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Important This Week
- The deadline to register for the Clergy Women's Retreat is today, Jan. 10.
- Your church can participate in JCVDT events: Valentine's Day Match Up and a Lenten devotional.
- The deadline for giving 2017 OCWM to the conference is Tuesday.
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Epiphany and New Year's Resolutions
New Year's resolutions. A decreasing number of people I know make them. Maybe that's about 'been there done that' or 'didn't work for me' or 'everything in my life is good.' A wise person observed that January's most popular resolution, losing weight, collides with winter's invitation to eat more and hibernate. Change is never without challenge. Never.
Enter in the season of Epiphany. The days slowly grow longer, the nights shorter as the light of Christ gradually makes its way into the world. As a result of that light, people seem to change effortlessly. John meets Jesus at the river and changes his prophecy from 'he is coming' to 'he is here.' Fisherman change vocations and leave family. Unclean spirits are invited to change locations — leave, actually.
The epiphany stories tell us three things about change. 1. It does not happen without divine intervention 2. It does not happen in isolation 3. Each change makes the next change a little bit easier. I suspect there is something about your life that you would like to change. Let me suggest three things. First, call on God the great Change Agent to help. Second, call on brothers and sisters in your congregation for help. Naming unclean spirits publicly is a good first step to drive them out (Mark 1:21-28). Finally, celebrate every small success. It plants the seeds for what comes next.
Whatever changes come your way in this New Year, intended or otherwise, I pray that the light of the Epiphany season shines far into your future.
Blessings,
Bill
Rev. William P. Worley, Conference Minister
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Discipleship Workshops coming to three location
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Much emphasis is given today to churches reaching new people, and rightfully so. The real area of untapped potential in any congregation and community are not the people outside the church, but the people sitting in your pews every Sunday (or every other Sunday). The worship is designed to equip pastors and lay leaders with modern tools for doing an ancient work: making disciples out of those who are in our care.
Facilitated by Rev. Cean James, Associate Conference Minister for Congregational Development, there are three opportunities to attend this workshop, each from 10:00a-12:00p. The workshops are free, but registration is required. Click the links below to register and for more information.
Event flyer
.
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Valuable Resources From Disaster Ministries
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The PSEC Disaster Coordinator, Rev. Karl Jones Jr., has several valuable resources to share with conferences churches and leaders. There is information on winter safety, free safety apps for churches, grants for church security systems, grants for low-income households to help pay for heating.
Click here to read about this and more.
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Rev. Meagan McLeod awarded Adese Fellowship for 2018
Congratulations to Rev. Meagan McLeod who has been accepted into the Adese Fellowship! The Adese Fellowship is an ecumenical program that engages participants in theological reflection and business development as they create enterprises that help their communities follow the way of Jesus and live into God’s economy. Through the 12-month, all-expenses-paid program, Meagan will combat poverty among minority single months with Healing Streams Center. For more information on Meagan’s plans and the other 2018 fellows,
click here
. For more information on the fellowship,
click here
.
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Your youth are invited:
PNEC Annual Youth Retreat
The Penn Northeast Conference will be holding its Annual Youth Retreat on May 4-6 at Spruce Lake. PSEC youth in grades 7-12 are invited to join! The retreat cost is $130/person. Registration and a deposit are due by Feb. 12. For more information and the registration form,
click here
.
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Valentine's Day Match Up
Partner with a church in the PNEC to help build relationships between people, churches and conferences. Share your mission, your hopes, your struggles and walk together in faith. Some ideas for your partnership, share a write up or video of your church with your partner so they can share it in their newsletter, in their bulletin, in worship, on their website. Pray for each other in worship. Do the Joint Conference Vision and Development Lenten Devotional and share your insights. Do a joint mission project. Visit each other’s churches. Be creative and have fun with it!
Click here
to complete the form to join. Forms are due by Feb. 4.
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Save the Date:
PSEC Spring Meeting 2018
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Spring Meeting will be held the weekend of June 1-3 at West Chester University. The theme is "Be Reconciled." For more information, keep watching upcoming eNews emails and the conference website.
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Lenten Devotional: 'What is Covenant?'
Lent is fast approaching and the Joint Conference Vision and Development Team invite you to join us in using this
Lenten Devotional
on
“What is Covenant?”
written by Rev. Dr. Bonnie Bates, PNE Conference Minister. We invite you to use the devotional with your congregation and then share your insights with us each week. The JCVDT will compile your responses and share them following Lent. The devotional is
available here
.
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Healthcare: Education & Action
event scheduled for Feb. 10
Worship, hear speakers, share your healthcare experiences, be educated on the healthcare system and learn what your congregation can do to organize around healthcare issues. The event will be sponsored by the Joint Conference Vision and Development Team, POWER, and the PSEC Justice and Witness Team. It is open to all churches in Penn Northeast and Pennsylvania Southeast conferences.
"Healthcare: Education and Action: is schedule for Feb. 10 from 9:00a-12:00p at Reformed Church of the Ascension, Norristown.
There is no need to register, but for more information, you may call:
- Rev. Dwayne Mosier 610.539.1693
- Rev. Joanne Marchetto 424.221.8856
- Rev. Barbara Pence 610.287.7966
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Save the Date:
Unite to End Racism events
On April 4 on the mall in Washington DC, in an act commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., leaders from faith communities will gather for worship, and for truth-telling – calling the nation to seek healing from our racist legacies. The "
ACT Now! Unite to End Racism" events will include worship, activities, speeches, presentations, and rallies. More information will be available soon. Visit
the event website for more details.
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PSEC 2017 Giving Cut-Off
Books of the PSEC will close
Jan. 16
. All OCWM contributions for 2017 must be in our office by that date or they will be counted towards 2018 contributions.
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2018 Mileage Rates
2018 mileage rates for business mileage driven has increased to 54.5 cents per mile (for pastor and other church staff mileage reimbursement) while charitable mileage rate remains at 14 cents per mile for our volunteer miles.
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PSEC Events
June 1-3: PSEC Annual Spring Meeting in West Chester.
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Classified Ads
Submit your Classified Ads
here
View a complete list of Classified Ads
here
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Educational Opportunities
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Upcoming Church Events
Submit your Local Church Events
here
View a complete list of Church Events
here
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