Welcome
to
Disciples Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
125 North Prewitt Street
Nevada, Mo.
Our church is easily accessed from the north or the south of Nevada via U.S. Highway 71 by taking the Camp Clark exit or by 54 Highway from the east or west of Nevada.
Sunday Discovery Time is for everyone beginning at 10:00 a.m. and worship beginning at 11:00 a.m.
THE CHALICE...
The chalice points to the centrality of the Lord’s Supper in the life and worship of the Disciples.
The red color of the chalice signifies vitality, spirit and sacrifice, with many people seeing within the "X" shaped Cross of St. Andrew a more traditional cross tilted as if being carried or shouldered.
What Disciples Believe:
When we worship God, we always honor the Creator by remembering his love in sending Jesus to die on the cross; we celebrate the Lord's Supper every Lord's Day morning. We understand Holy Communion as central to Christian faith and Christian worship. If we don't fellowship around Christ's Table, we feel that we haven't really worshipped.
Our practice is to baptize believers by immersion, although we gladly receive into our membership people who have been baptized in other ways. We honor all baptismal traditions.
We are ecumenical and proud of it. We believe that wherever possible, Christians need to work together across the traditions and boundaries that have so often separated us. No church is a kingdom unto itself, but part of Christ's great, universal church.
Most of all, we are devoted to Jesus, the Christ, and to the study and understanding of the Bible as a great way of life and a way to come to know Jesus. We believe that life is enriched and Christ is honored as we are faithful in Christian worship and service.
Disciples tend to be very tolerant. Whatever your ethnic or racial heritage, whatever your educational level, however immature or mature you may be as a Christian, whatever your "-ism" or "ideology," if it is your purpose to be a responsible member of the worshiping community, you will be embraced in our Disciple Christian Church.
Disciples are not Pentecostals; we are not Fundamentalists. There is no official interpretation of the meaning of Scriptures. Each church member is invited to study scripture, engage in thoughtful dialogue with others, and develop a personal understanding of the meaning of scriptures. Of course, leadership within the local church gives leadership and direction in teaching the Christian faith. Church school teachers teach; classes engage in dialogue and build new understandings; ministers preach and teach; a congregation learns and grows in faith and knowledge.
Most Disciples will see the Bible as divinely inspired by God, but not delivered through robots who simply recorded what God told them to say. Rather, scripture is a record of the interaction between God and his human children. The Bible is a beautiful and perfectly adequate revelation of God's will for our race, but it reveals a progressive revelation worked out as men and women have interacted with God and come to know him better and better. It is not, at every point, to be taken literally.
What has been called "the social gospel" is an important and authentic expression of the Christian faith. We Disciples are greatly impacted by Jesus' announcement of the nature of his ministry found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4. We work with others to feed, clothe, and house the poor and hungry and to bring reconciliation between groups where there is hatred and animosity. God calls us to be at work in his world to bring blessings and improved life circumstances. We Christians are the great light and hope of the world.
Guilt and shame are not the focus of a Disciple worship service. We Disciples realize that we are sinful humans in need of God's love and grace, but in worship we come together to praise God, affirm our faith, and encourage one another to do our best in leading the good life and in spreading the Good News of Christ. We encourage one another to mutual love and Christian service. We like to leave our place of worship with smiles on our faces, joy in our hearts, and resolve to be God's caring community and servant people.
How about the Disciples of Christ minister? The minister is looked upon as "first among equals" and is a partner in ministry with the congregation in building program to serve congregation and community. Lay people are also conceived of as Christian ministers and are equal partners with the pastor.
To summarize, Disciples are, for the most part, middle-of-the-road to liberal Christians, with a nice mix of conservative folks, all of whom manage to live together in a dynamic and creative church society. We emphasize ministering to our fellow human beings. We are orthodox Christians and believe it is vital for all people to be drawn to Jesus so that they may claim his gift of salvation.
Thinking About Making Your First Visit? Here's What to Expect...
1) A WARM WELCOME
We will be genuinely glad to have you come, so please consider doing so! We need enthusiastic participants in our congregational life.
2) COMBINATION OF TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP SERVICE
We try to make our service comfortable for everyone in attendance. We offer a combination of traditional and contemporary worship service in a relaxed environment. Many of the hymns will be familiar, although we do try to learn new ones. We tend to be rather rational and think religion is as much a matter of the mind as of the heart.
3) A BULLETIN
The bulletin guides us in our worship so everyone always know what's coming next. There is much congregational participation in worship, so the printed material in the bulletin informs everyone of his or her part.
4) TIME LIMITS
Have you ever attended a service which you thought would never end? At the Disciples Christian Church of Nevada, MO, Sunday morning worship begins at 11:00 a.m. and will last just about an hour or a few minutes longer. We respect the fact that you have busy lives and realize that most people live on some sort of a schedule; we don't think a longer worship service is necessarily better than a shorter one.
5) VERY GOOD MUSIC
Expect a wide variety of contemporary and traditional music .
6) ADEQUATE SEATING
You'll never have to worry about having to stand. We will always have room to seat you comfortably.
7) SERMONS
Our sermons are timely and relate well to the issues and concerns of our daily lives. They're thoughtfully prepared and serve to lift up the name and teachings of Jesus Christ as Lord and God as Loving Creator.
8) THE CELEBRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER EVERY SUNDAY
We believe that Christians must regularly and faithfully meditate upon Christ's death upon the Cross and upon Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Better than any other way, Holy Communion makes this possible.
9) LEADERSHIP IN WORSHIP AND CONGREGATIONAL LIFE BY EVERYONE
We believe that everyone is equal in the eyes of God. Although we strongly believe that the men of the church need deep involvement in Christian leadership, so do the women. A person's gender will not be reason for excluding a person from any role in Christ's fellowship.
10). A SENSE OF HAVING DONE WHAT GOD EXPECTS YOU TO DO...AND HAVING GLORIFIED JESUS CHRIST
If you are not a participant in the life of a Christian congregation, we invite you to visit us. The Disciples Christian Church of Nevada, MO might just be the church for you.
*****And if you're concerned about what to wear, be reassured that while some of our church family are accustomed to dressing up, some are just as comfortable in casual wear. If this describes you, then by all means please wear something casual to worship. You won't be ostracized and you won't be alone!
If this material appeals to you, please come and visit us at the Disciples Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Nevada, MO. You may find a church environment that will nourish you in the Christian faith.
Helpful Links
www.disciples.org The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
www.mid-americadisciples.org The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Mid-America
www.weekofcompassion.org Week of Compassion
www.discipleshomemissions.org Disciples Home Missions
www.disciplesworld.com DisciplesWorld magazine
www.discipleshistory.org Disciples of Christ Historical Society
Sunday Discovery Time is for everyone beginning at 10:00 a.m. and worship beginning at 11:00 a.m.
Thinking About Making Your First Visit? Here's What to Expect...
It's not always easy to enter an unfamiliar church for worship the first time, especially if one goes alone. Let's face it: that first church visit can be intimidating or uncomfortable! Most of us who have been reared in the Christian tradition, however, think that we ought to go to church; that church participation is the "right thing to do;" and that churchgoing pulls us closer to God than a morning in bed, reading the funnies, going out for brunch with friends, or even watching television church.
So we are faced with making that first visit. And I must be honest: I have visited churches where I received no greetings, no smiles, and no signs of recognition. This left me feeling cold and even unwanted.
If you're considering attending the Disciples Christian Church in Nevada, MO, let me tell you what you can expect...
1) A WARM WELCOME
We will be genuinely glad to have you come, so please consider doing so! We need enthusiastic participants in our congregational life.
2) COMBINATION OF TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP SERVICE
We try to make our service comfortable for everyone in attendance. We offer a combination of traditional and contemporary worship service in a relaxed environment. Many of the hymns will be familiar, although we do try to learn new ones. We tend to be rather rational and think religion is as much a matter of the mind as of the heart.
3) A BULLETIN
The bulletin guides us in our worship so everyone always know what's coming next. There is much congregational participation in worship, so the printed material in the bulletin informs everyone of his or her part.
4) TIME LIMITS
Have you ever attended a service which you thought would never end? At the Disciples Christian Church of Nevada, MO, Sunday morning worship begins at 11:00 a.m. and will last just about an hour or a few minutes longer. We respect the fact that you have busy lives and realize that most people live on some sort of a schedule; we don't think a longer worship service is necessarily better than a shorter one.
5) VERY GOOD MUSIC
Expect a wide variety of contemporary and traditional music accompanied by Barbara Fortney on the piano to aid our spirits skyward.
6) ADEQUATE SEATING
You'll never have to worry about having to stand. We will always have room to seat you comfortably.
7) SERMONS
Our sermons are timely and relate well to the issues and concerns of our daily lives. They're thoughtfully prepared and serve to lift up the name and teachings of Jesus Christ as Lord and God as Loving Creator.
8) THE CELEBRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER EVERY SUNDAY
We believe that Christians must regularly and faithfully meditate upon Christ's death upon the Cross and upon Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Better than any other way, Holy Communion makes this possible.
9) LEADERSHIP IN WORSHIP AND CONGREGATIONAL LIFE BY EVERYONE
We believe that everyone is equal in the eyes of God. Although we strongly believe that the men of the church need deep involvement in Christian leadership, so do the women. A person's gender will not be reason for excluding a person from any role in Christ's fellowship.
10). A SENSE OF HAVING DONE WHAT GOD EXPECTS YOU TO DO...AND HAVING GLORIFIED JESUS CHRIST
If you are not a participant in the life of a Christian congregation, we invite you to visit us. The Disciples Christian Church of Nevada, MO might just be the church for you.
*****And if you're concerned about what to wear, be reassured that while some of our church family are accustomed to dressing up, some are just as comfortable in casual wear. If this describes you, then by all means please wear something casual to worship. You won't be ostracized and you won't be alone!
Our congregation...
The Nevada, MO Disciples Christian Church is one of 4000 congregations of a small American denomination known as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) . Often simply called "Disciples," we are a Mainline Protestant Church with a moderate-to-liberal theological position. We are very much like Moderate Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, or members of the United Church of Christ. We believe that being part of a denomination helps to keep us responsible and honest as a congregation.
Our congregations are not, on the one hand, like Pentecostal or Fundamentalist churches, but on the other hand they are also not extremely liberal. I would characterize us as "middle of the road." We anticipate that there will be a variety of theological understandings within a given congregation; we take pride in our openness and ability to include people from many different backgrounds in one body. In spite of holding different understandings on some issues, we strive to live together in love and acceptance.
When we worship God, we always honor the Creator by remembering his love in sending Jesus to die on the cross; we celebrate the Lord's Supper every Lord's Day morning. We understand Holy Communion as central to Christian faith and Christian worship. If we don't fellowship around Christ's Table, we feel that we haven't really worshipped.
Our practice is to baptize believers by immersion, although we gladly receive into our membership people who have been baptized in other ways. We honor all baptismal traditions.
We are ecumenical and proud of it. We believe that wherever possible, Christians need to work together across the traditions and boundaries that have so often separated us. No church is a kingdom unto itself, but part of Christ's great, universal church.
Most of all, we are devoted to Jesus, the Christ, and to the study and understanding of the Bible as a great way of life and a way to come to know Jesus. We believe that life is enriched and Christ is honored as we are faithful in Christian worship and service.
Who We Are: The Disciples of Christ
People who participate in the life of the congregation of the Disciples Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Nevada, MO are commonly referred to as "Disciples." The Disciples are a Mainline Protestant Christian denomination. In many ways, we are like Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, or UCC's.
One thing we believe strongly is that there is only one true church -- and that is the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. All people who believe in and serve Jesus are a part of the one great church. We are not judgmental; if a group of people is comparatively orthodox in theological understandings and organized to serve our world through their commitment to Jesus Christ, they are indeed a part of Christ's church. Unfortunately, humans are by nature divisive, and therefore Christ's Church has been divided into several main branches (Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox) and many small branches. Whenever we can come together across ideological and denominational lines in love and mutual harmony to serve Jesus, it is good.
We are not the only church and we are not the one true church, but we are the church in one specific manifestation. We Disciples are always puzzled by rigid Christians who think they are the only people with the correct understandings, the only true church, the only avenue to salvation.
No one congregation is right for every person. Even as people vary greatly, so do the types of churches out there in today's American "church market." Maybe there is too much variety. The following description of what "Disciples of Christ" are like, for the most part, may help you to decide if you would be comfortable and challenged in a congregation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
There are all sorts of Disciples. Disciple congregations encourage the mixing of people of many types, backgrounds, and understandings. Some Disciples are conservative religiously and politically; many are moderate; quite a few would characterize themselves as liberal Christians. Somehow or the other, we manage to get along and to respect one another. A Disciple congregation can be an interesting and challenging laboratory for people of diverse backgrounds to work at living together in harmony in the Christian community. There can be interesting disagreements in Disciple churches, but our disagreements are lived out in a spirit of love.
Disciples honor Jesus Christ as the Divine Son of God. Because most of us are "orthodox" Christians, we see Jesus as God expressed in human flesh (the incarnation). Upon accepting Jesus as Messiah and Son of the Living God, submitting to God humbly in Christian baptism, and entering into the life of the church, God gives to a person the gift of salvation and claims a person as daughter or son in a very special way.
It is our Disciple practice to baptize persons who are old enough to believe and make a decision to be baptized. Often children decide to confess their faith between the ages of nine and thirteen. Other people make that decision only later in life. However, Disciples generally accept people who were baptized by other methods from other church backgrounds into their membership without a re-baptism. "Sprinkling," "pouring," and "christening" all represent time-honored modes of baptism in the Christian community -- and Disciples honor those traditions. Re-baptism is unnecessary and not to be encouraged.
We affirm and embrace diversity!
Disciples tend to be very tolerant. Whatever your ethnic or racial heritage, whatever your educational level, however immature or mature you may be as a Christian, whatever your "-ism" or "ideology," if it is your purpose to be a responsible member of the worshiping community, you will be embraced in our Disciple Christian Church.
Disciples are not Pentecostals; we are not Fundamentalists. There is no official interpretation of the meaning of Scriptures. Each church member is invited to study scripture, engage in thoughtful dialogue with others, and develop a personal understanding of the meaning of scriptures. Of course, leadership within the local church gives leadership and direction in teaching the Christian faith. Church school teachers teach; classes engage in dialogue and build new understandings; ministers preach and teach; a congregation learns and grows in faith and knowledge.
Most Disciples will see the Bible as divinely inspired by God, but not delivered through robots who simply recorded what God told them to say. Rather, scripture is a record of the interaction between God and his human children. The Bible is a beautiful and perfectly adequate revelation of God's will for our race, but it reveals a progressive revelation worked out as men and women have interacted with God and come to know him better and better. It is not, at every point, to be taken literally.
For instance, Disciples understand that in our day, women must have full equality with men in the leadership and ministry of the church. We believe that Jesus himself and the leaders of the early church carried the status of women far ahead of what it had been. Jesus worked among and with women in his ministry. Women undergirded his work financially, and Jesus relied on their help and provision. Paul realized there was really no difference between male and female and carried marriage to a new status. Such women as Lydia and Priscilla were central in the life and work of the early church. Therefore, women serve as pastors of congregations and elders of the church, and do so with dignity and honor. Women are not relegated simply to cooking meals, preparing communion, or teaching the children. They are in full partnership with men and youth.
Disciples certainly believe in "a personal relationship with Jesus Christ" and "being saved." For some people, their faith is a warm and emotional matter, and very personal. For others, it is more rational and intellectual, less heartfelt. However faith may be experienced, Christian faith is a good thing.
We believe that everyone needs to honor God, relate to Christ, and be a part of Christ's church. That means worshiping with the Christian community, studying and fellowshipping with Christian people, engaging in Christian service, and giving generously to undergird God's work. But Disciples also place emphasis on the importance of human life here in this world. After all, God did place us here for a reason. It is a rare Disciple who does not believe strongly that every Christian must work for fairness and justice in society.
What has been called "the social gospel" is an important and authentic expression of the Christian faith. We Disciples are greatly impacted by Jesus' announcement of the nature of his ministry found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4. We work with others to feed, clothe, and house the poor and hungry and to bring reconciliation between groups where there is hatred and animosity. God calls us to be at work in his world to bring blessings and improved life circumstances. We Christians are the great light and hope of the world.
Guilt and shame are not the focus of a Disciple worship service. We Disciples realize that we are sinful humans in need of God's love and grace, but in worship we come together to praise God, affirm our faith, and encourage one another to do our best in leading the good life and in spreading the Good News of Christ. We encourage one another to mutual love and Christian service. We like to leave our place of worship with smiles on our faces, joy in our hearts, and resolve to be God's caring community and servant people.
How about the Disciples of Christ minister? The minister is looked upon as "first among equals" and is a partner in ministry with the congregation in building program to serve congregation and community. Lay people are also conceived of as Christian ministers and are equal partners with the pastor.
To summarize, Disciples are, for the most part, middle-of-the-road to liberal Christians, with a nice mix of conservative folks, all of whom manage to live together in a dynamic and creative church society. We emphasize ministering to our fellow human beings. We are orthodox Christians and believe it is vital for all people to be drawn to Jesus so that they may claim his gift of salvation.
If this material appeals to you, please come and visit us at the Disciples Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Nevada, MO. You may find a church environment that will nourish you in the Christian faith.
Helpful Links
www.disciples.org The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
www.mid-americadisciples.org The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Mid-America
www.olaccma.org Ozark Lakes Area
www.weekofcompassion.org Week of Compassion
www.discipleshomemissions.org Disciples Home Missions
www.disciplesworld.com DisciplesWorld magazine
www.discipleshistory.org Disciples of Christ Historical Society