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Important This Week
- The Conference Office will be closed Monday in recognition of Labor Day.
- Updates on the flood recovery efforts in our conference and PNEC.
- Register now for Fall Meeting!
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Update: Flood clean-up continues in PSEC and PNEC
During the past several weeks several parts of Penn Northeast Conference and Pennsylvania Southeast Conference have sustained severe damage due to the heavy and continuous rains. Hundreds of homes and a few churches in both conferences have suffered severe damage. The churches and members of both conferences have responded with funds, clean up and hygiene kits and volunteers. Local pastor and church leaders and members of the Disaster Ministry Teams of the two conferences have also been heavily engaged in coordinating our efforts. For that we are very grateful.
Help from the United Church of Christ family has also been made available. The Ohio Conference delivered nearly 1,000 clean-up and hygiene kits to Susquehanna County in Penn Northeast Conference. UCC national disaster ministries staff have helped to guide the efforts. Later this week, Bill and Ellen Matten, Penn Central Conference Disaster Coordinators, will deploy to Schuylkill County to begin the process of damage assessment. Bill and Ellen have done this work for the UCC in many parts of the country. The process of property damage assessment is always a difficult one, but it is a most important step in the process to recovery!
You can help as well.
- You can organize a work team or serve as a volunteer. For work in our conferences you can contact Conference Disaster Coordinator Karl Jones at 570-617-4018 – kjones275@comcast.net. Or you can go to http://www.ucc.org/disaster_disaster-volunteers to discover more about any of the intermediate and long-term recovery volunteer opportunities that are currently open and seeing volunteers.
- 2. Your church can assemble clean-up buckets, hygiene kits, and/or school kits. Go to https://cwskits.org/assemble-kits/emergency-cleanup-buckets/ to learn more about these kits. Completed kits can be delivered to either of our Conference offices or St. Luke’s United Church of Christ, 200 W Main St, Trappe, PA 19426 Phone: (610) 489-4933.
- 3. You can raise funds for this important work. In long-term recovery funding is always one of the best ways to respond. This funding will be used throughout the two conferences for the work of recovery. Funds can be sent to: Pennsylvania Southeast Conference, 1441 Laura Lane, Suite 100, Pottstown, PA 19464.
- 4. You can become a member of the Disaster Ministry Team. Contact Karl Jones for more information.
Please keep everyone affected by and who will help in the recovery process in your prayers.
Rev. Karl Jones
PSEC Disaster Response Coordinator
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All Saints Sunday offering materials available now online
On All Saints Sunday, we celebrate long ago saints and those known to us as saints; people who inspired us by grit and determination to “keep on trying.” Many of those people are the pastors who lives shaped and influenced our own. Some of the PSEC pastors who retired years ago are now in need of special assistance. Because their retirement income is low, PSEC churches supplement the cost of their health benefits. We remember these saints as we receive the PSEC special All Saints offering. The entirety of the offering is used to supplement the needs of 9 of the retired pastors, spouses, and widows who need assistance.
Click here
for more info, a bulletin insert, and envelope stickers.
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Several crisis training opportunities available soon
There are four upcoming training opportunities from the Keystone Crisis Intervention Team. For more information, click on the links below or contact PSEC Disaster Response Coordinator, Rev. Karl Jones:
kjones275@comcast.net
.
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Help is needed for communities in Eastern PA
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At least five counties in Eastern Pennsylvania have experienced significant flooding in the past few weeks. There are over 250 homes in these counties that need help. These areas are in various stages of response and recovery.
Schuylkill County in PA Southeast Conference is in the process of establishing long-term recovery opportunities in and around Tremont, Pine Grove, and Port Carbon. While the UCC is supporting the overall work of cleanup and doing damage assessments, the United Methodist Church is setting up the housing for volunteers and groups at St. John United Methodist Church in Tremont. Volunteers will be housed at the church and the UM Conference is moving a shower trailer into position to serve teams.
To learn more about this opportunity or to schedule a group please contact the Onsite Coordinator - Suzanne Schach - at jsb@epix.net or (570) 294-3748. Teams should also notify UCC Conference Disaster Coordinator, Karl Jones at
kjones275@cocmast.net
or 570-617-4018.
Keep watching for news as the other sites proceed with rebuild plans. Thank you for your work to make Christ's love visible to the world!
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Pastoral Leadership in Congregational Systems
From a congregational systems perspective, pastoral leadership emphasizes the self-differentiation, presence, and position of the leader as much as pastoral expertise. This three-part workshop will focus on the three systems in which pastors are called to be present; the entire congregation as a system, individual families within the entire church, and the pastor’s own family of origin. Mornings will be lecture and theory while afternoons will be clinical discussion and case study. For more info and to register,
click here
.
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PSEC, PNEC planning rebuild Puerto Rico mission trip
A group from PSEC and PNEC met Aug. 6 to discuss the possibility of sponsoring a 2019 rebuild mission trip to Puerto Rico. The dates requested are April 28 to May 4. 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. Learn more about on-going UCC work in Puerto Rico
here
.
The next planning meeting will be held Tuesday, Sept. 4, at 6:30 pm at St John's UCC- Mickleys, 2918 MacArthur Rd, Whitehall. If you would like to be on the list of potential participants and receive the trip info directly, email
gilbertor@pnec.org;
CC: Karl Jones:
kjones275@comcast.net
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Church Openings
St. Peter's, Molltown: 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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Educational Opportunities
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Church Events
Submit your Church Events
here
View a complete list of Church Events
here
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Classified Ads
Submit your Classified Ads
here
View a complete list of Classified Ads
here
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Missed a week? Read past eNews here:
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