congregations became known in their communities as the providers of cold water during community events on hot days? Talk about inexpensive advertising - especially if you used paper cups instead of plastic bottles. The biodegradable cups could also have messages imprinted - like "Bring this to church next Sunday and we'll exchange it for a travel mug!" and scriptural messages of encouragement (visit Starbucks to see how they do it on their products). An estimated 10 million American adults need help with daily activities, and family members are responsible for 80 percent of such care giving, according to the AARP. What plans are in place within the Christian community in your town to help people cope with the rising number of adults "sandwiched" between caring for older children and aging parents? One place to start for ideas is here: http://www.dhss.mo.gov/SeniorServices/index.html

For more news from Bill and the Northwest Area, contact
the Area Web site at www.nwareacc.org or Bill at br_h@nwareacc.org.