CCDA’s vision of “Wholistically restored communities with Christians fully engaged in the process of transformation” commits us to continually work toward healthy and restored relationships. A few months ago CCDA released a Statement of Repentance. We recognize that statements of repentance need to be followed up with action to bring about restoration. Today, we are working towards creating a more just and equitable organization for all staff and members.
Moving forward, we have established organizational policies and processes toward higher accountability and have initiated a series of mediations and restorative processes to address the broken relationships resulting from past actions. We hope we can become a sign and sacrament of God’s future and agents of God’s reconciliation. We know this is a lofty aspiration and are engaging prayerfully and with humility.
CCDA remains committed to the Gospel, our Vision and Mission, and our Statement of Faith: The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s son, redeems us through His death and resurrection and empowers us by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is God’s Word and through it we are called to live out justice, reconciliation, and redemption. The church nurtures God’s people gathered in a community to carry out God’s Word.
Because the poor and marginalized are at the center of God’s heart, we seek to center our shared work in under-resourced communities. We realize that not every conference speaker and workshop presenter will fully align with CCDA values and yet has content to bring that can support and enhance the work that our association members are doing in their communities.
We have refined our main stage content and speaker selection processes and will continue to ensure that we are curating and developing safe, yet stretching spaces and resources that take into account theological, gender, generational, racial/ethnic and cultural diversity that exists in the CCDA family. We understand this is no easy task and we will likely make mistakes, but we will continue to strive to serve our association well. We recognize that in these times we must remain committed to Christ and our core values. We fully know that we are in desperate need of the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Looking ahead, we are excited about the next chapter for CCDA. During our upcoming May board meeting, we anticipate re-engaging our work on our strategic plan and look forward to keeping you all informed on the process as it develops. We believe God continues to invite us into beloved community with those at the margins and through our shared lives, will bring about transformation in our communities and in our world. We believe we are entering into an exciting time where we will see God working in ways we could not have imagined and are thrilled to share that journey with the CCDA family.
Thank you for your grace, patience, continued partnership, and prayers as we move forward in this next season of learning and impact for us all.
