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Important This Week
- Find out how to help flooded churches in PSEC.
- Check out an update on plans for Puerto Rico mission trip.
- Register for PAM Consistory/Council 101 courses this fall.
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More Flooding Hits PSEC and PNEC Churches
Over the past month, torrential rains have made life difficult in many places within Pennsylvania Southeast Conference. Probably hit the hardest – again – are parts of Schuylkill Association. So the clean-up continues. So does helping with the emotional and spiritual care of the residents. On Wednesday, a team of pastors from the area, including Claude Schach, Jason Stump, and Maureen Duffy-Guy, provided spiritual and emotional care. Among the continuing needs are hygiene kits, clean up buckets, and school kits. Buckets and kits can be dropped off at either:
- St. Peter's UCC, 277 S. Tulpehocken Street, Pine Grove (contact Pastor Jason Stump to schedule: pastorstump@gmail.com or 757-630-6577)
- Trinity UCC, 446 E. Grand Ave., Tower City (contact Rev. Maureen Duffy-Guy to schedule: mduffyguy@hotmail.com or 570-952-5474)
Help is needed this Saturday, Aug. 18 at St. Peter’s UCC – Tremont (57 Spring Street) to help muck out the basement and prepare the church for worship this Sunday. Volunteers can come anytime after 8 am. Claude Schach is the pastor.
Northern Berks county was also hit hard in the Hamburg area, including First UCC, Darryl Hamm, pastor. Our help is needed on Sunday, Aug. 19 at 12:30 pm, at the church at 76 S. 3rd Street, Hamburg, to throw things out, tear out some walls, and carry debris from the basement. On Monday, a professional cleanup company will begin the rebuilding process. Shovels would be helpful, dress in waterproof shoes and old clothes.
If your church is experiencing flooding and there are needs in your community, please contact Rev. Karl Jones, PSEC Disaster Coordinator, at 570-617-4018.
Our brothers and sisters in Penn Northeast Conference are also experiencing flooding. The three counties most affected are Bradford, Susquehanna, and Columbia. Shelters were set up yesterday in several locations. A tool trailer from the Ohio Conference is on its way to Montrose, which will be a staging area for the response. Along with the trailer are 200 clean up kits.
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St. John's UCC, Reading held final service this week
St. John's UCC, Reading held its final service this weekend, closing after 147 years. To read the Reading Eagle story about the church closure,
click here
.
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PSEC, PNEC planning rebuild Puerto Rico mission trip
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A group of members of Pennsylvania Southeast Conference and Penn Northeast Conference met on Aug. 6 to discuss the possibility of the two conferences sponsoring a rebuild mission trip to Puerto Rico in 2019. The dates that we have requested are April 28 to May 4, 2019. PNEC Associate Conference Minister Gilberto Garcia-Rodriquez will be the group leader. Costs will be made available in a few months as we learn more about airfare and other related costs. You can learn more about the on-going UCC work in Puerto Rico by
clicking here
.
The next planning meeting will be held Tuesday, Sept. 4, at 6:30 pm at
St John's U.C.C.- Mickleys
, 2918 MacArthur Rd, Whitehall, PA 18052. If you would like to be on the list of potential participants and receive the trip information directly, please send and email to Gilberto at
gilbertor@pnec.org
and copy Karl Jones at
kjones275@comcast.net
.
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Webinar: What Churches Need to Know about Carbon Pricing
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Disaster Ministries looking for recovery help in Baltimore
Volunteers are needed for flood recovery work around Baltimore this Friday and Saturday. Volunteers who are available Thursday, Friday, or Saturday to work from 8:30a-4:30p shound contact Ellen Udovich, local volunteer coordinator:
443-250-2555 or
eudovich@bcmd.org
and provide:
- Your name, email and phone number
- Dates you are available
- Any prior flood recovery experience, special skills or equipment you have
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MissionInsite registration instructions updated
If your church is creating a MissionInsite account -- this does not apply to existing accounts -- the instructions to create a new account have been updated. If you've recently downloaded instructions, received them through the Search and Call process, or requested them after the MissionInsite training event earlier this month, you should use
these instructions
instead of the earlier version. MissionInsite is a mission context analysis tool for churches. Because of your contributions to OCWM, churches can receive free-of-charge high quality demographic research, real-time congregant analysis, and easy to use web-based discovery tools. For more information,
click here
.
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Notes on Salary Guidelines, Insurance Increases for 2019
The Conference Consistory has approved a 3% salary increase for Conference Compensation Guidelines. To view the 2019 guidelines,
click here
.
Churches that participate in the UCC Medical and Dental Benefits plans will be receiving letters soon with the details of rates for 2019. The following premium rate changes for the 2019 plan year will be:
- Non-Medicare Health Plan: 2% increase
- Medicare Supplement Plan: 2% increase
- Dental Plan: 4% increase
- Vision Plan: no change
- Life Insurance and Disability Income Plan: no change
The following benefit enhancements have been approved as of January 1, 2019:
- (Dental Plan) The Annual Benefit Maximum per person is increased from $1,800 to $2,000
- (Dental Plan) Annual Preventive Servies (e.g. cleanings and examinations) will not reduce the Annual Benefit Maximum
- (Vision Plan) The Annual Allowance for frames and contact lenses is increased from $140 to $150.
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PAM Offering Consistory/ Council 101 this fall
PA Academy of Ministry will be conducting a 3-part educational series called Consistory/Council 101 on Sept. 15, Oct. 6 and Oct. 27 from 10a to 12 noon. The 3 sessions are titled: Making Our Church Meetings Effective, Pastor and People Working Together and Connecting Beyond Ourselves. This course will be presented via live stream to churches where groups can join together in viewing presentations and participate in discussion questions.
Click here
for a flyer with more info.
Click here
to download the registration form.
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Sign up for Diversity Training next month in Schuylkill Haven
In 2017, the PSEC Church and Ministry Council made Diversity Awareness Training mandatory for all authorized ministers. Clergy must take at least one three-hour training every three years. If you are an authorized minister who did not complete the training on March 13, 2018 nor March 16, 2017, you should sign up for the training on Tuesday, Sept. 11 from 9a-12p at First UCC, Schuylkill Haven.
Click here
for more information and to register.
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Classified Ads
Submit your Classified Ads
here
View a complete list of Classified Ads
here
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Church Openings
Tinicum, Pipersville: part-time beginning ASAP
Trinity, Rehrersburg: part-time beginning August
Wyomissing, Gouglersville
: part-time beginning ASAP
If you’re interested in a position, contact Rev. Sharon Morris:
morris@psec.org
or 484-949-8774 ext. 302.
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Church Events
Submit your Church Events
here
View a complete list of Church Events
here
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Educational Opportunities
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Missed a week? Read past eNews here:
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