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Penn Northeast Conference UCC, 431 Delaware Ave., Palmerton, PA 18071
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The Amigos de Guatemala
Don’t leave PNEC’s Amigos de Guatemala out of your congregation’s 2019 schedule! We have the opportunity of a lifetime: You helped build a medical clinic in the hills of Guatemala. We are excited about sharing with you our next steps in this partnership, so invite us to speak at your worship service or other event.
The Amigos de Guatemala
is celebrating the completion of the clinic in Monte Margarita
Please join us for a dinner celebration
April 6, 2019 - 5PM
at Jordan UCC, 1837 Church Rd., Allentown
catered by Don Juan Mex Grill and Cantina
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Professional Portfolio Information Review
Reminder to
ALL
PNEC Authorized Ministers to please fill out your Professional Portfolio Information Review, which can be found on the PNEC website
www.pnec.org
under the Ministry tab.
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25th Clergy Convocation!
Join us for the Silver Anniversary of Convocation
Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund
"Breaking the Silence About Mental Illness, Family and Church"
May 7-9, 2019
Double Tree by Hilton, 2400 Willow Street Pike, Lancaster
TO REQUEST FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR
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Summary of PNEC Board Actions
The PNEC Conference Board is committed to sharing information with you. As such they will be sharing summaries of board actions following each bimonthly meeting.
Summary Notes of the December 3, 2018 Conference Board Meeting
Issues Discussed:
- Rev. Dr. Jonathan Lee of the Pension Board of the UCC made a presentation on the United Church Board for Ministerial Support capital campaign currently in progress. They wish to establish a partnership with PNEC to support the funding needs of their financial assistance efforts for clergy and leadership programs for ministers. A partnership will be planned.
- The budget report by Treasurer Christian Creyer indicated that OCWM funding has increased to about the same amount at the same point in 2017. However, we are still more than $100,000 behind the anticipated income for the year. It is hoped an end of year boost in giving will close that gap.
- Committees and ministry teams of the Conference have submitted goals, strategies and purpose statement to the Board. A sub group will be formed early in the calendar year to monitor and offer support for the achievement of these stated goals.
- The Board revisited their own strategic plan to update and add more detailed tasks to the timeline in order to accomplish goals before the Spring Conference meeting in May.
- All Board members received a request letter asking for their personal support of PNEC’s OCWM funding.
Decisions Made / Actions Taken
- As required by the IRS, Bonnie Bates and Christian Creyer submitted the amount of their 2019 compensation that shall be considered as housing allowance. All members present accepted these amounts but, because there was not a quorum present, additional approval votes will be needed by email from Board members for this action to be finalized. (Secretary’s note: More than enough approving votes were received in time for the data to be submitted to the IRS.)
- One of the Working Groups of the Committee on Ministry requested that a summary of Board actions be published for the benefit of all the ministry teams, so they will be aware of decisions made that may affect their work. The Board agreed that a summary of issues and decisions would be compiled after each Board meeting and published in This Week in PNEC.
- Gary Barraco requested that the Board would approve the purchase of another projector and speakers for the convenience of many volunteers who make frequent presentations throughout the Conference, i.e. Gary’s work for 3 Great Loves, Amigos de Guatemala, and many others. The Board approved the expenditure of about $500 from the equipment reserve in the operating budget for this purpose.
Next meeting dates:
Board of Directors, February 11, 2019, PNEC Office, 5:30 PM
Board of Directors, April 24, 2019, PNEC Office, 9:30 AM
Spring Conference Meeting, May 4
th
, 2019
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Penn Northeast Conference
Be Effective…. Be Flexible…. Be Missional
Flexible, Missional Governance Training
PNEC Conference Center, Feb. 9, 2019, 9AM - noon
Create a Permission-Giving Structure
Get more done with fewer People
Focus on Vision and Mission
Live into the meaningful work of the congregation
Provide opportunities for short-term volunteers
Have fewer and shorter meetings
Register now for this important information workshop
Limited Space – 13 spaces available
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PNEC Presents... the 14th Annual PNEC Youth Retreat
"#REALTALK"
"Sexuality and our Faith"
All youth in grades 6th - 12th are invited
February 22-24, 2019
Blue Mountain Christian Retreat, 1 Christian Ln., New Ringgold, PA
$145 per person (includes meals Saturday & Sunday)
Limited Space...
!
Click here
for Registration Flyer.
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS...
- PNEC Spring Conference Meeting will be May 4, 2019 and the Fall Conference Meeting will be November 2, 2019
- January 27 - 2pm - ORDINATION - Henry Distler - St. John's UCC, 15 S. Second St., Slatington - pastors attending are asked to wear their red stoles - in case of inclement weather, please check with WFMZ Channel 69 (for Blue Ridge Cable) for cancellations.
- March 3 - 3PM - ORDINATION - Bob Gutekunst - Forks UCC, 4500 Sullivan Trail, Stockertown
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2019 BOUNDARY AWARENESS TRAINING
Next year, the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference UCC is designated to provide Boundary Awareness Training for the conferences, synod, and presbytery. Those dates and locations have been selected and are:
- Saturday, March 2 in Lansdale
- Tuesday, March 26 in Quakertown
- Wednesday, May 15 in Kutztown
- Thursday, Oct. 3 in Schuylkill Haven
Click for the flyer
to register for one of these events. Registration for all four events are now open.
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Litany from the Interfaith Prayer Breakfast on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
My friends,
More than 100 people gathered at the Dubbs Memorial Community Center with the Lehigh Conference of Churches for the Interfaith Prayer Breakfast to celebrate the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As I sat with friends and colleagues, listened to prayers and speakers, sang and listened to great music, my heart was once again reminded of my memories of MLK. I was a teen when MLK was assassinated. My heart broke as it had in my childhood when JFK was assassinated and later when Robert Kennedy was assassinated as well. There was so much darkness in my heart during those times. I couldn’t imagine the light shining.
Some days I feel the same way as we hear of shooting after shooting, violence after violence, hate professed and acted on. And yet, I know that God is with us. God’s light and grace and love pour down around and into us. I share with you this litany
(click here)
from the Interfaith Prayer Breakfast and ask that you pray it, reflect upon it, and allow it to fill you with a hope that cannot be dimmed. As MLK said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” May we be the light that drives out darkness and the love that drives out hate.
Blessings, Bonnie
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Disaster Response Ministry
Stay Updated and Involved: Visit our disaster
website
.
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MINISTRY TRAINING UPDATES (Continuing Education)
ALL Authorized Ministers, please note:
We will be identifying these kinds of continuing education opportunities – The policy is effective January 1, 2019. If you have any questions, please contact the Penn Northeast Conference Office at 610-826-3113.
Thank You!
Click
HERE
for list of current and up-coming opportunities!
ALSO
Stretching Beyond Video Links - At AM21 we premiered several search committee videos, well-received by Search and Call workshop attendees. These short films, each a few minutes long, tell stories that increase imagination for excellent pastoral leadership. The four videos include “Stretching Beyond Ableism,” “Stretching Beyond Sexism,” “Stretching Beyond Racism,” and “Stretching Beyond Heterosexism.” MESA produced these videos in conjunction with a UCC group of volunteers along with Crossroads Antiracism Organizing & Training. A public site is now available for you to download or link to the four videos and use with churches:
https://vimeo.com/uccmesa. Future release will include a discussion guide in coming months.
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Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley
Community Relations Council (CRC)
CRC Lunch & Learn
On February 7 at 12:15PM, the First Presbyterian Church of Allentown (3231 W. Tilghman St., Allentown PA 18104) will host an event with Jeffrey Ohrenstein, the Trustee and Chairman of the Memorial Scrolls.
The Memorial Scrolls Museum is located at Westminster Synagogue in London. The permanent exhibition, established in 1988, tells the unique story of the arrival from Prague in 1964 of 1,564 Torah Scrolls and of their restoration and distribution to communities throughout the world. The exhibits include some of these Scrolls, a display of remarkable Torah Binders, some of which date from the 18th century, and other moving reminders of the vanished communities of Bohemia and Moravia.
These Czech Torah Scrolls survived the Second World War even as their communities did not. Following restoration, the Scrolls were bestowed to synagogues around the world on permanent loan to link contemporary communities with those that perished under the Nazi regime.
We are fortunate to have five of these scrolls in the Lehigh Valley. Join us as Jeffrey tells the story of these Torah scrolls in our community.
The event is free and open to everyone. To learn more or sign up, contact Aaron Gorodzinsky, 610-821-5500,
aaron@jflv.org
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Children's Sermon for January
27
(based on Luke 4:14-21)
- by Rev. Dave Quinn
Items needed: piece of string, post-it notes, marker. Beforehand, write "God remember God's promises" on enough post-it notes to give one to each child. After kids come up, ask, "Did you ever forget to do something? Like, making your bed, or brushing your teeth?" (Get their answers.) Sometimes, people do something to try to help themselves remember. In the old days, people would sometimes tie a string on their finger, to help them remember. Tie the string on a volunteer's hand. The bad thing about the string was, the string didn't help you remember WHAT you were trying to remember--like whether you were trying to remember to brush your teeth, or make your bed, or something else. Now, we have these notes (show some blank post-it notes.) Now, you can write a reminder (use marker to write "make bed") and put it somewhere where you will see it(stick note to nearby wall). This can help you remember better than the string can. We use these because everybody forgets, sometimes. But God doesn't forget. That's what today's Bible reading is about. Before Jesus was born, God promised to send a very special Person, Who would make the world a much better place. In today's Bible reading, Jesus says that God remember God's promise to send that Special Person- and that He, Jesus, is the person that God has sent. Jesus is God remembering to keep God's promise. So, to help you all remember that God keeps God's promises, I'm going to give each one of you these notes (hand out the notes that have the message written) and you can put it where you can see it, to help you remember, God keeps God's promises.
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UPCOMING EVENTS...
--
We ThirstTM - Christian Reflections on Addiction.
Join us for a five-part series beginning in January on the epidemic of addiction and our Christian response. This series is presented by author and facilitator, Nina Marie Corona, M.A., C.R.S. On
Thursday evenings from January 29th through February 26, 2019
, these multi-media presentations will explore the importance of mercy, faith, and love.
These sessions are particularly useful for clergy, counselors, nurses, and educators, but all will benefit from the tools and resources that are provided.
Click here to register today
!
--Uniting Church & Community Through Music & Art -
June 25-28, 2019 at First Cong. UCC, Madison, WI -- 12th Biennial National Conference of the United Church of Christ Musicians Association
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Justice for God's Planet & God's People
We hope your year is off to a great start! We have had a lot of interest in our
52 Ways to Care
for Creation
resource, and we wanted to make sure that you are all ready to hit the ground running this February. We have enjoyed seeing the tips and tricks you have shared with us on social media, and look forward to more as the year continues! We hope that you'll share our next four tips from the
February bulletin insert
with your communities and congregations, as well as your family and social networks! As always, we look forward to hearing how you are working to #CareForCreation - please tag us and share your stories with us on social media (@CreationJustice).
We also look forward to sharing with you all our Earth Day resource soon. In the meantime, please check out our
landing page
for information and
sign up
to be the first to download the Earth Day resource!
Amanda Robinson, Program & Communications Coordinator,
Creation Justice Ministires
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The Rev. Darren L. Morgan
(Maine Conf. )
cordially invites you to join him on his sabbatical Pilgrimage to
The Holy Land
A contemporary studies pilgrimage in Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan
June 20-29, 2019 with optional 4 day elective - returning July 3, 2019
Click Here for flyer and registration and contact for further information
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Navigating the River of Grief
Our Conference Minister, Bonnie Bates, has published a book which may be used as a resources for pastors and congregations.
CSS Publishing says “When members of the church experience loss, it can be difficult for pastors to discern how best to care for them. What can spiritual leaders expect in the grief process? What are we to do, to say, to journey with those who have experienced loss? What mistakes might we make that do more harm than good?
In Navigating the River of Grief, (ISBN: 0788028855) Rev. Dr. Bonnie Bates shares the results of her important research into the grief process. Her concept of grief as a river is inspired by several biblical references to water, both its ability to threaten and give life. Bates uses case studies to present grief not as the neat linear progression of stages we'd like it to be; rather, it is a river that sweeps the bereaved along in unpredictable ways. Its choppy waters cause pain and its depths are menacing, but when we understand the flow of its current as a spiritual journey we can better help the bereaved navigate toward new life.
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Health & Human Service Sunday
January 27, 2019
The
attached
worship resource is what CHHSM has prepared for Health and Human Service Sunday on January 27, 2019.
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PATHWAYS Theological Education, Inc.
Announces a New Certificate Program in Foundational Theology
Click
here for more information and registration
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History & Polity Course Offered at Lancaster Theological Seminary
the course will run 7 weeks from Feb. 22 through April 5.
Those who complete this non-credit course will receive a
Certificate of Completion
that may be shared with their Committee on Ministry. They also will write a paper that can be used as part of the ordination paper requirement for authorization.
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Moravian Seminary
UCC History, Polity & Theology Course
This comprehensive course will meet Mondays from 6 – 9pm from January 28 to April 29, 2019. You may attend in person at Moravian Seminary Bethlehem PA or by video conference. The cost for a certificate of completion is $900. Academic Course Credit is available at regular tuition costs. For more information contact the instructor, Rev. Dr. David DeRemer
deremerd@moravian.edu.
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has recently been published by Westminster John Knox Press. The book introduces Bible content for both the Old and New Testament. For each biblical book, I provide a summary; content outline; lists of people, places, and key concepts; and important quotations. The book is ideal for seminarians, Christian educators, Bible study leaders, and pastors.
click for a flyer. Also, here’s the Amazon link:
http://a.co/1gfYx99
Tyler Mayfield, A.B. Rhodes Associate Professor of Old Testament,Louisville Seminary
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