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Committee reports on how to be a Global Mission Church

Global Ministries Committee contacts churches

Each Global Ministries missionary serves not only in another country, but also returns to serve in the United States and Canada at the end of his/her term of service. Typically, a missionary who serves four years spends six months on home assignment. During home assignment missionaries are scheduled for four months itineration and interpretation in specific UCC Conferences and Disciples Regions where they have missionary relationships.

Marvin Eckfeldt, co-chair of the PNC-UCC/Disciples Region Global Ministries Committee shares a report on recent itineration visits by missionaries.

Photo courtesy of Marvin Eckfeldt

How to be Global Mission Church

Marvin Eckfeldt, who retired from First Christian Church in Kent, urges each congregation to respond to the call to be a Global Mission Church as the next step after the Conference and Region each voted two years ago at their annual gatherings to “be a Global Mission Conference/Region.”

The goal, he said, is by June 30 to recruit as many congregations as possible to join in partnerships with the joint UCC-Disciples of Christ Global Ministries Outreach.

Eckfelt explained that a global mission church agrees to pray regularly for partners, missionaries and the world, to educate members on global issues, to seek justice for “the least of these” in the global community, to receive the gifts of the global church, to give to global mission, to send members into the world to share the Good News of Jesus and to share the story of God’s mission.

Global Ministries Committee members are assigned to contact UCC and DOC congregations by email and phone from February through June to explain the programs, find names of outreach and mission leaders, and provide resources for congregations to enter into covenant with the committee.

Mission interpreters training set in fall of 2013

The committee will also provide training in fall 2013 at three locations in the region for people to become “Mission and Ministry Interpreters.”

On Sunday, Oct. 6, the plan is to launch the global ministries covenants on World Communion Sunday.

Seven missionaries visit Pacific Northwest UCC and Disciples churches

In 15 months during 2011 and 2012, seven missionary guests spoke to nearly 3,000 people in 44 congregational settings, 30 clusters of churches, 10 other settings and three summer church camps, said Marvin Eckfeldt, co-chair of the UCC Conference’s Global Ministries Committee, which is a joint committee with the Northwest Region of the Disciples of Christ.

The total offering for Global Ministries from those gatherings was $8,390, he reported.

The recent visitors on itineration were:

• Liz and Doug Searles, who served with Global Ministries and with the Presbyterian Church USA in Poland. They visited from October to December 2011. A report of their visit is at thefigtree.org/ nov11/110111searlespoland.html.

• Monica and Tom Liddle, Hannah and Simon, who served in East Timor visited the Pacific Northwest in August 2012. A report on their recent visit is at pncuccnews.org/pncnews/sept12pnc/091412liddles.html.

• Lynnea and Tom Morse reported on their experiences serving in China while on itineration in the area in October 2012. Tom, who worked in the Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital is now in the Global Ministries office, and Lynnea, who taught English, is taking classes at Christian Theological Seminary. A video clip from their recent visit in Seattle is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZF2yKDyb0U&feature=youtu.be.

• Jeffrey Mensendiek, who has served at Emmaus Center in Sendai, Japan, reported on his ministry during December 2012, telling especially of disaster relief work out of the center. A report is on page 6.

The conference/region Global Ministries Committee also connects with Alison Stendahl of Seattle, who serves in Turkey, Ana and Tod Gobledale, who serve with the United Reformed Church in London. Ana is visiting family in Bellingham.

Committee arranges visits with global partners

The Global Ministries Committee grew out of partnership task forces with the Berlin-Brandenburg Synod of the Evangelical United Church in Germany and the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, East Seoul Presbytery.

The partnerships grew and involved members of Disciples churches.

The PNC formed the Global Ministries Committee to do the work of the partnerships and to host itinerating missionaries.

Because the work nationally is in conjunction with the Disciples, the committee now includes DOC members. There are now 11 UCC members and eight Disciples on the committee, nine of whom have participated in partnership visits to Seoul or Berlin.

For information, call 253-852-2957 or email marveck@comcast.net.

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