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2023 Regional Assembly Celebrating and Anticipating: Past, Present, and Future!Download the Letter | Download the Flyer Friends, We are so excited about our upcoming 2023 North Carolina Regional Assembly! This year’s theme is “Celebrating and Anticipating: Past, Present, and Future!” This theme is based on Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” The first recorded Union meeting was held among NC Disciples in March of 1834 at the Little Sister meeting house in Lenoir County. In 1845, the first state convention of Disciples of Christ, then known as the Bethel Conference and Union Meeting of Disciples of Christ, was held. This upcoming assembly will be our first in-person Assembly since 2019, certainly a time to celebrate the regathering of our North Carolina Disciples with the same spirit of unity that was present in the founding of the Christian Church in North Carolina. We are a changed people living in a changing world, and our present mandate is to navigate this change effectively. Next year marks 175 years since our Region was officially organized, but God has been at work since before our inception. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, and we forge ahead, mindful that future generations will be standing on our shoulders. We celebrate the courage of those who came before us and claim that courage for ourselves and those who will come after us. In these 175 years, our Region has seen many changes. “They say,” whoever “they” is that the only constant in life is change. Change is inevitable and scary, but we must always remain open to the moving of the Holy Spirit within us, among us, beside us, and around us. Amid the Alpha and Omega moments of life and ministry, we can steady ourselves on the foundation that God’s presence was in the world from the very beginning and will be forever. God’s love calls us forward, guiding us into an ever-changing landscape and propelling us to respond to the world’s needs in new and different ways. We remain grounded in the promise that God is present with us always, and it is God’s church we serve. Let us join you in Charlotte on April 29, 2023, and at Barton College on October 14, 2023, to celebrate being together again – honoring our past and present and anticipating the wonderful work God is planning for us in the future. We look forward to seeing you at RA2023!! Rev. Bruce Baker-Rooks Rev. Addie M. Harris Rawls Co-Chairs of the Regional Assembly Planning Committee …