On August 1-3, hundreds and even thousands of disciples streamed to Providence, Rhode Island, from all around New England. Event chairman Tom Caswell from Worcester, and his committee, brought in an amazing array of speakers from near and far including Shawn Wooten (Ukraine), AT and Marci Arneson (Chicago), David and Robin Weidner (Boise, Idaho) and more.
On Saturday morning, a large wave of Christians began to flow in to the Rhode Island Convention Center. Powerful singing, overseen by Boston Church of Christ worship leader Tony Martin, would be a hallmark of the event and kicked off each session. Shawn Wooten’s keynote address walked through the book of Jeremiah and directed us to his 1.) Great Call – Jeremiah 1:4-8 2.) Great Love – Jeremiah 2:1-2 3.) Perseverance – Jeremiah 5:1ff 4.) Great Responsibility – Jeremiah 20:7-9 and 5.) Great Vision – Jeremiah 29:10-13.
Following a lunch break of fellowship and food, the disciples split up among numerous classes. Topics inlcuded purity, marriage, parenting, career, nutrition, worship, and dealing with pain and suffering; every disciple was able to find places where he or she could be encouraged, challenged and moved forward in life.
Saturday was far from finished after supper and classes. A jazz coffee house and a dance kept many moving and smiling into the late hours of the night.
Sunday’s schedule was different from past conferences. Instead of closing out with a Sunday morning service, the entire day was used. On Sunday morning, the men were inspired by AT Arneson – his vulnerability, amusing stories and Biblical convictions. After the men’s class the sisters came in to hear from Marci, his wife. She pointed people to our Savior and preached inspirationally, “Jesus, My Power to Become.”
Each main session also contained a “miracle story video.” Some of the long-lasting memories will be from these jaw-dropping testimonies of men and women turning from Muslims to Christians, atheists to believers and broken families being reunited stronger and better than ever. Stay tuned to see them on Disciples Today in the coming weeks!
On Sunday afternoon, the closing ceremonies began with around 3,000 attendees. Again, singing filled the hall and hearts were moved and stirred. Douglas Arthur, evangelist of the Boston Church of Christ, emceed the entire weekend with humor and grace. He walked us through the afternoon. Joe and Annie Silipo from Hartford (returning missionaries from Milan, Italy) shared prior to our taking of communion. avier Amaya, Boston Spanish Region evangelist, who had been baptized over 30 years ago in Providence while attending Brown University, prayed us into contribution.
And then, all of the elders from around New England gathered on the stage. Cash and Maria McHargue and their two kids joined them, as they are headed out to lead the church in Madrid, Spain. The entire Providence mission team, numbering about 35 disciples with 20 kids or so, finally enveloped the rest of the standing-room-only stage. The elders then laid their hands on those to be sent and three led prayers (Wyndham Shaw and Clarence Webster from Boston and Lincoln Gifford from Hartford, who has a son on the Providence team).
After one more song, Jimmy Allen, the Ocean State Church of Christ minister, preached “Everything is Possible: All God Needs Is a Pizza Box.” From the primary text of II Kings 4:1-7, he proclaimed that 1.) Everything Bad You Can Imagine is Possible and 2.) Everything Good You Can Imagine Is Possible. Mixed in with throwing water and accepting a pizza delivery, Jimmy stood on a stage surrounded by pots and pans to visually illustrate that God wants to fill every vessel He can to overflowing so that more and more of His oil can spread around the world!
The close out featured our conference theme song, “Everything is Possible,” and two guest disciple rappers. Christians and friends lingered late into the afternoon laughing, talking, sharing and dreaming of what God will do in the coming weeks and years.
Special thanks goes out to all who played an integral part in planning and executing the details of this enormous labor of love. Now, it is our commission to live out the message of Jesus as His jars of clay in whatever city we headed back to.
Shared from Greater Hartford Church of Christ.
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