COMMAntary
Equipping a courageous Church alive with Christ’s transforming love
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Time to reinvigorate your sermon process?
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In challenging times, you wonder if there's a better way to prepare your sermons. But it's hard to know where to start and how to make change that matters — and lasts.
The Damascus Project is partnering with Backstory Preaching to offer you a roadmap to a new approach rooted in prayer and best practices.
Participants describe this as “the class I wish I had in seminary,” “the exact sermon-writing refocus I needed for this time in my ministry,” and “salve for my soul.” This learning opportunity is recommended for clergy and anyone who preaches regularly.
Sermon Camp is fully online, runs from January 11 to February 19, 2021, and costs $299. Questions? Contact Abby at info@the-damascus-project.org or 507-222-0194.
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#Grateful? Your Photo is Needed!
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As the Minnesota Conference team prepares worship for Conference congregations to use in November, we want to find a way to showcase YOU in our worship!
We invite you —individuals, families, and churches—to send us photos that we will share during a prayer time focused on gratitude. Our goal is to provide a visual of the Conference community across the state.
Please send us a picture of you or your church, and if you can feature #gratitude or #thankful, that’s even better! Send your photo by Nov 5 to communications@uccmn.org.
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"Practice Paying Attention – Remember" is Topic of This Week's Toolkit for Families and Faith Formation Leaders
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All Saints Day is a time to celebrate our ancestors. Our culture, faith and individual identity is shaped by our past, and sharing those stories can help us remember that we are all ancestors-in-training. What legacy will we leave?
Remembering is a spiritual practice when we take time to listen to – and express gratitude for — all those (past and present) who help us “walk wisely.”
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In week four of our Fall Toolkit (for families and faith formation leaders), we offer wonderful resources, from engaging videos, to creative activities, to spiritual practices, to books and songs and so much more.
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Where are you finding awe in this time?
The chair of the Conference's Committee on Ministry, Diann Anders, recently posed this question. She was inspired by an article she had read about why cultivating a sense of awe matters in these troubled times – and encouraged by the thoughtfulness of the responses of her committee members.
We share a few to inspire you to find your own awe!
The human capacity to create joy in dark times
Remarkable fall colors
The magic and beauty and playfulness of snow and ice
Living into the technological resources we've long had
Little encounters that now have more meaning
Curbside grocery pick-up
Nature videos unmediated by words
The resilience of young adults
Strengthened friendships
New ways of joyful socializing
A sister's ability to care for aging parents
Once tiny babies now thriving, smiling, dancing on their birthdays, wearing their masks and getting on with it
Churches finding new ministries and purpose
Health care workers
The call of a pileated woodpecker
The snow-dressed swaying of a white pine
Surprising a mother far-away with a delivered treat
Being in the care of children;
Lake Superior, whose other side is unseen
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First Congregational Church UCC, Aitkin Joins National Bell Ringing
To mark the estimated 250,000 lives lost to Covid-19, the United Church of Christ in Long Island, New York, began ringing their bells every hour, 24 hours a day for two weeks – one for every life lost.
Upon invitation the the Long Island church, the First Congregational Church, UCC of Aitkin is joining this tribute by ringing its bell for 6 seconds, 25 times, with each ringing representing 10,000 lives lost to the pandemic.
This event is a fitting final community action for the church that has served the Aitkin community for so many decades, including lending its building to serve as a hospital during the flu epidemic of 1918.
Royce Anderson, who has been the official bell ringer and is the fifth generation of his family to belong to the church, will begin the tribute at 12:00 noon Sunday, November 1, All Saints Day. Royce is pictured with his grandfather, Brian Sandberg.
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Statewide Overcoming Racism Conference is November 13 & 14
Join UCCers from across the state online for "Overcoming Racism: Taking Back "We the People." Keynote speakers are Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. and the Funny Asian Women Kollective.
A special workshop on Saturday, November 14, from 2–3:30 pm CST will help us strategize how we can respond, as congregations and as a Conference, to further the efforts of racial justice. Anita Bradshaw, Associate Conference Minister, will be leading the workshop.
Limited scholarship money is available. Follow the link below for info. The MN Conference UCC also has some limited scholarship money available for first-time attenders. Please contact Anita Bradshaw at anitab@uccmn.org for more information.
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What is happening with our immigrant brothers and sisters?
If you missed the October 26th discussion with the Minnesota Conference's Immigration Team, the recording is now available. Click the image below to hear the discussion about what is happening in Minnesota detention facilities, led by Hanne Sandison of The Advocates for Human Rights and Julio Zelaya from the American Civil Liberties Union (Mankato office).
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Mental Health Fall 2020 Seminar for UCC Congregations Set for November 13 & 14
Mental health conditions are common everywhere, including in our churches. People are dealing with a variety of mental health and substance use challenges every day.
Congregations are invited to explore becoming WISE: Welcoming, Inclusive, Supportive, and Engaged for Mental Health by attending this fall webinar to explore how our faith communities can support those among us with mental health challenges. LEARN MORE AND REGISTER
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PRAXIS: Practicing Strength
Join us Wednesday, November 11, from 3:00-4:30 pm for a discussion around building resilience and supporting mental wellness. Therapist Lori Alford, LAMFT, will lead us into practices that promote self-care and self-balance in work, play, and times of crisis.
Alford is a clinical therapist, working with youth who have engaged in sexually harming behaviors and their families at Steps for Change. She has done extensive work with the MN Conference UCC as a facilitator for Our Whole Lives and as a faith formation leader.
Contact Sandy for a Zoom link.
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Election, Advent & Christmas Resources from the Conference
The Conference website offers a wealth of resources related to ministry during the election, Covid-19 pandemic and faith formation. This week we added a new page of resources related to election and post-election concerns.
The Conference website offers a wealth of other resources related to ministry during the Covid-19 pandemic and faith formation. Bookmark this page and check back frequently.
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Financial Assistance for Congregations
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The United Church of Christ National Setting is offering financial assistance to local churches whose ministries have been challenged by the pandemic. See the process.
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An ecclesiastical council will be held for Claire Klein on Monday, November 9, at 2:00 pm via Zoom. Clergy of the Conference and church delegates are encouraged to attend. For a link to the event, contact Janet at the Minnesota Conference office with your local church membership, lay or clergy status, and whether or not you are a voting delegate. To learn more about Claire, read this introduction and her ordination paper.
Kris Geer will begin serving as pastor at Rainy River Parish in Baudette and Birchdale, and at Faith UCC in International Falls on November 1. Kris completed her M. Div. in May at Moravian Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. She has served as a licensed minister in the UMC, as well as a licensed K-12 teacher. She has also farmed in Moose Lake. The Minnesota Conference offers prayers for Kris and the congregants of these churches that they may embark on relationships that joyfully serve each other and the world.
Rev. Enno Limvere will begin serving as pastor at First Congregational in Grand Marais on November 3. Enno is a member of the South Dakota Conference Prairie Lakes Association. The Minnesota Conference offers welcome and blessings to Enno and the congregation, that God’s beauty may be ever more fully realized in them.
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The Conference website offers a wealth of resources related to ministry during the Covid-19 pandemic and faith formation.
Send story ideas, insights and more to communications@uccmn.org. COMMAntary is published on Wednesdays; submissions are due the Monday prior to publication at noon.
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This newsletter is brought to you by generous contribution to Our Church's Wider Mission.
The Minnesota Conference United Church of Christ (UCC) equips a courageous Church alive with Christ’s transforming love. Through advice, support, and resources, we strengthen the 126 congregations throughout the state to do the redemptive work of God in the world.
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