Regional Assembly 2024
Telling Our Stories: Celebrating Hope in Our Shared Journey
April 25-27, 2024
The Christian Church in Georgia is happy to announce its 171st Regional Assembly, taking place April 25-27, 2024, convening around the theme of “Telling Our Stories: Celebrating Hope in Our Shared Journey.”
Jesus often gathered groups of people who’d come to him from all over the place, and spoke to them in stories. The power of a story to show us our connection to one another has endured through centuries, and at Regional Assembly in Macon, we welcome Rev. Dr. David Hooker and his team to remind us of that power in a city rich with stories and learning to tell them. Let us be reminded of the diverse threads in our shared story, strengthening us to do the work of Disciples on our shared journey.
*All events take place at First Christian Church, Macon, 2306 Vineville Ave. Macon, GA 31204, unless noted otherwise.
Schedule*
Thursday, April 25, 2024
6 pm — Clergy Gathering at Yollah (894 College St. Macon, GA 31201)
Game night and snacks following dinner. Location TBD.
Friday, April 26, 2024
9:15-10 am – Light Continental Breakfast in Parlor
10 am-4:15 pm — Devotion & Transformative Community Conference (lunch is provided)
5-6 pm — Dinner at Allman Brothers Museum Event (Fresh Air BBQ meal ticket pre-purchase required)
6:15-8:45 pm — Opening of Regional Assembly, Church Narrative Project Story Hour, and Worship Service
Saturday, April 27, 2024
8:30-9 am — Light Continental Breakfast
9-10:15 am — Transformative Community Conference conclusion
10:30 am-12:45 pm — Business Session, Closing Worship
12:45-2 pm — Disciples Men Luncheon | Disciples Women Luncheon
Registration
Registration Fees
Adults — $50
Seniors (55+), Students (College/Seminary), Host Volunteers, and Youth (Grades 6-12) — $45
Children (Grades Pre-K-5) — $10
Pre-Assembly Clergy Gathering — $10
Transformative Community Conference — $20
Nursery Care — Free
Friday BBQ Dinner — $22
Disciples Men Luncheon — $25
Disciples Women Luncheon — $27
Registration Guidance
Pre-registration is required. Registration and payment for the Regional Assembly is available online using the Regional Assembly Registration button. A separate registration must be completed for each person attending, including children and youth. The registration deadline has been extended to April 15, 2024. Parents of youth and children attending must complete a Children & Youth Information Form. Scroll down to “Youth & Children” for more details.
If you wish to pay by check, you will not be able to register online. In this case, please download this registration form, complete it, make check payable to the Christian Church in Georgia, and mail to Christian Church in Georgia, 2306 Vineville Avenue, Ste. B, Macon, GA 31204.
Questions? You may also call the Regional Office at 478-743-8649.
Hotel Accommodations
Room blocks have been arranged, some at reduced rates, at the following hotel. Hotel rooms must be booked separately directly through the hotel. You may also check other area hotels for rates and availability.
Hampton Inn North
3954 River Place Dr. Macon, GA 31210
478-803-5000
$149 per night plus tax
Booking Procedure: Call number above and ask for the Christian Church in Georgia room block
Room block available until March 24, 2024. Please book ASAP.
Youth & Children
Youth
Youth will participate in the Regional Assembly and spend time re-connecting with Georgia Disciples youth beyond their congregations. Following Friday evening dinner and worship, youth will head to Camp Christian for an overnight lock-in, returning to First Christian Church, Macon, by Saturday at 2 pm. Transportation provided. Leadership will be provided by youth ministers from Georgia Disciples congregations. Registration for youth includes breakfast, snacks and Saturday lunch.
Children
A Children’s Program for ages K-5th grade will be provided at First Christian Church, Macon, on Saturday from 9 am-12:30 pm, with leadership provided by children’s ministry leaders from Georgia Disciples congregations. Nursery care will be available at First Christian Church, Macon, Friday evening and Saturday morning for young children, ages infant through pre-K. Registration for children covers Saturday snacks and a child-friendly Saturday lunch, which will be available at luncheon locations. For infants, parents should supply diapers, bottles, feeding instructions, etc.
Registration
A separate registration must be completed for each person attending, including children and youth. Registration deadline is April 15, 2024. Parents of youth and children also must complete a Children & Youth Information Form here for each child or youth. Email copies of form and child’s insurance card to the Regional Office. Forms also may be mailed to the Christian Church in Georgia, 2306 Vineville Avenue, Ste. B, Macon, GA 31204.
Speakers
Speakers
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David Anderson Hooker is the Founder and Principle Narrator for CounterStories Consulting, llc. CounterStories engages as a conversation and visioning partner with international, national and local civil society organizations and religious groups to craft narratives of their preferred futures and align organizational structures and internal practices in furtherance of their constructed narratives. For almost 40 years Hooker has utilized his training and expertise in Conflict Transformation by serving as mediator, community builder, scholar, and advocate. Hooker’s primary focus is in the role of individual and collective narratives for the transformation of multi-party disputes and post conflict community reconciliation, especially those conflicts where race, class, religion, and other socially constructed variables significantly impact the disputed context. He also has both practice and academic interests in the interruption of the multi-generational transmission of trauma. He has served as mediator for more than 700 court-connected mediations, several dozen public policy conflicts, environmental justice disputes, and congregational conflicts. Hooker is a former Assistant Attorney General for the State of Georgia where he represented the Departments of Juvenile Justice, Mental Health Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse, and Medical Assistance (Medicaid). He later had a private legal practice focusing on civil rights (including prisoner rights and special education) He has worked in Bosnia, Croatia, Cuba, Myanmar (Burma), Nigeria, The Bahamas, South Sudan, Somaliland, and Zimbabwe. Hooker is Formerly a Professor of Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame (2016-2021) and previously held the posts of Senior Fellow for Community Engagement Strategies at the J. W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia (2010-2015) and Associate Professor of Conflict Studies at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia (2004- 2012).
He is a graduate of Morehouse College (BS); Washington University in St. Louis (AM); University of Massachusetts in Amherst (MPH & MPA); The Emory University School of Law (JD); The Candler School of Theology at Emory University (M. Div); and University of Tilburg in Tilburg, Netherlands (Ph.D.). Hooker is also an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC).
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Yvonne Teresa Gilmore serves as Vice President and Chief of Staff in the Office of the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada where she also directs the Church Narrative Project. Previous to this role she served as Interim Administrative Secretary of the National Convocation, and Associate General Minister. From 2013-2020, she served as Associate Dean of Disciples Divinity House of the University of Chicago (DDH), and as a co-teacher in the MDiv Arts of Ministry sequence at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. Ever committed to the cultivation of thought leadership and community formation, she is also a core trainer with Reconciliation Ministries and co-directs "Living Justice: An Anti-Racist Practicum," a justice learning and innovation lab at DDH University of Chicago. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Lexington Theological Seminary. She is a former new church pastor, and chaplain. She holds a BA in International Relations from The American University, and an MDiv from the University of Chicago Divinity School.
