Dixon pastors hosting community panel discussions

DIXON – The Dixon Area Christian Ministers Association is hosting a series of panel discussions at the Loveland Community House and Museum on Mondays in March.

Instead of various churches hosting Lenten services, the association is presenting “Community Christian Conversations,” weekly panel discussions on various topics related to Lent, which historically has been seen as a 40-day period of introspection and repentance before Easter.

Each event will feature three Dixon pastors who will respond to questions about a special topic for that week.

The discussion topic on March 6 is “What About Lent?” and will address a range of questions about Lent, including why some churches observe it and some don’t. The panelists will be Bunyan Cocar of First Baptist Church, Andy Minch of Sauk Valley Community Church and Karen Tews of St. Paul Lutheran Church.

The theme on March 13 is “What About Lenten Disciplines?” addressing questions about the various things that Christians might or might not give up for Lent with panelists John Evans of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Tim Mitchell of First United Methodist Church and Mike Sutcliffe of Three Trees Ministry, a messianic fellowship.

The topic on March 20 is “What About the Cross?” with various ways that churches and pastors view the significance of the crucifixion of Jesus. The panelists will be Dan Bentz of Northside Baptist Church, Cal Callison of Hope Bible Fellowship and Jon Marx of Faith Assembly of Grand Detour.

“What About the Resurrection?” will wrap up the series March 27 by responding to questions about the physical, spiritual and cosmic aspects of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

The panelists on March 27 are David Mennig of Bethel Evangelical Congregational Church, Mike Worrell of Grace Point Church and Steve Young of Greater Life Church.

Each event will start at 6 p.m. and run about an hour. Tom Wadsworth will act as moderator, and the audience also will have an opportunity to ask questions to panelists.

“We’re trying something new, and we hope it will appeal to a broader section of the community,” DACMA President Tim Mitchell said. “We see the potential for this format to be used at other times of the year to offer stimulating discussions about other topics of interest.”

The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served each evening.