Inland West USA Mission Center
Inland West (USA) Mission Center
1 of 3 pp. / doc. no. 0176
the Community of Christ
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RECORD OF THE INLAND WEST (USA) MISSION CENTER - volume 1
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Gunter, Wayne L.
2003-01-01 to present
2011-11-01 (revised)
description of work: A record of the Inland West USA Mission Center of the Community of Christ, and its
members, prior to its formation on January 1, 2004, to the present.
*******
2000-2009
(Spokane District “Outreach” March 2003)
Mission Center Boundaries Set
The rest of the full-time staff will basically be
freed from administrative details so they can work
with congregations.
On January 28, 29 & 30, Keith Townsend joined
24 other jurisdictional representatives at a meeting
in Vancouver, Washington, to establish the
boundaries for mission centers. As a result of this
very intense meeting, a consensus was reached
and the following 2 mission center boundaries set.
While our mission center extends from the
Cascades east to Minot, North Dakota, and covers
a vast geographical area, it also opens up some
tremendous opportunities to nurture new
relationships
while
maintaining
those
relationships that have developed over the years in
our district.
One mission center will replace the districts of
Spokane,
Central
Washington,
Boise,
Intermountain (Utah & SE Idaho), Western
Montana and Northern Plains (Eastern Montana &
Western North Dakota).
There will be 37
congregations in this center.
The next step is the naming of a design team to
work out the details, such as location of the center
and conferences, how conferences will be
organized, etc.
The final plan should be
submitted to the World Church Leadership
Council for approval in September.
The second mission center will replace the Seattle
Stake, Alaska area, and the districts of Southwest
Washington, Northwest Oregon and Southern
Oregon. There will be about 39 congregations
within these boundaries.
(Spokane District “Outreach” June 2003)
Mission Center Update
Keith Townsend
A number of factors were considered in reaching
this consensus, including input from the value
setting sessions that were held in each
congregation. A major concern was the ration of
full-time ministers to congregations, since the
purpose of the mission centers is to better support
and serve the congregations. Each center will
have 2 administrative positions, the president and
a financial officer. It is very possible that the
same financial officer will serve both centers.
The “East” Mission Center design team has met
three times since March 20 to discuss issues
regarding the center’s organization and operation.
The team consists of the district presidents and
financial officers of the Spokane, Central
Washington,
Boise,
Western
Montana,
Intermountain (Utah), and Northern Plains
District, plus regional administrators Terry Read
and Dave Long. Because of the huge geographical
area involved, all of the meetings have taken place
through telephone conference calls. At the second
meeting the team approved a draft field
Inland West USA Mission Center
Inland West (USA) Mission Center
2 of 3 pp. / doc. no. 0176
organization proposal, which has been submitted
to the World Church Leadership Team for
approval and comment. Here are some of the
main items discussed by the team so far.
1) The proposed timeline currently calls
for the final proposal for mission center
organization to be submitted to World Church in
August and the first MC organizational
conference to be held on November 1, 2003. A
final decision on the timeline will not be made
until the World Church responds to the draft
proposal.
2) Much of the team’s time has been spent
reviewing three different draft budgets that have
been submitted and discussing how the MC will
be funded. This is seen as one of our major, and
most difficult, tasks. So far, no less than five
formulas
for
determining
congregational
assessments have been reviewed.
will be a major agenda item at our May 29
meeting.
(Inland West Mission Center Newsletter,
Spring 2004, v.l, no.1)
Mission Center Staff
Mission Center President
Terry Read
1015 W. Bolan
Spokane, WA 99224
(509) 443-8999
[email protected]
Mission Center Financial Officer
Dave Long
1213 Babcock Blvd
Billings, MT 5910
(406) 252-9958
[email protected]
3) A list of possible names for the center
has been narrowed to three and a final
recommendation will probably be made at the
next meeting.
Mission Center Executive Assistant
Jennifer Brock Olson
1116 E 43rd Ave.
Spokane, WA 99203
(509) 220-4007
[email protected]
4) The draft proposal was based on the
original determination that both the “West” and
“East” Mission Centers would share the same
financial officer. At the last meeting we were
informed that our center will now have its own
financial officer, which will ease the burden of the
MC president, considerably.
Congregational Support Minister
Linda Read
1015 W. Bolan Ave.
Spokane, WA 99224
(509) 443-8999
[email protected]
5) Many other items such as how reunions
will be handled, congregation cluster groups,
campground administration, conferences, staffing,
and communications have also been discussed.
At the last meeting, it was determined that all
congregations in the mission center should be
given the opportunity to participate in a survey
regarding some important issues that will
influence the team’s future decisions. The survey
form was approved and was mailed to all pastors.
The pastors reproduced the form and had every
member in attendance on May 11 take a few
minutes to complete it. The results of the survey
Congregational Support Minister
JoAnn Fisher
17 Fishers Lane
Boise, ID 83716
(208) 392-4595
[email protected]
Salt Lake City Pastor & CSM
Russell Shipley
1953 Curtis Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84121
(801) 453-0903
[email protected]
Inland West USA Mission Center
Inland West (USA) Mission Center
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Billings Community of Christ Center
Frank Young, Pastor & CSM
2045 Beverly Hill Blvd
Billings, MT 59102
(406) 656-8301
[email protected]
Carolyn Tew, Associate Pastor
315 S. 35t St.
Billings, MT 59101
(406) 896-8212
[email protected]
Volunteer Missionary Coordinator
Sherry Long
1213 Babcock Blvd
Billings, MT 5910
(406) 252-9958
[email protected]
Volunteer Congregational Support Staff
Sally Stecher
216 S. Ray St.
Spokane, WA 99202-4951
(509) 534-7847
[email protected]
Carol Ann Reiff
PO Box 339
Whitehall, MT 59795
(406) 287-5510
[email protected]
Inland West 2004 Dates
Mar. 5-7 … First Annual “Hunger Challenge”
Youth Fast & Retreats (Boise &
Spokane)
6-7 … I-West Mission Center Gathering
(Pocatello, ID; guest ministry:
Russell Shipley)
12-13 …“Homosexuality and the Church”
(Spokane, WA; facilitators: Sharon
Troyer & Terry Read)
27-Apr. 4 … World Conference (Independence,
MO)
Jun.
4-6 … Kids Camp (Red Cliffe,
Huntsville, UT; contact: Glen
Bruch)
11-13 … Primary Camp (Idaho City, ID;
director: JoAnn Fisher)
11-13 … Primary Camp (Cheney, WA;
contact: Linda Read)
18-24 … Echo Valley Reunion (Avon, MT;
director: Carol Ann & Terry Reiff)
19-26 … Samish Island Reunion (Bow,
WA; directors: Sally Stecher,
Dennis Amos; guest ministry:
Peter & Kris Judd, Linda Read,
Dave & Sherry Long)
Jul. 1-5 … Cascade Reunion (Cascade, ID;
director: JoAnn Fisher; guest
ministry: Dave & Dustee
Heinze)
3-10 …Red Cliffe Reunion (Huntsville,
UT; contact: Glen Bruch;
ministry: Terry Read & Russell
Shipley)
14-18 …Kids Kamp (Cascade, ID; contacts:
JoAnn Fisher & Linda Read)
21-31 …Northwest SPEC (Independence,
MO & Lamoni, IA)
Aug. 1-6 …Congregational Leader’s Workshop
(Lamoni, IA)
3-8 …Cascade Youth Camp (Cascade,
ID; contacts: JoAnn Fisher &
Linda Read)
11-15 …Echo Valley Junior/Junior High
Camp (Avon, MT; contact Walt
McIntosh)
Sep. 17-19…Echo Valley Priesthood Retreat
(Avon, MT; director: Evelyn
Richard; guest ministry: Tony
& Charmaine Chvala-Smith)
Oct. 23-24 …Inland West USA MC Conference