“It’s easy to lose sight of God when you’re doing God’s work.” This was the first of many warnings from a wise mentor who sent me off to parish ministry. He was right, of course. It is easy to lose sight of God when you’re doing God’s work. I regain my sight in the company of trusted colleagues and friends. My sight is restored, too, during Conference worship, retreats and meetings.

We are a month away from our Annual Spring meeting. After two years of on-line meetings, I am anxious to be in-person (there is an online viewing option for worship and conferring sessions) and excited about our meeting theme, Living the Jesus Life—Contemplatives in Action. I need this gift of soulful recovery and revival amid the exhaustion created by the pandemic and everyday ministry challenges. I suspect you do too.

Living the Jesus Life is simply about joining with Jesus’ teaching, healing, and solidarity with others in a life of prayer, worship, and intimate experiences of the Holy. Jesus often went away from the busyness of the crowds to be at one with God. This enabled his public witness, formed disciples, created inclusive community, exemplified self-giving love, and nonviolent resistance. His life of integrated contemplation and action is the model for our living and our Annual Meeting. Spiritual practices (prayer, meditation, scripture study) and active living (ministering to the needs of our communities) unite us for a weekend of living together the Jesus life.

I look forward to seeing you in West Chester.

Blessings,

Bill

Rev. Bill Worley

Conference Minister

On May 16, registration closes for the Annual Spring Meeting in West Chester. Please register your clergy, church delegates, visitors and children as soon as possible! There is also a registration option to view general sessions without voice or vote virtually. Registration is open at psecspring2022.eventbrite.com. There will be a significant penalty fee added to late registrations and we cannot guarantee your meals or housing, if you don't register before May 16.

The Annual Spring Meeting will be held Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4 at West Chester University. The theme is "Living the Jesus Life; Contemplatives in Action." Highlights of the meeting will include being in-person with one another again, several opportunities for workshops, inspirational worship, and the installation of Associate Conference Minister for Search and Call Rev. Kevin McLemore.

Personal and Spiritual Development, May 24-June 28, instructor the Rev. Dr. Carrie Call. Tuesdays, 7-8:30p. A Ministerial Institute class. Spiritual disciplines, congregational systems, and vocational discernment. $325. Register.

Embracing Multivocational Ministry Conference, via Zoom, May 14, 2-5p. For all laity and clergy. Cost $35. Cosponsored by PAM and the MESA office of the UCC. Registration and information. 

Do you follow and like the PSEC Facebook page? Our most recent post is a video of pictures from this past Sunday's Schuylkill and Covenant association meetings! Check that out now.

Sitters may work one shift, an entire day or both days. Sitters will receive free lunch and/or dinner if covering both shifts on either side of those meal times. Compensation will be $20/hour. Please share this opportunity with childcare/ nursery attendants you know. Anyone interested should contact Susan at the Conference office at susan@psec.org.

Maintaining healthy boundaries is challenging at any stage in ministry and it is particularly tender and difficult attending to boundaries as we transition out of our last call, and while in retirement. Using "A Sure Foundation", "The Ministerial Code" and Rev. Dr. Bruce Epperly's new book, "The Jubilee Years", Rev. Stephen Boyd and Rev. Tara Barber will offer a focused Boundary Awareness Training for those entering and living in retirement. To sign up for this training, scheduled for Monday, May 9 from 6:00-9:00p, click here.

Secretaries, assistants, and church administrators are invited to the annual PSEC Admin Luncheon. After a two year absence, we will fellowship over lunch and then spend time sharing resources and re-connect with one another. The highlight of the event will be a lesson in chair yoga. For flyer, click here. To register for the event, click here. We hope churches will pay the $15 cost of the event.

The Center for Emotional Intelligence & Human Relations Skills has an Emotional Intelligence (EQ) workshop scheduled in Jefferson, Maryland, June 6-10. Click here for more information. Registration for this event closes on May 6.

According to a recent UN climate report, 20 million people have been displaced each year since 2008 due to extreme weather that is often exacerbated by the climate crisis. There is much we can do as people of faith in responding with deeply held values to this critical situation. To inform and guide us, this webinar will feature Drocella Mugorewera from Bridge Refugee Services, Tomas Matom Ramirez from the Indigenous Maya Ixil people, and Rev. Irene Hassan the UCC’s Minister of Refugee and Migration Services. Even if you can’t make the scheduled time of 1 pm on May 11, still sign-up, and we will send you a recording. Register now!

The mission of the PSEC Addiction & Recovery Task Force is to share God’s love with people suffering from the destructive disease of addiction and their affected family members and friends. Our goal is to decrease stigma surrounding addiction by broadening individual knowledge, awareness, and understanding while providing support, resources, and other vital information about this disease to ministers and congregations. This live continuing education event on Wednesday, May 11 is designed to help you do that! For more info and to register, click here. 

July 24-29, clergy from some UCC conferences and their German partner churches will gather for the 2022 Pastoral Colloquy in Elizabethtown, PA. The theme will be "Building a Just Peace in an Unjust World: Learning with and from Our Anabaptist Colleagues." For information on the Colloquy or to register, click here.

The NEPA Synod of the ELCA is offering in-person Basic Boundary Training for churches in our region in 2022. There are three in-person options, dates, and locations in May for that training:

For more info and to register, click here.