For the Damascus Project, the good news keeps on coming.

On Pentecost, the first learners to participate in the Living Faith online confirmation program were confirmed, affirming their baptismal vows and celebrating a milestone in their faith journeys. One individual each was confirmed from Immanuel UCC in Greenwood, First Congregational in Owen, St. Paul's in Wausau and Lynndale UCC in Minneapolis. Living Faith is one of the fruits of a $500,000 grant from Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations initiative. The curriculum is designed with an eye on small and rural congregations with too few confirmation-age youngsters to form a class or no pastor available to teach. The Damascus Project is the joint educational ministry of the Wisconsin and Minnesota conferences.

Learn more about the Living Faith online confirmation option at one of two information sessions, scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. July 10 and 1 to 2 p.m. July 20. Register to attend an information session.

If you already know that Living Faith is right for your congregation, register today for the course that starts in September.

Earlier this week, came word that the Damascus Project had received a $25,000, one-year Vital Worship, Vital Preaching grant from the Calvin Institute for Worship. The Damascus grant proposal focused on training and providing resources for worship leaders and preachers in small and rural churches. Training will take place online and through "preach in-teach ins" to be delivered on site at congregations in Wisconsin and Minnesota in 2026.

It had already been a banner year for the Damascus Project, which in March recorded its 1,000th user registration.

Learn more about the Damascus Project.

If you’re a faith formation or youth ministry leader, there’s good news for the year ahead: The Conference, in collaboration with United Church Camps Inc., has put together a rich menu of retreat and training opportunities for you and the young people in your congregation.

Youth Faith Formation Retreats

Designed for those in grades 6-12 and their adult leaders, these retreats are appropriate for young people interested in exploring faith in community with other youths.

Dates: Nov.7-9, Feb. 27-March 1, March 6-8

Place: Daycholah Center

Knock Knock Retreat at Daycholah Center

An opportunity for middle school youth groups and their leaders to bond as they explore the challenges of those in-between years and beyond.

Date: Nov. 21-23

Place: Daycholah Center

Winter Soulstice Retreat

This retreat provides space for high school students and young adults of college age to explore who they are and where they are on their faith journey while focusing on the ways we show up in the world and live out our faith.

Date: Jan. 16-18

Place: Daycholah Center

Registration for youth retreats will open by Sept. 1.

There’s an equally robust schedule of development opportunities for faith formation and youth leaders:

Animating Antiracism for Faith Formation

Learn to recognize programming that is antiracist in community with other faith formation leaders. Summer and fall cohorts are available to suit a variety of schedules.

Learn more and register

Damascus Project Faith Formation and Youth Ministry Leaders Cohort

The Damascus Project Network hosts an online community where faith formation and youth ministry leaders -- volunteer, paid, lay and clergy alike -- can gather to offer support, ask questions, and share ideas and resources. Drop-in support gatherings take place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on the first and third Thursdays of each month.

 Click for more information and to participate.

Christian Education/Faith Formation Communities of Practice

These groups parallel the successful COP program for pastors and provide support for lay volunteers and church staffers involved in Sunday school, youth groups or other aspects of faith formation. COP groups for 2025-2026 will start in September.

Learn more and register

Great Lakes Association of United Church Educators annual gathering

Join faith formation and youth ministry peers to share ideas, learn, build a community of support and worship. Keynoter will be the Rev. Amy Johnson, UCC minister for sexuality education and justice, will be our keynote and worship leader. Registration will open soon.

Date: Oct. 14-16

Place: Geneva Center, Rochester, Indiana

Learn more

Questions about opportunities for young people and their adult leaders? Email Lisa Hart, associate conference minister for faith formation and justice ministries.

Download the youth events flyer

Download the leadership development flyer

The 35th General Synod of the United Church of Christ takes place July 11-15 in Kansas City, Missouri. Your Wisconsin Conference delegates are:

Jane Anderson, First Congregational UCC, Appleton; Rachel Bauman, Plymouth Congregational UCC, Madison; David Bowles, Congregational UCC, Ladysmith, and Congregational UCC, Conrath; Esperanza de Jesus Bowles, Congregational UCC, Ladysmith; Jeannie Douglas, Pilgrim UCC, Fond du Lac; Kathleen Gloff, Somers Community UCC, Somers (Kenosha), Bob Gross, First Congregational UCC, Janesville; Lisa Hart, Salem UCC, Verona; Rowan Hildebrandt, First Congregational UCC, South Milwaukee; Gail Holmes, Plymouth Congregational UCC, Madison; Michael Jones, First Congregational UCC, Eau Claire; Shannon Joshi, First Congregational UCC, Eau Claire; Dawn Kay, First Congregational UCC, La Crosse; Oli Kobliska, Pilgrim UCC, Grafton; Elliott Luedke, Green Lake Federated Church UCC, Green Lake; Kevin Mundell, Our Saviour's UCC, Ripon; Kelly Mundell, Our Saviour's UCC, Ripon; Kate O'Brien, Christ Church UCC, Milwaukee; Kerri Parker, Orchard Ridge UCC, Madison; Beth Petzke, Grace UCC, Kohler; Jeff Pommerening, United Church of Christ, Elcho and United Church of Christ, Kempster; Asafa Rakotojoelinandrasana, United Church of Christ, Pittsville; Franz Rigert, associate delegate, Wisconsin Conference UCC, Ripon; Naomi Seiler, Pilgrim UCC, Grafton; Wayne Shannon, First Congregational UCC, Madison; Joshua Simon, Emmanuel UCC, Hales Corners; Michael Southcombe, St. Stephens UCC, Merrill; Tara Tetzlaff, Christ Church UCC, Milwaukee.

The Wisconsin and Minnesota conferences will train facilitators in the Our Whole Lives sexuality education curriculum Aug. 8-10 at Daycholah Center in Green Lake. One level of training will be offered for facilitators of the youth curriculum for students in grades 7 through 12.

The training will prepare facilitators and enable members of congregational faith development teams to understand their own and others’ sexuality within the context of United Church of Christ values.



Deadline to register is July 8.

Register today.

Download the flyer for more information.

Please note: the adult curriculum training has been canceled and will be offered at a future date.

Wisconsin Conference Disaster Preparedness Coordinator Bridget Hill in July will host two webinars to review the UCC’s newly updated Disaster Preparedness Guide for Local Churches. The guide explains how to get your church building ready, how to prepare your church community, and how to equip your church to serve the wider community when disaster strikes. In addition to reviewing the guide, Bridget will share information about disaster-recovery grants and address questions you may have about the UCC document.

The webinars will take place from 11 a.m. to noon July 9 and from 6 to 7 p.m. July 17. Click the time/date links to register.

If you have remodeled a kitchen, you know it’s sometimes easier to go down to the studs and start from there. That’s what the Conference Racial Justice Team plans to do as it seeks fresh ways to resource local congregations.

Borrowing from the racial-justice dream of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the work will begin with a virtual Dream Planning Session that will start to shape racial justice work within the Conference in the years ahead. Interested? Mark your calendars for 3:30 to 5 p.m. Sept. 16. Register for the even on Zoom today.

Wisconsin Conference Life will publish once each during July and August. Check your email and the Conference website and Facebook page for news and calendar items that fall outside the newsletter publishing schedule.

Planned Giving Seminar

The Together for Tomorrow – Planned Giving Seminar provides resources to help your congregation organize and implement a planned giving program. It introduces a set of skills and concepts, provides prompts for the development of your own policies and resources, and suggests practical timelines for initiating this effort. Course flyer.

Time: 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Dates: July 8 and 29

Learn more or register

Small Church Working Group

The Small Church Working Group meets the fourth Tuesday of each month to discuss the unique challenges and rewards of small-church ministries.

Time: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Date: July 22

Join the conversation

Palestine Justice Working Group

The Wisconsin Conference work group educates UCC members about the state of Israeli-Palestinian relations and advocates for justice for all Palestinians. The group meets by Zoom on the fourth Monday of each month. Meetings are open to all.

Time: 7 p.m.

Date: July 28

Register now

The General Fund of the Wisconsin Conference helps us connect, support and resource pastors, leaders, and congregations. Your gift allows the Conference to provide relevant and timely help during the pandemic and beyond. Donate to the General Fund