Important This Week

• Support PSEC today for GivingTuesday
• Registration open for the 2024 Women's Clergy Retreat in Reading
• Sign up for an online Trauma Training coming in January
• Community UCC named 'Accessible 2 All' by UCC Disabilities Ministries

Consider supporting OCWM

with a #GivingTuesday contribution

For the past decade, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (following the flurry of holiday shopping on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday) has been advertised as "Giving Tuesday," a day to support the organizations in your life that make a difference. We hope you will consider supporting PSEC today through a gift to OCWM. Our goal is to reach 50 gifts. To inspire our generosity, a lead donor has committed to matching dollar-for-dollar the first $3,000 offered.

Using the "Giving Tuesday" button on the PSEC Donate page, you can support Our Church's Wider Mission. OCWM supports mission taskforces, disaster response, new ministries, search and call, pastor trainings, justice work, and so much more!

We pray you will share this opportunity with your congregation, and support PSEC on Giving Tuesday!

Community UCC, Reading is certified 'Accessible 2 All' by UCC

Community UCC, Reading has met the requirements to be certified as an Accessible 2 All church with the UCCDM (United Church of Christ Disabilities Ministries)! This is an accomplishment we are proud of and wanted to share.

Members of the church became aware of this designation during our search for a settled pastor. The pastor who asked them about the designation noted that it would help the congregation not only understand the process of acceptance of others but would assist them in becoming an Open and Affirming Congregation. After further research the church agreed it would be worthwhile and decided to proceed.

The program not only identifies the physical limitations of a church but also identifies the attitudinal changes that must be changed through communication and training sessions. Before beginning the process it’s important that the leadership understand the program and why you should do it. In Community’s case we did it because it was the right thing to do, not because people would be flooding the doors to join the church. The truth is, if we didn’t know about this program, how does the general public know about it.

After reading through the checklist, most of the things could be checked off right away. There were only a couple of physical barriers that needed to be identified and corrected. The biggest thing was developing the training program for the leadership of the church. We identified the leadership of the church as being the current consistory members and the ushers who greet those on a Sunday morning each week. Once that was complete the goals were identified for both the short time (1-3 year) and long time (3-5 year) and the application was submitted.

A training program had to be developed for the in-house training of staff, leadership and the congregation. If you are interested, we would be willing to share this training with other churches in our Conference.

Jeff Kistler, Community UCC Office Manager 

Registration open for 2024 Women's Clergy Retreat

Join us Jan. 16-18 for the Women's Clergy Retreat! This retreat will be centered around the things we hold and who holds us. Massages will be available for an additional fee. The retreat will take place at Mariawald Retreat Center in Reading. Modest linens/towels and simple meals are provided – you are welcome to bring snacks and drinks to share! Rooms are double occupancy and cost $130 – space is limited! For more information and to register, click here.

Online One-day Trauma Training Event

The Welcome Project PA, in partnership with Lakeside Global Institute and the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference UCC, is pleased to offer professional trauma training modules for ministry leaders and volunteers in their respective contexts, to prepare them to better assist their constituents who have suffered trauma. The purpose of this program is to assist professionals in their caring for people who have suffered various forms of trauma, to create an awareness of the causes and consequences of trauma, and how it affects our human relationships and social interactions. Finally, this program strives to enable those who have suffered/continue to suffer from trauma, a path forward to progress and a way out of destructive cycles. Trauma 101 and 102 will cover the basics of trauma. The training will be held Jan. 13 from 9:00a-3:30p online. For more information and to register, click here.

Newsletter from DHS Center for Faith-Based Partnerships

Check out the most recent newsletter from the Department of Homeland Security's Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. This email includes:

• Nonprofit Security Grant Program Winter Webinar Series
• Protecting Houses of Worship: Perimeter Security Considerations
• Four Steps to Applying for a Nonprofit Security Grant
• Six Steps to Enhance Security Against Targeted Violence
• And more!

Click here to read the email and/or register to receive these emails.

'Theology of Gender, Sexuality' among Pathways courses

On the UCC website, it states: “Gender & Sexuality Justice Ministries seeks transformative justice for our faith communities and congregations by just action and love for all. ~ We believe in the justice-oriented ministry of Jesus and act with those facing systemic oppression at the intersection of gender & sexuality to offer care, sex positive education & curriculum, gender & bodily autonomy education & programming, policy & advocacy and partnership and outreach opportunities.”

For those seeking greater knowledge and depth in addressing this important justice issue, PATHWAYS Theological Education, Inc. offers a course where participants from across the country have a place to gather in online conversations. Go to PATHWAYSTheological.org to register or to find out more about the course, Theology of Gender and Sexuality. There is still time to register for this course as well as UCC Polity and History, and several other courses which begin in early January 2024.

From the Addiction & Recovery Taskforce: New Overdose Risk

A new threat for drug overdoses is spreading. It is known as the Frankenstein drug. Nitazine is an opioid twenty times more potent than fentanyl, 50 times more powerful than heroin and 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine. There have already been thousands of deaths caused by this synthetic opioid.  It has made its way to Pennsylvania.

Drug users are most often not aware that this opioid is in the heroin or fentanyl they are purchasing. Narcan may be effective to treat an overdose of the Frankenstein drug but more Narcan may be required. 

December Theology with a Twist: A Kinder Church

The next Theology with a Twist will be held Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 7:00p at the Kutztown Tavern. With our presenter, Rev. Dr. Steve Ohnsman, we'll look at how we are often our own worst enemy, and how we can change the way we are the church. Click here for more information.

PSEC Resource:

Resources for Lay-led Worship

Did you know psec.org/worship is full of resources to help lay members of a church lead worship when the pastor is unavailable? When an authorized minister is not available to lead worship, a lay leader may find it helpful to use these training resources, sermon resources, hymn resources, and worship resources.

Apply now: Ministers'

Financial Vitality Initiative

UCC authorized ministers interested in joining the Ministers’ Financial Vitality Initiative for the 2024 cohort, follow this link to apply. Spaces are limited and requests will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis. MFVI is a three-year Faith and Finance program of the Pension Boards to Address Economic Challenges Facing Pastoral Leaders, which seeks to empower UCC ministers with financial tools and strategies to better manage their personal finances so they can serve their ministries more effectively. To learn more, read our Frequently Asked Questions.

Rev. Dr. Kim Stryjak installation at St. Peter's Wilshire

Click the invitation below to download a PDF to share.

This email is brought to you by your generous gifts to OCWM (Our Church's Wider Mission)! Thank you!