YOUTH HELP BUILD HOUSE

While leaders and pastors of Disciples of Christ Churches in the area gathered to talk about missions and ministry Saturday, youth members put the message into action.

About 170 members of the Christian Church, a denomination also known as Disciples of Christ, gathered in Cape Girardeau Saturday at First Christian Church, 2411 Abbey Road, for the Southeast Gateway Area Assembly. About 20 youth members helped build a house for the local Habitat for Humanity chapter.

The denominational meeting is a chance for pastors and leaders to gather and talk about church business and projects, said the Rev. Philip Curran, pastor of First Christian Church, which is the host of the event.

"It's a time to reconnect and talk about how we are doing missions and ministry," he said. About 40 congregations from the St. Louis area down to Kennett were represented.

While it's a somewhat routine business meeting, this year's area assembly is a little different, Curran said. "The regional director asked what we could do for the area that would show the Disciples of Christ had met here."

So the local church committee thought about the needs of the community and decided that affordable housing was their greatest concern, he said.

The meeting's theme is "From Survival to Mission." "You could say that there have been some years that we just survived, but that was all," Curran said. "Our mission should be about speaking the good news and showing it, and we are doing that by going to the Habitat house."

Courtney Maguire, 17, a member of the First Christian youth group helped with the mission project. "It gives you a good sense of what's important in life," she said. "And it sounded like fun to get together with my church friends."

Last year Maguire and other youth members met near St. Louis to help build new houses for recent flood victims.