(Bob Rasmussen, Bowen Park, Lorne Hunter, Dean Carlson, Rick Escobar, Lorna Johnston, Marla and Rich Henderson, Craig Kraft, Dave DeVries, David Bulger)

The OC Global Alliance – North America Forum – February 7-9 2024

Representatives: 

              OC-USMC                         Dean Carlson, David Bulger, Rich and Marla Henderson, Donovan Dugan

              Near Frontiers                  Bob Rasmussen, Bowen Park

              Missional Challenge       Dave DeVries

              SEPAL USA                        Rick Escobar

              The Corporation              David Bulger

              Outreach Canada            Lorne Hunter, Lorna Johnston

              OCGA Collab Hub            Craig Kraft

              The first North America Forum (NAF) took place in February 2014. There were four participants: Greg Gripentrog and Dean Carlson from OC-USA, Craig Kraft from OC-Canada, and Bob Rasmussen from Near Frontiers.  The first gathering was to build relationships and awareness of what we were doing and explore ways of helping each other.  Since then, the NAF has happened every year except in the pandemic.  We have added to our numbers as additional North American ministry teams have been formed, and we have adopted the following purpose statement:  The OC North American Forum is a relational community where shared context, challenges, and solutions lead to collaboration to advance the vision and mission of the OCGA in North America (and beyond).

              This year, we came together with some new questions. We wanted to evaluate the Forum's importance and effectiveness and asked ourselves what was right, wrong or not working, what was missing, and what was confusing.  Over forty-eight hours we explored these questions and concluded that the Forum has been a valuable and effective way for our NA based teams to connect and collaborate.  We have decided on some outcomes in the past and have had varied success in realizing them.  However, we were able to list a significant number of benefits we have realized through the forum:

• We experience healthy relationships between our leaders and familiarity regarding our core North American ministries.
• We benefit personally from these relationships and enjoy being together and connecting virtually.
• Several of us participate together in OCGA Thematic Teams like the Diaspora Network and DMM Network.
• We have learned from one another how to tackle North American ministry challenges with innovation and hope. (Marketplace, diaspora, serving churches, coaching, transitional ministry, member care, financial administration, strategic planning, and more)
• We help make important introductions (foundations, networks, WEA, Lausanne, individuals, and partners) by leveraging the recognition of our partners.
• We have collaborated on specific projects like the launch of the OCGA Collaboration Hub, an OCGA Futures Seminar, the launch of the Diaspora Network, and we are currently working together on a Member Care event for the Global Alliance.
• We value the organic connections, opportunities, and shared learning when we get together.
• We enjoy praying together, for each other personally, and for our ministries.

This year, we also spent time at the NAF discussing what we hope to share with the OC Global Alliance and what we hope to receive from our global partners.  Historically, North America has been a significant contributor to the Alliance, and we helped provide resources for a solid foundation.  However, in recent years, we do not have all the same resources we once had, and we recognize that many of our partners have valuable resources, experience, and knowledge that we benefit from.

Some of our greatest resources are our experience and relationships, which we hope to share with our alliance partners when appropriate.  We are well networked as an alliance; those relationships help open doors worldwide for ministry and collaboration.  One product of our long history is a gallery of resources for training, structures, strategic planning, suggested practices, policies, and research.  We hope to continue to share these resources with our partners and introduce our partners into the networks that we participate in.

We also spent time reflecting on what we hope to receive from our partners in the Alliance.  As the Alliance matures, we recognize the wealth of resources and experience we have access to through our partners worldwide.  We want to be better listeners and students as we learn from the rest of the Alliance.  We believe that we have a lot to learn from our partners in many areas like:

• Recruitment – how can we continue to grow?
• Adaptive structural models
• Case studies and stories of fruitful ministry
• Contributions toward global missiology
• Articles, blogs, resources
• Recruiting international staff for USA, Canada, and the OCGA Collaboration Hub
• Enriching the OCGA thematic teams
• Assistance in identifying language groups in North America and translating resources when appropriate.
• Vision!
• Member care learning together.

We have renewed our commitment to the North American Forum as we look ahead.  We plan to host our next Forum on February 4-6, 2025, near Nashville, Tennessee.  We will explore learning opportunities related to our North American Context and consider how we can contribute to the ongoing health and growth of the OCGA.  We hope to invite guest participants from outside North America who can learn with us and challenge us in how we process data and respond to opportunities.  We are also planning three quarterly virtual gatherings in 2024 on the topics of diaspora ministry (May), Disciple Multiplying Movements in N.A. (August), and responding to the radical sexual and gender realities of our culture with grace and truth (November).  More information to come.