​Welcome back to Disciples Women after summer break.
 
September begins our exciting “Spectacular Fall Line-Up” of speakers and Rev. Deborah Morgan-Stokes of East Dallas Christian kicks of the 2018-19 year.
 
A native Dallasite, Deborah graduated from Bryan Adams High School in 1980.  She attended Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth where she received her Bachelor of Science in Education.  After graduation, she spent three years teaching public school at L. G. Pinkston High School in West Dallas before acknowledging her call to ministry.

She attended Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee where she completed her Masters of Divinity degree. She was ordained in 1990 and began her ministry at East Dallas in 2006.

I love being pastor at this historic “congregation-in-transformation,” Deborah said.

She currently serves on the boards of Lakewood’s Juliette Fowler Communities and Literacy Archives.
Seven years ago, Deborah married Don Stokes.  The union brought together a blended family of four cats. Deborah is an avid reader of fiction and when time permits, she loves to travel.  She especially loves to hike the desert southwest, which she fondly refers as “my heart-home.”

The 2018/19 Disciples Women’s study program topic is “Called for God’s Purpose” and Deborah chose the lesson: Positioned for Purpose, the story of Lydia.

“I chose Lydia because she was a rarity in her time—a woman who was a successful merchant during a period when women rarely had access to economic power,” Deborah said. “She made her money by excreting the color ‘purple’ from shells which she sold to Rome’s elite.”

“As a TCU alum, the color purple is important to me,” Deborah quips. “But not only did Lydia make money—she was generous with her earnings, sharing with the first Christian Church, supporting the apostle Paul,” Deborah said.

The lesson states that because Lydia took time away from the busyness of her life to worship God, she was positioned to hear the gospel, become a believer in Christ, transform her entire household and offer hospitality to Paul and his traveling companions. She was positioned for purpose, just as women can be today.
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Following the program, lunch will be served in Fellowship Hall.  Luncheon theme is apples to welcome the beginning of fall. The cost for lunch is $5.00 per person and can be paid to Paquita Mueller at the door. Come and bring a friend; just remember an RSVP is required for lunch.  You can contact Laura in the office or email Shelia at shelia0806@sbcglobal.net.
 

The Elders of Central Christian Church will meet for our Spring retreat on Saturday 3/10 from 9:30a-3p at Juliette Fowler Communities Jackson Living Center Media Room. Fowler will also host us for lunch.

Our goals during this day will be to dig deeply into our renewed role as elders focusing on the Vision, Spiritual Growth, and Pastoral Care of the congregation.

We will discuss the books The Gathered and Scattered Church by Eddie Hammett and Together: Community as a Means of Grace by Larry Duggins. These will help provide a shared vocabulary for further understanding the challenges of being the church in the 21st Century and how God is calling us forward.

Daryn from SyncLife Coworking will join us over lunch to share her insights on coworking and other entrepreneurial expressions of faith. You can listen to Daryn share her insights on the podcast Reports from the Spiritual Frontier here. And here's a 2:20 min YOUTUBE video intro to coworking.
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A major take away will be our individual and shared knowledge and commitment to how we will live into the vision of Central being renewed as a center for community life in the midst of the six distinct neighborhood communities that surround us, and how God is calling us to serve our neighbors and manifest the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

 ​Even in the darkness there are glimpses of the light. Where are you seeing God’s light shining within you and around you in the darkness of the world?.
   We will journey with Mary, Joseph, Zechariah and Elizabeth in the hope of God's promises fulfilled. God's light shines in a darkened world IN and THROUGH us. Whatever has happened in your live God desires to and can bless you to be a blessing to others in the world. ​​
(Pageant written and directed by Lois Leftwich)