All Conference E-Mail
 Registration prices go up
February 15th, so sign up now!

Please share this with your friends from   church.

 

" IF you are having trouble registering for a hotel room with the online system please call direct to Portland Holiday Inn by the Bay at 1-800-345-5050 and say you are with the Women Leaders Conference or UCC and they will take care of you. "
2018 Boundary Awareness Training
Opportunities Sponsored by the
Maine Conference UCC
 
"Clergy Boundary Awareness Training for Laity" with Rev. Darren Morgan. This session is expressly geared for church leaders of congregations who are in pastoral transition.   
10:00 a.m. to Noon, Saturday, February 10, 2018 @ Foreside Community Church UCC, 340 Foreside Road, Falmouth. Free.(clergy do not receive BAT credit). 
Conference Dues for 2018 are $15.43 per member.
 Annual Reporting is Open!!!
Reasons to update your church information include:  
1. Membership numbers you report now are used to calculate next years dues.
2. When you are in the search process it helps show a clear financial picture of your church
3. It helps the conference in determining how best to help local churches.  
 
 Access the Data Hub Started
January 2, 2018 

 
 
 All data collection will be done online. There will be NO paper forms this year.
 
Accessing the Data Hub Instructions
 
To log in the UCC Data Hub please go to  
Alternately, you will find a link to the Data Hub at 
 
Please be sure to read
 
 watch the tutorials at the site below before beginning. If AFTER reading the instructions and watching the tutorials you still have questions please feel free to contact Anne Hodgman, Executive Assistant at the Conference Office at 207-622-3100 or 1-800-244-0937 or at
Your username is your conference church ID#.
Please do not use leading zeros for the conference portion of the number. (For example, The Maine Conference ID# is 28 and if your church number is #40, then your ID# would be 280040.) A link to a list of ID numbers is below.
 
Your default password is password.
Several tutorials are available on the Alternate link above.
 
MAJOR CHANGE within the instructions...in the past, if you made a mistake in entering data, you had to contact the Conference office to correct mistakes.  NOW...YOU, the church, may correct these mistakes. You do NOT need to ask the Conference office for help in making these changes. 
 
The Data Hub will be available January 2, 2018 at noon through March 7, 2018 at midnight. 

*** 
You will find Anne in the Resource Center on Thursdays from 9am - 5pm
Fridays from 9 -11am  
resourcecenter@maineucc.org    
Resource Center Email is only monitored on those days.    

The Resource Center Library cart is now working, or you can send requests to resourcecenter@maineucc.org
or call 1-800-244-0937 or 207-622-3100. Please be aware that once you enter a search item you will be taken to a page that says "Grace Presbytery" in the upper left hand corner. You are in the right place. This is our catalog web host. The Resource Center is the lending library for the Maine Conference.
 
Registration Site Opening Soon 
Save the Date: April 20-22, 2018
 
Convocation 2018
Growing by Half: 
"Part-time Pastors, Full-time Churches"
 
Co-sponsored by 
the Maine Conference, United Church of Christ
& The BTS Center
(Portland, Maine event location to be determined)
 
The future is arguably brightest for those that can re-imagine part-time pastorates 
as signs of emergent opportunities, not emblems of failure and imminent death.
-- G. Jeffery MacDonald
 
Convocation 2018  will provide an opportunity for you to name what's been lost - reflecting on the shrinking professional class of full-time, ordained clergy. You'll have more time to consider what's been found - learning about mainline congregations experiencing heightened vitality through part-time pastoral leadership. Regional denominational leaders will join us to reflect on what they are observing in their settings, and how they are seeing creative energies being unleashed. Workshops will offer spaces for deeper engagement with other participants. Registration will open in February.
 
Convocation 2018 Presenter:
The Rev. G. Jeffery MacDonald   is an award-winning journalist and the author of Thieves in the Temple: The Christian Church and the Selling of the American Soul. He is also the pastor of First Parish Church of Newbury, UCC in Newbury, Massachusetts. The BTS Center awarded Jeff a  2016 Innovation Incubator Compass Grant to support his research on vitality in churches with part-time clergy.
 
Housing For Convocation
The Maine Conference is looking for people in the greater Portland area who would be willing to provide housing and a modest breakfast for a guest/guests attending the BTS Center Convocation event 20-22. We want to provide an option for people who want to attend Convocation, but for whom the cost of a hotel room would be prohibitively expensive. Guests would need housing the nights of April 20 and 21. Please let us know if you are able to serve as a host home by March 7, either by email:
conference@maineucc.org or telephone:
1-800-244-0937.
Events

Grow Closer to God this Lent
The Ecumenical Jesuit Spirituality Partnership of Maine invites you to participate in a Lenten time of prayer and Reflection. The retreat begins with a group meeting Sunday, February 11, from
2 - 3PM,
in St. Pius X Hall at Our Lady of Hope Parish, 492 Ocean Ave., Portland.  Register by February 1st.
Learn more>>
 
Talent Show & Pasta Dinner
High Street Congregational UCC in Auburn will host a Talent Show & Pasta Dinner on Saturday, February 10th. Doors open at 5:15pm, the Dinner starts at 5:30pm  
 followed by the Talent Show at 7pm.  
Free Items
Free Seasons of the Spirit Music cd's
First Parish UCC in Brunswick has the following Seasons of the Spirit Music cd's available for anyone interested. They have one copy each of volumes 1,2 and 9, two copies of volume 7 and three copies of volumes 5 and 6. If interested call the church at 729-7331 or email Becky Wilkoff at bwilkoff@firstparish.net
Help Wanted/Classifieds
  
Falmouth Congregational UCC  
is seeking a three-quarter time Office Manager to work Monday through Thursday. This individual manages an Office Assistant, Sexton, and Christian Education Administrator and provides all administrative support to the pastor.
 
Waterville United Church of Christ
is seeking a part-time Organist/Pianist/Accompanist for regular and special worship services. Learn more>>  
 
Open Positions at the National Offices
 
In This Issue
Quick Links
Beyond Our Borders
Free Webinars
The Insurance Board has free webinars available. Click the image above to learn more or to register.
A new toolkit from Shoulder to Shoulder on Faith mobilization to support American Muslims in this era, complete with resources for both short-term and long-term work to address anti-Muslim bigotry in our nation and in our communities.
  View the toolkit here
Boston University School of Theology is pleased to announce that it has formed two new denominational learning communities. Click the logo to read more. 
Events
Let's Talk Theological Formation
Registration for the UCC summit, 'From the Ground Up: Reimagining Theological Formation', April 9-10 in Cleveland, is now open to interested participants across the life of the church.
2018 MID Event
  View Poster 

Regional Theological Education Consortium Event April 30 - May 2, 2018
in Oberlin, Ohio. For more information contact Kathy Clark clark@ucc.org

Please hold the dates of December 12-15th, 2018 for the national Authorizing Ministry in the 21st Century (AM21) Event.
We will meet in San Diego, California.

IRCA Quadrennial Conference 2018
The International Rural Churches Association will gather April 15-21, 2018 in Lincoln, New Zealand.
Learn More
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
Psalm 139:14

S ave the date! Registration info coming soon!
The New England Association of United Church Educators have announced the dates for NEAUCE 2018. The event will be held May 1-3 at
Pilgrim Pines in Swanzey, NH. Keynotes: Dr. Pam Shellberg and Rev. Day McCallister. 
Registration will be coming soon! The Faith Formation Resource Team of the Maine Conference offers a $50 scholarship to individuals from Maine attending the event.  
Lombard Mennonite Peace Center Sponsored Event
Mediation Skill Training for Church Leaders
Sponsored by the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center in Lombard, Illinois. There is an event in Connecticut
May 7-11, 2018 in Hartford.
Maine Conference UCC | 207-622-3100 | conference@maineucc.org | http://www.maineucc.org
Maine Conference United Church of Christ
One Weston Court, STE 104
Augusta, ME 04330