The Disciple Heritage Fellowship of North Carolina (DHF of NC) workgroup met at Pleasant Hill Christian Church with 29 persons present. The meeting was opened with a devotion by Rev. Lynn Maxwell. The minutes from the previous meeting were read and approved.

Comments were solicited regarding the content of our web site (http://www.dhfofnc.com). Some in the group noted that they had a difficult time finding the web site using various search engines. Lynn will look into ways to make it easier to find. Churches that have a Facebook site were encouraged to include a link to our web site. Lynn still needs to provide info on how churches can donate to the fellowship. Rev. Gary Edens is also looking at developing our Theology statement for the web site.

Danny Bailey and Rev. Roger Noble had been assigned to review the “Ordination Guidelines for Local Churches” and report to the workgroup. Danny noted that although God is love, some churches have used the word “love” as a bridge to mean the acceptance of almost anything in the name of love. Danny emphasized that there is also an accountability side to God’s love and that needs to be considered. It was recommended that we change the word “love” on page 5 to “God’s love” in order to clarify the statement. The sentence should read as follows:

“Leader: Since God’s love is revealed in Scripture as the highest and greatest of all virtues, will you conduct yourself in your ministry so as to express love for God and love for neighbor, remembering the words of Scripture which declare, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:7,8).”

Rev. Lynn Maxwell and Rev. Rick Vernon had been assigned to review the “DHF Membership Application” for ministers desiring to join and be recognized by our local fellowship. Both Lynn and Rick felt that the requirement to give an opinion on the “Declaration and Address” was unnecessary for those ministers desiring to affiliate with our local fellowship. If a minister desires to be recognized by the DHF in Lovington, Illinois, then the requirement to comment would need to be met. We do feel that expressing an opinion on the DHF “Statement of Theological Understanding” should be required. Lynn made a motion that we omit the need to comment on the “Declaration and Address” from our local DHF Membership Application for ministers. Danny Bailey seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.

Robert Reynolds presented printouts of all the proposed logos for our fellowship and asked everyone during our break time to review them and check the ones they liked best. Robert will tally the votes and strive to work on the most popular ones and present them back to the workgroup for further consideration.

Rev. Edens presented the work group with a list of ideas to consider as we plan for our fellowship gathering on April 25th, 2015. (list attached to minutes). After much discussion, it was decided that it would be a one-day event to be held at Richlands FCC. A suggested time schedule was from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Gary asked for volunteers to work on planning the event and to report back to the workgroup. The planning workgroup will be led by Mrs. Mara Adkins from Richlands FCC along with the following members:

Mrs. Janice Noble – Tuckahoe Christian Church

Mrs. Judy Greer – Pleasant Hill Christian Church

Mrs. Joan Harrell – Pleasant Hill Christian Church

At the beginning of the meeting we received membership forms from two churches; Tuckahoe Christian Church, and Richlands First Christian Church. We now have four churches officially aligned with the fellowship. Lynn noted that we could now begin to identify and approach other churches that might be interested in joining the fellowship. It is our policy that we will not solicit any active churches of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), but we will freely solicit former Disciples of Christ (DOC) churches. It was also noted that we would also consider churches that freely identify with our Theological position.

Lynn presented a preliminary tri-fold advertisement for our fellowship. All agreed that it was too wordy and needed to be presented in more of a bullet outline format. Lynn will continue to work on this and present it at a later time. We will also begin work on a Power Point Presentation to present to churches desiring more information on our fellowship.

Our next workgroup meeting will be held at Tuckahoe Christian Church, 6212 Hwy 41 W., Trenton, N. C. on Feb. 22, 2015 at 4:00 P.M. If anyone needs detailed directions, please contact Lynn Maxwell.