The Indiana e-Christian

Regional Minister Rick Spleth (right) welcomes new regional elders Bob Shaw (left) and Andy Crowley. Don Haase was not available for the photo.

Andy Crowley, Don Haase and Bob Shaw have joined the team of regional elders for the Christian Church in Indiana.  The three retired ministers will fill the spots left vacant by the resignations of Jack Canedy, Jack Collins and Dick Kilgore.

Andy Crowley served Speedway Christian Church for 32 years until his retirement in 2006.  Andy will join Bob and Sue Bates and Art Hanna in service to the congregations and pastors in the Greater Indianapolis (GIDA) area.  With only a few exceptions, the 36 churches in the GIDA area are located in Marion County.

Don Haase began his work as regional elder to the Four Rivers Area in March.  Don retired in 2005 after serving the Oak Grove Christian Church in Monticello for 17 years.  The Four Rivers Area is one of three areas in the region that straddle the Eastern and Central time zones, stretching from Newton County to Miami and Fulton Counties.

Bob Shaw will serve pastors and congregations in the Heartland area.  Bob also currently serves as chair of the Congo Partnership Task Force.  Prior to retirement, Bob served a variety of congregations as an interim minister.  Two regional elders are assigned to the 20 congregations of the Heartland area, which covers Tipton, Hamilton, Madison and Hancock Counties.  The other spot for a regional elder to the Heartland area is currently vacant.

Recently the food pantry at Centenary Christian Church, located on the near east side of Indianapolis, has served an extraordinarily large number of families in great need.  On Monday, June 22, the food pantry served more than 50 families in two hours, and many of those families had more than eight people in the household. 

This unusually high demand has left the shelves empty.  The food pantry at Centenary currently has a great need for corn, peas, fruit cocktail, cereal, apple sauce, spaghetti sauce with spaghetti, any juices, canned meats except tuna, diapers size 4 & 5, toilet paper and bath soap. 

The pantry will be open and able to receive donations on Saturday, June 27, from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and again on Monday, June 29, with the same hours.  Any donations during this time would help and be greatly appreciated. 

Centenary Christian is located at 1035 N. Oxford St., Indianapolis.  The telephone number is (317) 639-1481.  Rev. Greg Bryant serves as pastor.

Mark Briley, Minister of Youth and North Campus Pastor for Geist Christian Church, Indianapolis, has accepted a call to become Senior Minister at Harvard Avenue Christian Church, Tulsa, Okla., following a six year ministry with the congregation at Geist.

Mark Briley

“It is with both a mixture of great sadness and immense pride that we announce the resignation of our associate pastor Mark Briley,” said Mike Fitzgerald and Randy Spleth, president of the congregation and senior minister respectively, in a joint letter sent to members today. “Mark’s last weekend at Geist Christian Church is July 25-26. He will begin his ministry in Tulsa on August 24, 2009.”

Briley began his ministry as an intern from Christian Thelogical Seminary while also serving Third Christian Church. He was ordained at Geist Christian and called as a full-time pastor in January 2005.

“During his tenure, Mark has touched the lives of many youth,” noted Spleth. “He launched ALTARed worship and has anchored the ministry of the north campus community.  A strong community of young adults knows him both as pastor and friend. He will be greatly missed.”

“Our six years at Geist Christian Church have shaped us in ways we never imagined and the relationships we have made have changed us forever,” said Briley.  “We will deeply miss our church family and the ministry we have shared.  We felt God leading us to accept this challenge of senior leadership at this time and the spirit of Geist will go with us.” 

Fitzgerald and Spleth shared in their letter, “We as a congregation can take pride in sending leaders into the wider church as an important part of our ministry. Sometimes, like now, it is a painful experience. But it is a value that we bring to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).”

Receptions are planned to honor Mark, Carrie, Morgan and Dane following the 5:30 p.m. north campus worship on July 25 and the 10:30 a.m. ALTARed and south campus worship services on July 26. 

“We are sad even as we are excited about this opportunity for Mark’s career and the Harvard Avenue Christian Church,” said Fitzgerald. We ask for your prayers for the Briley family as they go through the difficult task of saying goodbye. We also ask for prayers for the personnel committee and senior staff as we begin a search for ministerial leadership to serve our youth this fall.”

News story and letter posted at Geist Christian Church website: http://www.geistchristian.org/briley-accepts-call

Victoria Ubben, co-pastor at First Christian Church in Valparaiso, will be taking an intergenerational group from the church to Taltree Arboretum and Gardens on Sunday morning, August 9. The Spirit Walk and worship at Taltree will begin at 11:00 AM (CDT). Picnic lunches will follow at noon.

Taltree Arboretum is a natural inspiration located on the southwest side of Valparaiso, near the Lake-Porter County line. The gardens at Taltree display all kinds of plants from around the world in gorgeous, natural settings. It has one of the most diverse collections of native oak trees in Indiana.

The Gardens contain more than three miles of easy trails for walking, hiking, or running, and the memorial pavilion next to Heron Pond will provide shelter in case of rain.

Pastor Ubben invites ministers and members from United Church of Christ or Disciples of Christ congregations to participate.  An RSVP is required in order to generate the correct number of tickets.  Also, Victoria would welcome any ministers who would like to help with planning.

For those who do not have an annual pass to Taltree, admission tickets will be generated so that participants can enter the arboretum at no charge on August 9 for worship, walking, and a picnic.  A free will offering collected during worship will be given to Taltree.  A donation of $5.00 per person is suggested.

Please RSVP to Victoria Ubben if you plan to attend or if you need more information.

Patrice Rosner and Philip Gulley are this year’s recipients of Christian Theological Seminary’s annual Distinguished Alumni Award.

An ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Rosner earned her M.Div. from CTS in 1975 and has served on the CTS Alumni Board and Board of Trustees. She is the managing editor of the upcoming Faith Practices: Worship, Learning, and Serving for Vital Congregations, a web-based resource from the United Church of Christ for local congregations to provide “significant new resources which will empower vital ministries of worship, learning, and serving.”

Rosner has served as the director of Churches Uniting in Christ and as the associate general secretary for education and leadership ministries of the National Council of Churches for six years. As vice president and director of the General Editorial Division at the Christian Board of Publication for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), she was instrumental in the development of the ecumenical Bible Quest curriculum.

Philip Gulley graduated from CTS with a Master of Divinity in 1992 and is a Quaker pastor at Fairfield Friends Meeting in Danville, Indiana. He and his wife Joan have two sons. Gulley was the featured speaker at the CTS 2007 General Assembly Alumni and Friends Luncheon, and has written fourteen books, the first of which was Front Porch Tales, published in 1997. He has also earned an Emmy for his commentary on the PBS show Across Indiana.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Gulley “has a charming sense of small-town life – and a shrewd sense of life in general.” He is currently writing a memoir recounting his coming-of-age on Broadway Street in Danville called My Life on Broadway: Memories of a Misspent Youth, scheduled for release in 2009.

Every year, the CTS Alumni Association recognizes up to two CTS graduates as “distinguished alumni.” Among the criteria for this distinction are effectiveness in Christian ministry, distinctive service, positive impact on peers and the greater community, and the personification of personal and professional integrity.

This summer, the Women’s Retreat Planning Team at Southport Christian Church in Indianapolis will host a series of three “Saturday Night Under the Stars” events.  Each event will include music and dinner for the entire family.  The dates for the events are June 20, July 18 and August 15.

On Saturday, June 20, professional singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kara Barnard will team up with Southport member and regional staffer Dean Phelps for an evening of acoustic music. Picnic style food will be provided.

Kara Barnard

Kara has performed at many of the country’s biggest venues including the Down Home in Bristol Tennessee; The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Charlotte’s Web in Rockford, Illionois; and festivals from Kansas to New York, Michigan to Florida.  Dean is a minister-musician with three full-length recordings to his credit, including last summer’s release, Give Us a Song.

July 18 will feature a high quality silent auction along with special music (details to be confirmed). A sit-down meal will be served as part of the evening of the evening of fun and relaxation.

The final event on August 15 will be a fun evening of country and folk music performed by Nashville, Tenn., friends of Southport pastor Doug Lofton. 

Tickets for each event are $10 per single, $18 per couple and $25 for families of three or more.  Series tickets for all three events are also available at a discounted rate.  Proceeds from the series will support the fall women’s retreat and the summer youth camp at Southport.

For tickets and other information, contact Southport Christian Church at (317) 784-4431.

Blanche Kline, a member of Vistula Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for 85 years, was honored at the church on the eve of her 100th birthday, which she celebrated on May 11, 2009.

Rev. Paul Koepke (right) presents Blanche Kline with a plaque on the occasion of her 100th birthday.

Mrs. Kline lives alone, drives her own car to church when the weather is appropriate, continues to cook for church events and does her own shopping.  She enjoys crocheting lap robes, “for old people in nursing homes.”

According to her pastor, Paul Koepke, Blanche is alert, articulate and has a polite sense of wit and humor.  She enjoys sending cards and notes to friends and loved ones as well as keeping telephone contact with anyone in the community who needs a pick me up.

The congregation at Vistula presented Mrs. Kline with a plaque that read:

Blanche Kline, born May 11, 1909, baptized June 29, 1924.  In celebration of her 100th birthday and 85 years of faith and service to Vistula Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

The church hosted a community open house on Sunday, May 10.  Blanche Kline also received a congratulatory note from President Barack Obama.

On Sunday, May 31, 2009, the members of Westview Christian Church, 5925 West 34th Street, Indianapolis, shredded their mortgage, signifying that the indebtedness of the church building had been paid off.

David Bolling drops the cancelled mortage into the shredder held by Stuart Mill and Karen Johnson, while Rev. Jim Hollis looks on.

Westview Christian Church had its origin with the farsighted vision of members of Speedway Christian Church in the late 1950’s and was organized in 1960. After meeting in temporary quarters, the congregation moved into their first building which was completed in 1962.

Growth of the church progressed so that an educational unit was added in 1969. In 1984, the indebtedness incurred in construction of the first two units was paid off and a “mortgage burning” ceremony was held.

The ultimate dream of the early members of the congregation was realized in the completion of the master plan with the dedication of the newly constructed sanctuary in 1989, again imposing a substantial mortgage on the church congregation.

In 2008, the church board validated the dream of the pastor, Rev. Jim Hollis, in approving a plan for a special campaign to make the church debt free. This was accomplished by the perseverance and dedication of the Westview members and the debt was eradicated in May of 2009.

Rather than hold a traditional mortgage burning for this celebration, the congregation chose to respect the environment by holding a shredding of the mortgage instead.