Weekly E-News Spring Edition | |  | | |
1) Message from the Conference
2) Latest News
3) Around the Conference
| | |
4) Prayer Concerns
5) Save the Date & Cont. Ed Resources
6) VTCUCC Classifieds
| | DEADLINE for E-Kit News must be received by Tuesday of each week. Please send any and all information please email: admin@vermontucc.org | | Message from the Conference | | |
Dear Beloved Community in the Vermont Conference,
What an Annual Meeting we had! It was good to see so many of us at Grace Church in Rutland. Thank you also to those who attended by Zoom. There was a great spirit among us. We worshipped, passed an important resolution, ate Jane LoBrutto and her daughter's amazing food, sang, square danced, learned together from our keynote speaker, Rev. Dr. Marvin Ellison, and through workshops.
Dr. Ellison’s keynote address, Exercising the Power of the Weak, inspired, sobered, challenged, connected, and offered both a way forward and sustaining hope for such a time as this. You can view the video of his presentation on our Conference website. He has also made the text of his address available.
I hope you were able to attend in some way and at least some part of our gathering. Further, I hope you found bread for the journey and light for the way. We will list our “thank you’s” in next week’s EKit.
God bless you!
Lynn
| | Video highlights from the 230th Annual meeting | | |
Summer Lunch Grants Available!
Your community or school may be providing meal sites or funds for children this summer yet
families will still find their grocery bills incredibly and impossibly high. The two following congregations are feeding needy families in different ways.
- Members at Charlotte Congregational Church put together bag lunches and have them available in their food pantry and at the Charlotte library.
-Members at First Congregational Church of Fair Haven work with Slate Valley Cares Food Shelf.
They are able to use the kitchen of a local restaurant to prepare meals using ingredients from the food shelf and then deliver boxed meals back to the food shelf for distribution. They are using the grant money to help the food shelf but also to supplement the ingredients they use for the boxed meals. Your congregation can help. Click on the link here to view the application. Complete the application by May 31st.
| |
| |
RESOLUTION PASSED AT 230TH ANNUAL MEETING
Resolution on Acknowledging and Compensating the Black Musical Community for the Under- and Unacknowledged Musical Works of Black People, Especially "Negro Spirituals" was passed find the resolution here:
| | | |
| |
Mohsen Mahdawi released from prison while immigration proceedings continue
| | | |
| |
Creating ‘Holy Urgency’
UCC News speaks with three campus chaplains on how they are attending to the sacred work of meeting student needs.
| | | |
| |
A Tent of Our Own Making
UCC leaders, partners gathered to vision for more inclusive version of the church.
| | | |
| |
Our Faith and Sensitive Locations – What Faith Communities Are Doing
Several organizations have organized a lawsuit against the federal government in response to the current administration’s policies on immigration agents more leeway to arrest at sensitive locations. Learn more about what the lawsuit is and how you can support the resistance.
| | | |
| |
On Capitol Hill: The UCC’s Witness
In this entry of Voice of the Journey, Rev. Shari Prestemon recently visited the Office of Public Policy & Advocacy in DC. Watch this conversation with director Mike Neuroth on what it’s like to do this work and how you can be part of it.
| | | |
| | The White House issued an Executive Order to block support for PBS and NPR, and plans to claw back funding approved by Congress.
| | | | |
Craigville Theological Colloquy
July 7-11, 2025
Courage and Communion:
How Eucharistic Worship
Can Empower and Revive Churches
Registration is now open!
In the New Testament church, the sacrament of Holy Communion kept hope alive in times of anxiety and fear. The world was a dangerous place for Christians, but when the congregation gathered at the table on Sunday, they experienced their sacred meal as the foretaste of a future banquet where everyone was welcome, no one was abandoned or afraid.
In this century, can the sacrament have the same transformative power in our churches as it did for our ancestors? Can Eucharistic worship sustain community in a time when many of us are fearful for the future of our congregations, our country and our world? Can the Eucharist revive struggling churches and deepen our commitment to justice and care for creation?
Keynoter and worship leader will be the Rev. Dr. Mary Luti, retired professor of Christian worship and preaching at Andover Newton Theological School (now Andover Newton Seminary at Yale) and formerly senior minister at First Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is the editor of Do This: Communion for Just and Courageous Living, published by Pilgrim Press.
Now in its 41st year, the Craigville Theological Colloquy brings together ordained and lay leaders in a unique experience of theological reflection and renewal in historic Craigville Village on Cape Cod. A hybrid of retreat, conference and summer vacation, afternoons are always free to enjoy Craigville's famous beach or to explore the Cape. Partial scholarships are available for seminarians and other students, and continuing education credit for ministers. Registration and more information at https://craigvillecolloquy.com
| | |
AROUND THE CONFERENCE
(Please let us know what your Congregation is up to by sending an email to VermontConference@gmail.com .
You may just see yourself or someone you love in the eKit or our Facebook page!)
| |
| | |
The Hartland, VT PRIDE Walk & Roll
The Hartland, VT PRIDE Walk & Roll will take place on Friday, May 9, beginning at 6:00 pm, on First Universalist Society of Hartland, VT's front lawn. After some opening words, we’ll then walk/roll/travel Route 12 to right here, the front yard of the First Congregational Church in Hartland Village. We walk this 1.4 mile route to remind people that there are multiple welcoming and affirming places in our community, including these two spiritual spaces. PRIDE clothing, gear, signs, flags, and other celebratory items and modes of transportation (bikes, roller skates, wheelchairs, strollers, wagons, etc.) are welcome.
All celebrating PRIDE are welcome to join.
| | | | | | Pastor Chris Heinz is bicycling 550 miles from NYC to Niagara Falls to End Cancer! His goal is to raise $20,000 for the cutting edge research at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Institute. If you would like to donate either scan the QR code or click on DONATE below. | | |
Come to a Spring Quiche Luncheon on Saturday, May 17, 2025 at the Shoreham
Congregational Church. For only $10 you can enjoy a slice of our famous meat, vegetable, or
cheese quiche along with salad, beverage, and dessert! It is a great opportunity to relax with
friends and welcome the warm spring weather. Please bring a non-perishable item for the Food
Shelf to help those in need.
This year we will be raffling off a beautiful hand-knitted blanket. Be the first to buy your tickets at the quiche luncheon. Tickets are only $5 each or 3 for $10. The drawing will be during AppleFest in September.
| |
| | |
Animating Anti-Racism in Faith Formation
Four 30-minute video modules
with online cohort sessions for local church staff, lay leaders, and clergy. The Animating Antiracism in Faith Formation program is open to all church leaders who wish to expand cultural competency and examine the ways that race and power are present in ministry. This webinar and cohort series was developed for the United Church of Christ Network of Wider Church Youth Ministries (NOWCYM) by Crossroads Antiracism Organizing and Training.
Registration is open for the Spring Cohorts!
| | | | |
Camp Highlight: New Things (July 13-19, grades 3-5, Tiered Prices: $710, $600, $530)
Have you ever crawled through a mountain cave or hiked in a mountain stream?
Have you ever slept on a mountain ledge or climbed with a rock-wall team?
Have you ever listened to a sunrise or written a mountain haiku?
Have you ever painted the moon at night or floated in a canoe?
Are you looking to find an adventure or a campfire to hang out with friends?
Come find your place on the mountain where the welcome never ends.
Have you ever needed a really safe place with a chance just for you to be you?
Join us at Horton Center where all THINGS are always made NEW!!!
Camp NEEDS Counselors!
The magic of camp is not possible without volunteer counselors. Are you looking for a way to make a difference? Come to camp and make the transformative wonder of Outdoor Ministries possible for today's youth this summer at Horton Center! Caution: the lives changed after a week of camp may include your own!
Retreat Highlight: Men's Fellowship Retreat (August 11-14, adult men, Tiered Prices: $285, $255, $225)
Join us for a time of fellowship, relaxation, spiritual reflection, creativity, and adventure at Horton Center. Whether you can join us for one day, or the whole retreat, you are welcome to come up to the mountain and enjoy the beauty of the space and the opportunities the surrounding area offers (canoeing, hiking, etc.) as well as cool opportunities on site (perhaps fly tying, making rustic furniture, painting, and more!).
Men's Retreat Info Page HERE
Contact: Tivvi Pare (she/her/hers) 603-545-9660 TPare@nhcucc.org
| | VERMONT PRIDE SCHEDULE 2025 | | |
Prayers for those who are being deported without due process.
Prayers for the family and friends of Ronald Van Mynen. Ronald who went missing April 1st and was found dead in NY yesterday.
Prayers for Ukraine, Gaza, Congo and other places in the world with ongoing wars.
Prayers for those caught in natural disasters.
| | |
Save the Date & Cont. Ed Resources
| | |
Home About Us Programs For Authorizing Bodies Contact Us Donate
Spiritual Care of Self and Others begins May 7, 2025
Would you like to explore strategies of self-care rooted within the Christian tradition? Would you like to compassionately identify your own personal style, attributes, and limitations and the styles of others? This course blends contemporary psychology with traditional practices of prayer, the contemplative reading of scripture, and forms spiritual direction providing skills for use in the local church.
6-week courses beginning May 7 include:
--- Introducing the Old Testament (Dickinson/MBS) --- The Bible as Guide: Going Green (Environmental Justice Program) --- Pluralism and Religion in North America --- Spiritual Care of Self and Others --- Small Church Administration --- Applied: Faith Formation and Spiritual Practices for Children, Youth, and Adults --- Preaching Liberation Theology --- Professional Boundaries and Ministerial Self-Care --- Making Sense of Theology
12-week course beginning May 7: --- UCC History and Polity ---
6-week courses beginning after June 1 include:
--- Understanding the Bible as a Progressive Christian --- Ethics and a Life of Meaning ---
Living the Heart of Progressive Christian Theology
Go to the PATHWAYS website (pathwaystheological.org) to learn more and to apply.
| | |
Welcome, Farewell, and Blessings
Pastoral Transitions since the 2024 Vermont Conference Annual Meeting
| | |
Mission and faith identity support:
Applicants should demonstrate full support of the mission, values, and faith orientation of the First Congregational Church of Essex Junction, UCC and the United Church of Christ as a welcoming, historic, and progressive Christian faith community. The applicant will unreservedly support the church’s identity as an Open and Affirming (i.e. LGBTQ+ affirming) congregation. For more details regarding the position, please visit our website: https://www.fccej.org/v5/who-we-are/work-with-us/ FCCEJ is an open and affirming church, serving all in the spirit of Christ.
Please send resume and cover letter to: welcome@fccej.org
| | FOR MORE CONFERENCE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES | | | | |
Join the Movement toward Racial Justice
The United Church of Christ invites you to participate in the Join the Movement Campaign, a three-year initiative that recognizes local churches’ works towards racial justice. Together, we can advocate for all people to live without acts of violence or structures and systems that harm God’s human creation.
| | | | |
Global Ministries is a joint witness in mission between the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. Join us in our mission to receive and share the Good News of Jesus Christ by joining with global and local partners to work for justice, reconciliation and peace
Become a Global Mission Church!
| | |
Thank You for Your Support!
Our Churches Wider Mission Basic Support, Association Dues, and
Friends of the Vermont Conference make this communication possible.
| | | | |
