Resourcing our Pastors and Churches

by Ron Hamilton, Conference Minister

In preparation for the 65th anniversary celebration of the CCCC, I have been reading some of the early issues of The Congregational Christian Beacon. This newsletter laid the foundation for the beginning of our Conference, which was officially formed in 1948. The CCCC will celebrate its 65th anniversary at the 2013 annual meeting to be held in St. Paul, Minnesota on July 22–25. These are exciting days to celebrate the Lord’s work in our fellowship and to envision His work through us in the future.

The November 1942 edition of The Beacon included the announcement provided by Dr. H.B. Sandine, of the development of The Extension Department. The announcement begins with these words,

Many requests have come during the past year from busy pastors and churches for suggestions and assistance in securing evangelists and Bible teachers for special meetings and conferences. Moreover, we have desired to give to The Congregational Christian Beacon, insofar as possible, an outreaching and far-reaching ministry. Hence for these two reasons, we are setting up this Extension Department, whose sole purpose will be to assist our Congregational and Christian Churches.

This announcement brings to mind some of our recent efforts to resource our pastors and churches. We have developed a ministry of Conference Care to encourage our pastors and churches as they face challenging and trying circumstances. Our Church Development process is designed for “developing CCCC pastors and churches through whom the life of Christ flows to their local communities.” The mission of our Church Multiplication work is “To birth and develop healthy, reproducing churches by resourcing CCCC pastors and churches.”

From its inception, the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference has worked to come alongside our pastors and churches to encourage them in their ministries and invite them to participate in the larger work of building God’s kingdom. While the context of ministry has changed dramatically in the past 65 years, the work of the Conference to assist our pastors and churches has remained constant. While helpful ministries are provided for our membership, each pastor and church is free to become involved in a way that best suits their ministry.

We have set out a vision for the CCCC to become “A Community that Lives out a Shared Life and Shared Mission.” Many of our member pastors and churches are being encouraged and are finding practical help in their service of our Lord Jesus Christ in this generation. I believe that Dr. Sandine would highly approve of our current efforts and see them aligning with the purpose of the Conference as it was developed in the 1940s.