There are times in this life, especially in this COVID life, especially in the racial unrest of this week, when sorrow limits how I see anything beyond my own sadness.

Life’s losses, both the little ones that accumulate and the big ones, can so overwhelm they stop me from recognizing the good things that stare at me. And then something unexpected, from some place unexpected, makes a small opening though the shadows.

For me, one of those small “somethings” came from watching a news report (youtube.com/watch?v=oN4I_RjQ0o8) about a young boy named Jayden who, in a 2015 interview for Steve Hartman’s CBS series “On the Road”, shared his tragic story. His dad passed away when he was 4 and then two years later his mom died in her sleep. “I tried and I tried and I tried to get her awake — I couldn’t,” he explained in the interview.

Now, several years later, Jaden is still keeping up his good work (aleteia.org/2021/03/19/meet-the-6-year-old-orphan-on-a-mission-to-spread-joy/) of being that something unexpected, from some place unexpected, who makes an opening though the shadows. That is the mission and purpose of the Christ’s disciples.

Southeast PA Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (SEPA VOAD) is partnering with UCC Disaster Ministries and Eastwick United to recruit volunteers to repair and rebuild homes in the Eastwick neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Disaster Event: Tropical Storm Isaias, Eastern PA

Project Focus: Repair and Rebuild; install heating systems and hot water heaters if licensed

Contact: Judy Moore, Volunteer Coordinator 802-299-8290; IsaiasRecoveryVolunteers@gmail.com

Group Size:  2 to 5 team members

Group Leadership: Skilled team leader and semi-skilled assistant

Minimum Age: 18

Accommodations:  None (due to Covid)

Cost: Housing (if teams are not commuting), transportation, food

Tools: Please bring general carpentry tools and a substantial first aid kit

Donations are deductible and always welcome: It is estimated that $320,000 will be required to meet the needs of the Eastwick community. To date $48,500 has been committed from the following organizations: Eastwick Neighbors and Friends Coalition, The Salvation Army, UCC Disaster Ministries, Lutheran Disaster Response – Eastern PA, and a local Go Fund Me effort. Please earmark ‘Eastwick Recovery’ and send donations to: Eastwick Unmet Needs Roundtable; St. Paul AME Church Ellwood; 8398 Lindbergh Blvd.; Philadelphia, PA 19153

Other Information: Once contact is made with our Volunteer Coordinator you will be provided you with all the necessary information including release forms, skill sheets for your group, contact information, arrival information. etc. 

Tonight's Computer-side Chat on "Your pastor is retiring! Now what?" has been canceled. If your pastor is soon retiring and you would like to learn more about what comes next or how the conference and association covenant with you during this process, contact the Interim Associate Conference Minister for Search and Call, Rev. Dr. Susan Minasian: minasian@psec.org or 484-949-8774.

If you would be interested in leading such a “Meet-up”, please reach out to Susan at the Conference office at susan@psec.org.

Phoebe Ministries is accepting applications for its Summer Intensive CPE Group. For more information, click here for a flyer.

Earth Day is an occasion to affirm our relationship with God's creation, and our responsibility to care for the earth and its natural resources. Many congregations designate the Sunday closest to Earth Day as Earth Day Sunday. You can use this date as an occasion for special worship, education, and advocacy focused on the environment.

The United Church of Christ has partnered with Creation Justice Ministries to produce thematic worship resources and educational materials for Earth Sunday. This year’s theme is “A New Heaven and a New Earth: Health, Environmental Racism, and Eco-Justice. "

Join FEMA for an Earth Day webinar on creating resiliency through community gardening on April 22 from 12:00-1:00p. Staff from Isles, Inc. in Trenton, NJ will discuss how school and community gardens are an integral part of the forty-year history of their community development and environmental non-profit work. They will also offer ways to get started in community agriculture and discuss the ways it can promote resiliency through food-security, environmental stewardship, and community health. Isles currently provides technical and educational support for 70 gardens in the Trenton, NJ area. Click here to register.

Some congregations and ministers are reluctant to approach the issue of addiction for fear that they are not informed enough to address issues that may come up. This is why it is important to work with your county agencies to build a network of support. You can start by contacting your local county drug and alcohol agency and build from there.

In April the Interfaith Health Network of Schuylkill County, which is sponsored by St. John’s UCC in Orwigsburg, is hosting a Zoom workshop that includes many of the agencies in the county working on addiction and recovery. Speakers will include a pastor, a person in recovery, a representative from a local hospital network, the prevention services coordinator from the county drug and alcohol program and a representative from the state attorney general’s office. There will be a follow-up event that will provide free Narcan and dispose Rx packets as well as other resources.

Networking with other professionals who are on the front lines of this effort can provide resources, support and education. You are not alone. There are people eager to help you learn, find resources and become effective in this ministry.

The application phone number for FEMA COVID funeral assistance is now open. Call 844-684-6333 | TTY: 800-462-7585 - from 9:00a to 9:00p Monday through Friday. COVID-related funeral expenses must have been incurred after Jan. 20, 2020. This aid is provided to help ease some of the financial stress and burden caused by the pandemic. Visit the FEMA website for more information. FEMA will also present a webinar on the Funeral Assistance programs on April 20 at 1:00-2:00p in English (Register here) and 3:00-4:00p in Spanish (Register here).

Session One: Time and Talent, premiering April 22 at 6:00p EDT, helps you plan and prep. Find it here: youtu.be/9t-PFd2OsPA

Session Two: Tools and Tech, premiering April 29 at 6:00p, helps you with gadgets and go live. Find it here: youtu.be/czsobF8w6KY

Thursday Afternoons, May 6 through June 10 (six weeks).

Meets 3:00-4:30 PM Registration

Thursday Evening, May 27 – June 10 (four weeks)

Meets 6:30 – 8:00 PM Registration

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. To commemorate the month, the Department of Homeland Security, Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Cyber Crimes Center, Child Exploitation Investigation Unit are hosting a webinar to assist faith and community groups and caregivers of youth and teens on how they can help children to be safer online. The webinar will also address support for families when their children have been victimized by online sexual exploitation. The webinar will be held April 15 2-3:30p. Register here.

April 16: Personalities & Communication (Dr. Bob Fogel, Leading) How often have these words occurred to you after a meeting or a difficult conversation? What I could have said. . . . What I should not have said was. . . . What we say to others and how we say it is a complex process. Psychological personality type seen through the lens of Meyers-Briggs (commonly known as the MBTI) provides a useful roadmap to engaging others with authenticity and integrity—and care. Come to learn about others and yourself!

The Zachariah Walker Racial Justice Initiative team, in promoting racial justice, is offering banners and yard signs free to churches and individuals.

For those who are able, we are suggesting a love offering of $70 per banner (image of the 4’x10’ Vinyl Banner with grommets below) and $7 per yard sign (image of the 18’’x24’’ Yard sign above right). The love offerings will go to further our efforts in this sacred ministry of racial equity and justice. To order, please email Anne Cormier at annecormier@comcast.net. Include in the subject box “banner” or “yard sign”.

Caron Treatment Centers offers a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program with a focus on addictions. The program offers opportunities for seminarians, clergy, and appropriately prepared laypersons to be trained in providing professional spiritual care as recovery begins. For information, click here for a flyer. To apply, click here.

“Deepening our Connections, Deepening the Journey” is the theme, and the hope, of PSEC’s Annual Spring meeting that begins Friday, June 4 with nationally celebrated social justice leader and guest presenter Sister Simone Campbell, a Catholic nun who, with a few sisters in faith, chartered a bus to change the world.

Our connecting continues with Saturday’s conferring sessions, workshops and worship services to honor anniversary clergy and congregations, to lament the losses endured through the pandemic and to welcome the hope of better days ahead. We gather online in a new virtual meeting space (“Whova”) for our (hopefully) last completely virtual Conference gathering. Click here to access the Call to Annual Meeting. Click here to access the annual meeting page on the PSEC website which includes the link to registration. 

The deadline to take advantage of this opportunity is April 26. If interested, please reach out to Susan at the Conference office at susan@psec.org.

The Cultivating Generous Congregations Seminar for pastors and lay leaders offers an opportunity to explore faithful, practical, and tested ways to promoting generosity in our congregations. The seminar draws on current research, seeks guidance from the wisdom of scripture, and discusses the best practices in church-based fundraising. Class sessions held May 19, May 26, June 2, June 9, June 16, and June 23, 2021 from 6:30 – 8:00pm EST. Between class sessions, the instructors provide materials to help you analyze the culture of your own congregation and learn how to create change. Register today: The CGC Seminar is $150 per participant. Register here by April 30, 2021: cvent.me/7yV37Q.

If your church isn't currently worshipping or you are not able or comfortable attending services, we have compiled a list of churches in PSEC that are holding digital/ virtual worship experiences. Share this with others that might not have another option for worship. Click here for an updated list.

Save the dates for the Annual Mercersburg Convocation, to be held virtually June 7-8. "Polarization and Reconciliation: Hints from the Mercersburg Tradition" is the theme, with presenters: Lee Barrett, Ph.D., William Evans, Ph.D., and Linden DeBie, Ph.D.

Each Monday at 11:00a, authorized ministers and church leaders are invited to check in with Conference Minister Rev. Bill Worley on a Zoom call, share experiences in this season of COVID, ask for advice, and be in community. We encourage you to join this opportunity for theological and practical reflection and discussion. Click here to join the call on Monday.

Historically, the United States has released more global warming pollution than any other country, and it remains the world's second highest emitter. With its immense wealth and power, what are the moral obligations of the U.S. in confronting the climate crisis? In short, what's fair? Three leaders in the effort to address this question will present in this UCC webinar: Sivan Kartha from the Stockholm Environment Institute, Jean Su from the Center for Biological Diversity, and Susannah Tuttle from North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light. Even if you can't make the webinar’s scheduled time on April 14, at 1:00p, still sign-up, and receive a recording of it. Sign-up now.

On April 21, the Council for Relationships will host an clergy workshop: “The 7 Stages of Marriage.” Clergy are often on the front lines of supporting and providing pastoral care to their members when congregants experience problems or challenges in their marriage relationships. Dr. Rita DeMaria, author of 7 Stages of Marriage: Laughter, Intimacy and Passion, Today, Tomorrow, Forever, will present a 2.5 hour workshop for clergy helping them to recognize the various stages, or phases, that most couples work through while spending their lives together. Clergy understanding the stages of marriage will be helpful to their congregants in offering insight, helping couples to know what to expect and, more importantly, how to plan and provide support to weather developmental and life changes more readily. The workshop will be hosted on Zoom on April 21 from 10:00a-12:30p. The cost is $20; and you can click here to register.