Discover God,s Call, History

* 15 Years of Mississippi Chapter Discover God’s Call Retreats *
Date	National #	Location	Speaker
Spring 1996	69	Arlean Hall	Rev. Peter Pereira
Spring 1997	84	Arlean Hall	Rev. David Brazelton
Spring1998	103	Arlean Hall	Rev. Doug Pepper
Spring 2000	142	Wesley Pines	Rev. Walter Albritton
Spring 2001	162	Arlean Hall	Rev. Scott Carter
Spring 2002	180	Wesley Pines	Rev. James & Patsy Twiner
Fall 2002	202	Wesley Pines	Rev. Cecil Williamson
Spring 2003	203	Arlean Hall	Rev. Martin Case
Fall2003	215	Wesley Pines	Rev. Cecil Williamson
Spring 2004	219	Arlean Hall	Rev. John M. Barrett
Fal 2004	231	Wesley Pines	Rev. Scott Carter
Spring 2005	236	Arlean Hall	Rev. John M. Barrett
Fall 2005	250	Wesley Pines	Rev. Taylor Gallman
Spring 2006	261	Wesley Pines	Rev. Cecil Williamson
Fall 2006	264	Wesley Pines	Rev. Dale Hathorn
Fall 2007	275	Wesley Pines	Rev. Taylor Gallman
Fall 2008	289	Wesley Pines	Rev. Dale Hathorn
Spring 2009	306	Batesville 1st UMC	Rev. Julian Davis
Fall 2009	298	Wesley Pines	Rev. John M. Barrett
Spring 2010	312	Johnston Chapel UMC	Rev. John Garrott
Fall 2010	313	Wesley Pines	Rev. Julian Davis
Spring 2011	316	Hernando UMC	Rev. John Garrott
Fall 2011	321	Wesley Pines	Rev. Taylor Gallman

The National Organization - History and Background

August 9, 1982, Dr. Charles Kinder, then President of The Foundation For Evangelism, and Gus Gustafson, author and layman from Griffin , GA , met with a committee of The General Board of Discipleship about organizing a program which later became known as Discover God's Call. Dr. L. Ray Sells, Chairperson of the committee, concluded the meeting saying:

            A. Discover God's Call would have to do its own funding;

            B. The program, before being launched nationally, should be tested in Georgia , the Midwest and
                then either the Northeast or the far West and,

            C. The program should direct people back into local church ministry rather than into para-church
                organizations.

A plan for launching the program was worked out with Dr. Charles Kinder, Dr. G. Ross Freeman, then Executive Secretary of the South Eastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church , Gus Gustafson and Vance Archer representing the General Board of Discipleship.

December 18, 1982, twelve people met at the United Methodist Center in Atlanta , GA , and officially organized the Discover God's Call program with a positive decision to adopt the program and take action to implement it.

Founders in Georgia contributed the funds needed to start Discover.... The first retreat was held at the Toccoa Baptist Assembly June 10-12, 1983, with 78 attending.

December 1, 1984, a group in Illinois met at the United Methodist Center in Bloomington , IL . They decided to organize a chapter in Illinois and pledged the funds necessary to get started. The first retreat was held November 4-6, 1985, at King's House, Henry , IL with 56 attending.

About one year later, November 28-30, 1986, the first retreat was held at Lake Junaluska in North Carolina . June 2, 1990, a group met at Belmont United Methodist Church , Belmont , NC , to agree to forming of a Discover God's Call chapter for the Carolinas-East Tennessee Area.

At the July, 1997, National Council meeting, it was decided to take a new direction in the administration of Discover God’s Call. Chapters will begin to take over the complete administration of their own retreats. They’ll secure their own speakers and contract with the retreat centers. Retreat Managers, representing the National Council and The Foundation, will be at each retreat to be sure all goes according to the planned program. This change will allow almost unlimited growth for Discover... .

It has been obvious that Discover God's Call is a powerful means of helping lay people identify possible ministries and their gifts for serving God through their local church and beyond. Through God's continued guidance and empowered by the Holy Spirit, Discover... will be an ever increasing force in bringing renewal to the United Methodist Church and bringing new souls into Christ's Kingdom.

HOW DID IT START?

1. The idea came to Gus Gustafson, retired businessman and author, of Griffin, Georgia, as he recovered from pneumonia in 1980. The program was fully developed under the guidance of The Foundation For Evangelism in consultation with the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church.	2. Two guiding principles followed were: (1) Discover God's Call would have to do all it's own funding and (2) The program should direct people back into local church ministry rather than into para-church organizations.
3. Gus Gustafson was the first National President. He served until 1990 when Charles G. (Chuck) Davis was elected President and Gus became President Emeritus. Tom Clarke, was elected in 1999 to replace Chuck Davis.	4. In 1998 the Foundation for Evangelism Home Page on the World Wide Web added a link to Discover God’s Call. In 1999 a list of scheduled retreats and an online registration form for future retreats was added.

***CHAPTERS OF DISCOVER GOD’S CALL***
Chapter	States Covered	Date of First Retreat	Date Formed

N. Georgia	North GA	June, 1983	June, 1983
Illinois	IL	November, 1985	November, 1985
Carolinas/E. TN	NC, SC, East TN	November, 1986	June, 1990
Virginia	VA	October, 1991	November, 1992
Central Texas	Central TX	February, 1993	April, 1994
NW Texas	NW TX	Fall, 1994	May, 1996
Arkansas	AR	March, 1996	May, 1997
Mississippi	MS	April 1996	April 1997
Rocky Mountain	CO, WY	September, 1996	September 1997
Florida	FL	November, 1996	November, 1998
Alabama	AL	May, 1999	May, 2000
West Virginia	WV	October, 1999	October, 2000
New Mexico/Odessa	West TX, East NM	May, 2000	October, 2001
S. Georgia	South GA	April, 2001	Nov. 2001

Notes: The Rocky Mountain Chapter voted to disband in the Spring of 2002.The Florida Chapter voted to disband in the Summer of 2002, but has begun to re-organize in January 2010 with a retreat in Bokelia, Florida sponsored by the Ohio Chapter. The North Georgia Chapter was disbanded in the Spring of 2003.The NW Texas chapter merged with the New Mexico/Odessa chapter and the new Chapter was named the West Texas Chapter in the Summer of 2004. The Carolinas/East Tennessee Chapter was renamed the Carolinas Chapter in 2004.

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