Douglass Blvd Christian Church

an open and affirming community of faith

2005 Douglass Blvd

(502) 452-2629

n open and affirming community where faith is questioned and formed, as relationships are made and upheld. 

Saving a soul from death (James 5:13-20)

September 20, 2015  /  DBCC

According to James, we’re not called to believe the right things, say the right things, have the right bumper stickers on our cars. According to James, our job is live like Jesus.

Simple. Do the things of Christ and people will see Christ. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, bind up the broken-hearted, give voice to those who have no voice, sing with those who sing, mourn with those who mourn, heal the sick, pray and cry and laugh and confess your sins to one another—because Lord knows we’ve all got plenty to confess. And the miracle of it is, when the church begins to act like Jesus—it’s its own best advertisement.

(He's back.)

Subscribe to us on iTunes!

Sermon Text: web

Getting In Shape (Mark 8:27-33)

September 15, 2015  /  Geoff Wallace

image.jpg

Story keeps us connected, teaches us, saves us repeating mistakes and creates space for relationship. When we hear, really listen to another’s experience, we can begin to see our own story—the shape of our life with new ears, new eyes.

Subscribe to us on iTunes!

Sermon Text: Web

Telling Our Story: A Few Questions to Get Us Thinking

September 08, 2015  /  DBCC

By Derek Penwell

As I write, I'm headed to Denver on the final leg of this sabbatical journey. It's been a wonderful summer, and I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity, both by the Lilly Foundation and the good folks at DBCC. Thank you.

As you know, I've been thinking a lot about story and plot this summer. In particular, I've wondered about how we can tell DBCC's story over the past eight years. I know you all have also been doing work on the kinds of changes that have occurred, and how those changes fit into a coherent narrative. Done well, storytelling is a difficult but extraordinarily gratifying task. I want to thank you for the time you've invested in this process.

Earlier this summer I wrote about the heart of narrative–conflict. Conflict not in the sense of fighting other people (although that too is a part of narrative conflict), but in the sense of two sometimes opposing forces: desire and obstacle. All good stories have some version of conflict. The protagonist wants something (e.g., to find love, to get back home, to survive tragedy, to discover something new, to find meaning, etc.) but is prevented from realizing the yearning by some external or internal obstacle (e.g., a competitor for the beloved's affections emerges, a mugging results in a lost wallet and passport, food and water supplies threaten to run out, the mathematical calculations fall short, a troubled past gets in the way of carving out a new future, etc.).

I challenged you to think about DBCC's desire (i.e., what has driven us?), and what kind of obstacles have arisen to make the journey more difficult. I'd like for us to have a discussion about that when I return, because (at least in my own thinking) this is a promising way of thinking about our story–both what has already happened, and what kind of things we might think of doing moving forward. 

Perhaps a way to “prime the pump” as you reflect is for me to offer a few questions:

  1. What kinds of things have we been most afraid of as a congregation?
  2. Have we dealt with the root causes of those fears? If so, how? If not, why not?
  3. What kinds of things do we consider victories?
  4. What kinds of things have proved the most challenging?
  5. Which of the speakers this summer helped you think about your faith or the life of the church differently? Why?
  6. What kinds of ideas did the speakers evoke in you that might be worth thinking more about as we think about the future?
  7. If your thinking about DBCC has changed over the course of the summer, how has it changed?

You may think of more questions. What I hope this does is help us to consider the path our journey has taken, and where we think we're poised to go next.

I find this to be such an exciting opportunity, and I hope you've been stimulated by the broad range of speakers, the loving attention provided by Candasu, and the steady administration of the staff. I can't wait to see you next week!

Personal Piety (Mark 7:1-23)

August 30, 2015  /  DBCC

The problem comes when we allow our desire for control over our lives to guide us instead of allowing God’s word, which tells us to love one another and pray for our enemies and feed the hungry and visit those in prison, to guide us. The next thing you know, we’ve taken actions that started out as merely convenient, or which supported our desires, and made them into rules to live by. Eventually those rules were codified and we began to remember them as coming straight from God’s lips.

Modern people didn’t start that fire. The problem of teaching human precepts as doctrines is an old problem – thousands of years old. That’s what was behind the argument in this passage from Mark.

Subscribe to us on iTunes!

Sermon Text: doc | web

The Impossible Gift

August 23, 2015  /  DBCC

Welcoming Phil Snider as our last guest in the Telling Our Story series. Among other things, Phil is here to tell us what God looks like in a post-modern world. How should we encounter God? How should we talk about God?

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. -- attributed to Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Subscribe to us on iTunes!

Praying for Wisdom (1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14)

August 16, 2015  /  DBCC

Brandon Gilvin delivers a message of reflection on our role in bending the moral arc of the universe toward justice.

We flubbed the first ninety seconds. Just imagine the most detailed and nostalgic description of the later referenced "Girl in the Sonic Youth T-Shirt".

Subscribe to us on iTunes!

The Discipline of Reconciliation (Psalm 34:1-8)

August 10, 2015  /  DBCC

Welcome, April!

The discipline of Reconciliation is a new spiritual discipline to many of us in the repertoire of prayer, silence, solitude and confession. The Discipline of Reconciliation is disposition - a way of being that we are to cultivate every day.

It requires that we be still. Stillness opens us up to discernment of God’s will.

It requires that we listen to God and to God’s voice through others. It also requires that we push ourselves through our discomfort in order that we break through fear and anxiety while we are waiting on our own break-through.

Subscribe to us on iTunes!

Sermon Text: Document | Web

Telling Our Story: April Johnson (August 8-9)

August 04, 2015  /  Geoff Wallace

image.jpg

About April

Rev. April G. Johnson serves as the Minister of Reconciliation for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. She brings to this work a deep passion for racial understanding, justice and compassion. As Minister of Reconciliation, Rev. Johnson facilitates the church-wide process of awareness, analysis and action toward healing the fractures in the body of Christ that are caused by systemic racism. She collaborates with organizer trainers, regional and congregational staff leadership, anti-racism teams and ecumenical partners in her efforts to guide this work. Rev. Johnson has added mediation to the toolbox of Anti-Racism skills and practices in the church’s pursuit to embody a Pro-Reconciling identity. In her capacity as both pastor and administrator, Rev. Johnson emphasizes the importance of relationship-building across differences as one of the critical ways that we actualize God’s plan for humanity and creation.

Before coming to the Disciples’ Center, Rev. Johnson served at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois as Assistant Dean of Students /Director of Diversity Services and as Associate College Chaplain. During her tenure at the College, Rev. Johnson provided leadership in developing a campus climate of welcome and inclusion. She also led several cross-cultural short-term service-learning opportunities for students in Belize, Central America and Kenya, East Africa. It was the joy of her ministry at the College to accompany young adults as they discovered their global connectedness and as they enhanced their intercultural competencies.

She received her Bachelors of Arts from the University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana and her Masters of Divinity from Howard University in Washington, DC. While at Howard, she was the Assistant to the Editor for the Journal of Religious Thought and the editor of the school’s weekly student-staff newsletter-The Weekly Word. She enjoys writing, travel and is hopeful to return to playing golf. Rev. Johnson is a native of Chicago, Illinois.

April's Stuff

Schedule of Events

Saturday, August 7

  • 2-4pm Workshop in DBCC Lounge

Sunday

  • 9:45-10:45 Sunday School
  • 11-12:30 Service w/ Sermon from Rev. Johnson

More Details TBA

Voice of the People

August 04, 2015  /  DBCC

Delivered on July 26 by Brian Cubbage, Elder

Merciful, loving, and gracious God,

We are people of the Way, and we are on your way. But we have sought protection and salvation by taking on the trappings of Empire—its stories, its timetables, its tokens of power.

May we begin to prepare your new way. May we gather together to tell a new story: a story of liberation to captives. May our loins remain girded and our staves in hand. Help us to remain vigilant even as we tire. Help us to learn to carry with us only what we need.

We lift up in joy the birth of William Francis Carter, newborn son of Ben and Sarah Carter. May your love surround him as his life among us begins.

This day we pray for all those members and friends of our community of faith who have need.

We pray for all, in our community and in our nation, who suffer from police and state violence and the injustice of mass incarceration. We pray especially for the friends and family of Sandra Bland of Naperville, Illinois, who died in official custody in Hempstead, Texas on July 13.

We pray for all of those who endure the hatred and oppression of others on account of their race; their ethnicity; their nationality; their gender expression; their sexual orientation; their religion. We pray especially for transgender and gender nonconforming persons, who face heightened risks of violence. We lift up especially in prayer the family and friends of India Clarke, murdered this week, and the tenth transgender woman to be murdered in the United States this year.

We pray finally for all those whose joys and woes and needs are known only to you, God, that you may shelter those deep within your heart.

It is in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.

tags / peace, Prayer

Telling Our Story: Sandhya Jha (August 1-2)

July 28, 2015  /  DBCC

Sandhya Jha

Sandhya Jha

When we talk about equity and buildings, we're usually talking about the profit we can generate. What is exciting about being a community grounded in the prophetic vision of the bible is that we get the chance to evaluate our buildings in terms of the OTHER type of equity -- how might our physical structures be used to create Beloved Community in our neighborhoods, maybe even aspiring to create God's kingdom on earth as it is in heaven? Sandhya Jha will share the story of First Christian Church of Oakland's journey to turning their 40,000 square foot building (with 40 years of deferred maintenance) into a collective of 40 different organizations working to create peace in the city of Oakland. She will also share the stories of other congregations she has worked with through the New Beginnings program of the Disciples of Christ who are using their buildings to create equity in innovative ways.

About Sandhya

Sandhya Jha serves as founder and director of the Oakland Peace Center, a collective of 40 organizations creating access, equity and dignity for all in Oakland and the Bay Area. She also serves as Director of Interfaith Programs for East Bay Housing Organizations, where she organizes faith communities to advocate for housing as a human right and spiritual mandate throughout California’s Bay Area. Former pastor of First Christian Church of Oakland and former regional staff with Christian Churches of Northern California-Nevada, Sandhya is the author of Room at the Table, the history of people of color in the Disciples of Christ, and Pre-Post-Racial America: Spiritual Stories from the Front Lines on the subject of race and spirituality in America. She serves as a consultant with Hope Partnership and an anti-racism/anti-oppression trainer with Reconciliation Ministries for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She is a faith-rooted organizer with Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity (formerly Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice – CA) and is particularly proud of her podcast, Hope from the Hood.

Sandhja's stuff

Schedule of Events

Saturday

Workshop: Building Beloved Community through Building Use 11am-1pm

Sunday

Sunday School 9:45-10:45am Sermon 11am

More about Telling Our Story

Telling our story: Jon L. Berquist (July 26)

July 21, 2015  /  Geoff Wallace

About Dr. Berquist

Jon L. Berquist is President of Disciples Seminary Foundation, which serves as the Disciples’ presence in theological education on the West Coast. He also serves as Professor of Hebrew Bible at Claremont School of Theology and Visiting Professor of Old Testament at San Francisco Theological Seminary. He is an ordained minister with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), with a bachelor’s degree from Northwest Christian University, in Eugene, Oregon, and a Ph.D. in Old Testament from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He has taught at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as well as several other seminaries, including Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He is also the author or editor of a dozen books in biblical studies and theology, including Reclaiming Her Story: The Witness of Women in the Old Testament, and Judaism in Persia’s Shadow: A Social and Historical Approach. Jon and his wife, Rev. Sally Willis-Watkins, live in southern California.

Disciples Seminary Foundation works with seven regions of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and four partner schools in Washington and California to provide excellent, accessible, and thoroughly Disciples theological education and ministerial formation. DSF mentors and educates more Disciples ministry students than any other seminary, and also offers certificate education for Spanish-speaking ministry. We are committed to leadership for the diverse, innovative, and spiritually vibrant ministry that our churches – and our world – need now.

Schedule of events

9:45 am Sunday School Hour- Jon will update us on happenings from the 2015 General Assembly and also speak about immigration.

11:00 am - Preaching during worship hour

12:30 pm - Workshop on Leadership in Lounge under sanctuary. Light lunch to be served

One of us (Mark 6:1-13)

July 06, 2015  /  DBCC

CandiVernon-podcast.jpg

I’ve been rejected because people did not like what I had to say, or the way I said it, or to whom I was talking in the first place. I’ve preached sermons that congregations did not want to hear because I told them the truth. They were sinners. So are you. So am I. And the bottom line is that God is not going to make the world a better place for us. God doesn’t even want to change the world. God wants to change us.

Subscribe to us on iTunes!

Sermon Text

Telling Our Story: Audrey & Margot Connor (July 11-12)

July 02, 2015  /  DBCC

About Audrey

Audrey Connor

Audrey Connor

Rev. Audrey Connor is a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) minister who has served as an associate pastor and Family Life Minister in Knoxville, Tennessee and Lynchburg, Virginia respectively.  She served as the Disciples of Christ national advocacy organization, GLAD Alliance’s board from 2009 to 2013.  And organized the GLAD Easter Writing Project in years 2013 and 2014.  Audrey is also an avid lover of problem solving and teaches math in Tuscon, Arizona where she lives with her wife, two dogs, and two cats.

About Margot

Margot Connor

Margot Connor

Rev. Margot Connor is a retired minister in the Christian Church Disciples of Christ who served as pastor to First Christian Church Bowling Green, Ohio and Karl Road Christian Church in Columbus, Ohio. She is a spiritual director, retreat leader and Reiki practitioner. She is also mother of three, grandmother of five and most important, Audrey’s mother! She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband Chuck and their puppy Ginger.

Schedule of events:

Saturday

Living in the Tension: What does it look like to live in the space with the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender community and the church?

10:30-12 Listening to God’s voice: Breaking down the barriers that keep us from hearing God’s call in our midst.

Noon lunch break 1:00-2:00 Listening to the Voices of the Unheard: Breaking the barriers that keep us from hearing others.

Sunday

Sunday School: Developing Strategies of bringing our voices out in the world: Breaking down the barriers that keep us from sharing our stories with others

Sermon: Do I Have to go into the Wilderness? Mark 1:9-17

Tweeting the Mighty Deeds of God (Psalm 30)

June 28, 2015  /  DBCC

Steve Knight

Steve Knight

The real revolution of social media is that it revealed the social layer in the fabric of the Web that was always there, but was not visible before. In that sense, social media has been, as my friend Anthony Smith (@PostmoderNegro on Twitter) would call, “apocalyptic” – it has been a prophetic revelation. Now, I don’t mean “prophetic” in the sense of the Book of Revelation and “the End Times.” I’m using the word “prophetic” here more like Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann uses it in his book The Prophetic Imagination. For Brueggemann, being “prophetic” is about translating between the world as it is and the world as it might be.

So, Steve was with us this week. It was pretty cool.

Subscribe to us on iTunes!

Sermon Text

Telling Our Story: Steve Knight (Jun 27-28)

June 21, 2015  /  DBCC

The Web, Social Media, and Storytelling

About Steve

Steve Knight

Steve Knight

Steve Knight is director of marketing and sales for Chalice Press. He is also co-founder of Transform Network and co-lead minister of Open Hearts Gathering. Steve is the former manager of the Internet division for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, who futurist Leonard Sweet once called “the Grand Master of New Media.” He lives with his three children in Gastonia, NC (just outside of Charlotte).

Workshop

Come and learn about the latest social media and digital storytelling tools and how to use them effectively in whatever your context may be (business/non-profit/ministry/church). This is a free workshop, open to the public. All are welcome! Bring your questions and your ideas and let's have some fun talking Web stuff together.

Sermon

The Web is only 26 years old. Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are all less than 12 years old. But they've changed (and are changing) our worlds. How should we then live in the digital age? And what is the amazing opportunity we all have each and every day that the Web can enable in new and powerful ways?

Check him out on Twitter @knightopia.

Schedule of events

Steve Knight (@knightopia) is joining Douglass Boulevard Christian Church next weekend for a 24-hour blitz of workshops, brainstorming sessions, sermons, and fun.

Saturday

4:30-6:00 Using Social Media to Tell Your Organization's Story

Douglass Boulevard Christian Church, 2005 Douglass Boulevard

Come and learn about the latest social media and digital storytelling tools and how to use them effectively in whatever your context may be (business/non-profit/ministry/church). This is a free workshop, open to the public. All are welcome! Bring your questions and your ideas and let's have some fun talking Web stuff together.

6:00 Dinner and Drinks at North End Café (2116 Bardstown Road)

Welcome Steve to Louisville and continue (or join) the conversation about social media storytelling. Everyone is welcome.

Sunday

9:45-10:45

During Sunday School we will explore what stories we want to tell as a church and how we might use pictures, text, audio, and video to tell those stories and connect with others online. It will be more fun than it sounds and everyone is welcome.

11:00

Worship with DBCC. Steve will be preaching a sermon called, "Tweeting the Mighty Deeds of God". Everyone is welcome.

12:00 Technology Help Desk

Want to tweet but don't know how? Want to create a Facebook event, but don't want to screw it up? Don't know how to back up the contacts on your phone to your computer? Stop by our Help Desk, staffed by young people and nerds, and up your online game.

The Canaries are Singing: Why Youth and Young Adult Ministry Matter

June 19, 2015  /  DBCC

Saturday, June 20th, 10am-noon at DBCC

Join us for a workshop and conversation with Rev. Julie Richardson regarding youth and young adult ministry. Our time with Julie will include some discussion about why it is we do youth ministry at all, how it can serve as a barometer of the church as a whole, how we approach from a relational and congregation-wide perspective, and what some avenues might be for a wider and more effective reach when it comes to youth and young adult ministry in the city of Louisville. Youth, young adults, parents and church leaders are encouraged to come ready to engage in conversation, ask questions and envision a story for the ongoing youth and youth adult ministries at DBCC.