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Important This Week
- PSEC Pastor Rev. Walton Horn preaches on his 100th birthday.
- Disaster Coordinator, Rev. Karl Jones, named National VOAD Volunteer of the Year
- UCC looking for nominations for the team to create a Manual on Church
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Happy 100th Birthday Rev. Walton Horn, St. Mark's UCC
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Karl Jones is National VOAD Volunteer of the Year
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Pennsylvania Southeast Conference Disaster Coordinator Karl Jones is National VOAD's Volunteer of the Year. He was presented with that honor on May 8 during the association's annual meeting, being held May 6-9 in Nashville, Tenn. National VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster) cited Jones' long-time partnership with people and communities in recovery following disasters, both within and beyond the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Member organizations of National VOAD work to mitigate and alleviate the impact of disasters. Founded in 1970, the VOAD movement has grown to include more than 100 member organizations. Guided by the core principles of cooperation, communication, coordination, and collaboration, National VOAD works to foster more effective delivery of services to communities affected by disasters.
Here is the text from the award presentation:
"The National VOAD's Don Hampton Volunteer of the Year is the volunteer that exhibited outstanding and unique volunteer service within the VOAD movement. Karl Jones, of UCC Disaster Ministries and recent chair of the Pennsylvania VOAD, has been a long time partner of people and communities in recovery following disasters, both within and well beyond the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
"Karl’s leadership and ability to collaborate with partners to creatively leverage resources available has been proven both in helping communities following severe flooding along the Schuylkill and Susquehanna River, and in response to evacuees of Hurricane Maria.
"For Hurricane Maria evacuee response, Karl leveraged HUD funds in partnership with the Philadelphia Housing Authority, identified partners from the Hispanic community for the Greater Philadelphia LTRC* and coordinated VOAD members, business, and all levels of government, to bring relief to evacuees.
"In response to heavy rain events in August 2018, Karl liaised between VOAD members and emergency management to assist in the use of Crisis Cleanup for the first time, led efforts to develop and pilot the VALOR program in Pennsylvania, and found ways to mobilize unique resources, such as a donation of a cache of dehumidifiers.
"Karl has been key in coordinating services to diverse communities from North Philadelphia, to tiny towns in rural Pennsylvania, with enough hope to believe in the process, and work together during times when these survivors were at risk of being forgotten."
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Nominations open for UCC Manual on Church team
Chris Davies, the new Team Leader at FAITHInfo, has invited us to share her letter inviting nominations for the group that will produce the Manual on Church. The letter is
available here
for you to consider.
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Philadelphia hiring Faith and Spiritual Affairs Analyst
The Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS) is seeking a full time Faith and Spiritual Affairs Program Analyst (Program Analyst) to provide visionary constituency management and stakeholder engagement for the Faith and Spiritual Affairs (FSA) unit. The Program Analyst will plan, direct and manage the activities and operations of the FSA unit. The Program Analyst will build collaborative relationships between DBHIDS and all communities of faith throughout Philadelphia through public engagement. For more info,
click here
.
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Church Building & Loan Fund can help your congregation
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The UCC Church Building & Loan Fund has been helping churches transform their communities for over 160 years. The Regional Mission Interpreter can help your congregation:
- Dream and explore your future through a guided Visioning Process
- Fulfill your mission and raise funds with a guided Capital Campaign
- Grow generous givers with a guided Stewardship Campaign
- Ensure your resources match your mission Repurposing Consultation
- Provide loans for purchasing land and /or structure, construction, and other capital projects
To learn about these services, contact your Regional Mission Interpreter, Jill White,
whitej@ucc.org
or 216-736-3820.
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Rev. Marian Shearer to serve as PSEC support person
Rev. Sharon Morris,
Associate Conference Minister for Search and Call,
will be on sabbatical June 3 to Sept. 3.
Rev. Marian Shearer has been appointed
to assist staff in covering the conference's Search and Call and Committee on Ministry work
for a few hours a week during that time
.
The Rev. Marian P. Shearer, ordained in 1977 in Genesee Valley Association, NY Conference, served churches in Hilton and Albany, NY, and Philadelphia, before joining the NY Conference staff in 2001. She retired as associate conference minister in 2015, then she and husband Jim moved to the Reading area to be near their two grandsons. She’s been enjoying supply preaching around Berks County, leading the Reading-Berks chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, facilitating a Community of Practice clergy group, and singing in the choir at Calvary UCC in Reading where she and Jim are members.
Make sure you welcome Marian at the Spring Annual meeting and keep her in your prayers this summer. As always, if you need anything, call the conference office directly and we'll help you find the best person to help.
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Church opens day-long mission trip up to others
St. Peter's UCC, Pine Grove, is traveling to Mission Central in Mechanicsburg on July 27. Mission Central is a mission of the Susquehanna Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. They are a
disaster ministries
resource, continuing to assist in flood recovery efforts in eastern PA. The purpose of the trip is to work around their warehouse. The group from St. Peter's will leave the church at 7:45a and work in Mechanicsburg from 9a-2p. To sign up, contact Pastor Jason Stump at
757-630-6577,
pastorstump@gmail.com
.
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Insurance Board tips: Open your doors, but not your risk
Churches frequently extend the use of their premises to third parties for one-time only events such as weddings, and for recurring events such as AA Meetings. The use of church premises for these activities exposes the church to liability in the event someone is injured on church premises, or inadvertently causes damage to the church. It is recommended that when outsiders use the church premises, the church obtain a signed Facility Use Agreement and obtain a Certificate of Liability Insurance from the party. The Agreement spells out who is responsible for what, and the Liability Insurance is there to pay for accidents that result in Bodily Injury or Property Damage. What if the third party does not have insurance? Through a product called TULIP (Tenants and Users Liability Insurance Program), a third party can obtain liability insurance specifically for use of your church. TULIP allows the Tenant or User entity to purchase a low cost general liability product to cover their liability related to the utilization of the church premises, protecting the entity as well as protecting the church by providing an extra layer of insurance protection and including the church as an additional insured. Upon approval of a short application, and premium payment from the third party user, Insurance Board is able to provide TULIP coverage. If your church is a participant in the IB program, and has interest, please contact your agent for more details.
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PNEC Hosting Effective Transitional Ministry training
On May 24 from 9:00a-5:00p, the Penn Northeast Conference will host an Interim Ministry Network "Effective Transitional Ministry Training" event. Registration for the one-day event is $200.
Click here
for a registration form.
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Church Events
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Educational Opportunities
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Missed a week? Read past eNews here:
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