Wisconsin Conference This Week | | Annual Meeting updates: keynoter, worship resources and more | | |
It’s hard to believe, but Annual Meeting 2026 is just one month away. Scheduled for April 10-11 at Green Lake Conference Center, this year’s meeting will feature a keynote by Edith Guffey, who served in a variety of roles in the national offices of the UCC and then as conference minister of the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference from 2013 to 2022. She has been a vocal advocate for inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals in the life of our faith communities. The theme of her keynote: “Cultivating Community by Building Bridges.” Learn more about Edith.
Is your pastor going to be away on Sunday, April 12? Don’t fret. A set of worship resources for congregational use will be available in mid-March. These materials are intended easy for pastors to be gone but can be used on a different occasion. The materials are being designed with an eye toward the Annual Meeting theme, “Cultivating Community: Rooted in Christ and Bearing Fruit.”
Check out the one-day Intensive Workshop, “Rooted and Reaching: Connecting Within and Beyond the Local Church,” set for Thursday, April 9, at Daycholah Center. Register for the Thursday Intensive Workshop.
Register today for Annual Meeting 2026.
Reserve your room and meals at Green Lake Conference Center.
| | Next Catalyst grant deadline is March 31 | |
If your congregation has an idea for an innovative new ministry but needs some seed money to get it off the ground, consider applying for a Catalyst grant. Grants are awarded in three categories – short-term projects, long-term initiatives, and community conversations – and are designed to encourage churches to take risks and collaborate with other community organizations. The next application deadline is March 31. Questions? Email program coordinator Mary Kuenning Gross or call her at 262-271-8990.
Learn more about the Catalyst program.
| | UCC’s Lund to deliver Founder’s Day lecture at Lakeland | | |
The Rev. Sarah Griffith Lund, who serves as minister for disabilities and mental health justice on the national staff of the UCC, will deliver this year’s Founder’s Day lecture at Lakeland University. Her address, “Experiencing God’s Love in Anxious Times of Chaos: Community Care and Mental Health,” is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 16, in the Event Space of Lakeland’s Younger Campus Center. Learn more about Sarah.
| | 10 high schoolers to be selected for ‘Youth Voices’ D.C. trip | | |
What do you want to do on your summer vacation? Here’s one option: Become one of 10 high school students from the Wisconsin Conference who will spend July 12-17 in Washington, D.C., learning the ins and outs of faith-based advocacy. Participants in the program, “Youth Voices: Bold Faith,” will engage with leaders making change on Capitol Hill and beyond and explore how our faith calls us to speak truth to power and stand up for what’s right. Cost of the trip is $550 per participant and includes airfare from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport – you’ll be traveling with peers from the Minnesota Conference – plus lodging, meals and ground transportation. To register, email Lisa Hart, associate conference minister for faith formation and justice ministries. Registration is limited to the first 10 people to sign up, with a deadline of April 1, so raise your hand today.
Click for more information.
| Church musicians to gather July 8-11 | |
If you’re a church musician, make sure to check out “United in Spirit, Diverse in Sound,” the biennial national conference of the United Church of Christ Musicians Association, scheduled for July 8-11 at First Community Church in Columbus, Ohio. The conference will offer workshops, worship services, concerts, activities to help refine musical skills, and more, all in the name of helping congregations find creative ways to express God’s Spirit in these challenging times. The conference is open to all. Not familiar with UCCMA? Check out the website, and consider attending one of the group’s monthly Saturday Sharing events.
Read the letter of introduction from new UCCMA President Eric Dundore
| Tenth Wisconsin congregation becomes WISE | |
Ten Wisconsin Conference congregations have now been designated WISE after an affirmative vote Feb. 22 by Redeemer UCC in Sussex. The WISE designation – the acronym stands for Welcoming, Inclusive, Supportive and Engaged for Mental Health – is awarded by the Mental Health Network of the UCC. (Earlier in February, First Congregational UCC in La Crosse voted to become WISE, but it is still awaiting official designation.)
Learn how your congregation can become WISE.
| New UCC resource explores redlining’s environmental fallout | |
UCC Creation Justice Ministries has produced a new downloadable resource for churches just in time for Earth Month. "The Canopy of Creation: Trees, Faith, and the Work of Justice" explores how in many cities, tree canopy follows the same fault lines as historic redlining. Neighborhoods that were denied investment generations ago are often the same neighborhoods with fewer trees today, which exposes them to higher temperatures, poorer air quality, and greater vulnerability to flooding. Derrick Weston, director of theological education and formation at Creation Justice Ministries, will discuss the new resource in a webinar, Leaves of Healing (Only for Some), scheduled for noon on Wednesday, March 18.
Register today.
| | Help others by donating now | The General Fund of the Wisconsin Conference helps us connect, support and resource pastors, leaders, and congregations. Your gift allows the Conference to provide relevant and timely help during the pandemic and beyond. Donate to the General Fund | | |
US Capitol dome photo: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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The Wisconsin Conference UCC is an Open and Affirming Conference, a WISE for Mental Health Conference and an Immigrant Welcoming Conference.
Wisconsin Conference United Church of Christ
W1000 Spring Grove Road, Ripon, WI 54971
mail@wcucc.org
www.wcucc.org
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