Clark recognized at Assembly dinner

At its General Assembly dinner, Disciples Home Missions staff recognized Daniel Clark with its Distinguished Leadership Award. Clark, an Ohio layman, has served for 10 years as a regular and ex-officio member of DHM‘s board of directors. During that time he has served on the finance committee, chaired the DHM Faithful Future Committee, and represented DHM on the boards of the United Christian Missionary Society and the Christian Church Foundation. Consistently, Clark has advocated fiscal responsibility and Christian stewardship. Remarkably, during all his years of service, Clark has never missed a single meeting of these bodies.

The Distinguished Leadership Award is presented biannually to a Disciple lay or clergy person who manifests unusual dedication to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) through DHM's ministries, and the wider church. Past recipients include Raymond Brown, Saundra Bryant, Marilyn Holtz, and Charles Gaines. Clark serves as an elder at Washington Avenue Christian Church, Elyria, Ohio, where his wife, the Rev. Janet Long, is senior minister.

Soon after receiving this recognition, Clark was asked to step in as acting interim president through the end of 2007, following the departure of the Rev. Arnold Nelson Jr. in August and the arrival of the Rev. Don Shelton in January.

Seminary students serve as interns at  DHM

Two Christian Theological Seminary (CTS) seminary students are contributing their expertise and talents to DHM as interns during this school year.

Deborah Adams Phelps, Ph.D., will serve her required one-year Supervised Concurrent Field Education (SCOFE) experience in Christian education, working with site supervisor, the Rev. Billye P. Bridges. Phelps is a first year seminary student working toward a Master of Arts in Specialized Ministries at CTS, Indianapolis.

Phelps, an award-winning educator with more than 28 years of classroom experience in public and private secondary schools, earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Georgia State University, specializing in real-life applications of curriculum. Phelps has life-long experience in Christian education on several levels, having taught, directed, and written curriculum in youth programs, Sunday School, Bible study, camps and conferences, and Vacation Bible School.

Meanwhile, CTS Master of Divinity student, Amber Dixson, is serving an internship with the Office of Disciples Women. Among her responsibilities are the administration and coordination of the January Gulf Coast Women's Blitz Build in Beaumont, Texas, and the development of a new newsletter for women. Dixson earned a Bachelors of Arts degree in Religious Studies at Chapman University in 2005 and is in her third year of seminary at CTS. Born in California, Dixson has spent much of her life in Montana where she has been active in the Montana Region by counseling and directing summer camps each summer. Phelps and Dixson both are life-long Disciples.

Missionaries in uniform
A rewarding ecumenical ministry

In Dover, Del., a chaplain visits his airmen on the flight line. He oversees the ministry of an airbase whose planes barely touch down long enough to refuel before they begin the next journey of their re-supply operations, supporting the war efforts on two fronts, as well as the world-wide mission of the Air Force.

The work never ends. Chaplain (Captain) Ismael Rodriguez has been a chaplain for 10 years, married to a clergywoman who pastors a church in the bustling capital city outside the gates of the Base. In his short career, he has distinguished himself in every place he served, and the Air Force has noticed.

As a result, Rodriguez was recently honored as the Air Mobility Command Chaplain of the Year--a significant accomplishment, but one he modestly says was the result of the work of his whole team. While serving a church in Texas, Rodriguez felt a call to military chaplaincy and began slowly through the reserves system, eventually deciding to make a career of this new ministry. Since then, it has been a passion for him. He has served overseas and made many short deployments in his brief career, always distinguishing himself. In a year or so, he will move again, unless the Air Force decides he is needed sooner. It is always their needs that must come first. Rodriguez is one of many men and women proudly representing the people of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) around the world.

There is no typical day for this young chaplain. With regular worship services to prepare, he maintains a heavy counseling load, focusing on all those concerns that civilian parish pastors have. His airmen and women and their families come from many different religious backgrounds, but they seldom care which church he represents. It is an extremely ecumenical ministry that he provides, and it has been a rewarding one over the years. Despite the long periods of time when he cannot see his family or friends, Rodriguez feels called to this nomadic life and hopes to make a career of what started out as a call to serve his God and his country. His colleagues represent many church backgrounds, and they have enriched his life with their friendship and example.

The military needs dedicated and qualified clergywomen and men to serve. It is a sacrificial and sometimes dangerous profession, but our people in uniform deserve the best our church can provide. If you are interested in serving alongside these pastors in uniform contact the Office of Chaplaincy at DHM. It could change your life and bless you in ways you never imagined. And there has never been a greater need for such selfless service in our nation.

The Rev. Steve Doan, LTC, Army, Retired, is Military Chaplains Endorser for the Chaplaincy Division of Disciples Home Missions and co-pastor of First Christian Church in Troy, Mo. where he lives.

Disciples chaplains and counselors
Retreat planned, chaplains association dues are due, and reporting update

A number of deadlines are nearing for Disciples chaplains. For instance, those who are meeting peer review committees need to also make their requests for updated letters of endorsement no later than Nov. 1. These requests can be made online on a yearly update form or by contacting Chaplain Susan Galasso at sgalasso@dhm.disciples.org. Also, chaplains who are in systems that require annual endorsement letters need to have all requests in by Nov. 1 to meet a Dec. 31 deadline.

All chaplains and counselors need to complete their yearly report form, found on the DHM Web site (www.discipleshomemissions.org/chaplains/index.htm), before Oct. 25. These updates help keep files and addresses current. Please include an e-mail address so that you can receive e-mail updates. We are also requesting that Disciple Chaplain‘s Association (DCA) dues of $40 ($25 for part-time and retired) be submitted with your report.

DCA funds are used to provide speakers at the retreats, breakfasts at certifying body meetings, and some travel expenses for endorsers. Donations are received from some of our military branches as well as from active and retired chaplains.

We are planning another Chaplains' and Counselors‘ Retreat for August 2008. While this time is a busy time for some with supervisory responsibilities, it seems to be the best time for most people. The retreat will be held at Christmount in Black Mountain, N.C., for three days of spiritual renewal and personal growth. More specific information will be available soon.

The Rev. Susan Galasso is the Disciples Institutional Endorsement Officer, belongs to First Christian Christian Church in Belvedere, S.C. and lives in North Augusta, S.C.

Program associate for the Office of Disciples Women named

The Rev. Gloria Hernandez, clergywoman from Carlock, Ill., will serve as the new program associate in the Office of Disciples Women, according to Adonna Bowman, executive director. Included in the duties of her new position will be the coordination and implementation of the 2010 Quadrennial Assembly for women. 

Gloria earned her undergraduate degree in elementary education from Otterbein College and a Master‘s in Education from West Virginia University. After several years of teaching, she felt the call to ministry, graduating from Lexington (Ky.) Theological Seminary, and becoming ordained in 1992.

Included among Gloria's many credentials is her participation as a member of the 1994-98 ICWF Executive Committee, Campus Program coordinator for the 1990 Quadrennial Assembly, and serving in leadership roles on many regional committees. She has most recently been serving on the 2006-10 IDWM Executive Committee.