UCC General Minister and President Karen Georgia Thompson will join other faith leaders at 6 p.m. Jan. 20 for an Interfaith Service and Moral Mass Meeting called “For Such a Time as This: A Prophetic Response to America’s Defining Moment.” Jan. 20 is both Inauguration Day and the day set aside this year to celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.



The service will be held at Healing Cathedral Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Memphis, Tennessee, and will be livestreamed. Learn more and register.

St. John’s UCC in Merton has put the band back together.

Less than two years ago, St. John’s and four other Waukesha County UCC congregations came together to support the resettlement of 11 members of a Rohingya family in Milwaukee. Now, the churches are working with Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan to create a new home for a seven-member family from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Congolese family had spent more than a decade in a refugee camp in Malawi after fleeing their homeland. “The longing for home – to return to Congo – is much greater,” said St. John’s Pastor Mary Jane Huber, drawing a comparison with the Rohingya family. “You simply don’t walk away with three little children unless that’s the best option.”

The UCC team assembled by St. John’s – it includes members of Redeemer UCC in Sussex, First Congregational in Oconomowoc, Emmanuel UCC in Dousman and First Congregational in Hartland -- has helped the family obtain clothing and household furnishings and appliances for their Milwaukee apartment, taken them to doctor’s appointments, helped the eighth-grade daughter negotiate the admissions process at the Milwaukee High School of the Arts, and helped the father find a job.

“We did not have the means to make that happen alone, volunteerwise or financially,” Mary Jane said. Together, however, the congregations had what is most important: human assets. “The partnerships that have formed among the congregations are a real blessing,” she said.

The congregations also may be showing the way forward for the Wisconsin Conference as it anticipates the sunset of the current association structure and the proliferation of ministry groups that tap the passions of individuals and congregations to respond to local needs.

“This is an amazing ministry of relational and resource collaboration and a powerful expression of the United Church of Christ,” Conference Minister Franz Rigert said. “What we can do together in witness to the Gospel and through acts of neighborly love far exceeds what any of us can do on our own. This is the kind of partnering that points to a promising future for the Church.”

The UCC resettlement team plans to support the Congolese family at least through Easter. “Because they’re people of faith, we thought that would be appropriate to celebrate with them and say, ‘This is your new life,’” Mary Jane said.



After that? “The team will take another break and probably go back at it,” she said. “The people involved are dedicated to living out their faith in ways that welcome the refugee."

The Wisconsin Conference has partnered with Church World Service to make it easy to donate to the relief effort in Southern California, where the lives of thousands of people have been upended by wildfires.

To donate online, go to wcucc.org, click the “Donate” button, and you’ll be taken to the page where contributions to wildfire relief are accepted. You can also make a gift through your local congregation by writing “California Fire” in the memo line. Donations to the Conference will be forwarded to CWS, whose Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery team provides resources to people in need, limited temporary housing, and technical assistance to organizations on the ground.

To learn more about the situation on the ground, check out the coverage provided by Religion News Service, which is reporting on the fires’ impact on faith communities. So far, at least a dozen houses of worship have been destroyed, including Altadena Community Church UCC.

In June, delegates to the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin voted to launch a year of study by local congregations of the issue of a just peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.

If 30 percent of congregations engage the issue, the 2025 Annual Meeting will vote whether to adopt the Declaration for a Just Peace Between Israel and Palestine adopted at the UCC’s 2021 General Synod. If your congregation already has engaged the issue, please let us know by completing this brief form.

Here are some of the ways congregations have found to study the issue:

First Congregational Church, Sheboygan, viewed the film “Where Olive Trees Weep” and arranged a presentation by the Rev. Diane Dulin and Tom Beilman, two members of the Conference’s Palestine Justice Working Group.

A group at St. John’s UCC, Monroe, is studying the text of the Just Peace resolution adopted at the 2021 General Synod.  

McFarland UCC arranged a presentation by the Rev. Harriet Taylor of the Palestine Justice Working Group and viewed “Where Olive Trees Weep”.

Orchard Ridge UCC, Madison, met by Zoom with lifelong Palestine resident Usama, and later arranged a presentation by the Rev. Shelby Jeidy, who served recently as a Global Ministries peace intern in the West Bank. One member of the congregation traveled recently to the West Bank and reported her observations to the congregation. Orchard Ridge also participated in a “longest night” Vigil for Gaza.

First Congregational UCC, River Falls, is studying Walter Brueggeman’s book “Chosen? Reading the Bible Amid the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” and plans to watch a PBS documentary as a group. The congregation also has scheduled a local professor to speak in February.

St. Paul’s UCC, Ellsworth, invited two members of the Palestine Justice Working Group to speak on the history and current situation in the Middle East.

Memorial UCC, Fitchburg, presented “Where Olive Trees Weep,” followed by discussion of the film.

Members of Orchard Ridge UCC in Madison and Memorial UCC in Fitchburg co-sponsored public presentations in the Madison area by the respected Palestinian pastor the Rev. Mitri Raheb and personal testimonies by two peace activists, Rotem Levin from Israel and Osama Iliwat from Palestine.

Zwingli UCC, Paoli, explored by video the testimonies of two prophetic peacemakers, Palestinian Archbishop Elias Chacour and Jewish author Mark Braverman. As a next step, the congregation’s book group will read Raheb’s book “Bethlehem Besieged.” 

Members of the Palestine Justice Working Group are available to provide study resources to local congregations and other groups. To reach the working group, email Lisa Hart, associate conference minister for faith formation and justice ministries.

In case you missed the email sent last week, here is a link to Conference Minister Franz Rigert's 2024 Year in Review.

Winter cohorts of the Animating Antiracism in Faith Formation program are forming now. The program is open to pastors, faith formation leaders, and youth and other leaders who wish to build cultural competency and examine the ways in which issues of race and power are present in ministry. This online program series was developed for the United Church of Christ Network of Wider Church Youth Ministries by Crossroads Antiracism Organizing and Training.



The fee for the six-hour program is $60 per person. Each group is limited to 12 to 15 participants. The program is appropriate for paid and volunteer leaders. Learn more and register.

The United Church of Christ, in partnership with the Council on Health & Human Service Ministries, designates a Sunday in January to celebrate the many gifts of these ministries across the church. This year, Health and Human Service Sunday takes place on Jan. 26. 

Liturgical resources composed by the Rev. Dr. Elyse Berry of the CHSSM team, are now available. These materials include all the elements of worship, plus the Health and Human Service Sunday logo and a series of graphics lifting up aspects of the liturgy.



Access the Health and Human Service Sunday resources.

Monthly Ministry Roundtable

 “All Things Lent!” is the theme of the next Monthly Ministry Roundtable facilitated by Associated Conference Ministers Rachel Bauman and Michael Jones. Join them to discuss Lenten themes, sermon ideas, Lenten spiritual practices and more. Come with ideas to share and to learn something new.

Time: 4 to 5:30 p.m.

Date: Feb. 5

Register here

Morning prayer and reflection for pastors

Join the Rev. Teri Hanson and one of our associate conference ministers for a time of prayer and reflection at 8:30 a.m. on the first Thursday of each month. It’s a good opportunity to start the month with 20 minutes or so of centering yourself in the Holiness of God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

Time: 8:30 a.m.

Date: Feb. 6

Join in here

Supportive Ministries conversation

The Supportive Ministries Team offers two opportunities each month to join a discussion of topics raised in its monthly Becoming the Beloved Community newsletter. The next conversations will take place by Zoom at noon and 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb.6. Subscribe to the newsletter.

Register here for the noon discussion

Register here for the evening discussion

Faith Formation Retreats

Registration is now open for the two Youth Faith Formation Retreats planned for winter 2025. Retreats will take place at Daycholah Center on the weekends of Feb. 21-23 and Feb. 28-March 2. We offer the same retreat both times so that more young people can participate. Our planning team is creating a retreat that focuses on sacred space, sacred rituals and worship. We will have opportunities to explore Daycholah Center, engage in some fun and games, and hang out with old and new friends.

Register for the Feb. 21-23 retreat

Register for the Feb. 28- March 2 retreat

Strengthening the Body of Christ

This workshop uses the insights of family systems theory to reflect on the social dynamics and connections of a congregation. What is the nature of our fellowship? What makes individuals feel they are an integral part of a congregation? What are the key values, principles, and programs that tie a congregation together? The workshop seeks to work through such concepts as toxicity and sabotage and address how leaders can respond to such challenges in mature and responsible ways.

Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Date: March 25

Place: Middleton Community Church, 645 Schewe Road, Middleton

Event flyer and registration

Save the date

• Southeast Association Gathering: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 22 at Emanuel UCC in Hales Corners. A short but meaningful time of worship will be followed by a discussion with Conference Minister Franz Rigert about the dissolution of our associations. Registration details forthcoming.
• Annual Meeting 2025: June 6-7 at Green Lake Conference Center

PHOTO CREDITS:

• Martin Luther King Jr. photo: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
• Fire photo: Associated Press, Ethan Swope, 2025

This newsletter is made possible by contributions to Our Church's Wider Mission Basic Support.

The Wisconsin Conference UCC is an Open and Affirming Conference, and an Immigrant Welcoming Conference.

Wisconsin Conference United Church of Christ

W1000 Spring Grove Road, Ripon, WI 54971

mail@wcucc.org

www.wcucc.org