“What are the good pastors going to do?”

The question to the Rev. Dr. Chris Ross came from a member of the LGBTQ community in Watertown, where Chris is pastor of First Congregational UCC. It was prompted by concerns about an anti-LGBTQ rally scheduled to be held at a local gun club featuring speakers with ties to the Christian Nationalist movement. A flyer promoting the rally billed it as a response to Watertown’s Pride in the Park event, which received widespread attention after neo-Nazi demonstrators showed up.

Called to action by Chris, what the good pastors did was organize a public witness against Christian Nationalism called “Building a Welcoming Watertown – Community, Conversation, and Christian Welcome.” The event on Sunday, Oct. 1, drew around 80 people to the Watertown Public Library. The featured speaker was the Rev. Richard Shaw, president of MICAH: Milwaukee Inner-City Congregations Allied for Hope, a multiracial, interfaith organizations whose mission is to empower people to act together in pursuit of justice.



In an interview with Wisconsin Conference Life, Chris said the day provided suggestions for “what do Christians not of that ilk do to combat Christian nationalism.” Keynoter Shaw boiled it down to three v-words, he said:

• Voice: Listen to those voices that are being ignored and work to amplify them.
• Vision: Envision together what the future can look like.
• Vote: Use the power of the ballot to make the vision happen.

Sunday’s event wasn’t a one-off. Planning already is underway for a follow-up gathering in November. “Based on the discussion (Sunday), it appears there’s a desire to organize the community around these issues,” Chris said. “People are energized to find like-minded people.”

Images of God’s “migrant” people escaping slavery in Egypt and captivity in Babylon and the commandment to love one’s neighbor as oneself helped shape the discussions at September’s three-way colloquy of German, Honduran and Wisconsin Conference representatives at Daycholah Center.

The four-day event drew 14 international participants and as many as 10 from the Wisconsin Conference for talks that examined the global migration crisis through the lens of faith, with each delegation bringing its unique perspective to bear.

• Representatives of the Union of Evangelical Churches in Germany told how their nation had welcomed the influx of Ukrainian refugees in generous ways by, for example, allowing them to stay indefinitely in the country. The politics are fraught: The German far right wants to ban all refugee, while the left has criticized the disparity between the country’s treatment of Ukrainian and Syrian refugees. 
• The crisis squeezes Honduras in two ways, according to representatives from the Reformed Church of Honduras: People are leaving the country because of violence, economic struggles and other factors, but transmigration – the movement of people from Venezuela, Colombia and other countries through Honduras -- also poses challenges to civil society.
• The Wisconsin Conference team told the group of the challenges at the Southern border and the need for comprehensive reform of U.S. immigration and asylum policies, while also acknowledging 400 years of subjugation of indigenous people and those of African descent.



The colloquy, organized by the Wisconsin Conference UCC German Partnership Team, is 30 years old. Two of this year’s participants have been involved since its inception.

Picture the Bible’s Kid Lit program, designed right here in the Wisconsin Conference, just received a warm review from a New York-based resource center for Christian educators. Reviewer Elizabeth Christie, a consultant with Practical Resources for Churches, called Kid Lit “the resource I didn’t know I was missing.” Read the review.

Picture the Bible was created by the Rev. Dr. Stacy Johnson Myers, minister of Christian education at First Congregational UCC in River Falls. The Kid Lit program brings together Bible stories, children’s literature and art to support students as they explore biblical stories and theological concepts and connect them to their own lives. It’s easy to follow and includes the core components of a faith formation event – a lesson, art, conversation and prayer, plus background for leaders.

Elizabeth said Kid Lit fills a gap for those involved in Christian education programs because it’s “something that can be easily unpacked by people who don’t have any training.” It’s “on the very short list of resources I would recommend,” she added.

Picture the Bible’s roots date to Stacy’s graduate-school days, when she was teaching a second-grade Sunday school class using the lectionary. The texts tended to jump around from the Old Testament to the gospels to the New Testament epistles. “When I realized that my students thought Moses and Zacchaeus could have had lunch together,” Stacy wrote in an email, “I began making a pictorial timeline for them out of construction paper.” Picture the Bible was born.

A small bequest from a member of First Congregational provided the money needed to commission an artist to turn Stacy’s work into “images that are much more artistic,” she said.

Earlier this year, Stacy joined forces with the Wisconsin Conference to make Kid Lit available to congregations. Congregations are welcome to use this free link to download, print, and use four lessons of Kid Lit. To purchase additional lessons or art reproductions featured in the resources, visit www.picturethebible.org.

The recordkeeping service transition for the UCC Pension Plan is complete. Current annuitants will not be affected by this change, but those who are still contributing must designate beneficiaries. Everything else, however, transfers automatically, unless you are a current annuitant and still have a Retirement Savings Account with the Pension Boards. In that case you will need to designate beneficiaries for that account once the transition to Fidelity is complete.

Monthly statements will be available online, and if you want to receive a copy in the mail you will need to request that. You should have received the “Fidelity Recordkeeping Transition Guide,” which contains details about the transition, key dates, and information on upcoming webinars that will help you get to know Fidelity and its many services. You can also access the guide online here.



Questions? Contact the Fidelity Retirement Service Center via PBUCC Member Services at 800-642-6543 between 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

Youngsters in the sixth through eighth grades will discover that love and acceptance are the true experience of church. At Knock, Knock, your group will connect faith to their pressing concerns, do hands-on workshops and Bible study, and learn how they can keep opening doors back at home. Knock Knock takes place Nov. 17-19 at Daycholah Center on Green Lake, with the Rev. Jacob Nault will be providing music and worship leadership.

Chaperones and group leaders should contact Daycholah Center for your reservation code. Call 920-745-4647 or email [email protected].

Parents and guardians can register youth participants using the reservation code provided by the chaperone or group leader.

For questions about the program, call Lisa Hart 608-438-1571, or email her at [email protected].

Nurture the Soul of the Beloved Community

Join the Supportive Ministries Team and colleagues in ministry from around the Conference (and beyond) in an hourlong Zoom gathering on the first Wednesday of each month to practice having conversations with members of your community that explore deeper questions that in time can “Nurture the Soul of the Beloved Community.”

The next meeting takes place at noon Central time on Oct. 4. Please join us for a discussion on the "questions to ponder" listed in the newsletter.

Register now for the Zoom conversation.

We hope to see you there!

Madison congregation to host ONA leader

First Congregational UCC in Madison will host the Rev. Dr. Katrina Roseboro-Marsh, who became executive director of the Open and Affirming Coalition of the UCC earlier this year. First Congregational is marking 31 years as an ONA congregation. Roseboro-Marsh will preach at Sunday worship.

Times and dates: Meet-and-greet, 9 to 10:45 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 7, Goodman Center (Ironworks Building), 214 Waubesa St., Madison. Worship, 10 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 8, First Congregational UCC, 1609 University Ave., Madison.

Stewardship webinar: Donors who don't come to church

People find multiple ways to engage in the life of a congregation. Congregations often do well at engaging people who attend in-person services regularly, volunteer and donate. But how do we meaningfully engage people online? How do we inspire those who don’t give to donate? Connect with those who share our values but are not interested in in-person or online worship. The webinar will help us think together about various ways to engage donors beyond Sunday Morning services. Presented by the Rev. Andrew Warner, CFRE, Generosity Outreach Officer, National Ministries, United Church of Christ.

Time: 6:30 p.m. Central

Date: Wednesday, Oct. 25

Register here

UCC Webinar: A plea from the Pope

Today is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, and it also marks the release of the second part of Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the climate crisis and inequality. The new edition of the encyclical will provide an update to confronting "the senseless war on our common home." A panel of climate faith leaders will gather by Zoom to reflect upon Francis' plea for climate action.

Time: Noon Central

Date: Wednesday, Oct. 11. (Can’t make the scheduled time? Sign up anyway to receive a recording.

Register now.

Indigenous People’s Day

Lakeland University will host a screening and discussion of “The End of the Line: the Women of Standing Rock,” produced by Lakeland alum Shannon Kring.

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

Date: Monday, Oct. 9

Place: Campus Center at Lakeland University

Register and learn more.

Mission House Lecture at Lakeland

Rebecca Todd Peters, a professor of religious studies at Elon University and vice president of the Society of Christian Ethics, will deliver an address on Christianity, abortion and reproductive rights.” She is the author of “Trust Women: A Progressive Christian Argument for Reproductive Justice.”

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

Date: Monday, Oct. 23

Place: Bradley Fine Arts Theater at Lakeland University

Learn more.

The high school youth Winter Soulstice Retreat will take place Jan. 26-28 at Daycholah Center, with music and worship leadership by Andra Moran. Look for details in future issues of Wisconsin Conference Life.

The National Organization of Wider-Church Youth Ministry is seeking to develop a pool of 16 facilitators to help lead Crossroads Anti-Racism Ministry Training in the UCC.  Crossroads will create video content to be viewed in advance of four discussion sessions.

The training audience is youth leaders, faith formation leaders and clergy. Teams of two facilitators will lead 90-minute discussions on each segment for a total of six contact hours. Facilitators will receive a stipend for their work.

Time commitment for the first year, with the possibility of a 3-year commitment:

• Training and capacity building for facilitation team is Friday, Nov. 10.
• Quarterly follow-up meetings for the facilitation team occur the second Tuesday of the month starting March 12.
• Facilitation of at least two cohorts in year one.  

Interested? Please complete this form to indicate your interest in facilitation and save the date of Friday, Nov. 10. 

More details

Searching Churches

• First Congregational UCC in Genoa City is searching for a pastor. Details
• To see all searching churches, click here.
• Interim Ministry openings

Wider Church Searches

• National United Church of Christ openings: Details

Installations and Ordinations

• The Rev. Dr. Phil Hobson was installed at Salem UCC in Verona on Sept. 24.
• The Rev. Herbert Perkins, known as Pastor Okogyeamon, was installed at St. Paul's UCC in Ellsworth on Sept. 30.

In Memoriam

• Catherine Schneider, wife of the Rev. Phil Schneider, pastor of St. Paul’s UCC in Wausau, died Sept. 21. Obituary

Of note

• Free: A woman's white clergy robe (large) and stole. Like new. Contact Luke Bocher at 608-302-902.

The Conference Transitions feature appears monthly in the Wisconsin Conference Life. Please share your transition information, including church anniversaries, with the newsletter editor by emailing Nola.