Monthly Global News and Information for members and friends of the
Christian - Churches of Christ - Disciples of Christ family of churches around the world from

'World Convention’

Number 61 – May 2008

To contact us, or discontinue, write only to worldconv@aol.com ChristiaNet uses a send-only address. Clinton J. Holloway, Editor

Thanks to our Sponsors

The ministry of World Convention is proud to have several major financial sponsors who have underwritten significant segments of the 17^th Global Gathering. These sponsors are: Abilene Christian University, European Evangelistic Society, Emmanuel School of Religion, Aspen Grove Christian Church, Global Ministries and Disciples of Christ Historical Society. In addition, other agencies, organizations and individuals have come forward to sponsor various other aspects of the assembly. Individual workshops, main session speakers, meal functions and other events have the potential for sponsorship. If you are interested in supporting any of these elements, please contact Jeff Weston at worldconv@aol.com for opportunities.

Luncheons and Meal Functions

We are pleased to announce that once again the Pension Fund of the Christian Church has partnered with World Convention to sponsor the Ministers and Spouses Luncheon on Friday August 1 from 12:30 to 2:30 at the Convention Center. Thanks to Pension Fund support tickets for the luncheon are now only $10 per person. Tickets must be purchased in advance and can be ordered through the Convention office.

Additional luncheons will take place on Saturday. The Global Women Connecting Women’s Luncheon will be at the Millennium Maxwell House. The Convention Center will be the location of the Men’s Luncheon with Dr. Henry Webb of Johnson City, Tennessee as the speaker. Both of these luncheons will take place from 12:30 to 3. The charge is $20 per person. Reservations may be made by sending payment to the Convention office.

Many schools, mission organizations and special groups will be hosting meal functions throughout the time of Convention. A full listing of these will be presented in the program booklet. Does your ministry want to host a function or reunion? Call the office for available times, locations and catering options.

Global Women Connecting and Global Leaders Forum Pre-Events

There is still plenty of space available to register for the Global Women Connecting Retreat All Women Together in Christ, July 28-August 30 and the Global Leaders Forum Sharing Resources July 30. Both will be at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel. Registration fees apply. Go to www.worldconvention.org and click on the registration button to find downloadable forms.

Children: Have you registered your young person for the World Convention Kids Program? A team of professional children’s ministers has put together a fun and inspiring Convention for children Pre-K through the fifth grade; the children’s program will run July 31 to August 2. Included will be activity centers, lessons on Love, Joy and Kindness, worship, games, crafts, snacks and a service/mission project. Optional afternoon excursions will be to the Nashville Zoo, ScienceMuseum and Planetarium and the Marionette Theatre. Children will join their families for lunch. A small registration fee for excursions will apply.

Youth: Registration forms are available at http://www.worldconvention.org/PDF/Global_Youth_Gathering.pdf for the youth program portion of World Convention to take place at Aspen Grove Christian Church in nearby Franklin, Tennessee, July 31-August 2. Group discounts are available. Week of Compassion, Milligan College and Phillips Theological Seminary have recently come forward as partial sponsors of the GYG and we appreciate their support. Contact the office at 615-331-1824 and we will send you promotional postcards to distribute among your youth and teens.

Volunteers: Scores of volunteers will be needed throughout the Convention to usher and greet, serve communion, house guests, serve meals at teen convention, act as a tour guide, and much more. Convention Volunteers will receive a registration special discount! Contact Mary Ingmire, our Volunteer Coordinator, at maryji321@comcast.net

Tours: Add to the enjoyment of Convention with the tours offered before, during, and after the Convention. You can travel to exciting destinations all over the US on overnight trips just before Convention or just after it. And during convention, you can experience on short excursions the history and charm of Nashville. Go to www.goodtimetravel.com for the tour information to make reservations and to pay for tours online. Call the office at 615-331-1824 and we will be happy to mail copies of the full-color tour brochure.

Exhibits: We have had overwhelming interest in Exhibit space in the NashvilleConvention Center with a record number of exhibitors taking a record number of booths! Publishing houses, congregations, missions organizations, colleges, schools, seminaries, agencies and businesses offering a wide range of goods and services for the Church have rented booths. Several booths will be offering international handicrafts to support missions and micro-business. If you and your organization wish to exhibit contact our Booth Coordinator Jim Ingmire at jaing.wccc@yahoo.com

Hotels: Only a few rooms are left at the Nashville Sheraton Downtown at a substantial savings off of their regular price and includes free breakfast. Also we have a block at the the Comfort Inn and Suites in Cools Springs (for those participating in the teen Convention). To book a room contact our AAA housing agent Karin Adinolfi at kadinolfi@aaasouth.com or call Mrs. Adinolfi at 615-297-7700 ext 2228

New Campbell Book Available

One unique feature of the 17^th World Convention will be the kick-off of the Bicentennial Celebrations surrounding the 1809 publication of Thomas Campbell’s seminal document Declaration and Address. A new resource available in April from Leafwood Publishers is One Church A Bicentennial Celebration of Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address,edited by Glenn Thomas Carson, Douglass A. Foster and Clinton J. Holloway. The volume includes an introduction, six essays by younger leaders on the Movement discussing the document’s impact on their ministry, a history of Campbell’s opus, a re-telling of the famous 13 Propositions in modern language, excerpts from the original, and Communion meditations from several international voices. World Convention has obtained several copies of One Church. For friends making a gift of $30 or more and who request a copy we will send you One Church with our best wishes.

Prayer Focus: A number of international participants are in the process of applying for visas to travel to the United States to attend the 17^th World Convention. Please pray that these international representatives are granted visas and the opportunity to share in this important family gathering!

Pray also for the southeastern Asian country of Myanmar, also known as Burma, where Tropical Cyclone Nargis hit recently. Present reports give a death toll at over 128,000. China suffered a terrible earthquake earlier this week; a death toll of over 18,000 is already reported.

News Briefs:

J. Daniel Joyce, President of the 9th World Convention in Mexico City, Mexico in 1974 passed away late in 2007. A memorial service was held in April. See the next issue of World Christian for an obituary. Our sympathies to the Joyce family.

Sharon E. Watkins, General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was one of about 250 U.S. Church leaders who recently met at St. Joseph’s Parish Church in Manhattan, New York for an ecumenical prayer service with Pope Benedict XVI. Visit www.disciples.org/whatkins/news/2008/04/17a.asp to see Sharon’s comments about her encounter with the Pope and the ecumenical gathering.

B.J. Mpofu and his wife, Chipo, of Zimbabwe, have been named as Living Link missionaries by Kiwilink of the New Zealand Churches and Global Mission Partners of the Australia Churches for the next several years. BJ will conclude his role as headmaster of Petra Primary School in Bulawayo and will focus his attention coordinating the Showers of Blessings Trust and various positions of church leadership including with World Convention. Becoming a Living Link is seen as another way of strengthening the Associated Churches of Christ in Zimbabwe. BJ is President Elect of World Convention and will assume leadership on August 3 at the 17^th Global Gathering in Nashville.

World Convention seeks to build up fellowship, understanding and common purpose within the Christian - Churches of Christ - Disciples of Christ family of churches, now serving and witnessing as part of Christ's church in no less than 178 countries.
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17^th World Convention

“Together in Christ”

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE U.S.A

July 30 – August 3, 2008