Important This Week

• Registration open for Men's Clergy Retreat (save the date for the Women's Clergy Retreat)
• Trauma Training set for September
• 60th anniversary of the March on Washington this week; special event and litany

From the Conference Minister:

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.            --Matthew 16:18

I am one of five Conference Ministers on the UCC Insurance Board (IB) which met two weeks ago. Forty percent (40%) of UCC churches currently participate in an insurance program created in the 1980’s by UCC Conferences so that churches could improve insurance costs and services by forming group policies. The money saved by the churches could be put toward mission opportunities. The program has expanded over the years to include participants from our Formula of Agreement Partners. Some folks around our Conference have been blessed by the services the IB provides. Others have had experiences that have led them elsewhere. (Everyone needs the resources they offer for free at the resource page.)

There are few better places than the IB to witness how what happens in one church affects every other church. When one part of the body suffers, we all suffer. The churches destroyed by fire in Maui who participate in the IB program will be rebuilt with the help of funds paid on insurance premiums by people in Georgia. Churches flooded yesterday in California will be aided by the premiums paid by churches in Maine. It is NOT a perfect system. Its strength relies entirely on participants who will give more, not necessarily to get more, but to stand in solidarity with UCC partners with whom we are bound in covenant.

Which gets me to the verse from this Sunday’s gospel lectionary text. Barbara Brown Taylor was not the first preacher to point out that the Greek word for Peter is petros and it means stone, or pebble, a smaller piece of a larger rock. The Greek word for rock is petra, which means a boulder, or a great big rock. So, Jesus says to Peter, “I am going to build my church on you, but you will be just one piece of a much larger foundation for my church.”

The beautiful part of being a small part of a larger foundation is that what you do matters to God. At the same time, the future of God’s church doesn’t rest completely on your shoulders, either. We go through this Jesus life together, helping each other out along the way. Whether it’s Association life, Conference life, Insurance life, or local church life, we are stronger in life…together. 

Rev. Bill Worley

Conference Minister

60th anniversary of the March on Washington event

Join together in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington! Friends from across the region will join together Sunday, Aug. 27, to celebrate and remember through a modest neighborhood march (as you are able), eyewitness testimony, and worship in the historic House of Faith (the former Harold O Davis). Click here for more information.

Worship resource for 60th Anniversary of March on Wash.

The Racial Justice Team of the PSEC has created a litany based on quotes from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We will be using it in worship as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington. Please feel free to modify the speaking prompts to fit your congregations need.

You can access the litany here. And don’t forget to join us as we celebrate in person on Sunday, Aug. 27 from 3-5 p.m. at House of Faith Baptist Church UCC. It will be an impactful time of solidarity, and hope as we strive to continue the dream.

Registration open for Men's Clergy Retreat in October

Clergymen, give yourself the gift of joining the PSEC/PNEC Clergy Men’s Retreat, Oct. 3-5. Take a step back from all the demands that are placed on you, step out of your comfort zone with friends you can trust, rest and spend some time in nature. Engage in thoughtful conversation that will help give perspective on life’s biggest obstacles and have some fun. Guys from the Retreat Planning Committee will facilitate conversation based on Richard Reeves book Of Boys and Men. You don’t have to read the book to be on the retreat and our conversations will go far afield from that text. So feed your soul to strengthen your ministry this October at Kirkridge. Click here for more information and to register.

Save the date: 2024 Clergy Women's Retreat dates set

The 2024 Clergy Women's Retreat will be held from Jan. 16 at 4:00p until Jan. 18 at noon at Mariawald Retreat Center in Shillington. Please mark your calendars to save the date and watch future eNews emails for more registration information.

Video of workshop on sharing pastors available now

On Aug. 12, 2023, a free workshop was held on Zoom on "One Shepherd, Two Flocks: Advice and Guidance on Sharing a Pastor." Rev. Kevin McLemore and others discussed why sharing a pastor with another congregation is a good option for many churches in this time of pastoral scarcity. They shared practical strategies on how to talk to your congregation about this possibility, how to find a pastor and congregation willing to do so, and how other churches are doing it successfully. Pastors who currently pastor two churches joined us to share both the blessings and challenges of this arrangement, and how to avoid some mistakes they’ve witnessed in their settings. Click here to watch.

Register now for the Partners in Building Conference

Church Building & Loan Fund is excited to invite you to Partners in Building, a two-day virtual conference on Sept. 21-22 hosted to connect church leaders with the resources they need to effectively repurpose, finance and manage their properties.

Some highlights of the conference include:

• Resources on repurposing, financing and managing church-owned property
• Connections with CBLF staff and loan partners, capital fundraising executives, building professionals and other experts
• Presentations and workshops on a wide range of topics, including how to incorporate property into your church’s vision and future

Click here for more information and to register. The early bird registration fee is available until Friday, Aug. 25.

Christian Creyer installation as chaplain of Phoebe, Richland

Phoebe Ministries, Richland Invites you to the Installation of Rev. Christian B. Creyer, M.Div. as Chaplain on Monday, Aug. 28 at 2:00p. Because the event will be held outdoors, under the pavilion (in Meadow Glen multi-purpose room should the weather not cooperate), clergy are invited to wear what they are most comfortable in wearing (robes and stoles not required). Phoebe Richland is located at 108 S. Main St., Richlandtown. Click here for a flyer to share.

From the Addiction & Recovery Taskforce: More Resources

Here is another source of ideas and information for your planning for National Recovery month. On the Faces and Voices of Recovery website you will find a toolkit to help in your planning.

Another idea is to invite a congregational or community member who has spoken publicly about their addiction and recovery to give some testimony. Many will refer to the importance of their faith in their continued recovery. 

Rev. Dr. James Mills Sr. installation at Wentz's UCC

Click the invitation below to download a PDF to share.

Upcoming Training events

Registration is open for:

Basic Boundary Training on Sept. 14 in Schuylkill Haven. More info

Advanced Boundary Training (Managing Pastoral Transitions) on Sept. 27 on Zoom (or view the recording of the event and complete a one-page synopsis). More info

Advanced Boundary Training (From Gutenberg to ChatGPT: Tools, ethics, technology and best practices in the life of Church) on Oct. 18 on Zoom. More info

Diversity Training on Nov. 8 on Zoom (or view the recording of the event and complete a one-page synopsis). Click here

Save the date! PSEC Annual Lay Leadership Convocation

The Second Annual PSEC Lay Leadership Convocation will be Saturday, April 6, 2024, at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Boyertown. Keynote speaker will be Dr. Sarah B. Drummond, Dean of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School and author of Sharing Leadership. The convocation will include numerous workshops on topics of interest to Elders, Deacons, and other church leaders. Registration should open by the end of January. For now, please save the date!

Trauma Training Program Sept. 23rd and Sept. 30th

The Welcome Project PA, in partnership with Lakeside Global Institute and the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference, 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 subsequent sessions with The Welcome Project PA and the PSEC will apply the trauma training to more specifically define, explore, and discuss religious trauma and its effects on individuals and faith communities. For more information and to register, click here.

Lay Leadership courses scheduled for the fall

Growing Our Spiritual Lives

The first step in making our churches more vibrant, faithful and effective, is for each of us to cultivate our spiritual lives. Our congregations are like trees: in order to reach out with our branches and bear fruit, we must first deepen our roots in our faith. This course on Spiritual Life will meet for three sessions at Saint James United Church of Christ, 321 S Limerick Rd, Limerick, on Saturday mornings from 9:00-11:00 as follows:

• October 7: Spiritual growth through congregational worship
• October 28: Spiritual growth through personal disciplines
• November 4: Spiritual growth through small groups.

The course will be led by Laura Walters and Charlotte Fiedler. They have received training from Wanda Craner, and Charlotte received a certificate in Spiritual Life from Immaculata University. Click here for more information and to register.

Discerning Our Mission

How do we go about reaching out to the world in the name of Christ? This course on Mission will meet for three sessions at Saint James United Church of Christ, 321 S Limerick Rd, Limerick, on Saturday afternoons from 12:30-2:30 as follows:

• October 7 - What is mission?
• October 28 - Local mission
• November 4 - Global mission

This course will be led by Dr. Charles A. Maxfield, a minister of the United Church of Christ, with a Ph.D. in Church History with an emphasis on mission history. Click here for more information and to register.