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”.

The 2021 One Great Hour of Sharing offering is set to be taken on March 14. For information on how the pandemic effected the 2020 OGHS, special resources for this year's offering, and more, click here.

The Lehigh Carbon Community College is holding an Opioid Addiction Education Forum tomorrow from 8:30-12:30p. Registration is required. This event has been approved as Continuing Education by the Schuylkill Association. For more information, click here to view a flyer.

James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” The Zachariah Walker Racial Justice Initiative of the PSEC invites you and your congregation to be intentional about the ongoing work of racial equity and justice. To this end, we invite you to view the link below of a presentation given by Earl James, on things we can do to be anti-racist congregations. Earl James is the retired coordinator of the Black and African American Council of the Reformed Church in America and coordinator of multi-cultural initiatives. Click here to view the presentation.

We ask you to please post this on your webpage and other social media platforms. The more people we have engaged in this holy conversation and sacred work, the sooner we can realize God’s deep shalom.

Penn Northeast Conference is hosting an Advanced Boundary Training in May on "Social Media and Boundaries for Ministry." The Zoom training cost is $25; registration limited to 22 participants. Click here for more information and to register.

On Saturday, Feb. 20 from 9:00a-noon, pastors from Penn Central Conference and Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia pastors will gather on Zoom for "Where Do We Go From Here? German and American Church After the Time of Pandemic." Attendees will learn and share what we have learned and what we take forward from the experience of Church during the Covid-19 crisis. What are the gifts of this time? What are the things in our churches that will need healing?  How do we move forward to incorporate all of this newness? Cameron Trimble, director of Convergence, will join us in exploring these topics and sharing with one another our experiences over the last year. We will worship, dialogue and learn with our international counterparts in this mini-convocation. Join us for the fellowship, the worship, the opportunity to learn how churches have been affected in both Central Pennsylvania and Berlin-Brandenburg in Germany. To sign up, click here. Sessions will be held in English. 

Would your church like some seed money to kick-start a new season of climate-saving activities? The Climate Justice team of PSEC invites applications for grants of up to $250, to be matched by the churches themselves.

The matching grants will be given on a first-come, first-served basis, until the team’s budget of $1,000 is met. Please apply by April 1 at psec.org/green.

Check out the list of possible activities in the climate justice link on our web site, psec.org/green.

Here’s another: Sign up your church to participate in Faith Climate Action Week, April 16-25, with material from Interfaith Power and Light, info@interfaithpowerandlight.org. This year’s theme is “Sacred Ground: Cultivating Connections Between our Faith, our Food, and the Climate.”

And another: The UCC Creation Creation Justice Ministries holds monthly Climate Resilience Workshops online. For more information about those, click here.

Any of these things and many more will get your church spotlighted in the 50-50 challenge. New projects can get you a new mention!

Questions: Karl Jones (kjones275@comcast.net), Marian Shearer (uccrev77@gmail.com), Liz Brunton (lizbrunton2462@gmail.com).

One of the most devastating things that can happen to parents is burying their child. When that child has been lost due to addiction, the pain includes the overwhelming sadness of a life lost from such a hideous cause. We recently had the brother of one of our congregants die of an overdose. He was a funny, sweet, good kid, loved by many. He had fought the demon and seemed to be winning. But then there was one more time. And it was the last time.

How do you help a family in such grief as this? Our task force has included several essays based on the theology of this kind of loss. One is for the parents and family members of one who is sick. Another is for parents who have lost a child. You can find them at the PSEC website's Addiction and Recovery page.

For parents who want to help their child resist the pull to drugs, we also include a link to the Addiction Policy Forum’s handbook for families. An excellent resource for all families.

This is the “other” epidemic. It is raging. To defeat it we must all be aware, be informed and know what to do. We are to love all God’s children. Take time to learn more about the tools we need to do it.

Phoebe Ministries has been included on the US News & World Report’s list of Best Nursing Homes for 2020-21. The Health Care Centers at Phoebe Allentown, Phoebe Richland, and Phoebe Berks made the list for the Short-Term Rehabilitation category.

March 16: Mission Central and Connecting to Local Mission Possibilities

“Mission Central is about ‘Connecting God’s Resources with Human Need.’ This is accomplished by following three areas of focus…Mission Outreach, Mission Education and Disaster Response.” Mission Central – located in Harrisburg – partners with over 180 different organizations and they provide resources to groups who are doing humanitarian work locally, across the country and around the world. Stephanie will talk with us about connecting with Mission Central as well as how to tap into mission opportunities and organizations in our various counties.

Can a church type hymn lyrics in printed bulletins or onto virtual worship services? How does music licensing work? Does the UCC have blanket permission to reproduce hymns? Find these answers and more in this Frequently Asked Copyright Questions resource provided by Heather Kimmel, General Counsel of the UCC.

Did you know that most church members report they are more comfortable inviting a friend or family member to online worship than in-person worship? Virtual church provides a wonderful opportunity to invite new people to experience your church from the comfort of their homes. It is also important to make sure you recognize and welcome people when they join your online community for the first time. This workshop will explore ways we can all be both invitational and welcoming in this “new normal” of congregational life. Virtual Hospitality – Developing a Welcoming Atmosphere For Online Church, facilitated by Rev. Cean James, will be offered on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 10:00a. Register here. This seminar is paid for by your OCWM contributions!

On Saturday Feb. 20, 9:00a-2:00p, Love In Action UCC and The Welcome Project PA will host a Fresh Produce Outreach. Families and individuals in need of fresh fruits and vegetables may pick up at 2131 Palomino Dr. Warrington, PA 18976 [St. Paul's UMC]. For questions and more info, please contact Rev. Josh Blakesley, josh@rctransform.com. Download a flyer or a social media graphic to share.

PSEC has an opportunity to purchase a block of cybersecurity training videos. This is a 3 year, once per year, training commitment that will take place from the comfort of your own computer at your own convenience. The training will take less than an hour of your time each year for 3 years. In this time, cybersecurity is incredibly important as those who would cause harm to our computers, our private information, our friends who may not have the savvy to understand the difference between a safe email and a phishing email, are getting more sophisticated in their tactics when trying to infiltrate our computers and when spoofing our own email addresses. If you don't know what a phishing email is, what spoofing means, what ransomware and malware are, what a trojan horse is or a worm is, what spear phishing is or what clickjacking is, you might want to consider signing up for this training. Again, it is a 3 year, one hour per year training on the internet. If you are interested, let your intent known to Tammie Wisniewski at tammie@psec.org. The cost is $66 per person for all 3 years and must be paid upfront when we would purchase the course. More information will follow on that piece. Please email your interest asap to Tammie so we can discern if there is a need for this cybersecurity support in the Conference.

On Feb. 22 at 7:00p, Rev. Stephen Boyd, from the UCC Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization team, will lead a workshop on Healthy Pastoral Relations Committees (PRC). PRCs provide essential leadership in the life of a church. This workshop explores what the purpose of a PRC is and is not. We’ll talk through a newly developed PRC covenant to help name the priorities and commitments of a well-functioning PRC. Stephen will share best practices and be prepared to answer your questions. Click here to register.

"Introduction to Worship Leadership and Liturgical Practices" will be taught by Rev. Dr. Marty Kuchma, equipping worship leaders to plan, prepare, and practice congregational worship, rites, and rituals. Particular attention paid to baptisms, weddings, and funerals/memorial services. Students will be asked to articulate their own self-understanding of the pastoral role in relation to these practices. The class will be six-weeks online, meeting via Zoom on the following dates: April 10, 17, 24, May 1, and 15 from 10:00a–noon and May 6 from 6:00p–8:00p. The cost is $325. Register here by March 30.

An Advanced Boundary Training on Family/ Church Boundaries will be held March 11 from 9:00a-12:00p. Sometimes pastors and their families feel like they live in a glass house, a spouse and/or children feel imposed upon, or the lines of being part of the same community as the church make it challenging for the pastor’s family. This training will offer ways for clergy family to maintain boundaries. We will look at a couple of cases and then use the collective wisdom of the group to consider healthy ways to navigate those situations with faithfulness and good boundaries. Click here to register. The fee is $20.

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.

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.