Dallas, TX (PRWEB) September 3, 2006

The first week of August was one filled with a sense of new beginnings at the 102-year-old East Dallas Christian Church as the congregation welcomed its new senior minister, the Rev. Deborah Morgan.

Rev. Morgan, a Dallas native, began her work at EDCC on her 44th birthday and delivered her first sermon to the congregation the following Sunday exploring the Bible?s creation stories.

?What a great way to begin my first day on the job! I am so glad to be here, and I?m excited to begin the ministry God has called us to share in together,? she said. ?Though I had a wonderfully vital ministry in Tucson, Ariz., for 14 years, it was time to come home to Dallas where I was born and raised. East Dallas Christian Church offered me a great opportunity to serve God?s people in the church and greater community.?

Rev. Morgan is a fifth-generation member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Her great-uncle, Dr. Robert L Badgett, was pastor of several congregations in Texas, including the First Christian Church of Greenville and the First Christian Church of Palestine. Another great-uncle, the Rev. Dan Morgan, served congregations for many years around the North Texas area, retiring finally from the First Christian Church of Kilgore.

Her grandparents were active members at Rosemont Christian Church in Oak Cliff; her parents, at Northway Christian Church in Dallas, where one brother and his family continue as leaders in the church. Another brother is an ordained Disciple minister in Knoxville, Tenn., working in the social service sector.

Rev. Morgan is the first woman East Dallas Christian Church has called as its senior minister, however, EDCC has for many years called women as associate ministers and student interns. Indeed, over the years EDCC has ordained nine women into Christian service and ministry, starting with Jessie Cornelia Hawkins in 1932. Currently in the greater North Texas area more than 75 ordained Disciple women clergy are working in some form of ministry, whether in hospitals, hospices, congregations or broader ministry areas.

Rev. Morgan graduated from Bryan Adams High School in 1980 and received a bachelor?s of science degree in education from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. She taught for three years at L. G. Pinkston High School in West Dallas before attending Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tenn., where she completed her master?s of divinity degree. She was ordained in 1990 at her home congregation, Northway Christian Church.

First Christian Church of Waynesboro, Tenn., was Rev. Morgan?s first call after seminary, and she comes to East Dallas Christian Church after 14 years of ministry serving Saguaro Christian Church in Tucson, Ariz.

Rev. Morgan is single, but always tells folks she?s part of a large extended family ? the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She is the past chair of the Week of Compassion committee, and is currently serving as a director on the Board of Church Extension.

The selection of Rev. Morgan was the culmination of an exhaustive search that included creation of a congregational profile that helped its members establish goals. These included:

Attracting youth and young families.

Congregational growth ? both spiritually and in numbers.

Maintaining and expanding EDCC?s presence in the community.

Seeking additional venues and variety in worship opportunities.

?The list of candidates was slowly and prayerfully reduced to a handful and then to Rev. Morgan, who, incidentally, remained at the top position through a number of re-rankings of candidates,? said Jackie Andrews, who chaired the Search Committee.

?Her greatest challenge will be to find ways to meet the needs of a diverse population which our community reflects and which we would like to serve, providing for this population conditions for spiritual development and ways to demonstrate spirituality through the love of Jesus Christ. We believe she has the abilities to lead us in these pursuits,? Andrews added.

Rev. Morgan agrees with these priorities and has begun a process to achieve the goals.

?For the first few months of my tenure, I?m going to spend time listening to the needs of the congregation and the neighbors who surround the church. In the coming year, we will begin an intentional time of discernment to clarify our mission that will propel us into the future. We are already a historic presence in East Dallas; we?re going to continue to grow that legacy for the generations to come,? she said.

?There is so much joy in this congregation as we look ahead to the future. It is contagious, and I?m excited to be part of what God is doing in this part of East Dallas.?

More about the church is available at http://www.edcc.org.

Media Contact:

Janie Autz

214-824-8185

###