What’s Next for the Disciples Care Exchange

by Rev. Monica Wedlock Kilpatrick

Photo: Several health and social service ministry partners gathered for a mission activity at Florida Christian Center, participant in the Disciples Care Exchange, as part of the Disciples Development Conference in Jacksonville, FL, in January.

As we reflect on the past 12 months, we are thankful for the connections we have made with the nearly 40 ministries participating in the Disciples Care Exchange. We deeply value the longstanding work they do as the health and social service arm of our Disciples church.

As the director of the Disciples Care Exchange (DCE), this year has been an opportunity for me to visit with many of our partners, listen to their joys and challenges, share their work with churches, regions, and the general church, and envision a way forward to further support them through the DCE. To that end, our NBA and Disciples Home Missions (DHM) staff partners have outlined a number of new opportunities we would like to explore in 2016 to further enhance, encourage, and illuminate the partners of the DCE. Our goals for 2016 are: connecting, resourcing, and amplifying voices across the church.

Connecting – Develop a private Facebook group specifically for Disciples Care Exchange partners for peer-to-peer information sharing and crowd-sourcing, sharing of announcements and notifications regarding external resources that may be helpful to one another, and regular contact with like-minded individuals in the ministry of health and social services. Create a monthly email campaign featuring blog articles written by our DCE partners; we seek to share blogs that tell stories highlighting happenings with these ministries, as well as general and special topics related to the realities of working with certain populations, what it means to lead a Disciples-related health and social service ministry, and Disciples emerging ministries.

Resourcing – Offer periodic workshops/webinars and access to training opportunities throughout the year geared specifically toward you and your organizations’ needs, such as Marketing and Communication and Basics in the Role of a Governance Board. We recently hosted a gathering with several partners during the 2016 Disciples Development Conference.

Amplifying Voices – We have already made significant strides in this area through our NBA and DHM resources and networks, including NBA’s Ministry Spotlight monthly email and our new Ministry Impact Report. And staff from NBA and DHM are regularly carrying stories into churches and regions all over, proclaiming the good news of Disciples health and social service ministries.

Last but not least, we are planning to pilot a community of practice for a small group of executives who will commit to gathering regularly for a designated period of time, in which they will share common experiences and challenges associated with their particular work in leading a health and social service ministry. The group will develop its own agenda and will be provided support from the DCE to meet mutually agreed upon goals. Assuming a successful launch of this pilot group, we look to begin other communities of practice for other interest areas.

We are hopeful that 2016 will be an active and exciting year for the Disciples Care Exchange! We look forward to visiting and coming alongside our partners as they continue to create communities of compassion and care for the Disciples church and God’s global community!

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In the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the ministries of health and social services have been core to our Disciples identity and faith. The National Benevolent Association (NBA) supports a network of care providers – the Disciples Care Exchange. Contact mkilpatrick@nbacares.org to learn more.