The Past, Present, and Future of New Church

A Conversation with Rev. Dr. Dick Hamm

As New Church Ministry begins to roll out DisciplesNEXT across the denomination, we first look to where this church growth framework began: the 2020 Vision. In this IMPACT webinar episode with 2020 Vision for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) author and former General Minister and President, Rev. Dr. Dick Hamm, he and host Rev. Dr. Jose Martinez, Minister of New Church Strategies, will examine all that has led to where we are now and what is next for the New Church movement in our tradition.

Resources

• The Four Priorities of the Church
• Updated priorities
• 2020 Vision for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) (book)
• DisciplesNEXT
• Identity Resources
• The Design of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
• Patriotic Heresy – Countering Christian Nationalism
• Dick Hamm’s contact information

---

Richard L. Hamm attended Butler University (B.A. Religion, 1970) and Christian Theological Seminary (Dr. of Ministry, 1974) in Indianapolis. Dick is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and served congregations for 25 years in Indiana, Kansas, and Missouri. He has served in rural, exurban, urban and suburban settings and has been an associate minister, founding pastor of a new church, and senior minister with multiple staff. He has twice been recognized for mediating settlements in school districts and thus averting teachers’ strikes. He received the “Model Minister” Award from the Indiana Region in 1990.

Dick served as Regional Minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Tennessee (1990-1993) and was named “Tennessee Ecumenist of the Year” in 1993. He served as General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served from 2007 – 2012 as the first Executive Director of Christian Churches Together in the USA, an ecumenical organization.