This Week in PNEC --- December 7, 2017 - December 15, 2017

TO CONTACT US OR TO REGISTER FOR EVENTS

431 Delaware Ave., Palmerton, PA18071; www.pnec.org website

610-826-3113; FAX 610-826-5464

 

          Bonnie Bates  bonnieb@pnec.org                      Gilberto Garcia Rodriguez   gilbertor@pnec.org   

          Barbara Jennings   barbaraj@pnec.org              Patty Rehrig     pattyr@pnec.org

 

IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO INCLUDE IN "THIS WEEK IN PNEC" PLEASE EMAIL IT TO   pattyr@pnec.org
 
PNEC's 2017 Closing Date will be Friday, January 12, 2018
Please plan your closing so that your final 2017 remittance will be received in the Conference Office by Friday, January 12, 2018.  Receipts received after the 12th will be credited to 2018.  Do not include 2017 remittances with 2018 and make certain remittance slips are marked for either the year 2017 or 2018.  Thank you for your cooperation and support.
               
Register now for Clergy Convocation
     Join the Penn Northeast and Pennsylvania Southeast Conferences 
for a time of collegiality, spiritual renewal and education for authorized ministries and members in discernment.  Rev. Wanda D. Craner will be the Guest Speaker. This year's presentation is "The Spiritual Health of Clergy in Times of Dis-Ease".

Clergy Convocation Flyer 2018
To register: click here.
 
ONLINE UCC History, Theology and Polity Course
Jan/Feb 2018
 
     A UCC History, Theology and Polity Course that meets the requirements as set forth by the UCC Polity Teacher's Network will be offered online in Jan/Feb 2018. The instructor will be Rev. David Gaewski, Conference Minister of the New York Conference, UCC. Classes will begin at 9:30am and end at 4:00pm on the following dates: January 20&27 and February 3&10. The platform utilized will be Zoom Video Conferencing (zoom.us) The tuition will be $475. For more information contact course administrator, Ms. Diana Pelletier, at dkluscombe@msn.com.
     This polity course is sponsored by the Oneida Association of the New York Conference. Payments should be sent no later than December 23rd to: Diana Pelletier, 114 Munro Dr., Camillus, NY 13031. Make checks payable to Oneida Association UCC.
     A syllabus is available by clicking here.  Laity, Members in Discernment and Privilege of Call candidates are all invited!   Class size is limited to the first fifteen to register.  The course will be cancelled if we do not obtain seven registered students. A student is considered registered when full payment has been received. Students who cancel enrollment will receive reimbursements up until January 11th. Please note the last two online classes reached maximum capacity.
 
 
  PNEC Disaster Ministries

To keep updated with the UCC's Disaster Response and Resources, please go to
 
CROSSROADS

January is closer than you think!  Plan now to take a Winter term course through Crossroads.
 New Testament with Rev. Dr. Joanne Marchetto will begin on Jan 8 for eight Monday nights.  Compass, a good place to start and to define your sense of call, will be Thursday nights starting Jan 4 also for eight weeks.  Crossroads participants discover new skills, learn more about their faith and prepare for exciting ministries.  Come join us for New Testament and Compass starting in Jan and watch for Theology and World Religions in Spring.  For more info context Jill Peters at jpeters@moravian.edu or go to  
 

Penn Central Conference

Mid-Winder Clergy Convocation

Proclaiming the Good News Today:

How We Embody Jesus to the World

January 30 - February 1, 2018

Keynote Speaker - Rev. Dr. Emily C. Heath

Registration Link

For a full flyer of this event.....Click Here
 
announcements
ANNOUNCEMENTS &
CLERGY CONNECTIONS
 
December 10 - ORDINATION - 2PM - Kayli
     Freeman - St.  J ohn's UCC, Emmaus -
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 
Children's Sermon
for Dec. 10 (based on Mark 1:1-8)  
Items needed: four pieces of paper, taped together length-wise; dry-erase board or some other firm backing to attach  paper  to; red marker, green marker, yardstick.  Attach paper to backing. Use yardstick and  green marker to make one mark at the top of the long strip of paper and one at the bottom.  Tell kids you will use the yard stick and the red marker to draw a line from the bottom mark to the mark on top. But say you are going to start  the line a little bit off from where you want to go.  (Move yardstick a bit offline at the bottom.  Then use red  marker to draw a line so it's far off from your intended end mark.)  Point out that, at the beginning, at the bottom of the paper, the line was only a little bit off, but by the time you got to the top, the line was way off. In today's Bible reading, a man named John tells people to "repent"  Repent means to change direction (Point to red .line)  Everybody gets a little off sometimes.  If we don't repent, if we don't ask God to help us change, then we can end up way off, just like this line.  Repent means that we ask for God's help to straighten out our lives , so we can point our lives towards our "mark,"  Who is Jesus.  (use yardstick and green marker to make straight line between the green mark at bottom and green mark at top.)
- Rev. David Quinn
 
UPCOMING DATES  calendar

DECEMBER
10 - 2PM - ORDINATION - Kayli Freeman - St. John's UCC, Emmaus
11 - 10AM - Licensing/Commissioning MID Committee - Conf. Office
11 - 2:30-4:30PM - Joint Conference Vision and Development Team - First UCC, Quakertown
12 - 9AM - YEA Fund - Conference Office
12 - 9:30AM - GEM Fund - Conference Office
12 - 10AM-Noon - Board of Directors - Conference Office
14 - 9:30-11AM - Licensed/Commissioned Mentor Group - Conf. Office
14 - 11:30 AM - Southwest AMC (SWAMP) Clergy Christmas gathering - Spinnerstown Hotel, 2195
Spinnerstown Rd, Quakertown
14 - 12:30PM - BOEHM AMC Clergy Christmas Gathering - Marblehead Grille, 4101 William Penn Highway, Easton
19 - 11:45AM - Blue Mountain AMC Clergy - Villa Lentini Ristorante, 2700 Balliet St., Ballietsville
19 - 9:30AM - Licensed/Commissioned Ministry Committee - Conf. Office
20 - 9AM - Ordained Church & Ministry Committee - Conf. Office
25 through January 1, 2018 - PNEC OFFICE CLOSED - Christmas & New Year Holiday
   
FOR THE FULL LIST OF DATES...
Lehigh Conference of Churches
RSVP for "Safety Considerations in Worship Today"
a free Security Training for Faith Communities
Dale Rothenberger of Advocate Insurance
will present at 10AM on Saturday, December 16 at Dubbs Memorial Community Center, Allentown
free seminar open to all
ALSO....
MLK Jr. Day Interfaith Prayer Breakfast
January 15 - 9AM
Dubbs Memorial Community Center, Allentown
$20/person
 
Women's Clergy Retreat
Pennsylvania Southeast Conference Invitation to the...
Women's Clergy Retreat being offered to the female ministers in PNEC. Please click here for the flyer.
January 16-18, 2018
@ Mariawald Retreat Center, Reading, PA
THEME:  Being Mindful & Self-Aware in a World Which Seems to be Losing Its Mind
Deadline to register is January 10, 2017
 
The link to register at Eventbrite is:
 

 

Please click here for an Advent Message from UCC Interim Rev. Jeff Kistler
 

Safety Considerations in Worship Today

December 16 - 10:00 am

In light of recent violence and terrorist attacks, the Lehigh Conference of Churches is offering to member churches a seminar on the issues surrounding awareness and assessment of the physical space and procedures affecting each place of worship. This seminar should assist house of worship leaders improve security by learning how to determine where your facility is vulnerable, then providing an overview of conducting a basic security survey, followed by a report outlining steps for corrective action
 
Resources to Protect Your House of Worship
(shared from FEMA by Linda Lenhart, PNEC Resource Person for our Disaster Response Team)
 

Penn Northeast Conference

            Presents ....

13th Annual Youth Retreat

all youth in grades 7th - 12th are invited!

 

May 4 - 6, 2018

Check-in Friday 6:30-7:00......Pick-up Sunday Noon

Spruce Lake

5389 Route 447, Canadensis

$130/person

(includes meals Saturday & Sunday breakfast)

DEADLINE TO REGISTER February 12, 2018

We must have all registrations and $50 non-refundable deposit per person.

Click for REGISTRATION FLYER 
 

Ecumenical Stewardship Center NEWS

 

Pathways to Generosity: Signs of Hope Conference

April 3-5, 2018 in Dallas, TX

Keynote Speakers:

Rev .Dr. Katie Hays of the Galileo Church in Mansfield, TX; Rev. Dr. Eric Law, founder of the Kaleidoscope Institute; Aimee Laramore, Director of Seminary Advancement at Christian Theological Seminary; and Rev. Pedro Suarez, incoming Bishop of the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  More

 

Register for the Stewardship Educators Forum by December 31

Join your peers in stewardship ministry at the Stewardship Educators Forum Gathering and stay for the Stewardship Summit

January 23-25 in Southhaven, Mississippi

More

 

COMPASS Blog focuses on

Hymns and Hopes for the Holidays

The Ecumenical Stewardship Center COMPASS Initiative engages young adults in conversation avbout faith and finances.  Gain some inspiration and insights on generosity with COMPASS blog posts on Hymns and Hopes for the Holidays.  More

 

A Different Twist on Year-Round Stewardship

While any of the Ecumenical Stewardship themes can be adapted for a year-round emphasis, the Remember theme's approach combines ongoing celebrations with personalized giving invitations based on individual membership anniversaries.  More
 
 
IN SEARCH OF...

 

For the complete list of churches who are searching for organists, choir directors sextons, pianist, etc., etc., and also churches who are giving away items, please CLICK HERE
 
What's Happening in Our Churches
 
(PLEASE NOTE:  We love advertising the "happenings" in our churches, however the list is getting too long for this publication.)
 
FOR THE COMPLETE LISTING of
"What's Happening in Our Churches"

CLICK HERE