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Important This Week
- Computer-side Chat TONIGHT on Shared Ministries
- Bishop Royster featured speaker at virtual Forum on Justice, Opportunity
- Open enrollment in October for UCC Dental Plan
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From the Interim Associate Conference
Minister for Search and Call: SHARING: What a concept!!!
One of the things I have observed and learned during this interim season is how pastors and congregations are opening up to new ways of doing ministry. Some of the new ways... are really not so new. We are so used to doing things a certain way, we forget that some other faith communities have been doing the new thing all along. It’s called SHARING!
Sharing is a Christian value and it is also a creative and empowering model for ministry. There are congregations who share a pastor and there are congregations who share a ministry and a pastor. This sharing does not necessarily mean that it is a first step toward a merger. It really is about being good stewards and sojourners along the faith journey and sharing ministry.
Tonight, 7:00-8:00p I will be hosting our monthly COMPUTER SIDE CHAT. This month the conversation will be about sharing ministry. One of our guests will be Rev. Kevin Fruchtl. He will share how his congregation entered conversations with another congregation and they journey toward shared ministry. Please contact Brea Rarick at Brea@psec.org for a link and join us.
There are other conversations percolating around our denomination and especially in this Conference. It is really exciting to hear people who really profess the power of the Holy Spirit, actually embrace the movement of the Spirit when it is happening. I have always said that Search & Call is a Spiritual Practice. It really is.
One of the reasons Jesus was rejected by many in his own community is because he was a threat to the way they had always done things. Jesus invited change. One could say he insisted change because he was intimately aware of how humans are not stagnant. We are not called to change for the sake of change. We are called to change in those areas that make our living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ even more authentic.
We are in the liturgical season of Ordinary Time. It is the longest season of our liturgical year. It is the season in which we are to live out the Gospel in faithful discipleship. So how about it? If there is anything this Global Pandemic has taught us is that things are unpredictable; life is short; what does it mean to live authentic lives and in true UCC fashion…GOD IS STILL SPEAKING!
Rev. Dr. Susan A. Minasian
Interim Associate Conference Minister for Search and Call
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Free: Forum on Justice and Opportunity set for next week
Episcopal Community Services in Philadelphia is pleased to announce an outstanding speaker lineup on poverty and race for its virtual 2021 Forum on Justice & Opportunity! New York Times columnist Charles Blow kicks off the weeklong series of events on Monday, Oct. 18 at noon. Thursday afternoon’s bonus session on faith-based advocacy features Bishop Dwayne Royster, UCC pastor and Executive Director of POWER. Social work CEUs are available. Events are free but registration is required. Click here for additional information and to register.
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Open enrollment in October
for UCC Dental Plan
As part of an ongoing commitment to provide UCC employees and churches with greater service, access and options, the Pension Boards announced an opportunity to enroll in the UCC Dental Plan is available Oct. 1-31 to employees and retirees who do not currently have dental coverage, or who have coverage in a plan other than the UCC’s. Coverage will become effective at 12:01a on Jan. 1 and is available on a stand-alone basis, regardless of participation in the UCC (Non-Medicare) Health Benefits Plan or UCC Medicare Advantage Plan. The UCC Dental Plan offers 100% coverage for preventive care services, with no deductible or coinsurance. Preventive care services will not reduce the annual plan maximum. For more information, including the application and benefits, click here.
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Free continuing ed webinars through Yale Divinity School
Yale Divinity School announced several upcoming free opportunities for webinars including:
- Leading in a Liminal Season
- Fast-Starting a Career of Consequence
- Welcoming the Stranger
- The Dead Sea Scrolls
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From the Addiction & Recovery Taskforce: Healthy Recovery
For many who recover from addiction and substance use disorders, there is a need to replace the people, places and things that supported addiction with new, sober supports. This connection with others can be critical to maintaining sobriety. This connection with others can be critical to maintaining sobriety.
One organization, The Phoenix, seeks to incorporate physical fitness with recovery to bring about lasting, healthy new connections. The Phoenix's mission "is to build a sober active community that fuels resilience and harnesses the transformational power of connection so that together we rise, recover, and live." The Phoenix offers events such as hiking, yoga, weight lifting sessions, or craft activities for anyone who wants to do new things and explore new places with people who are also in recovery. Phoenix activities seek to foster healing through fitness and personal connection among those who participate.
The Penn Southeast Addiction Taskforce has been exploring what this organization offers and how we might partner churches with activities sponsored by The Phoenix. To learn more, visit The Phoenix website. You may also contact PSEC task force members Rev. Deborah Clemens or Julia Roberts, or reach out directly to our point of contact, Christopher Spallina Program Manager: The Phoenix, Office: 732-739-RISE, Cell: 732-995-6306.
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Over $1.1 million in grants for 2020 hurricanes recovery
The Center for Disaster Philanthropy has published an article on their grants in response to the 2020 storms. Featured is information on their grant to the PA Southeast Conference to be used by the Eastwick Unmet Needs Roundtable. This grant supports the recovery work in this section of Philadelphia, which is being coordinated by Conference Disaster Coordinator Karl Jones, and two UCC Partners in Service, Judy Moore and Jaye Herrick. Learn more.
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How to help Afghan evacuees arriving in southeastern PA
Material goods are not being collected right now at the Philadelphia locations where people from Afghanistan are arriving. The best way to support individuals and families is through monetary donations to vetted groups who are providing immediate long-term relief. Philadelphia's Office of Immigrant Affairs is working with the Nationalities Services Center and HIAS Pennsylvania which have donation pages on their websites. If you wish to donate material goods, the Coast Guard Atlantic Strike Team has a list of materials that can be dropped off or mailed to Fort Dix, NJ. For more information on that, click here.
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Resources available for PSEC All Saints Special Offering
All Saints Sunday is the first Sunday in November. We celebrate long ago saints and those known to us as saints. Some of the PSEC pastors who retired years ago are in need of special assistance. Because their retirement income is low, the churches of the PSEC supplement the cost of their health benefits. We remember these saints as we receive the All Saints offering. 2021 resources for that are available here.
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Racial justice banners and yard signs available |
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”.
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Registration open: Zachariah Walker Racial Justice Symposium
Registration is now open for "White Supremacy, Racism, & the Christian Church: The Call to a Discipleship of Liberation and Justice" to be held online Oct. 23 and 24. Clergy who attend may receive Diversity Training credit. For more information, click here. |
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Classified Ads
Submit Classified Ads here
View a complete list of Classified Ads here
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Missed an email?
Read past emails here:
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Church Openings
- Bern Reformed UCC, Leesport (three-quarter time settled)
- Christ Delong, Bowers, and St. Peter's, Topton (3/4-time interim)
- Christ Church UCC, Norristown (full-time designated)
- New Goshenhoppen Reformed UCC, East Greenville (settled senior pastor)
- St. Peter's UCC of Wilshire (full-time interim)
- UCC East Goshen (full-time interim)
- UCC Valley Forge (full-time settled)
If you’re interested in a position, contact Rev. Dr. Susan Minasian: 484-949-8774 ext. 302 or minasian@psec.org .
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PSEC is the link that connects our church’s various and diverse ministries both locally and globally. Together, we provide our local churches, pastors and congregations with the training and inspiration they need to carry out our church’s wider mission. We are stronger together; therefore, we embrace diversity, and above all, we spread God’s love! |
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