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Founder of Open & Affirming Ministry Program Called as Regional Minister

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Founder of Open & Affirming Ministry Program Called as Regional Minister

On June 15 Rev. Allen V. Harris, 52, will begin as the Regional Minister for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Capital Area. Allen served on one of the very first GLAD Alliance Councils, was the founding editor of this newsletter, Crossbeams, and served with Rev. Laurie Rudel as the first co-developers of the Open & Affirming Ministrys Program of the GLAD Alliance. Allen, along with his husband, Rev. Craig Hoffman, have been longtime supporters and participants in both the GLAD Alliance and the Open And Affirming Coalition of the United Church of Christ.

To his new ministry Allen brings to the position his strong pastoral skills, having served for a decade at the Park Avenue Christian Church in New York City where he was ordained into ministry in 1991. He is now completing fourteen years at Franklin Circle Christian Church in Cleveland, OH, as Senior Pastor. He helped to lead both congregations through the process of becoming Open & Affirming. At Franklin Circle Christian Church the Open & Affirming process was intricately linked with the congregation committing itself to being an Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation and an Accessible congregation.

When asked to share about his new ministry, Allen clearly has been doing his homework, sharing of the following information with Crossbeams:

The Capital Area of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), one of the 32 Disciples Regions, includes all of Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, and a small portion of Northern Virginia and the panhandle of West Virginia. The Regional Offices are located in North Chevy Chase, Maryland. The Region also encompasses two camps and conference centers, Camp Mary Mac in western Maryland and the Christian Church Conference Center at Bethany Beach, Delaware. Included in Allen’s ministry will be strong relationships with both the Disciples Center for Public Witness and the Disciples Home Mission Refugee and Immigration Ministries.

Currently, 45 congregations identify with the Christian Church Capital Area. Total church membership among those churches is 8,886 with a participating membership of 6,010. There are many historic congregations in this region, including First Christian Church of Baltimore, dating back to 1810, where Alexander Campbell often preached and Walter Scott served as one of the early pastors of the congregation. Famed ecumenist, civil rights leader, and peace proponent, Peter Ainslie III, pastored congregations in the Baltimore area. National City Christian Church in Washington, DC included many national leaders among its members, President Lyndon B. Johnson most notable among them. Historic congregations in the black Disciples of Christ tradition include 12th Street Christian Church, formed in 1914, and Second Christian Church in Hagerstown, MD. In northern Virginia, historic churches include Antioch Christian Church in Vienna, VA. Recently Bethel Christian Church in Washington, DC, a Same-Gender Loving led, majority African-American, Pentecostal congregation has voted to affiliate with the Disciples of Christ and become a congregation in formation in the region.

Open & Affirming congregations in the region are National City Christian Church and Bethel Christian Church in the District of Columbia and Columbia United Christian Church in Maryland,

Allen also asked that we emphasize the role of the regional church in the life of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), sharing that the role of the regional ministers includes:

  • Supporting local congregations to be vibrant centers for mission and ministry as well as organizations and institutions within the region that offer ministry in non-congregational settings;
  • Nurturing the relationship between pastors and their congregations and ministry settings;
  • Ensuring candidates for ministry are qualified and well prepared for serving in ministry,
  • Assisting congregations in finding qualified and well prepared ministers to serve in their communities;
  • Celebrating the pivotal moments in the lives of congregations and clergy, including church anniversaries, ordinations and installations, and retirement celebrations;
  • Overseeing the camp and conference program and ensuring the spiritual growth and safety of campers as well as the sustainability of the camping program;
  • Developing new congregations as well as new forms and settings of ministry;
  • Empowering existing congregations to seek and realize transformation in order to reach more people with the gospel and to sustain their good work in the world
  • Representing the Church at public and prophetic events;
  • Interpreting the mission of the broader church to the local churches as well as representing the interests of the local church to the broader ecumenical and interfaith community.

Congratulations to Allen! Our prayers are with him and his husband Craig as he transitions into the next call of his ministry.