By The Rev. Wendy Vander Hart
Associate Conference Minister

The title of the program of the Metro Boston Association Spring Meeting was "What Established Churches Can Learn from New Church Starts." With a date chosen eight months before, and mass rallies as yet unplanned in the imagination of organizers, Association leaders could not have foreseen the ways it would be hard to press on with a meeting. 

With the  People's Climate Movement  organizing a Boston rally mirroring the Climate Action in Washington DC on April 29, there was an opportunity to be responsive to the times and choose not to meet as an Association in a church hall space, but rather on the streets with other like-hearted people concerned about the state of God's creation. 

So the Church, in this case the Association, is leaving the building! The Metropolitan Boston Association Spring Meeting will be a meeting on the internet via the Zoom platform. It will last 45 minutes, save gas and paper, still provide us time to encourage and provoke one another to love and good deeds AND give us the chance to BE THE CHURCH on the Boston Common.

By The Rev. Rochelle Stackhouse
Pastor, Church of the Redeemer, New Haven, CT

As the three Conferences have been discussing coming together to create something new, Church of the Redeemer and United Church on the Green in New Haven, CT, have been doing the same thing! We are working to create a new congregation together not because we are in trouble or desperate or about to close. We are doing this as two vital congregations who seek to come together to build critical mass as a strong, progressive congregation in the city of New Haven. We believe we can be stronger together than apart.

There have been challenges along the way in our process, and one of the most important factors for resolving those challenges and moving forward has been participation.

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Read more about the Tri-Conference Meeting, and register online

Read more about the Together, As One proposal 

By The Rev. Don Remick
Associate Conference Minister

We are frequently getting requests about resources for individuals and churches around skills to help transform conflict into health choices, conversations  and actions. The current political and social climate in our country and world is finding its echo in our communities and congregations. This Spring and Summer we want to offer you a unique opportunity to grow as a community in response to all this.

This is an online program you can do on your own schedule, and then some. 

We are inviting 10 church teams (1 pastor and 2 lay members) to join together to learn the ideas and strategies from the curriculum, and, to support each other and each others churches in learning communities in bringing it home.