Rebuild Mission to Puerto Rico

PSEC and PNEC will sponsor two rebuild mission trips to Puerto Rico this spring! The first trip - April 28-May 4 – is full. The second from May 12-18 still has a couple of openings.  If you are interested please register as soon as possible.

    The cost will be about $800 per person, including all costs: transportation, food, lodging, supplies, etc. Registration requires a $50 deposit. Make the check payable to Penn Northeast Conference and mail along with this PR Mission Trip Application .

    To learn more about the rebuild site and the work go to click here .

    The next planning meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 8, at 6:30p at Trinity UCC, 101 S Main St, Telford, PA 18969. Phone: (215) 723-3889. If you cannot attend in person you can join the meeting via ZOOM.   Join Zoom Meeting  https://zoom.us/j/120880751  

One tap mobile 

Dial +1 646 876 9923 US (New York) 

-M eeting ID: 120 880 751 

Find your local number:  https://zoom.us/u/ahLqoubVO

    If you want to be on the list of potential participants and receive trip info directly, email Gilberto at

 hispanicucc@rcn.com ; and CC Karl Jones:  kjones275@comcast.net  

PNEC’s 2018 Closing Date will be Friday, January 11, 2019

Please plan your closing so that your final 2018 remittance will be received in the Conference Office by Friday, January 11, 2019. Receipts received after the 11th will be credited to 2019. Do not include 2018 remittances with 2019 and make certain remittance slips are marked for either the year 2018 or 2019 .

Thank you for your cooperation and support.

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 – First 40 people included

RSVP with numbers attending to p attyr@pnec.org by January 28

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...Register Early !  Click here for Registration Flyer.

ALL INVITED...ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS 

The Penn Northeast Conference Committee on Ministry is pleased to announce that on Saturday, January 5 (SNOWDATE January 12) we will hold ecclesiastical councils for  Pastor Henry Distler at 10:30AM and Pastor Bob Gutekunst at 1PM.  Both have been recommended for their ecclesiastical council for approval for ordination pending call. The whole of the Conference is invited to be with us.  These events will take place at First UCC, 457 Delaware Ave., Palmerton . If you are planning to attend and would like copies of their ordination papers, please contact   pattyr@pnec.org

Your prayerful support is welcome.

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:

Click for the flyer to register for one of these events. Registration for all four events are now open.

    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.

Disaster Response Ministry

Stay Updated and Involved: Visit our disaster website . 

Follow us on Facebook for updates.

IRS issues standard mileage rates for 2019

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2019 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

    Beginning on Jan. 1, 2019, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be

   The business mileage rate increased 3.5 cents for business travel driven and 2 cents for medical and certain moving expense from the rates for 2018. The charitable rate is set by statute and remains unchanged.

    It is important to note that under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taxpayers cannot claim a miscellaneous itemized deduction for unreimbursed employee travel expenses. Taxpayers also cannot claim a deduction for moving expenses, except members of the Armed Forces on active duty moving under orders to a permanent change of station. For more details see Notice-2019-02.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How to Determine Whether or Not You Pay the ‘Parking Lot Tax’

Click Here for an update on the taxation of qualified transportation fringe benefits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  KEEPING YOU POSTED

Love Knows No Borders - click to see full article!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Official Call to Synod

    I am officially calling all delegates, visitors, and friends of the United Church of Christ, to join us in Milwaukee Wisconsin for the 32 ^nd General Synod, June 21-25, 2019!

    The 32 ^nd General Synod promises to be an inspiring and engaging event in the life of the Church. Our keynote speaker is Dr. Matthew Desmond, professor of Sociology at Princeton University and Pulitzer Prize winner for the book, “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City.”

    The preachers for the worship services are, for Friday’s Opening Worship Service, The Rev. Kaji Spellman Douša, Sunday’s Community Worship Service, The Rev. Traci deVon Blackmon, Monday’s Worship Service, The Rev. Sharon Mei-Shem MacArthur and for the Closing Worship Service, The Rev. Dr. Amy Butler.

    We will also celebrate the ministries of retiring Associate Executive Minister for Global Engagement and Operations, Co-executive of Global Ministries of The Rev. Dr. Jim Moos and Mr. Don Hart, President and Chief Investment Officer, United Church Funds.

    We will re-elect the General Minister and President and elect a new Associate

Executive Minister for Global Engagement and Operations, Co-executive of Global Ministries.

    I invite you to bring a spirit of love, of compassion, of openness and of hope with you. I look forward to seeing you in Milwaukee! Until then, let the light of the living Christ shine in and through you, and be known to all whom you meet along the way.

John C. Dorhauer, General Minister and President

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!

Children's Sermon for January 6 (based on Mt. 2:1-12)   - by Rev. Dave Quinn

Items needed: snowman figure, yellow paper, white paper, marker. Beforehand, use the yellow paper to make a cutout of the sun, and marker and white paper to make a frown to cover the smile on the snowman figure, Show kids snowman and ask them what it is. Point to smile on snowman's face and ask whether he looks happy or sad. Then show kids the sun you've made. Ask them whether they feel happy or sad when the sun comes out---most people feel happy when the sun comes out.  Ask one of kids to hold sun up high for everyone to see, Then, take the frown you've drawn on the white paper, and hold it over the snowman's smile. Ask why might the sun, coming out, make the snowman unhappy---because the sun could melt the snowman. In today'/s Bible reading, wise men from the east come find baby Jesus, They are happy Jesus has been born. They are like people who are happy because the sun has come out. But there's someone else in our Bible reading, and he is unhappy, just like our unhappy snowman here.  That is King Herod. King Herod is unhappy, because Jesus being born means that Herod's power will melt away, like a snowman melts under the warm sun. We are happy that Jesus has been born, but His birth makes some people unhappy.

Informational