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Important This Week
- This Wednesday is the deadline for church year-end reporting!
- Last call for Youth at General Synod
- Buy the UCC Lenten Devotional
- Read the Conference Minister's reflection on recent Christian news, plus details of on Annual Meeting
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From Rev. Bill Worley: A better way to be Christian
Maybe you’ve heard… Brian McLaren will be joining PSEC at our Annual Spring Meeting May 31-June 1. It’s kind of a big deal. Brian is a blogger, author, speaker, pastor, and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. He has appeared on
Larry King Live
,
Religion and Ethics Newsweekly
, and
Nightline
. His work has also been covered in
Time
(where he was listed as one of American's 25 most influential evangelicals),
Christianity Today
,
Christian Century
, the
Washington Post
, and many other media outlets.
The subtitle of his latest book (and the focus of our Annual Meeting) captured the essence of how Christianity was making headline news last week — "
How the World's Largest Religion Is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian.
”
Our Catholic brothers and sisters were seeking a better way to be Christian around the issues of sexual assault and clergy sex abuse. Unfortunately, no new cannon law was announced to punish bishops who cover up clergy sex abuse and there is still no church requirement that priests who commit sexual assault be reported to police. But Pope Francis made it clear that everyone is responsible for protecting children and church leaders must punish priests who fail in doing so; or risk punishment themselves (
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/02/pope-francis-closes-vaticans-conference-child-sex-abuse/583495/
).
Our United Methodist brothers and sisters were seeking a better way to be Christian around the same issues of GLBT inclusivity and church unity that UCC Delegates struggled with at General Synod 25 thirteen years ago. Their conversation was as complex, as divisive and as painful as ours — though the outcome was decidedly different (
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/02/699506797/united-methodists-face-fractured-future
). Ultimately, it affirmed the perspective of some, alienated others and left many wondering ‘what’s next?’
Both of these stories testify to an observation at the opening of Brian McLaren’s book and that
is "The Christian story, from Genesis until now, is fundamentally about people on the move — outgrowing old, broken religious systems and embracing new, more redemptive ways of life. It’s time to move again.”
The Christian faith, as distinct from the reality of church decline, is not dying. Rather, it is embarking on a once-in-an-era spiritual shift. That shift
—
the one of our faith, the church and ultimately you
—
will be the focus of our Annual Meeting.
I do hope we see you at Annual Meeting (
Register here
). I do hope you will read Brian’s book,
The Great Spiritual Migration
. But mostly, I pray the Spirit will guide us always and everywhere into better ways of being Christian.
May It Be So,
Bill
Rev. William Worley
Conference Minister
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Last call to sign up for Youth at General Synod this summer
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If you are between 13 and 18 years old and are interested in how the UCC works beyond your local church, attending General Synod in Wisconsin, June 21-24 might be for you! Join us for an opportunity to learn and lead with youth from UCC churches across the United States as we attend the sessions of synod, watch and participate in historical decisions being made, and enjoy youth-only programming around Milwaukee. For more info click here:
Youth @ General Synod 2019
and contact Pastor Kim at
hkkimberly@sbcglobal.net
or call/text 610-401-1847.
THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER - WE NEED TO BOOK FLIGHTS!
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Environmental justice webinar: Green Values and Voting
Those who care about the environment tend to vote less than others by a sizable amount. This has enormous implications for the issues that elected officials choose to address and how they choose to address them. Fortunately, there are proven approaches to increasing voter turnout, and faith communities can play a leading role in encouraging more people to vote their values. This month’s
Creation Justice Webinar
will feature the “voting guru” Nathaniel Stinnett as he educates and equips us for this vital role.
Sign-up to join us for this informative webinar!
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March ReadyPA Monthly newsletter available now
Spring is in the air. With spring often comes severe weather such as thunderstorms and strong winds. The
March ReadyPA Monthly
provides information on severe weather preparedness. The National Weather Service has declared March 25-29 Flood Safety Awareness Week. The State Meteorologist has provided tips on remaining safe during a flood. The March Action Sheet provides details on Winter Weather Flooding Risks. Remember: Turn Around, Don’t Drown. You are encouraged to share this newsletter and action sheet with your members and friends. Remember, both the ReadyPA Monthly and the Action Sheet are available at
www.Ready.PA.gov
.
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UCC 2019 Lenten Devotional Available for purchase now
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From the
Stillspeaking Writers’ Group
and the Daily Devotional contributors comes this year’s Lenten devotional, with a biblical text, reflection, and prayer for each day from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. When we enter the spiritual journey of Lent, we often take things with us: our past experiences, our interpretations of Scripture, our questions about the world, our struggles in faith. What does an unencumbered journey look like? Let’s find out together.
Click here
for more details or to order copies.
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Wednesday deadline for your church's year-end reporting
Thank you to the churches that have already completed the year-end church reporting! About 70 percent of churches have completed their reporting so far, but we hope to see more before this week's deadline: Wednesday, March 6 at midnight! For more information on your church's reporting, visit
psec.org/reporting
or contact Brea Rarick at
brea@psec.org
.
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One Great Hour of Sharing offering date coming soon
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The suggested date for the One Great Hour of Sharing offering is March 31. One Great Hour of Sharing, as part of Our Churches Wider Mission, is the special mission offering of the UCC that carries God’s message of love and hope to people in crisis. The UCC works with international partners to provide sources of clean water, food, education and health care, small business micro-credit, advocacy and resettlement for refugees and displaced persons, and emergency relief and rehabilitation. OGHS also supports domestic and international ministries for disaster preparedness and response. In 2017, OGHS offering received over $2 million to support disaster, refugee, and development activities. Visit the UCC website for
OGHS resources
, including videos, preaching/lectionary notes, sermon starter, bulletin inserts, children’s sermons, and more.
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Register for PA Academy of Ministry at Lancaster Seminary
Registration is now open for the Ministerial Institute of Pennsylvania Academy of Ministry at Lancaster Theological Seminary. This is a three-year nondegree program for lay ministers pastoring churches, pastoral leaders in part-time or bi-vocational ministries, individuals in discernment, and laity serving churches. The program will begin in July and registration is open now.
Click here
for more information.
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Consistory Presidents gathering scheduled for March
A Gathering Community for Consistory Presidents is forming now. Many of our Pastors meet regularly in clergy groups to support one another, share ideas, and pray for each other. A gathering community for Consistory Presidents will offer similar opportunity for these critical lay leaders. As Presidents of Consistory (or other governing body of your church), we have opportunity and roadblocks facing us at all times. Our goal is to brainstorm, support, pray, laugh, and learn together in a confidential environment, so that we are strengthened to build healthy, vibrant, and faithful churches.
There is no fee to attend.
Brenda Semach, Consistory President of Falkner Swamp Reformed UCC, invites you to a gathering on
Saturday, March 16
, from 9 – 11AM, held at Falkner Swamp, 2077 Swamp Pike, Gilbertsville, PA (Covenant Association). Please RSVP to her directly:
kbsemach@aol.com
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Church World Service kits needed; grants extended
PSEC congregations have been faithful in completing Church World Service kits in response to the many storms. Because of this faithful response, CWS was able to get nearly 50,000 CWS Kits into the hands of families impacted by storms, fire, and other disasters. However, these continuing events brought the supply of CWS Kits to a critical low. Therefore, it is important that our churches keep putting these kits together. To encourage us to complete kits, UCC Disaster Ministries has extended the matching grant program for churches that want to build Disaster buckets! For the details you can
click here
.
You can help in another way as well. We need churches that have a room to spare that can serve as CWS Kit Depots. For more information on this opportunity please contact Conference Disaster Coordinator Karl Jones at
kjones275@comcast.net
.
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UCC grant, savvy support recovery in Schuylkill County
Read about how Schuylkill County flood victims are being supported by the United Church of Christ and its members.
Six weeks of rain caused repeated flooding last summer in Schuylkill County, Pa. Some areas had severe damage to homes, including loss of furnaces and water heaters.
A UCC Disaster Ministries grant of $10,000 is ensuring that affected families have heat and hot water through the winter.
Funds are designated for people with few or no resources and with severe unmet needs. They are being allocated through the UCC’s Pennsylvania Southeast Conference and its Schuylkill Association, which have stepped up to support the flood recovery effort.
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Joint PSEC/PNEC Disaster Ministry Team to meet in March
For some time, Pennsylvania A Southeast and Penn Northeast conferences have been active in disaster ministries. We can celebrate the ministry that we have had, but now it is time to take a fresh look at what God is calling us to do and be. We are seeking to consult with people who have a passion for Disaster Ministries as we seek to discover if and how we can work together. Therefore, you are invited to the initial meeting of the joint PNEC/PSEC Disaster Ministry Team on
March 11 at 6:30p
at the Penn Northeast Conference Office (a Zoom option will be available). We will explore some
"What if..."
questions, seeking ways to grow and enhance our Disaster Ministries Initiatives:
- What if … our Conferences would be engaged in a collaborative disaster ministry program, sharing leadership and resources? Is this the right time?
- What if … we could get others involved? Who should that be?
- What if … we had some common goals and objectives? What protocols should guide our collaborative ministry?
- What if … we would start working together? What are the first steps we would take?
We ask that you pray about your response to this opportunity. If you will participate, respond to
kjones275@comcast.net
, so we can prepare for your attendance.
Karl
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Educational Opportunities
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