ICOC 2.1 is an upgrade of “ICOC 2.0 (the delegate system).” In any area lacking clarity the policy would default to what is defined in 2.0. Any needed adaptions can come through the proposal process. In any areas where 2.0 and 2.1 differ, the process shall defer to what is stated in 2.1

Selection

• Delegates
  • 3 persons minimum per regional family
    • Man, woman, next generation leader
    • Additional delegates allowed for per existing rules
  • 3-year terms w/ limit of 2 consecutive terms
  • Selected by vote by Church Leaders in that Regional Family
  • Staggered year format

• Service Team Chairman
  • 3-year terms w/ limit of 2 consecutive terms
  • Selected by existing process

• Mission Society Chairman (subject to each Mission Society’s by-laws as needed)
  • 3-year terms w/ limit of 2 consecutive terms
  • Selected by a process defined by that Mission Society

• Regional Chairman
  • Terms defined by that Region
  • Selected by a process defined by that Region

• Catalyst Team Member
  • 13 Person Team (updated by the Regional Chairs to reduce the number from the Regional Chairs to 7 and increase the women’s representation to 2, the change was approved by the delegates in Panama and is to be ratified in San Diego, Oct-2019)
    • 7 regional family chairmen
    • 2 elders, 1 teacher, 2 women, 1 global missions rep
    • Minimum 3 International Members
  • 3-year terms w/ limit of 2 consecutive terms
  • Staggered year format
  • Selected by the Regional Family Chairmen

• Roles that cannot be simultaneous (suspended until the delegates reconsider in San Diego, Oct-2019)
  • Catalyst Team Member
  • Regional Chair
  • Service Team Chair
  • Mission Society Chair
• Note: for those currently serving in any form their selecting group should determine their current term expires, if not already defined. They are allowed 1 more consecutive term.

Roles

• Delegates
  • Oversight
  • Mandates
    • Review, Create & Modify Service Teams
    • Global Church Health
    • Respond to Catalyst Team Actionables
      • Determine Course of Action
      • Develop Focus Groups as needed
    • Proposal Process
      • Receive proposals directly
      • Collaborative and Active Floor Discussions
      • Vote
    • Final approval
      • Proposals
      • Agendas & programs for international events
      • Can be delegated if agreed to by delegates
• Service Team Chairman – as defined by the Service Team
• Mission Society Chairman – as defined by the Mission Society
• Regional Chairman Group (have been temporarily granted the ability to amend processes to facilitate implementation as needed, all changes will need to be brought before the delegates in Oct. 2019 for ratification)
  • Facilitate Regional Health and Interdependence
  • Mandates
    • Select and oversee catalyst team
    • Foster inter-region relationships
    • Inspire growth and best practices
    • Develop next gen leaders
    • Facilitate Geographic Service Teams

• Catalyst Team
  • Mandates
    • Direct & engage Service Teams
    • Church health and growth
    • Actionables for regional family chairman
    • Actionables for delegates
    • Develop program and agendas
      • Delegate Meetings & Intl Conf (for delegate approve)
      • Spring meeting (regional chairmen approve)
      • Or delegate to appropriate sub-group with delegate approval

Service Teams

• Catalyst Team replaces the Evangelists ST and the Chairmen’s Service Team
• ST Chairmen report to Catalyst Team
• Service Team Mandates
  • Move to Continental or Geographic Groupings as appropriate
  • Annual Report
  • Consider Realigning teams by function
  • Where applicable produce ministry resources

Meetings

• Delegate Meetings
  • Every other year – All Delegates
  • Continental Meetings on alternate years
  • Missions Societies each send a rep
  • Mission Societies prioritize delegate travel funding
  • Rotate meeting location between hemispheres

• Spring Meetings (for the time being will include at least the following)
  • Regional Chairmen
  • Service Team Chairmen
  • Catalyst Team

Details

• ILC Focus
  • Region building
  • Ministry training
• Online coaching and mentoring
  • Delegates work to establish coaching and mentoring programs

FAQ

What are the changes for the Service Teams? The service teams will continue to function as they have. There is a goal for them to become more continental in scope moving forward. The Women’s Service Team will need to update their selection process in a way that fits with our current model. The Evangelist Service team will be replaced by the Catalyst Team, the Elders and Teacher’s Service teams will continue as they have. 

How quickly will the changes take place? We want to move forward at reasonable pace, the goal is for the transition to be smooth. Some have already happened, others will be done over the course of the time between now and the delegates meeting in October, 2019.  A few other changes may extend beyond that as needed.

When should the new delegates be selected, if needed? As soon as is best for each Regional Family, the goal is to have the news teams in place by the October, 2019 delegate meeting.

What is our meeting schedule? For 2019 we will have the Spring Meeting in San Antonio and an October Delegates Meeting in San Diego.

How soon will the Catalyst Team be selected? The regional family chairpersons are working on that right now; we hope to have the team in place by the end of November. 

What about leadership until the Catalyst Team is selected? A Transition Team was selected by the Regional Family Chairpersons in Panama. The team consists of Regional Family Chairmen (Ron Conkling (Florida), Mike Fontenot (Australia), Dinesh George (South Asia), Mohan Nanjundan (UK & Scandinavia), Daren Overstreet (Northwest US), & Sebastian Serra (Latin America Southern Cone), Darren Gauthier (elder from Chicago) and teachers (Andy Fleming (Kiev) & Kay McKean (Northern Virginia).

3.0 COMMUNICATIONS

January 1 to April 1 2019

1. Integrate the new ICOC Icon into all the Global News, Leadership, Service Team, Regional Family, Mission Society websites, Social Media and Video Channels
2. Work with the 32 Regional Communications Directors on appropriate implementations for local church websites
3. Roll out the ICOC App & Web kit & Global Prayer chain to ICOC churches

October 2019 Delegates Meeting

1. Consider appointing Continental Communications directors
2. Communications Best Practices Manual to help churches in key areas of reaching the lost, reputations management, connecting disciples

3.0 GLOBAL MISSIONS – Task Force Model

OCTOBER to DECEMBER 2018 – A Reduced Global Missions Task Force Team (3 or 4) facilitates transition

JANUARY to FEBRUARY 2019 –

• All Mission Societies invited to choose a representative to begin formation of the “Global Missions Task Force” (GMTF)
• First conference call of the new task force in February
  • Primary Objective: Elect a Point Person/Chairman of the group
  • Secondary Objective: Establish one-year goals/objectives for the group
  • Tertiary Objective: Establish calendar of connection through to 2020

        APRIL, 2019 –

• GMTF members attend Spring Meetings for first face to face meeting
• Present objectives and goals in a report at the Spring Meetings and seek a provisional approval for objectives and goals through to 2020

MAY to SEPTEMBER, 2019 –

• Information gathering period of the “Missions Work” in our Global Fellowship
• Develop a final report on best practices and challenges in our Missions efforts
• Finalize a report to be given to the delegates at the October meetings
• Provide recommendations to the delegates for greater Missions impact

OCTOBER, 2019 –

• All GMTF members attend the delegates meetings in San Diego
• Present all findings and recommendations for the Missions effort to the Delegates
• Seek approval for goals and recommendations heading into 2020

JANUARY, 2020 – Begin process of publication of a second edition Missions booklet for 2020 VISION

3.0 PEACEMAKERS – Regional Approach

2018 – October – December

A Regional Peacemakers Team is selected.

Each region discusses how to handle expenses incurred regarding conflict resolution.

2019 – January – December

Each region forms an oversight committee.

Each region will begin to develop a training curriculum to be use in the local church or between churches in within the region.

2019 – April 1-4

Leadership Meeting in San Antonio – Discussions can be had between the service teams regarding conflict resolution process and how it is going. With no mandate for global intervention, no direct influence from outside the region can be initiated.

2020 – and beyond

The Regional Peacemaking approach is designed to be effective in resolving local and regional conflicts. The future will rely on regional leadership and eldership to continue to build for the sake of unity throughout the region. 

3.0 FINANCES – Regional

By April 2019 

• Regional families establish entities/bank accounts for the needs

By October 2019

• Recommendations for funding needs from leadership group presented

By January 2020

• Churches in the regions pledge funding amounts 

2.1 STRUCTURE D

Regional Family Chairmen

• Meet and initiate Catalyst Team selection process in Panama
• Prioritize and begin work on Mandates March 1

Catalyst Team

• First conference call by March 1
• Establishes its way of functioning
• First in-person gathering at Spring Meeting
• Prioritize & begin work on mandates

Regional Families

• Update terms & hold elections as needed for compliance by July 1

For more on these meetings, please see: Forward by Faith – 2018 ICOC Delegates Conference Update

“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” – Hebrews 12:2

On behalf of all the Regional Delegates and ICOC Service Team members, we would like to thank every member of the ICOC worldwide for your ongoing prayers, encouragement and support in the strengthening and building of our global fellowship. The recent 2018 ICOC Delegates Conference (Oct 1-2) and the International Leaders Conference (ILC) (Oct 3-5) in Panama City, Panama marked the conclusion of our most recent series of discussions regarding our global and regional organization. The Delegates Conference had 245 attendees made up of 117 Delegates, 32 Regional Family Chairmen, Service Teams, and observers. The ILC had 630 in attendance from 49 countries. (A report on the 2018 ILC is coming soon). Many thanks to the disciples of our Panama and Central America churches who served as caring and thoughtful hosts throughout the conference and also spent many long hours in preparation. Also, a very special “thank you” to Josue and Veronica Ortega for their oversight, vision and organizational expertise in coordinating and hosting these events.

As most are aware, the ICOC went through a significant reorganizational phase from 2003 to 2006 that culminated in the publication of the Plan for United Cooperation (March 2006) and its acceptance and ratification by 96% of the ICOC congregations. This proposal identified Regional Families of Churches, established a delegate system for approving global proposals and established the formation of global Service Teams to coordinate efforts and build unity in ministry practices and overall church building strategies. These developments had significant impact and by 2010 most Regional Families were cooperating well internally and most of the mission efforts were being funded and supported by incorporated Mission Societies. In 2015, because of slow growth in our churches and a lack of engagement among the delegates, the chairmen of all the various Service Teams (aka, the Chairmen’s Service Team), initiated an “ICOC 3.0” discussion to assess effectiveness as well as to explore new ideas regarding the current organizational model. Dealing with a wide range of topics, the most common factor in these questions was whether or not the ICOC churches felt the need for a stronger executive global component or would prefer to leave these issues at a regional or continental (i.e., groupings of Regional Families) level. In 2016-2017 two Leadership Surveys were sent out. The encouraging results were the nearly unanimous agreement that we wanted to continue to be a global fellowship and we remained committed to the Great Commission of Jesus.

Based on the findings of those surveys, in April 2017 at the spring Service Team meetings in Dallas, Texas the ICOC 3.0 discussion was officially launched, thanks in large part to the impetus of the Evangelists, Elders, and Teachers Service Team Chairmen, Doug Arthur, Walter Evans, and Ed Anton, to whom we are all immensely grateful. During the next three months all Regional Families of churches reviewed the information presented in Dallas and conducted their own discussions. Based on the feedback of those meetings, in August 2017 five task forces were formed to develop presentations in the areas of communications, missions, conflict resolution, finances and organizational structure for the 2017 Delegates Conference in Chicago (October 2-6). We are so grateful for all of those who served so diligently on these task forces, spending countless hours in discussion, debate, refinement and prayer in order to produce the best possible alternatives for the delegates to choose from.

In Chicago, each task force presented multiple proposals reflecting the scope of the received feedback, and with the exception of the “organizational structure” discussion seemed to offer sufficient breadth and variance that the delegates could appreciate the rationale of the various possibilities. After much discussion in the “structure” town hall meeting and the subsequent vote, a decision was made to add a proposal called ICOC 2.1. The structure task force was then asked to create a new proposal team. The Communications proposals received the most positive votes with four proposals being adopted with over 75% approval. (Click here for the report on the 2017 Chicago Delegates Meeting). Now equipped with all this great feedback and input, the task forces continued to refine the proposals for another presentation and review at the spring Service Team meetings in Orlando. As had happened at various stages in this process, all of the proposals and their revisions were made available on DisciplesToday.org and icocleaders.org so that by July 2018 the proposals were revised, finalized and published encouraging everyone to continue to discuss and pray for the three months before the vote.

“With All Boldness” by Mike Taliaferro – San Antonio, Texas from DToday Video on Vimeo.

About 650 church leaders from over 40 countries gathered in Panama City, Panama to pray, learn and grow relationships to build God’s church. Our brothers and sisters from Panama and around Central America, led by Josue and Veronica Ortega, made every person feel like family.

Our theme for the 2018 International Leadership Conference was Forward by Faith. (Click here for the program.) (Click here for the videos.) The classes on Day 1 were an examination of the first half of the book of Acts. This day’s goal was to present sharing and teaching that examined each chapter leading up to the Jerusalem council. With these early chapters we looked for the principles and themes surrounding topics like prayer, courage, great preaching, the power of personal ministry, meeting the needs of the poor, and the role of the Holy Spirit in leading us forward. This first day concluded with a panel discussion centered on the exciting recent Mexico City turnaround story. We heard about a humble request for help by one of the largest churches in our fellowship, and how the Mexico and Central America Missions Society stepped up to produce a team of brothers and sisters to help support our brothers and sisters in Mexico City.

Day 2 picked up in Acts 15. The men and women met separately for the morning sessions to hear teachings beginning with the Jerusalem council. From there the men’s and women’s breakout classes continued on a journey into the lives of some of the prominent men and women we see highlighted in the book of Acts. An Elders session was also held. The afternoon session brought us all back together for some focused teaching on topics relevant to our global fellowship at this hour. This session featured experts addressing subjects in a “TED Talk” format.

Day 3 began with an update on the results of the Delegates voting on ICOC 3.0 proposals and continued with various reports from the Women’s Service Team, HOPE worldwide, Disciples Today and ICOC HotNews. The final session sent us off filled with a spirit of unity, faithfulness and courage for the days ahead with the powerful closing message by Mike Taliaferro of San Antonio, “Forward by Faith: With All Boldness.”

Many stayed for the weekend to teach and to participate in the dynamic Central American Conference Poderoso.

The overall goal for this ILC was for the spiritual leaders across our global fellowship to gather together and make decisions to reach for a unified vision. Our hearts were challenged, repentance was gained and God was glorified as we left this ILC spurred on to seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteous to the ends of the earth.

The next ILC will be conducted as part of the 2020 World Discipleship Summit July 2-5 in Orlando, Florida.

Click here for the 2018 ICOC Delegates Meeting Report.

The past two years have been a time of discussion, change and decision for our worldwide fellowship. Through all of our efforts we have been looking to see where God would take us in redefining the leadership for our church. As Scripture says: “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps (Proverbs 16:9).”  With a theme of moving “forward by faith,” we believe that God has helped us arrive at a new place in our new global organization and cooperation that focuses on the delegates, the Regional Family Chairs and the addition of the Catalyst Team to help stimulate action to accomplishing God’s purposes. We can take comfort in this direction from all of the time spent working together, questioning different ideas, applying scriptural principles and beseeching God in prayer. We look forward to the next phase with anticipation and hope for what God will do. The following paragraphs outline some of the details about the changes and provide an overview of how it all works together.

As reported in the Forward by Faith – 2018 ICOC Delegates Conference Update regarding the various proposals for development within the organizational structure of the ICOC, “the ICOC 2.1 model was chosen that would replace the Evangelists Service Team with the congress of Regional Family Chairmen and establish a 13-member Catalyst Team to provide vision, focus and directives to the Delegates and Regional Chairmen.” According to this model, the Catalyst Team will include two elders, one teacher, two women’s ministry leaders, a representative from the Missions Cooperation Task Force, as well as seven representatives from the Regional Family Chairmen. In the case of the representative elders, teacher, and women’s ministry leaders, the respective Service Teams organized their own selection processes and have chosen the following Catalyst Team members:

• Walter Evans (Elder)
  
• Dan Liu (Elder)
  
• Andy Fleming (Teacher)
  
• Anne-Brigitte Taliaferro (Women’s Minister)
  
• Tammy Fleming (Women’s Minister)
  

The Regional Family Chairmen also voted from among those willing in their number, and the following seven evangelists were selected:

• Harliem Salim (South East Asia)
  
• Mike Taliaferro (Texas, U.S.)
  
• Chris Ogbonnaya (Africa – West)
  
• AT Arneson (Midwest U.S.)
  
• Mohan Nanjundan (U.K. and Scandinavia)
  
• Douglas Arthur (New England, U.S.)
  
• Rafael Lua (Pacific and Southwest U.S.)
  

The thirteenth member of the Catalyst Team from the Missions Cooperation Task Force has yet to be selected since that Task Force is currently organizing itself according to the decisions and plans approved in Panama. Following a majority decision on the part of the Regional Family Chairmen, the Catalyst Team was tasked with selecting its own co-ordinator, and AT Arneson was chosen to serve in that capacity. (Note: the designation of “coordinator” has been suggested so as not to be confused with the “chairmen” roles of other Service Teams and Regional Church Family leadership).

The stated objective of ICOC 2.1 is “to direct and focus delegates to action on items of importance (church health, growth, unity, etc.) to produce action and change.” The mechanism in this approach is to broaden the basis of influence rather than heighten our organizational structure—and for this purpose the new Catalyst Team offers some exciting possibilities. Therefore, the Catalyst Team will work together with the RFCs to develop the agenda/program for the Spring Meeting where the proper strategies can also be discussed for planning the 2019 ILC (possibility involving the creation of subcommittees and obtaining real-time input from the delegates). The ICOC 2.1 model recognizes the Regional Family Chairmen (RFC) as the first stage of our global fellowship’s policy makers and developers, and the role of the delegates is to review, further comment and finalize those proposals (i.e., affirm or reject).

The second conference call is currently being organized by the Catalyst Team coordinator, and we ask that prayers for wisdom and the working of God’s Spirit be made for this new team, the Regional Family Chairmen, and for our leadership efforts worldwide.

– The ICOC 2.1 Structure Transition Team (Ron Conkling, Andy Fleming, Mike Fontenot, Darren Gauthier, Dinesh George, Kay McKean, Mohan Nanjundan, Daren Overstreet, Sebastian Serra)

Fourteen members* of the International Church of Christ Teachers Service Team met in San Antonio on March 31 and April 1, 2019, for the second Teachers Service Team Meeting of 2019. The first took place in Orange County, California, in conjunction with the innovative Hackathon conference(www.icochackathon.org), organized by members of the Teachers Service Team, February 21-24, 2019.

Starting our days together with worship and prayer.In San Antonio, Dave Pocta hosted us at Oblate School of Theology, where he is currently pursuing a PHD in Contemporary Christian Spirituality. Dave opened our time together with a devotional based on the story of the Samaritan woman from John 4. We sang some old hymns, written in the 1800s. It was a very inspiring morning together.  On the second morning of meetings, Ron Rolheiser (President of the Oblate School of Theology)  led an amazing devotional on some principles of pedagogy.  

Addressing questions related to women’s roles in churches today. Together we composed a letter which informs the fellowship of the fact that the Teachers Service Team is diligently working on a paper on the woman’s role in ministry. That letter was completed and was posted on the ICOC Teachers’ website, www.teachicoc.org on April 2, on Disciples Today, and on various social media platforms. We hope that disciples will continue to share and forward this letter as they see fit.

Valdur Koha chairs the subcommittee of teachers and others who are actively working on this paper, researching the difficult passages relating to the public role of women in the bible. The group meets monthly online and is working together to produce a scholarly paper exegeting scriptures relevant to discussions about the women’s role in the church today. Steady progress is being made, despite the fact that none of the contributors are available to devote themselves on a full-time basis to the project. The target date for completion is 2020.

It was proposed that the Women’s Ministry Task Force (formerly known as the Women’s Service Team) could work under the supervision of the Teachers Service Team to create an online survey of our 32 regional families of churches, to learn what specific questions are being asked concerning the public role of women in our churches around the world. Steve Staten agreed to advise and help to design a survey which would ensure a properly representative sampling with appropriate questions. This proposal was given approval in the assembly of the Regional Family Chairs. The Women’s Ministry Task Force will proceed with this fact-finding effort.

Strategizing to host and attend various conferences and meetings. We agreed that the following events would be priorities for us in an annual calendar, understanding that Service Team members would pick and choose what they are able to attend.

1. The ICOC Spring Meeting of our 32 Regional Church Family Chairs and Service Team members.  
2. The ICOC Autumn Leadership Meeting of the delegates from each Regional Family of Churches. We agreed that the Teachers Service Team would meet for two days this autumn immediately before the delegates meeting and would plan to bring younger and Next Generation teachers to that Service Team meeting.
3. A New Annual Teachers Meeting/Conference for those interested in the Teaching Ministry. We would hope that everyone on the Service Team could attend this event: two days of meetings as a Teachers Service Team, followed by a Teaching Ministry conference. Possibly August 13-17, 2019, in San Antonio.
4. Hackathon – type conferences — We would like to see these begin to take place in our regional families of churches. Steve Staten and Shane Engle will be working on this idea.
5. ICOC Scholars Conference. To be held a day or two before the Annual Meetings hosted by the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion. The Annual Meetings this year are scheduled for November 23- 26, 2019 in San Diego.

Strengthening our churches for the future.We as a group of teachers in the ICOC are deeply concerned with the question of how we, as a movement, plan to “feed” our people long term (Hebrews 5:12). We discussed the need for further development in theological education for our ministers, in order to grow both theologically and spiritually.  We want to ensure that in 10 to 20 years’ time, we are doing an excellent job of educating our people.

We discussed the importance of Ministry Training Academies (MTAs), which exist in several regional families of churches. We see a need to raise the standards of our MTAs. We agree that in addition to continuing to improve the MTA programs, we want to continue to encourage our ministers and other members of our churches to complete graduate study programs.

Most of our churches employ internships to educate young ministers. We want to do everything we can to develop academic as well as practical training for ministers in all our 32 regions of churches around the world. To that end, we created a subcommittee Task Force to consider Ministry Education, comprised of Gregg Marutzky (Chair), Jeremy Lefler, Robert Carrillo, Steve Kinnard, and Ed Anton.

We discussed several ways in which we could amplify the teachers’ voice in our fellowship and improve the ways in which we currently contribute to the strengthening of our churches. We discussed live streaming of teachers’ lessons and events; videos; creating an online webinar and an online theological journal.

Steve Staten presented a paper that speaks to ensuring that appropriate spiritual and other necessary qualifications for leadership positions are met in the ICOC. The group gave Steve feedback on this paper. He is making a few changes, then he will forward the paper to the teachers for a last review before publication and distribution.

We discussed ways in which we could develop Teachers Service Teams in each of the 32 regional families of churches around the world. We agreed that Steve Kinnard would compile information from the regional church families, namely, where we have recognized teachers and where we do not.

We believe it’s very important to accurately document our movement’s history over the past forty years. Many of us agreed to write a portion of our history, so that we can begin to collect eyewitness accounts. These could be presented at the various meetings and conferences listed above, and published online.    

In summary. These are the “Big Bucket” Items that we believe deserve our consistent focus. Please pray for us to make consistent progress pleasing to God, as we work together to accomplish these goals:

1. Regional Teacher Service Teams.
2. Credentialing a program for ministry education.
3. Producing position papers. An online journal. Recording our history.
4. Work on our hermeneutic.
5. Provide congregational teaching.
6. Provide resources for ministry training.

* Present on the 31st: Steve Kinnard, Steve Staten, James Becknell, Tammy Fleming, Andy Fleming, Kay McKean, Joey Harris, Diane Brown, Steve Brown, Dave Pocta

Present on the 1st: Steve Kinnard, Steve Staten, James Becknell, Kay McKean, Joey Harris, Diane Brown, Steve Brown, Dave Pocta, Ed Anton, Deb Anton, Robert C., Valdur Koha.

Shared from teachicoc.org

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1; NIV 2011)

In 2006 the ICOC Cooperation Proposal was published and ratified by the majority of ICOC congregations worldwide with great positive effect. The adoption of the Cooperation Proposal:

1. produced stability and cohesion within our worldwide fellowship;
2. affirmed the support for and cooperative relationship between the ICOC and HOPEww;
3. approved the continuing support for DisciplesToday.org and a global communication imperative;
4. encouraged the formation and strengthening of mission societies and witnessed the amount of global missions’ support increase by almost 30% (i.e., from approx. $US 7 M in 2005 to $US 9 M in 2016);
5. increased cooperation within Regional Families of churches and identification of those congregations needing strengthening and encouragement, and;
6. provided a platform for the submission, evaluation and the ratification of global proposals.

Within the text of the Cooperation Proposal was the understanding that further development would most certainly be necessary:

“The arrangement within this proposal is what seems best for now, but we understand that we are a work in progress who will be led by God to make adjustments as we proceed and learn.” (p. 4)

Of course, these benefits are not simply the result of a document’s creation, but a testimony to the hard work and dedication of many sacrificial brothers and sisters from around the world and to the power of God demonstrated through answered prayers and a divine spirit of unity. Thanks to all who have helped in the implementation of this proposal!

Since the adoption of the Cooperation Proposal in 2006, an annual Spring Meeting has been organized and typically involved the meetings of the four core Global Service Teams of Elders, Evangelists, Teachers, and Women’s Ministers. These Service Teams would spend time in both separate and collaborative meetings, and sometimes involved the additional meetings of other Global Service Teams or at least representation by their respective chairmen (i.e., Communications, Youth & Family, Singles, Campus, HOPEww, and Administration). Some of the important functions fulfilled by these Spring Meetings included the vetting and preparation of global proposals for the upcoming Delegates meetings, planning committees for scheduled conferences like the annual Delegates Meetings and International Leadership Conferences (ILCs), task force formation for special issues like communication needs, missions’ effectiveness, and conflict resolution situations, and the sharing of news and updates about the work of the ministry from around the world. Two years ago, the ICOC 3.0 discussion began at the 2017 Spring Meeting in Dallas and the underlying theme of the ICOC 3.0 structure proposal was to form a global executive (i.e., decision-making) team together with an advisory/overseeing board (i.e., the formation of an organizational level above the regional families of churches). The 2017 Delegates Congress (Chicago) witnessed highly interactive and healthy discussion that resulted in an alternative approach dubbed “ICOC 2.1” being proposed and a Task Force created for its development.

The ICOC 2.1 Upgrade Proposal focused on further empowering the cooperative efforts of the regional families of churches through the greater utilization of the Regional Family Chairmen as a collaborative body—prior to this proposal, this group had only met once or twice and never developed an identity of its own. At the 2018 Delegates Meeting in Panama, other decisions made by the delegates regarding finances and conflict resolution also demonstrated the widespread desire for greater regional development as opposed to creating more encompassing global constructs. The formation of the global Missions Cooperation Task Force was intended to create synergy between the existing Missions Societies and facilitate the sharing of best practices between them, as well as help assess the equity in the current gathering, organization and distribution of resources—both human and financial. It would therefore appear that at this moment in areas of global cooperation, our attention will be centered on the needs of regional strengthening and development, and these resonates with the majority decision to implement the ICOC 2.1 Structure Proposal.

The first step of developing this proposal was to affirm what had been working well (many of those benefits are listed in the opening paragraph) while also pinpointing areas of cooperation that need improvement or revision. Some of the notable areas of our current practice that needed further consideration and evaluation were:

1. the steady decline in the number of relevant global “proposals” being brought before the delegates;
2. the underutilization of the Regional Family Chairmen as a source of synergy and a platform for sharing best practices in church building and mission effectiveness;
3. the difference in funding levels between the various Mission Societies and their respective missions projects;
4. the correlation of the mandates of the various Global Service Teams with the needs of the Regional Families of churches;
5. broader involvement and representation in the planning process and selection of both themes and speakers at the annual Delegates Meetings and ILCs.        

The stated objective of ICOC 2.1 is “to direct and focus delegates to action on items of importance (church health, growth, unity, etc.) to produce action and change.” The mechanism in this approach is to broaden the basis of influence rather than heighten our organizational structure. Integral to the implementation of the ICOC 2.1 proposal is the formation of the Catalyst Team, the cessation of the Evangelists Service Team and an increased facilitation of the Regional Family Chairmen as a collaborative body and greater Delegate involvement. Whereas the former Evangelists Service Team was limited to Continental representation, the Spring Meeting will now include all of the Regional Family Chairmen and their corresponding women’s leaders so that every Regional Family of Churches will have direct representation. The work of the Catalyst Team is to provide vision, focus and direction for the Regional Family Chairmen and to the Delegates. To facilitate this “catalytic” role, the Catalyst Team will include two elders, one teacher, two women’s ministry leaders, a representative from the Missions Cooperation Task Force, as well as seven representatives from the Regional Family Chairmen. Working together with the ICOC 2.1 Task Force while still in Panama, the Regional Family Chairmen met together and decided that until the next Delegates Meeting in 2019, the Regional Family Chairmen would be granted transitional authority to amend the proposed ICOC 2.1 process so that implementation could proceed as smoothly as possible. These practical decisions included:

1. selecting the Transition Team;
2. adjusting the composition of the Catalyst Team by increasing the number of women from one to two;
3. restricting the initial Catalyst Team evangelists to currently active Regional Family Chairmen for the sake of continuity;
4. review these modifications during the next twelve months and ratify the changes at the 2019 Delegates Meeting in San Diego.

The Transition Team completed its work last December and following a majority decision by the Regional Family Chairmen, the Catalyst Team was tasked with selecting its own coordinator and chose AT Arneson. (Note: the designation of “coordinator” has been suggested so as not to be confused with the “chairmen” roles of other Service Teams and Regional Church Family leadership). Since January, the Catalyst Team has been working together with the RFCs to develop the agenda/program for the Spring Meeting where the proper strategies can also be discussed for planning the 2019 ILC and mechanisms set in place for increased Delegate participation and feedback. The ICOC 2.1 model recognizes the Regional Family Chairmen (RFC) as the first stage of our global fellowship’s policy makers and developers, and the role of the delegates to review, revise and finalize those proposals (i.e., affirm or reject). Prior to the 2019 Spring Meeting, the Catalyst Team has had five 90-minute conference calls. Most of the agenda of these calls was spent in the formation of Task Forces and planning for the upcoming Spring Meeting. The Catalyst Team committed itself to honestly, humility and a listening stance in their service to the Regional Family of Churches.

 In overview, here is a list of the pertinent actionable items that have been discussed and agreed upon by the Catalyst Team during these calls:

• Global statistics should continue to be collected and made available by the Spring Meeting;
• Following the model implemented by previous Service Teams, the Catalyst Team will organize Task Forces that will initially be made up of the Regional Family Chairmen and Regional Women’s Representative (in some cases, the wife of the RFC, but not necessarily), and members of the Elders, Teachers, and Women’s Global Service Teams as well as members of some of the already operation Global Service Teams. Although, Catalyst Team members will act as liaisons between these Task Forces and the Catalyst Team, the chairpersons will be selected internally by the Task Forces.
• The two Catalyst Team women’s representatives will liaise with the appropriate women’s groups to develop the mechanism for forming the Women’s Service Team—previously it had been made up primarily of wives of the Elders and Evangelists, as well as female Teachers and the wives of male Teachers.
• An email will be sent out to the Regional Family Chairmen for input regarding the formation of the Task Forces with introductory blurbs describing each of them, and then another invitation will be sent out requesting the RFCs choices for participation. (It was noted that the women involved will also choose their Task Force participation—i.e., involvement with the Women’s Task Force is not assumed).
• Considering the healthy practice of some Regional Families of Churches having a women’s representative who is not the spouse of the RFC, we will suggest the use the terminology of “Regional Family Chairman” and “Women’s Chair/Coordinator”—to be affirmed at Spring Meeting.
• Send a follow-up email to the Regional Family Chairmen inviting them to serve on a Task Force at least up until the Delegates meeting in the autumn whereupon the system may be slightly revised again after receiving more input from the Delegates.
• Review and possibly drop the 3.0 and 2.1 nomenclature depending on the RFCs approval.
• Spend time the first morning (Tuesday) defining terminology and role descriptions (i.e., suggestion to rename the “Missions Cooperation Task Force” as the “Mission Society Development Team”).
• Theme for Spring Meetings will be “To Live is Christ” coming out of Philippians. The RFCs and Core Service Teams will be asked to send speaker suggestions and lesson titles to CT Coordinator (AT Arneson).
• Andy Fleming will prepare executive summaries of these conversations to be sent to the Regional Family Chairmen and the Regional Family Women Chairs/Coordinators, with an initial comprehensive update to be given at the 2019 Spring Meeting.

Finally, there remained some components of the ICOC 2.1 implementation that required further discussion and decision at the Spring Meeting since they were new developments or emphases:

• The ICOC 2.1 proposal stated the first “three” delegates of any Regional Family of Churches needs to be one man, one woman, and one next generation leader.
• The mandates of Global Service Teams should be understood, modified (if needed), and ratified by the Delegates. (These mandates were to be reviewed and their direction affirmed (or rejected) by the Regional Family Chairmen).
• The planning for future ILCs will focus primarily on Church Health and Growth, Region Building and Ministry Training.
• Ultimately, the prime objective of the Global Service Teams is to facilitate the formation and development of Continental and/or Regional Service Teams. This direction resonates with the establishment of the Regional Family Chairmen as a “global” group and paves the way for all “global” groups to be made up of representatives of active Regional (or Continental) Service Teams. Considering the diversity of languages, cultural contexts (not to mention the monumental expense involved in making “global” meetings take place), this step will refine regional agendas to more accurately match regional needs, and thereby emphasize our unity and diversity globally without becoming trapped by absolute conformity. This regionalization process opens the door for much more involvement and helps develop the role of Regional Family Chairmen to be facilitators of Regional development.

“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” – Eph 4:1b-3; NIV 2011

On April 1-4, the ICOC 2019 Spring Meeting was convened in San Antonio with Regional Family Chairmen, Regional Family Women’s Chairs/Coordinators, the Catalyst Team (CT), Elders Service Team, Teachers Service Team, Women’s Service Team, as well as representation from other Global Service Teams (i.e., Communications, Youth & Family, Singles, Campus, HOPEww, and Administration). In preparation for the event, the Catalyst Team met together on Sunday evening (March 31) and all-day Monday until 5 pm. After a time of prayer and a contemplative sharing exercise reflecting on 2 Cor 4:1-12, the CT reviewed the planned schedule for the Spring Meeting and the list of “affirmations” that the new Task Forces would be tendering as well as some practical discussion points regarding future Delegates Meetings and Spring Meetings. It was also decided that Andy Fleming would provide the Regional Family Chairmen and Women Chairs/Coordinators with an executive summary of all the Catalyst Team conversations and meetings.

Monday Evening, April 1

After sharing a fellowship dinner together, AT and Marci Arneson welcomed those present to the 2019 ICOC Spring Meeting and led the assembly in prayer. Andy Fleming then gave a short overview of the development of the ICOC 2.1 proposal and its affirmation at the 2018 ICOC Delegates Meeting in Panama. (Please refer to the ICOC Catalyst Team Update – March 31, 2019 for more details.) In 2017, the discussion for a possible organizational restructuring began with an emphasis on the establishment of a global executive team. The ensuing discussion at the 2017 Delegates Meeting in Chicago produced an alternative proposal to give greater attention to the collaboration of the Regional Family Chairmen and the formation of a Catalyst Team made up of six Regional Family Chairmen and two elders, one teacher, two women’s representatives and a representative from the Global Missions Task Force. The choosing of this alternative proposal in Panama resonated with the direction taken with other proposal for greater regionalization and development while maintaining global connection. Therefore, the present direction of the ICOC is to develop Regional (or Continental) Service Teams with the intention of involving many more voices and people from within our fellowship – this has now become one of the mandates of the current Global Service Teams. This overview was followed by a lesson by AT Arneson taking from the book of Philippians entitled “To Live is Christ.” By referencing the example of Paul, AT pointed out the privilege of serving Christ in any capacity, and the added blessing of “working together.” More than an organization plan, we need a “relational” plan that builds each other up and resolves conflicts quickly. At the same time, we need to appreciate our diversity and increase our openness to being influenced and guided by each other. AT called the group to genuine partnership in the “attitude of Christ.”

Tuesday, April 2

This day began with a time of worship led by some of the young intern ministers in the San Antonio Church—a talented and spiritual team who had served the evening before and continued to serve throughout the remainder of the Spring Meeting. Harliem Salim then taught a lesson entitled “Worthy of Christ” and really brought Paul’s emphasis on Christ’s heart and mind in the book of Philippians. Rather than give in to any form of self-interest, we need to be mindful of the mission and purpose of God—to reflect his love back towards him and towards each other. True maturity in Christ is demonstrated by our level of love and service.

At mid-morning the Catalyst Team sat before the assembly as a panel and led the group in a presentation with “questions and feedback” format. When appropriate, after some discussion the Regional Family Chairs were asked to vote in either “affirmation” or “negation.” As a result, some designations for new roles were affirmed (i.e., Regional Women’s Chair / Coordinator, Regional Communications Director, Regional Peacemaker (in charge of conflict resolution team), and a Continental Liaison to work together with the Catalyst Team. Mike Taliaferro presented and clarified the ongoing Proposal process for making global decisions and Todd Asaad was affirmed in his role as coordinator for the 2020 ILC in Orlando. Some directives were also given for the Continental Group meetings to be held on Wednesday evening and some of the outstanding decisions to be made from the 2018 Panama Meeting (i.e., affirmation of regional bank accounts, selection of Next Generation delegates and Women delegates, selection of Regional Communications Director, etc.). There was also some discussion in retiring the ICOC 2.1 designation and possibly coming up with another name for this new organizational format. It was also affirmed that the ongoing discussion regarding non-affirming congregations to the Cooperation proposal be continued to be addressed at the regional level—unless outside help is requested. There was also some discussion regarding the appeal for the African American voice to be heard (especially in the North American continental group), and possibly lessons that could be shared globally through the North American Diversity Task Force.

After a short break, the group was thinned to just the Regional Family Chairs and Women’s Coordinators and a few more topics received attention and discussion. First, the vision for Disciples Today was discussed followed by Roger Lamb’s pending retirement and the need for replacing his leadership. Andy Fleming then made a short presentation about our current statistical gathering and emphasized that the worldwide stats are “our” stats and any form of competitiveness or pride is inappropriate and disunifying. A very healthy discussion ensued that covered the themes of the need for even fuller annual reporting (i.e., mission move outs, transfers, etc.), better management and pastoral care of the transfer process between congregations, more useful analysis and observation, and also the highlighting of effective ministry practices from throughout our fellowship. Thirdly, the Catalyst Team was given approval to solicit possibilities regarding the timing of our annual meetings (i.e., currently spring and fall) with the intention of finding the best scheduling for the majority of international participants. After a lunch break, the six Task Forces met to develop plans, goals, and vision statements, with the possibility of formulating proposals for the ICOC Delegates. The evening was left free for fellowship or for further discussion among the Task Forces.    

Wednesday, April 3

This day began with a heart-stirring devotional led by Robert Carrillo, the CEO of HOPEworldwide. Robert reminded us that “serving the poor” is central to the Christian life and needs to be concern of every congregation. The church is the effective body of Jesus on earth and we need to follow his example and give ourselves in service. The rest of Wednesday morning and afternoon were spent in hearing updates and reports from the Task Forces and Service Teams.

Church Health and Growth

• Affirmed church health and numerical growth go hand in hand (Acts 2:42, 46-47)
• Important components of health include well-trained, godly leadership; everyone’s devotion to God and discipleship to Jesus
• Two areas of focus: 1) Develop and provide self-assessment tools and 2) Evaluate and recommend other resources
  
• Shared Best Practices examples from SEA Region
  
• Asked for any tools which have been developed to be sent to the task force
  

Communication Task Force

• Affirmed it is impossible to maintain a community without communication
• Affirmed the need for a broader, more comprehensive approach to our communication, acknowledging the need to better address and accommodate vastly different communication styles of Older Christians, Younger Christians, Older Non-Christians, Younger Non-Christians.
• Discussed what we are doing well (1000 articles/yr on Disciples Today; 35 videos/yr on ICOC Hot News ) and what we can do better: Outreach; Global Communications Conference; Improve next-generation style communication within and between churches; Reputation Management; Improving our outward-faced portal; Organization and finances; Survey the fellowship.
• Announced new KIDOGO (Swahili for “a little”) youTube channel: short videos on doctrine and teaching

Unity Task Force

• Primary focus on helping the 32 regional families of churches with training of conflict resolution teams
• In case of ongoing unresolvable conflict: notify Catalyst Team, Elders Service Team will help
• Committed to building strong curriculum, developing process, learning from mistakes; tap into resources outside ICOC; involve mental health professionals where needed

Global Missions Task Force and Mission Society Development Team

• Composed of one representative from each Mission Society and Next Gen members born on mission field
• Committed to Development of Mission Societies in the areas of structure and execution; best practices; engaging all churches in a mission society; functionality and exchange between mission societies
• Committed to Special Missions: keeping the spirit of sacrifice; keeping special missions “special;” every church giving to missions; strong connection to mission field; training in fund-raising
• Share church planting best practices; templates and tools for taking churches from 0-100; Ideas like Caleb’s Corps: mobilizing empty-nesters

Women’s Ministry Task Force

• Replaces the body formerly known as the Women’s Service Team
• Mission Statement: to inspire and train women servant leaders around the globe to grow spiritually, to connect, and to advance the gospel in a powerful way.
• Coordinating annual women’s day of prayer, fasting, action around March 8; Providing and distributing leadership training resources; creating new web-based resources; inspiring, raising up and connecting next generation young women leaders; aids in planning women’s programming portion of our global conferences
• Will begin a survey of the regional families of churches to learn the specific questions currently being asked about the women’s public role in ministry, under the oversight of the Teachers Service Team

Next Generation Task Force

• To support and inspire training of next generation leaders
• Actively promote the growth of the next generation
• Taking a survey of regional families of churches, to learn where there are ongoing, successful, well-rounded Ministry Training programs for young people
• Will work to enable more next generation leaders outside the US to be able to afford to attend the Orlando 2020 Summit

Elders Service Team

• 12 couples, four international; three in an emeritus role
• Six sub-committees, such as elder appointment; conflict resolution
• Recently published collaborative book Church-Building Elderships

Teachers Service Team

• Goal of regionalization: a Teachers Service Team in every regional family of churches; helping with appointing teachers around the world, training those with the gift of teaching.
• Standardization of Mission Training Academies
• Innovative Hackathon-style conferences: diving into deep issues with more participation
• Conferences for Teachers
• Currently making progress on collaborative paper on Women’s Role, expected in 2020. Published statement on social media and Disciples Today on April 2

Youth and Family Service Team

• Strength of our youth and families is of crucial importance for the future of our churches – our work will be tested in five – 10 years; Many current ministry leaders now are kingdom kids
• Youth Ministers’ Conference: Equip; Helping them stay connected
• Comprehensive project curriculum: “Infancy to Independence”

Singles Service Team

• “Inspire” conference in 2018 attended by participants from 40 nations
• Planning 2022 singles conference venue
• Developing singles service teams in regional families of churches
• Challenges in age diversity

Administration Service Team

• Goal: effective administration in every church. Many small churches and international churches lack good administration
• Increasing and developing resources
• Minimize risk, maximize goals: Provide library of compensation; recruiting and training of administrators
• Recently created document of sabbatical guidelines, provided and available now to churches
  

The Regional Family Chairmen were asked to affirm the direction and vision of these groups, and approval given to the possibility of formulating global proposals for the fall ICOC Delegates Meeting—and in every case affirmation was given. It was also suggested that from this point forward, some of the administrative proposals be re-examined on a periodic basis so that there would not be a build-up of organizational decisions. Throughout these presentations a common theme was heard time and time again, the key to successful expansion and world evangelism is healthy, vibrant congregations who are growing in godliness and spirituality, widening their ministries (both internally and externally), improving all training components and celebrating the diversity with which God has blessed our fellowship.  

On Wednesday evening, the Regional Family Chairmen met together in their Continental groups for a great time of planning and discussion. Some of these groups have already been collaborating and cooperating on a regular basis, and for others this marks a new era of discussion and development.    

Thursday, April 4

Our final day began with a time of worship and prayer with Chris and Rolayo Ogbonnaya leading our thoughts and hearts in a devotional from Phil 4:4-9 about “how we think.” This was followed by a time of prayer in continental groups. After reassembling, Marshall Mead then made an exciting presentation about the 2020 Global Summit in Orlando including some very encouraging highlights: (1) more than 8,300 participants are registered with 15 more months to go; (2) a financial fund has been set up from registration fees to help partially support attendees from low income countries and will be administered by the Mission Societies. Then, there was another block of open discussion regarding the delegate selection process and also the content and schedule of the Fall Delegates Meeting. The Regional Family Chairmen would like one full day for discussion and training as a group, and the general format of the conference would be that of a “Church Builders Workshop.” The conference will seek to maximize delegate participation and provide a lot of opportunity for prayer and discussion. Mike Taliaferro then closed out the Spring Meeting with a great lesson coming out of Psalm 78 and focusing the fate of Ephraim among the tribes of Israel. Unfortunately, the Ephraimites became self-absorbed and failed to work together with the other tribes in the moment of Israel’s need. Mike’s application was simply: although unity requires effort, it is both vital for survival and pleasing to God.

Finally, the Catalyst Team met together for a short meeting and were in agreement that God had truly blessed the gathering. The involvement in the Task Forces was productive and there were a strong feeling of faith and hope throughout the conference. Thanks to everyone who have prayed diligently for this next phase in our cooperation. We appreciate the many hours spent in conference calls and emails, and the willingness of so many brothers and sisters around the world to serve. Let us always bear in mind, that the very best we can do is to prayerfully commit to God our plans as the Proverbs tell us: “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps” (16:9) and “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed” (16:3). Ultimately, our goal is please God and by better understanding his will, better serve him and bring him glory.      

The Elders Service Team has continued its mission to help churches appoint elderships in churches all over the world. In the last few years, there have been elderships appointed in several families of churches outside of the United States. This trend is continuing as three new elders were appointed in Bangalore, India in April. There are also plans for appointing elders in Kenya and Sao Paulo, Brazil in the coming months.

New Book

Every member of the service team contributed to a new book titled Church Building Elderships: Godly Qualities that Produce Great Churches with Wyndham Shaw and Al Baird as the editors. Each elder contributed to an aspect of the eldership process from training men to be elders, explaining the biblical roles of an elder, researching the spiritual and emotional qualities needed to be an elder, and suggesting a process to appointing and growing an eldership. The men contributing to the book have over 500 years of experience as disciples with over half of those years while serving as elders. God has used all of this experience to provide a tool to help churches all over the world in the quest to mature the church and appoint elders as God raises up men for that task.

New Members

One goal of the service team for the past few years has been to find men who have the experience and desire to serve on this team from churches outside the United States. In the past we have been able to have elders join the service team from Hong Kong and Nigeria, but we now also have added Oleksii and Tonya Kravets from the Ukraine to represent Eastern Europe. We also added Luis Mendez from the San Diego Church, who was instrumental in helping train and appoint elders in the Mexico City Church in 2018. We are looking to expand the non-United States participation on this service team as new elders mature and grow to be able to participate in the world-wide overview that is needed for our discussions and plans.

Great Sadness

We also have experienced the loss of two of our members in the last year. We will miss these two and all the ways they have inspired and encouraged us.

After many years of service and touching the hearts of disciples who now live all around the world, Gloria Baird left us last summer after a long battle with cancer. Gloria touched the lives of so many, directly and indirectly. She was a person of great faith and insight and the way she lived continues to influence so many.

Then on May 10, 2019, Luis Mendez went to be with the Lord after serving as an elder and evangelist for the San Diego Church for many years. He had only been on the service team for a short time, but his faith, enthusiasm and insight had been felt and appreciated.

Prayer Request

Please continue to pray for Wyndham Shaw as he battles a progressive disease that is robbing him of his ability to serve as an elder in Boston and on the service team. Pray for Jeanie, the family and the Boston Church as they give the care and love needed during this very difficult time. Wyndham and Jeanie’s insight and experience are missed greatly as they take this journey of faith.

Subcommittees

The Elders Service Team continues to work towards the goal of unity and works closely with the Unity Task Force under the ICOC 2.1 proposal. One of the methods we are focusing on is providing insight and training for conflict resolution in our families of churches. This is in the early stages of development, but we see this as one way the elders can assist churches as Satan attacks our unity in individual churches, families of churches and our worldwide brotherhood.

Chairman: Walter Evans (Philadelphia)
Eldership Development: Al Baird (Phoenix), Oleksii Kravets (Kiev)
Marriage and Family: Frank Kim (Denver)
Conflict Resolution: Larry Craig (New York), Walter Evans (Philadelphia)
Unity: Darren Gauthier (Chicago), Jerry Sugarman (Los Angeles)
Prayer and Comfort: Bill Hooper (Dallas), Imagbe Igbinoba (Lagos)
Minutes and Communication: John Brush (Miami), Dan Liu (Hong Kong)

Last week leaders from around the world gathered in San Diego, California to pray, plan and progress in knowing God and making him known around the world.  Here are some brief notes I jotted down to share. It was awesome! The fellowship and unity was wonderful. Tremendous plans and proposals were announced. A new family of churches was introduced from French-speaking Central Africa.

• Our 700 churches are divided into 33 families of churches.
• Each family of churches is led by a Regional Family Chair couple.
• These 33 families of churches sent 150 delegates to the global “Delegates Meeting” in San Diego, Wednesday through Friday, October 7-11
• Last year the 33 Regional Chair Couples chose a Catalyst Team, whose task it is to organize the meeting and spur our fellowship forward.
• The Catalyst Team set up six “Task Forces” to prepare proposals and plans for the delegates to approve.  

Monday

The Catalyst Team met all day Monday to work on last minute details for the meeting

Tuesday

The Catalyst Team met with the 33 Regional Family Chair couples on Tuesday. We discussed…

• The pairing of RFC couples for growth and discipling.
• Future conferences
• Disciples Today (Roger Lamb is retiring)
• HOPEww (New CEO search)
• Upcoming 2020 World Discipleship Summit in Orlando

On Tuesday night I met with the Communication Task Force (which I lead).  

Wednesday

The Catalyst Team concluded discussions with the Regional Family Chairs.

The Delegates Meeting began.  Each Task Force presented their plan for progress. Highlights included:

• Women – Excited about launching the new website womentoday.net and worldwide webinars
• Next Gens – The beginning of Next Gen delegates and more women into our worldwide delegate structure.
• Communication – The first Global Communication Conference in Orlando in 2020. Immediate goal is an explosion of “Online Evangelism” 
• Church Health and Growth – Promoting the health of ministers and health of congregations.
• Unity – The 2020 Unity Challenge: to work out any and all relational issues before we gather in Orlando
• Global Missions – Coordination of our Mission Societies. Counting up to 1000 churches, and counting down the countries that still need a church.

Thursday

Thursday included a “Church Builders Workshop” taught by brothers and sisters from around the world. The evening was free for fellowship.

Friday

On Friday we closed out the conference with worship, summarizing our plans, announcements and a HOPEww update.

2020 World Discipleship Summit:

• 12,000 already registered!
• Donations to help third world disciples attend
• Programs for children and special needs
• www.wds2020.net for all info, registration and questions

The Catalyst Team met to review the week.

The women’s ministry had a robust schedule of activities and rich international fellowship at the San Diego delegates meetings from October 7-11.

The Women’s Service Team is made up of 15 women from the leaders of our 33 Regional Church Families, Elders, and Teachers, who choose to volunteer their time to serve the global women’s ministry (see list below).  We aim to support the existing global leadership structure by fulfilling our mission statement: to help inspire and train women servant leaders around the world to grow spiritually, to connect, and to advance the gospel in a powerful way.

The Women’s Service Team plans to invite women leaders from all continents and diverse demographic groups to serve on Women’s Task Forces, in order to better meet specific needs of sisters in all our churches.

Last week we announced that #InHisImage will be our suggested theme for March 8th, International Women’s Day 2020. Our hope for this day is that women’s ministries across the world will take the opportunity to unite in a day of prayer and fasting. Each women’s ministry will consider how to act “In His Image” and take steps of faith that will strengthen, encourage and reach more women for Christ this year.

At the San Diego delegates meetings, the Women’s Service Team announced a new online service to women’s ministries around the world: a series of worldwide women’s webinars. Each hour-long webinar will focus on a particular theme and will often feature guest speakers. The times, location and instruction for logging on to the webinar are published on a brand-new Facebook page: WomenToday.net. (That’s WomenToday.net on Facebook, with no space between the words – important to note, or you will have trouble finding it.) A recording will be made of the event and posted on YouTube as an online resource which can be distributed afterward. The first will be held on December 6/7, 2019, and four such webinars have been scheduled for 2020.

The Women’s Service Team is forming a Task Force to improve the visibility of ICOC women online and the availability of women’s resources. www.womentoday.net will be connected to Disciples Today and will be the place where women can go in one click to find ICOC women’s articles and materials easily.

The WST does not see itself as the body which will answer questions about the public role of women in our churches at this time. We agree fully with the request of our leadership to wait for the publication of the biblical paper now in progress by the Teachers Service Team, and look forward to each local leadership and congregation continuing to strengthen and develop its women’s ministry to the glory of God. We believe that every sister, young or aged, whether married or single, of any race, from any place, is destined by God to play a crucial role in his story and in ours.

The Women’s Service Team: Silvia Mendez, San Diego; Sharon Gauthier, Chicago; Rolayo Ogbonnaya, Lagos; Viki Auki, Nairobi; Sirikit Umaguing, Colorado Springs; Griselda Lua, Los Angeles; Tess Fontenot, Sydney; Gillianne Brisebois, Hamilton Ontario; Vania Salim, Jakarta; Tammy Fleming, Kiev; Marci Arneson, Chicago; Diane Brown, Nashville; Toli Beruah, New Delhi; Michelle Cameron, Perth; Sarai Serra, Buenos Aires.

The Church Health and Growth Task Force believes that church health goes hand in hand with church growth—as Jesus said, “Every good tree bears good fruit” (Matt 7:17). A healthy church includes well-trained and godly leadership (both men and women), the development of effective ministries to meet the diverse needs of the church, well-articulated shared expectations for the membership, and an underlying devotion to God and discipleship to Jesus. This Task Force wants to establish simple measurement tools for accessing church health and highlight the best practices of healthy, growing congregations from around the world. We also believe that details and statistics are not negatives, but when used together with each congregation’s narrative history are both helpful and necessary for analysis, setting proper expectations, and taking action in faith. Currently this Task Force includes Andy Fleming (chairman), Todd & Patty Asaad, Danny Brisebois, Koko Enrile, Floyd Grosset, Imagbe Igbinoba, Angel Martinez, Daren Overstreet, Harliem Salim, Sebastian Serra, and Jeff Wong. Within the task force there are currently two sub-committees: (1) Congregational Health (chairman – Todd Asaad); and (2) Ministers’ Health and Well-being (chairman – Daren Overstreet).  

The Congregational Health subcommittee holds that healthy churches need healthy theology—i.e., the proper image of God and solid scriptural knowledge. This committee has been discussing the role of vision within the congregation, as well as godly relationships, need-meeting programs and effective management of those programs. Churches are known to have identifiable life cycles and sometimes it is necessary to start a new phase beginning with renewed vision. Rob Skinner and Joel Peed have also joined this group and are focusing their energy on the health and growth of smaller churches (i.e., less than 100 members). These two brothers recently hosted a very encouraging small church leaders conference entitled “Look Up” which was attended by 120 leaders, and Rob recently published a book focused on small church leadership called From Zero to 100.

The Ministers’ Health and Well-being subcommittee is discussing the need for a holistic approach to support the emotional, spiritual and mental health of ministers. There has already been a lot of great material developed and made available in existing Christian education program and publications. This subcommittee is currently looking for women and next generation ministers interested in joining their group and is also planning on sending out a survey to help identify additional concerns and needs. They are also looking for individuals with expertise and would greatly welcome the input of non-staff disciples as well. Please pray for the work of this task force so that all of our ministers (full-time and non-full-time) in various roles and capacities can be healthy, vibrant and resilient in their ongoing service to God and the church.

During the week of October 7-11, representatives of our fellowship of 700 churches from around the world gathered for the annual ICOC Delegates’ Meeting. (Note: Beginning in 2020 this meeting will take place once every two years). Expertly and graciously hosted by the San Diego church, over 250 men, women, and “next-generation” delegates, Service Team members, and observers from ICOC churches came together for a packed week of prayer, biblical preaching, meetings, discipleship and fellowship.

Our ICOC churches are grouped into 33 geographic and relationally connected families, each coordinated by a Regional Family Chairman and Chairwoman. Each Regional Family of churches is allotted a certain number of delegates based on the size of their membership. Last year the ICOC delegates affirmed the formation of the Catalyst Team: seven of whom were chosen by the Regional Chairmen and the other six from the Elders Service Team (2), Teachers Service Team (1), Women’s Service Team (2), and the Mission Society Task Force (1). The Catalyst Team serves by facilitating and empowering effective discussion and cooperation between the Regional Family Chairs in the areas that we all agree are essential for the health and development of our churches and are necessary to spur us forward. Six “Task Forces” have been established since then by the Catalyst Team and the Regional Chairs, to prepare proposals and plans for the delegates to approve.

On Monday, October 7, The Administration Service Team, The Teachers Service Team, The Youth and Family Service Team, and the Catalyst Team each held a day of meetings. At dinnertime on Monday evening, the 33 Regional Chair couples and the Catalyst Team met for an evening session, where Harliem and Vania Salim (Jakarta) and AT and Marci Arneson (Chicago) led the group in an inspirational time in the Scriptures, powerfully preaching and sharing on the topic of “Incomparable Power” from Ephesians 1.

The next morning, Vince Hawkins (Colombia, Missouri) sat the Regional Chairs and Catalyst Team (a group of about 65) in a circle and set the tone for the day with a bonding and deeply spiritual “dwelling in the Word” exercise. His reading came from Ephesians 1 and everyone engaged in active listening and self-reflection before God. The rest of the day was spent discussing a list of topics suggested by the Regional Chairs:

• Clarification of roles and terms in our current system of church governance:
  • Catalyst Team – Coordinate and catalyze;
  • Service Teams – Provide expertise, advice, advocacy;
  • Regional Family Chairmen – Represent and connect us around the world;
  • Delegates – Deliberate and decide.
• How best to partner Regional Family Chairs with one another to promote growth, unity and regional health.
• Plans for upcoming and future international conferences (global and by continental groups), including next year’s Orlando Vision Conference 2020.
• Communication – Roger Lamb, founder of Disciples Today and Chairman of our Communication Service Team, will retire next year.  Disciples Today requested collaboration with the Regional Chairs and Catalyst Team in their transition.
• Update on HOPE worldwide’s current search process for a new CEO.

Service Teams and Task Forces continued to meet throughout the day on Tuesday and Tuesday evening.  

Wednesday morning was the beginning of the Delegates Conference.  Ameer Burton, ministry intern and Masters’ theology student from LA’s Antelope Valley region led a dynamic biblical devotional on being “Alive With Christ” from Ephesians 2. The rest of the day was spent in progress reports from various Task Forces and Service Teams with time for discussion and questions after each one. Highlights included:

• Women’s Service Team – Launching a new website for ICOC women womentoday.net , and worldwide women’s webinars.
• Next Gen – Injecting more young people into our worldwide delegate structure and empowering them in their leadership
• Communication – Planning the first Global Communication Conference in Orlando 2020 to share best practices and train communicators in more effective use of the internet. Immediate goal is an explosion of “Online Evangelism.”
• Church Health and Growth – Promoting the health of ministers and health of congregations.
• Unity – The Unity Task Force is issuing a challenge for all of us to do all we can to work out any and all relational issues before we gather in Orlando
• Global Missions – Coordinating our Mission Societies. Counting up to 1000 churches (from our current 700) and counting down the countries that still remain without a church planting.

On Wednesday evening, a church builders’ workshop for all attendees began with a visionary and personal lesson by Mike and Tess Fontenot (Sydney), “The Manifold Wisdom of God Made Known,” from Ephesians 3. All day Thursday there were lessons and classes to choose from, on topics such as guiding principles for conflict resolution; instilling spiritual principles and practices in our churches; developing leaders’ use of gifts, trust and involvement; biblical preaching, teaching and inspiration.

Friday morning’s closing session included an informational update from Marshall Mead, who, along with his team and the church in Orlando is organizing next year’s Vision 2020 conference. There was clarification of any questions remaining.

Anthony Galang concluded the week with an inspiring message, “Finally Be Strong in the Lord,” from Ephesians 6, which left everyone laughing and crying and inspired by the story and practical details about the Honolulu church’s process to form and articulate its vision for the near future.

The next global ICOC leadership meeting will take place in February 2020 in Jakarta, primarily for Regional Family Chair Couples and the Catalyst Team. The goal of that meeting will be to provide an opportunity for Task Forces to work face to face and to continue work on Orlando Vision 2020.

The ICOC Women’s Service Team is comprised mostly of women’s ministry leaders who serve as Regional Family Chairpersons on the leadership team of each of our 32 regional families of churches around the world. These women choose to use a portion of their time and talents to offer additional support to our women’s ministries, as well as opportunities to connect with women from all parts of our global fellowship. Here’s a brief video update on the various activities of the WST from December 2019. 

In this 12-minute video, Michelle Cameron of Perth, Australia, narrates this summer’s update on the activities of the Women’s Service Team (WST). This report has been sent to Regional Communications Directors and Regional Family Chairpersons of all the churches in our fellowship, as of July 4th, 2020 to make use of as they see fit. 

Highlights from this report include:

• The exciting addition of three single women as regular members of the Women’s Service Team. This is the first time in the history of this committee that single women have been recruited to serve as standing members of this service team. 
• We welcome Girlie Cabadsen from the Philippines as the newest member of the Women’s Service Team. Girlie and her husband Danilo are a recent addition to the group of Regional Church Family Chairs, serving in the Asia/Pacific Continental Group. 
• Updates from each of the five task forces of the WST
• A link to a 60-second video which you may share, introducing the recently launched ICOC Women’s Website, www.womentoday.international: https://youtu.be/-6HxwEATy_k
• Some helpful instructions about how to use some of the features currently available on the women’s website
• An invitation to women who might like to volunteer and use their God-given gifts with any of these task forces. If you are a member of an ICOC church, have an interest in any of these task forces and would like to help strengthen the global women’s ministry by volunteering a few hours a month, please let your women’s minister know and feel free to reach out to us at womensserviceteam@gmail.com
• A request to “LIKE” womentoday.international on Facebook and Instagram.

COVID-19 curtailed many of the activities of our fellowship in 2020, but the Elders Service Team (EST) has been actively working to strengthen churches all around the world through this pandemic. The New Year started with more discussion on the leaders hip model adopted by our family of churches. In February, Darren Gauthier and Dan Liu attended the meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia that included the different task force representatives as well as the Regional Family Chairmen. The focus of the meeting was to appreciate and build upon the unity among us whether worldwide or regionally. The discussions in the larger gatherings at the meeting centered on remembering how we have collaborated as a fellowship under the Unity Proposal. Along with that discussion, Vince Hawkins, the Heartland chairman, spearheaded developing a concrete proposal on how to equip the regional families by providing training in conflict resolution. 

Another aspect of unity discussed at the meeting in Jakarta was the issue of the women’s roles in the churches and the teachings of the Bible. As a follow up to that, the EST and their wives reviewed the paper researched and written by the Teachers Service Team during the following months to provide feedback. A subcommittee was formed to reach out to the regional families to encourage feedback from them as to what issues would be arising concerning the women’s role. The pandemic and other concerns have taken center stage so the discussion on the women’s role has diminished somewhat, but the subcommittee is ready for whatever input may come from the different regions. 

Diversity Committee
The social and political unrest in the United States surrounding racial injustice has been a main focus for the work of the EST with the Diversity Committee. The Diversity Committee has worked with the SQUAD to help develop ideas and training to assist the churches in the United States as they face these challenges. Darren Gauthier continues to serve on the Diversity Team.

Unity Task Force
In order to help equip churches deal with issues that challenge our unity between and within our churches, the EST worked with the Unity Task Force to develop the Peacemakers Training Program. Where possible, the EST seeks to provide appropriate training to build skills for conflict resolution. The idea was first introduced in Jakarta and the program has been revised several times. It was to be taught at now postponed World Discipleship Summit, but the goal is for it to be offered online starting in early 2021. 

Sad News 

Since the last Elders Service Team report, we mourn the loss of two beloved brothers, Wyndham Shaw and Ron Brumley. Wyndham Shaw passed away after a long illness in November of 2019. Wyndham was instrumental for so much of what this committee stands for and what it desires to do for our brotherhood. We will miss his wisdom and determination to lead as ones who live by the Golden Rule as well as grow in reaching the lost. Wyndham was one of the driving forces of the book we all contributed to last year. His dream of having elderships throughout our brotherhood is so much a part of our decisions and dreams for the future. He was also instrumental in having elders from all around the world to be members of the EST so the concerns and cultures of the different regions could be considered. 

Our brother Ron Brumley passed away in October of this year after being a longtime member of this committee. Ron left a lasting legacy of biblical conviction, exemplary parenting shown in the family that he and his wife Linda raised, and influence in so many churches around the United States and the world. He combined all that with a sense of humor and wit that touched the lives of so many. The EST was able to spend some valuable moments with Ron on a Zoom call a few weeks before his passing where we could express our love and appreciation for him. 

Statement of Purpose

As the ICOC continues to evolve and the leadership format is refined in our family of churches, the EST thought it would be prudent to develop a statement of purpose that would explain our current and future objectives. After forming a subcommittee to draft the statement and having several meeting with the elders and wives, we now have a statement of purpose that will be circulated to our RFCs and service committees.

In the Future

As we enter 2021, the EST is discussing what we need to focus on in the future in order to strengthen and grow our fellowship. Led by Frank and Erica Kim, one focus will be to investigate and strengthen the family ministries in our churches to help them raise the children in the churches to do well spiritually when they grow older and are no longer in the family ministry. The creation of tools to help develop the biblical and spiritual foundation of the children ‘growing up in the church’ will be a necessary aspect of church health and growth. 

Finally, the creation of elderships in churches worldwide will always be an aspect of our work. The last few years has seen several new elderships formed and new elders added to existing elderships. The goal will always be to help mature and strengthen churches so the wisdom and faith of biblical elders can be spread through many more churches throughout the world. Directed by Al Baird, this focus is continuing to inspire men to grow in faith, wisdom and perseverance so that many more churches can mature with the addition of elders in their leadership teams. 

Members

The ICOC Women’s Service Team (WST) is made up of 17 women. We have members from each of the six inhabited continents. Among our number are nine women who serve as Regional Family Chairwomen in our church families; one woman from the Teachers’ Service Team; one woman from the Elders’ Service Team; one widow; and three single women. 

• Marci Arneson, Chicago, USA 
• Victoria Auki, Nairobi, Kenya 
• Toli Beruah, New Delhi, India 
• Gillianne Brisebois, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 
• Girlie Cabadsan, Cebu, Philippines 
• Michelle Cameron, Perth, Australia 
• Tammy Fleming, Kiev, Ukraine – Chair
• Erica Fortina, Milan, Italy 
• Sharon Gauthier, Chicago, USA 
• Kae Habel, Manila, Philippines 
• Susani Karta, Jakarta, Indonesia 
• Griselda Lua, Los Angeles, USA – Co-Chair
• Silvia Mendez, San Diego, USA 
• Rolayo Ogbonnaya, Lagos, Nigeria 
• Vania Salim, Jakarta, Indonesia 
• Saraí Serra, Buenos Aires, Argentina 
• Sirikit Umaguing, Colorado Springs, USA 

In December 2020, we reluctantly said goodbye to Michelle Cameron (Perth, Australia). Chelsea Thorne (Sydney, Australia) will take her place in January 2021. 

Mission Statement 

Our mission statement remains, “to inspire and train women servant leaders around the globe to connect and grow spiritually, and advance the gospel.” Specifically, we have been tasked by our leadership with 1) coordinating the theme for an annual global International women’s day of prayer, fasting and action in March; 2) providing and distributing leadership training resources; 3) creating new web-based resources; and 4) inspiring, raising up and connecting the next generation of young women leaders. We meet once a month as the WST and work in five task forces, collaborating with additional women from our global fellowship in those subcommittees. Following is an update from each of these five task forces. 

2020 In Review

For a detailed recap of our activity in the first half of 2020, please see our accompanying video update here.

1.International Women’s Day Task Force

Each year on March 8th, women are celebrated around the world. As a fellowship we traditionally come together in March for a day of prayer and fasting followed by a day of celebration and community service in each of our local congregations. The International Women’s Task Force has been tasked with coming up with the theme each year as we celebrate women on March 8th. For 2020, the theme was “In His Image.” Here are some encouraging examples on Instagram of some of how this theme was used last year: #inhisimageicoc.

In October 2020 we began to work on the theme for 2021. Sisters from each regional family were asked to submit their theme ideas for a vote. In December we announced to the Regional Family Chairwomen that the 2021 theme will be “For Such A Time as This.” These are Mordecai’s words to Queen Esther from the scripture in Esther 4:14. Esther is an example of a faithful woman to God. She did not remain silent, she stepped out and up, she went to God and asked others to join her in a time of prayer and fasting to save God’s people. She inspires us to take the opportunities for spiritual growth provided by the current pandemic into our celebrations of women – and all our plans – throughout 2021! 

2. Worldwide Women’s Webinars Task Force

During the first half of 2020 we held three global events: two webinars and a women’s prayer time at the beginning of the widespread Covid-19 lockdowns. Those webinars, by Dr. Mary Shapiro and Dr. Jennifer Konzen (both USA), focused on mental health, and self-care; Dr. Gill Hall (UK) and Chelsea Thorne (Australia) inspired us to keep faith and an outward focus during times of extreme hardship. These were turned into online resources which can be viewed here.

3. Crucial Conversations Task Force

We coordinated the first of our “crucial conversations” with mature single women from around the world. During the summer we had a second crucial conversation with “Seasoned Single Women” (mature singles) and created a valuable online resource based on best practices of the South East Asia or SEA Region churches. They have inspired ministries around the world to value and empower mature singles to reach those around them. Susani Karta (Jakarta) and her team were invaluable in helping the WST organize two online events which took place in July & August – one directed to those in the Eastern Hemisphere, and the second to those in the Western Hemisphere. We created a video resource from that event that can be used to share the best practices we learned from the SEA Region churches, which we hope will continue to be of great use to developing ministries in other geographic regions: Mature Singles Ministry Inspiration – Best Practices.

The Task Force then invested in organizing a crucial conversation for a group of widows spread around the world. That event taught us that there is a need for this demographic of our women’s ministries to be more consistently and regionally connected. Arrangements are being made in order to encourage this to happen more in 2021.

Speaking of the year to come, our team is looking forward to planning many more webinars and crucial conversations, addressing different needs from sisters in our fellowship of churches around the world. Our heartfelt desire is to respond to some of the harder issues that are often less spoken about or for which there seems to be limited resources.

4. Website Task Force

December 2020 marked the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Women’s Service Team’s website, www.womentoday.international. During 2020, the Website Task Force has been busy building the site, soliciting relevant and engaging content, and assembling a team of volunteers from around the world. You can meet these women at https://www.womentoday.international/about-us. 

Some of the major accomplishments of the year are:

• Introducing several new pages on the website, such as Women in Worship (a playlist of worship songs by ICOC women), Love Your Neighbor (highlighting community service activities around the world), scripture reading videos, a page with pandemic resources, and more.
• Partnering with Disciples Today to feature an excerpt and link to our blog in DT’s e-newsletter.
• One highlight of the year was a virtual celebration and information party on October 10, 2020. Our entire task force as well as Regional Family Chairs and some Regional Communication Directors from every continent attended. The event was designed to update volunteers and inform Regional Family Chairs about the latest features of the website and celebrate what God has done through the site in its first year.
• From January to December 2020, there were 14,574 new users who visited the website. The amount of time spent by the average user who visits our website is well above industry standard.
• Approximately 1500 users followed our Advent Quiet Time series, when we posted a new devotional each day from December first to December 25th, 2020.
• Our Facebook page currently has 1221 followers.
• Our Instagram page currently has 647 followers. 

5. Women’s Program at International Conferences

This task force had been actively planning for the women’s program at the now-postponed VISION international conference. For most of 2020 the members of this task force turned their energies to supporting the other task forces, and will continue to do so until work resumes on VISION 2022.

Against the backdrop of the extraordinary season of hardships we all have endured since the coronavirus impinged on all our lives, our plans, and our relationships, we on the ICOC Teachers Service Team stand in awe of the good which God has graciously empowered us and many others to accomplish in 2020.

Personnel Changes

For approximately two years Andy Fleming (Kiev, Ukraine) and Steve Staten (Chapel Hill, NC) were co-chairing the Teachers Team with Steve Kinnard (New York). Effective in December 2020, Robert Carrillo (Los Angeles) replaced Andy Fleming and Steve Staten as co-chair with Steve Kinnard. Click here for the full list of Teachers Service Team members.

The Bible and Gender 

In the fall of 2018, the Teachers Service Team assembled a task force to research biblical passages that speak to the subject of men and women in the Bible. The results of this research yielded a group of papers entitled The Bible and Gender which was completed early in 2020. Originally, this project was envisioned to be one paper. However, as the project evolved, it became evident that the task force needed to write eight papers covering nine passages of Scripture. Also, it became clear that the discussion was not about the woman’s role in marriage and the church, but it was a discussion about women and men in the image of God, marriage, ministry, culture, and biblical interpretation. These articles reflect the process of “community teaching” or “community theology.” In many ways, this methodology was the North Star of the task force, driving their process of research and writing. The final version of the paper was distributed to the Regional Chairs of our international church families in February and the published book is now available here. The Teachers Task Force on The Bible and Gender prays that this book will continue to facilitate discussions concerning this important topic across churches around the globe. 

Introducing the Teleios Journal and the Teleios Society 

Early in 2019, Gregg Marutzky, David Pocta, Steve Kinnard and others had promoted the idea of a peer-reviewed journal to address the intersection of academic theological work and discipleship. In October 2019, Alex Hunter, cofounder of the Disciples Center for Education (DCE), himself a Master of Divinity graduate of Harding University, proposed the idea of a journal to accompany the DCE vision for furthering theological education. A week later, at the fall meeting of the ICOC teachers in San Diego, the proposition was formally discussed and enthusiastically accepted. In January 2020, the DCE officially commissioned the Teleios journal project with Steve Kinnard at the helm as general editor. From April to July 2020, Steve Kinnard and the advisory board assembled an exceptional Editorial Board for Teleios with scholars from various tribes of the Stone-Campbell Movement, many from the relationships that had been cemented at the March Teachers Forum. World-renowned Crossroad Publishing agreed to publish the bi-annual journal. The first issue will arrive in inboxes and mailboxes around the world in February 2021. 

International Teaching Ministry Event 

For the first time in many years, just days ahead of the first COVID-19 lockdown in the United States, the TST held an international Teaching Ministry Conference entitled, “Conversations: Exploring the Teachers Ministry.” Remarkable was the impressive lineup of distinguished scholars and theologians from several denominations teaching alongside speakers from our own international fellowship. Approximately 160 people attended from 20 countries, including eight newly appointed Congregational Teachers from the continent of Africa. Other internationally recognized teachers were in attendance, among them, Arturo Elizarraras (Mexico), Rolan Monje (Philippines), Courtney Bailey (Jamaica), Douglas Jacoby (now residing in Scotland).

The focus of the event was an exploration of the narrative of the International Churches of Christ, past, present and future as well as discussing the practicals of how to grow individually as Christian teachers and how to create a healthy, functioning teaching ministry. The conference took place on March 6-7, 2020 at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. See more: schedule of events and list of speakers and reflections on the conference.

This year’s International Teaching Conference, Let Justice Roll, will be held on March 4-6, 2021.

Developing Teaching Ministries on Every Continent: Africa

Thanks to tremendous personal investment from several on the Teachers Service Team, the Teaching Ministry in Africa has made great strides, becoming a model for development of regional teaching ministries across our fellowship in the future. In 2020 the recognized teachers from the five regions across Africa formed their own Africa Teachers Group, chaired by Emmanuel Emeh (Lagos, Nigeria). Click here for the announcement for the first Africa Teachers Orientation Workshop, which was held in August 2020. It is our prayer that more and more of these groups will be formed in years to come.

Race Relations Task Force

A special task force of the TST was formed in the spring of 2020 to focus on improving relations between races in our churches, with a goal of developing teaching and learning tools for prospective use by leaders and church members. (See the charter at the end of this article for a list of the members of this subcommittee and more detailed information about its inspiration, aspirations and activities.) In January 2021 this task force introduced an online learning opportunity, scheduled for February 6th and 13th, 2021, for disciples on the topic of navigating race in the church. Interested participants can begin registering now at: https://milestonechurches.com/racial-justice 

Rocky Mountain School of Ministry and Theology

For the RMSMT, 2020 was a year of great growth in programs, faculty/staff, and greater outreach to the Majority World. Click here for the full update.

Renovating the Teaching Ministry website

The Teaching Ministry website for the ICOC, www.teachicoc.org, is being updated and moving to a new host, aiming for a launch date early in 2021. Coordinated by Steve Staten and Tammy Fleming, a subcommittee of the Teachers Service Team, joined by volunteers from from several different churches, are helping facilitate the transition.

ICOC Race Relations Task Force Charter – July 2020

Inspiration: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Mothers weep for their children and refusing to be comforted, for their children because they are no more” – Jeremiah 31:15.

The current unrest around North America, along with its reverberations around the world, deserves our attention. As endorsed by the Teachers Service Team (TST), this task force aims to include race relations and reconciliation as a part of a spiritual transformation process within our churches. The issues are consequential for us all in knowing Christ, understanding the body of Christ, and lordship.

It is time we endeavor where many do not want to go and offer solutions, guidance and support in a way that represents Jesus. May God show us what is his to make right and what is ours to act on as it relates to the tragedy and brokenness of race relations in our world, and may we say yes, always.

Purpose and objective: With the eventual aim of enhancing the culture of ICOC concerning race relations and reconciliation, we will assist the TST in developing teaching and learning tools for future use by leaders and church members.

Responsibilities/scope: For the next nine months, this task force is responsible for developing, coordinate, and communicate strategies necessary to implement projects, including but not limited to:

1. Customize and update this charter to clarify and confirm our responsibilities and assignments.
2. Provide TST with some guiding documents for comment, exploration, and further dissemination concerning teaching on race relations in our church context.
3. Develop some best practices for healthy conversations in churches.
4. Help provide the leadership with tools/studies to address race, racism, and its stem issues of injustice.
5. Determine our own set of success metrics, deliverables and/timelines or end-results with a collective consensus.
6. Keep the TST informed, involved, and in support of the task force’s work.
7. Assist the SCUAD (Diversity Committee) of projects they are considering.

Meeting effectiveness: The Task Force will meet at least every three weeks, depending upon their work scope. Ensure meetings are conducted purposefully and effectively through the use of:

1. Prayer/Agendas
2. Action Plans/Deliverables/Deadlines
3. Roles
4. Zoom Call Meetings

Members: Suzette Lewis (Chair), Andrew Lewis, Steve Kinnard, Steve Staten, James Becknell, Joey Harris, Robert Carrillo

“Our only hope is to march ourselves to the throne of God and in loud lament cry out the pain that lives in our souls.” – Ann Weems

Despite the drastic effects 2020 had on us all, the ICOC International Singles Service Team (ISST) was able to continue in many of the efforts it set out to accomplish for the year. As disappointing as it was to have the 2020 VISION conference postponed, and with it, the concurrent Singles Conference, one of the biggest highlights of the year was DREAM, the ISST’s virtual Singles Conference in July. With almost 3,000 disciples in attendance from all around the world, it was certainly one of our most memorable moments of the year.

The success of DREAM helped inspire singles internationally and in November 2020 the International Fellowship meetings began, spearheaded by the London singles ministry. The meetings saw over 400 singles from more 30 countries come together virtually every month for fellowship and spiritual encouragement.

The ISST is passionate about and focused on creating opportunities for singles and singles ministries to be represented, invested in and highlighted in our churches. A vision of the ISST is to help launch continental singles service teams around the world that would work in cooperation with the ISST. Alongside of those teams, they hope to continue to duplicate the North American TIP team (Training, Inspiration, and Planning) approach to the service team. The TIP team is an auxiliary team of singles across the country who serve as a sounding board, a think tank, and an implementation team for all things singles ministry.

This year Steven and Marva Small have helped begin some of that work by establishing the second TIP team in the Caribbean family of churches. The team is comprised of 22 single disciples from nine countries (pictured above).

In 2020 we also said good bye to Floyd and Tamara Grossett, who faithfully chaired the team for the last four years. In June of 2020 we welcomed Elias and Rachel Deleault (pictured above) as the new chairs.

The team is eager about the new year and faithful that it will open the door for in-person fellowship and greater opportunities to connect, encourage and inspire singles around the world.

ICOC International Singles Service Team:

• Elias & Rachel Deleault – Austin
• Steven & Marva Small – Barbados
• Mark Farney – Seattle
• Bill & Kristen Moulden – St. Louis
• Jose Ferrer – Orlando
• Larry & Kim Reed — Boston
• Bim & Nicole Towolai – New York
• Tony & Jolecia King – New York
• Sherie Gayle – Baltimore
• Pablo & Nicole Padilla – Los Angeles
• Nate & Waldina Bigbee – Texas