THE WEEKLY NEWS

January 16, 2024 | Volume 16 No. 3

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Local Church Events

Attention all Clergy!


Make sure you have completed the 2023 Information Review form. This form must be finished and sent into the Conference Office by January 19. Form: https://nhcucc.org/CaringForClergy/forms

CONFERENCE NEWS

Registration is Open!

Prepared to Serve 2024

Prepared to Serve Promo Video

Prepared to Serve 2024 is your opportunity to expand your knowledge, connect with likeminded individuals, and take home resources that will enrich your congregational experience.


Join us for a day of growth, transformation, and empowerment. Together, let's create new possibilities and explore new horizons.


Register below before workshops fill up!

nhcucc.info/pts2024

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Church World Service Period Packs

Prepared to Serve 2024

Prepared to Serve is partnering with Church World Service (CWS) in an effort to create 600 period packs at our event.


With more than 32 million women and girls not being able to afford tampons and other hygiene supplies they need; Church World Service creates period packs that are sent to places after natural disasters and to shelters to help families who have been displaced. A period pack costs $25 to make. We are asking you to consider making a donation to cover the cost of two period packs ($50). Please consider helping us reach our goal. Let's help end period poverty in America!


Donate here or during registration.

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Lent 2024 - Minneapolis to Palestine

Nourishing the Rising Up Journey

Are you ready to rise up for racial justice this Lent? Join the Movement invites you to explore The Risk of Being Woke: Sermonic Reflections for Activists by Curtiss Paul DeYoung, a book that offers biblical insights and spiritual nourishment for activists in the wake of George Floyd’s murder1. You’ll also learn about the connections between the Movement for Black Lives and Palestinian liberation, and how to follow the liberating path of Jesus in today’s context. Don’t miss this opportunity to deepen your commitment and capacity for racial justice work - learn more here!

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Guns to Gardens

An informational Zoom Meeting

Guns to Gardens is a project that transforms unwanted guns into gardening tools and other useful items. It aims to create safer communities by reducing the number of firearms in circulation. Guns to Gardens is hosting its second ever New Hampshire event this year and invites you to join them! Watch this video (passcode is: Rhqr+3#j) to learn more about the project and how to get involved. You can also sign up for an informational zoom meeting with Nancy Brown, a Guns to Gardens Coordinator, on January 17. Don't miss this opportunity to make a positive difference in your community!


Read More

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Register for Horton Center

Registration is now open!

It's time to sign up for a week (or more) at Horton Center! 

Take a look at our summer schedule with camps for all ages HERE

Questions? Give Tivvi a call! 


Contact Tivvi (Horton Center Executive Director) 

email: tpare@nhcucc.org, phone: 603-545-9660

Visit www.hortoncenter.org for more information. 

Join our mailing list to be included in our seasonal newsletter. Fall 2023 Edition is HERE. 

Follow us on Instagram (@hortoncenter) and Facebook (Horton Center Official FB Site)

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Local Church Support Ministry Is Looking for Preaching Mentors!

Do you see yourself mentoring a lay person whose goal is to step into the pulpit on occasion? Or perhaps you feel qualified to share preaching resources and experience? With fewer clergy available to fill church openings, gifted lay people want to step up and speak up. Let's provide some underpinnings and support and by so doing we may gift them, and their church, with a richer experience.  If you are interested in being a Preaching Mentor, or learning more about it, contact Rev. Dr. Deborah Roof at pastordeborah@fpc-ucc.org

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National Setting Training Opportunities

Monday, January 29, 6:00 – 9:00pm ET, Boundary Awareness Training for Ministers in Specialized Settings, with Revs. Tara Barber and Anissa Glaser-Bacon 

This training, hosted by Revs. Tara Barber and Anissa Glaser-Bacon, is open to ministers serving in specialized settings throughout the United Church of Christ. Serving in specialized settings requires particular attention to boundaries within the ministry setting and home church that are challenging and different from those serving as local church pastors. This training will focus on matters that relate specifically to issues that these ministers face, providing opportunities for clergy to reflect on best practices and growth in their practice of ministry. 


Wednesday, January 31, 3:00 – 5:00pm ET Pastoral Support Committee Training with Rev. Tara Barber 

Not your Predecessors PPRC! Pastor/Parish Relations Committees have provided essential leadership in the life of a congregation. And the name has led to some confusion about the focus of their role. Come to this workshop as we explore what it means to become a Pastoral Support Committee - what it is and what it is not. We'll be talking through and naming the priorities and commitments of a well-functioning PSC. Rev. Tara Barber will share best practices from around the church and be prepared to answer your questions. Open to pastors, lay leaders, and judicatory staff. 

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Weaving our Tapestry at the Intersections

Antoinette Brown Society Clergywomen’s Leadership Event

UCC clergywomen are invited to a time for connection, challenge, learning, and support in historic Charleston. They can look forward to building relationships and networks that will support their ministries and develop their leadership potential. They will be inspired by the 2023 Awardees, Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel and Rev. Dr. Lisa Goods, who will engage them at the intersections of Race, Gender, and Ministry. This is open to authorized clergywomen in the UCC. MIDs can join online for a digital retreat with opportunities to share in the keynotes, worship, and workshops.


Registration ends March 16. Register here!

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More E-News, Right in your Inbox! Christian Education & Formation Newsletter (For all ages and stages)
January Newsletter
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UPCOMING CONFERENCE EVENTS

Prepared To Serve 2024

Pembroke Academy (now with hybrid offerings)

Feb 24

Register Here

Conference Calendar

REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS


In these moments after the holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we remember that his message of holy love, revolution and compassion cannot and should not be contained within a single 24 hour period.  Therefore we lift up his legacy and the power of his words to propel us forward, learning, growing and striving for a Just World for All.  


“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. 

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” 


- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. From “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech, given at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City, April 4, 1966

ACROSS THE CONFERENCE

On December 31, 2023 the Rev. Dr. Campbell Lovett concluded his service as Interim Minister of the Congregational Church of Laconia, UCC.


On January 21, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. the Rockingham Association of the United Church of Christ will install the Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt as Pastor and Teacher of the First Congregational Church of Hampton, UCC.   

WIDER CHURCH RESOURCES

United Church of Christ

Click Here

Association of UC Educators

Click Here

Global Ministries

Click Here

UCC Volunteer Ministries

Click Here

Responding to Media Inquiries

Click Here

CONFERENCE MINISTERS

Sunday Schedule: January 21, 2024

Rev. Gordon Rankin

The Conference Minister will be preaching at the New Castle Congregational Church where the Rev. Meg Watson serves as

pastor and teacher. Rev. Rankin will also be attending the Installation of the Rev. Marlayna Schmitt as pastor and teacher of

the First Congregational

Church of Hampton.

Rev. Sara Marean

The Associate Conference Minister will be preaching at the First Parish Church, UCC in Dover.  

Conference Center

Monday - Friday | 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Gordon Rankin (He/Him)

Conference Minister

Sara Marean (She/Her)

Associate Conference Minister

Cindy Bradley (She/Her)

Administrative Assistant

Lydia Frasca (She/Her)

Finance Officer

Susanne McCarron (She/Her)

Search and Call

Tivvi Pare (She/Her) Horton Center Executive Director, Christian Edu. Specialist

Thaddeus Sieverding (He/Him)

CTE Specialist


Phone Number:

603-225-6647

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The Weekly News is published to promote the mission and ministry of the New Hampshire Conference of the United Church of Christ.


These announcements are intended to be brief, timely, and of a general interest to our Conference readers. Supportive links are provided whenever they are available. We encourage you to forward these materials to others in your church using the link below and to share them in your bulletins and local church newsletters.


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