Important This Week

• Register for Annual Meeting
• Tomorrow is Admin Day - sign your secretary up for the upcoming luncheon
• Boundary Training opportunities
• Full-time senior pastor position added to Church Openings

Registration deadlines next week for 2024 Annual Meeting

For the first time, all four UCC Pennsylvania conferences will gather for a shared Meeting, June 7-9, 2024, at The Penn Stater in State College, PA. We will examine the exciting possibilities of our four Conferences uniting as one. We will share worship, workshops, and meals. Each conference will also meet Saturday morning to conduct their own separate business meeting.

You must register for the event and for a hotel room separately.

Registration for the meeting is available here. Conference Consistory has authorized Conference funds to defray the high cost of registration. To receive a 75% discount on your meeting registration, when the prompt to enter a Financial Assistance Code appears, enter PSECAnnual75. Once entered, hit the APPLY button to receive the discount. Make sure this is complete before entering your credit card information.

The deadline to register for the meeting is May 3.

To reserve a hotel room, click here or call the Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center at 814-863-5000. Use group code PENN24B to get our rate of $139.99 per night. If you would like to reduce your hotel costs by sharing a room, indicate that you're looking for a roommate on the event registration.

The last date to get the discounted hotel rate is May 5. Rates jump significantly after this date!

Make sure to check out the PSEC Annual Meeting page: psec.org/annual-meeting-2024. There you'll find information on the shared mission project, an agenda, and more. Additional information, including reports, will be added as the meeting gets closer.

Treat your church admins: Register for annual luncheon

Secretaries, assistants, and church administrators are invited to the annual PSEC Admin Luncheon on May 1. We will check in, fellowship over lunch, and enjoy a presentation by Conference Minister Rev. Bill Worley on creating your own job description, self-evaluations, and more. Click here for information and to register. We hope churches will pay the $22 cost of the event. Wednesday is the deadline to register.

Basic Boundary Training from the Lehigh Presbytery

Not-Your-Average Boundaries Training is tailored to focus on strategies to foster clergy emotional resiliency and well-being. While we still cover the "requirements," we believe the best prevention involves encouraging leaders to take steps to manage their stress in order to maintain balance and perspective when temptation to violate boundaries arises.

This online boundaries training is 5 total hours split over 2 days (2.5 hours each day). Following the first session, participants will engage in a bit of reflection work in preparation for the second session. This training will be conducted May 7 and 8 from 1:00-4:00p and Oct. 15 and 16 from 10:00a-1:00p.

Limit is 40 people per class. Zoom link and workbook will be emailed to all participants 1 week prior to the scheduled training.

$50 for PCUSA/$65 for non-PCUSA participants. Click here to register.

Understanding the Hopes of Our Donors to Create Change

On April 24 at 7:30p, Rev. Andrew Warner, Generosity Outreach Officer for the UCC, will lead an online workshop on "A Good Pitch: Understanding the Hopes of Our Donors to Create Change".

Once a upon a time, donors gave out of a sense of obligation and loyalty. Today, most donors care about the impact they make in the world. How do we understand the motivations of our donors? What kind of change do they want to make in the world? Andrew Warner will talk about five basic ways donors look to create change. We will discuss ways to discuss your congregation's impact on your community. For more info and to register, click here.

Bethany Children's Home needs bedding

Each youth that arrives at Bethany Children's Home needs sheets, a pillow case and comforter for a twin sized bed. If you'd like to help, send donations to 1863 Bethany Rd. Womelsdorf, PA 19567. Or donate online at and put "bedding" in the notes! You can also order directly off Amazon using this link.

From the Addiction & Recovery Taskforce: AMA Overdose Epidemic Report 2023

Naloxone is a harm reduction success. Harm reduction aims to minimize the negative health, social and legal impacts associated with drug use. If it wasn’t for naloxone, tens of thousands — if not hundreds of thousands — of Americans would be dead today. The AMA strongly urges support for the following:

• Naloxone in schools.
• Naloxone in public settings. 
• Updated naloxone access laws. (AMA Report 2023)

If you do not have Naloxone available at your church, please contact us. Our contact information is online at the PSEC website.

Mercersburg Society Convocation set for May 20-21

On May 20-21, the 2024 Mercersburg Society Convocation -- "The Mystical Presence and Sacred Meals" -- will be held at Lancaster Theological Seminary.

The Mercersburg heritage has encouraged a profound and heart-felt sense of the mystical presence of Christ through the celebration of the Eucharist. This Mercersburg Society Convocation will explore the experiential dimensions of this Eucharistic spirituality, focusing on the emotions and dispositions that it has sought to nurture. We will compare this rich form of piety to the unique Eucharistic spiritualities of other Christian traditions and also to the spirituality implicit in secular corporate meals. This investigation will promote a deeper appreciation of the resonances with the Mercersburg heritage that other traditions may harbor. These other expressions of meal-focused sacred experience could be illumined by our Mercersburg legacy and the conversation could be mutually enriching for all.

Information about registration, rooms, and meals can be found here.

May Spirit on Tap

The last Theology with a Twist for the season will be "Spiritual Motivation" on May 7, 7:00p at Kutztown Tavern. One of our biggest challenges as people of faith is helping one another grow and change.

A paper delivered in 1983 by Bill Miller and Steve Rollnick launched a movement of counseling focused on helping people find their own motivations. This work was initially applied in addictions care and subsequently used in a wider range of settings. Preaching and pastoral care, too, are often a source of motivational care that is empathetic and person-focused while still working to evoke change.

Rev. Jack Abel, Corporate Director of Spiritual Care for Caron Treatment Centers in Wernersville, will be joining us this month and leading a presentation and discussion that brings thoughtful reflection on the Motivational Interviewing treatment method as it applies to our spiritual lives. Click here for more information.

Rev. Joseph Motz installation at Bausman Memorial UCC

Click the invitation below to download a PDF to share.

Town Hall Discussion on potential Conference merger

There is one more opportunity to attend a Town Hall Discussion on the proposed Conference merger. These will provide a chance to share questions and observations. Please make sure you have viewed the Keystone page on our PSEC website prior to joining the meeting. The discussion will be May 2 at 2:00p. Click here to register.

Rev. Dr. Jan Remer-Osborn installation at Zion's Red Church

Click the invitation below to download a PDF to share.

Boundary Training: When confidences can be broken

This advanced boundary training will explore the moments in ministry when the confidential conversations between pastors and congregants must be broken for the safety of others. The training will explore PA Mandatory Reporting laws and UCC Ministerial Code. (NOTE: this is NOT a replacement for state mandated requirements for Mandatory Reporting Training). This training will be offered on May 16 at 9:00a on Zoom or completed as a "view on your own". For more information, click here.

This email is brought to you by your generous gifts to OCWM (Our Church's Wider Mission)! Thank you!