Who We Are: Stories that Define Us
This fall, we are excited to offer a learning experience to the whole
congregation. Who We Are: Stories that Define Us will meet for five (5)
weeks this fall and will have something for everyone. We will be sharing
the history and beliefs of our church in a way that focuses on stories – the
stories of our founders and past leaders; our own personal stories; and
the story of this congregation. The class will meet:
Mondays, September 14 – October 12
5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Great Hall
Note: this is a date change. Due to a change in Pastor Michael's personal schedule, he is unavailable on Tuesday evenings this fall. He apologizes for the inconvenience but hope that this new date of the week works for
everyone.
Whether you are one of the many new people to begin attending Central
in recent years, or long-time members of Central and the Disciples of
Christ, we believe you will walk away from the experience having learned
something informative about who we are. Not only that, we believe this
course will offer opportunities to get to know one another better as well.
Each week, the 90 minutes will be divided into three (3) equal parts.
For the first 30 minutes, we will tell the stories that have shaped the
founding and history of what we know as the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ today)
For the second 30 minutes, we will have “small group” discussion
around round tables which participants will be able to share parts
their own stories of faith and how their stories connect with the
stories from Disciples tradition.
For the last 30 minutes, we will have a guest speaker! One of our
regional ministers or staff members here at Central, will share their
own story of how and why have come to find a home in the Disciples
of Christ.

• September 14- Barton Stone: Unity and Inclusivity around the Lord’s Table
• September 21- Alexander Campbell: the Role of the Bible in shaping our Identity
• September 28- The Emphasis of Education and the Role of Women
• October 5- The Role Chicago Played in Shaping the Disciples of Christ
• October 12- The History of Central Christian Church

Our guest speaker each week will answer three (3) basic questions (either in
interview or testimony format). They will either be with us in person or on a
pre-recorded zoom video we will view together.  The three questions are:

• How was it that you came to the Disciples of Christ (how did you get from “there” to “here”)?
• What is it about the Disciples of Christ that you connect with most; that resonates with who you are as a believer?
• What makes the Disciples of Christ a relevant voice in the world today?

While the order is yet to be determined, our guest speakers will be our own
Pastor Vicky and Pastor Melinda, as well as all of our regional ministers –
Rev. Dr. William Crowder, Rev. Dr. Alex Ruth, Rev. Cassie Sexton-Riggs, and Rev. Eli Rolon Jeong. What we need now is for you to sign up! This class is capable of holding as many as want to come. But we do need to know how many are coming so we can prepare appropriate materials. Please contact central@cccdisciples.org or 217-428-4336 to hold your place. We hope to see you all there!