Penn Northeast Conference UCC, 431 Delaware Ave., Palmerton, PA 18071
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Dear Siblings in Christ:
I share these thoughts from one of my colleagues, Mike Denton, Conference Minister in the Pacific Northwest Conference, one of the hardest hit regions of the country.
“Take a deep breath. Let it out slowly. Take another deep breath. Let it out slowly. When you’re ready, try saying these words from Psalm 56 a few times: 'When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.' If it helps, say it as many times as you need in order to get your heart rate down a bit. These have not been easy days in our corner of the country and in many other parts of the world. We’ve all been learning a lot about pandemics, epidemics, and disease outbreaks in the last few weeks and much of what we’ve learned has been anxiety-producing…. Each day comes with a new realization, a new risk, or a new solution. We’re all learning as we go”
The UCC also has a page on our website that includes a great bulletin insert and links to other helpful resources.
Many of you have already started to rethink the ways worship can continue without being a place that endangers the health of others. Figuring out alternative ways to greet one another and pass the peace in a way that doesn’t pass on infectious disease is a conversation every congregation needs to have. Bowing, elbow bumps, a peace sign, or a simple wave and smile have been practices some congregations have adopted.
Figuring out ways that no unsanitized hands are involved in sharing and receiving communion has been something many of you have been working through for a while, now. Thinking about similar things with the offering plates is important. The bulletin insert from the UCC has some helpful suggestions to begin your thinking.
The request to stay home from church services if you’re sick is not a new request. However, the guidance to stay at home if you’re at high risk of contracting a serious case of COVID-19 has been harder for churches to suggest and members to heed. This is particularly important for those individuals who are over 60 and/or have an underlying issue related to a compromised immune system, heart disease, diabetes, or respiratory illness.
The World Health Organization has started to see a pattern that suggests that folks 60 and over and those with underlying health conditions are more likely to be carriers for COVID-19. Otherwise, even if someone from a high-risk group attends church and doesn’t get sick, there is a pattern emerging that suggests that they might inadvertently increase the risk to others. I mention both these things completely aware that many of our churches have memberships that are predominantly made up of people over 60. It’s clear that we not only need to seek out new ways to be in worship together, but we also need to expand access to worship through electronic means.
For a while, we need to have an understanding of pastoral care that receives the loving intent of a phone call on the same level as we might a personal visit. It will be the combination of a loving absence by many combined with the loving recognition of that absence by many others that will help us get through this moment. Our own Phoebe Ministries has now closed their sites to visitors and is asking pastors to contact the chaplains in the facilities if there is an immediate pastoral care need.
In areas where there are more cases of the virus than in Pennsylvania, the suggestion has been to suspend worship for the next two weeks. You may certainly opt to do so, but I am not going to recommend that to you. That is a decision you should make with your leadership team and congregation. If and when a quarantine is established in Pennsylvania we will respond accordingly. If your community is quarantined, please respond as directed by the health department.
If and when your congregation makes the decision not to gather in person for worship, please consider reviewing the options on the attached guidelines (
click here
) from the national setting. This is good information.
Also since finances can be tight, we are suggesting, that if you have not already done so, that you set up on-line giving and donations and encourage your folks to contribute. If you need help in doing so, please let us know. We utilize tithe.ly in the conference and are happy to help you make contact with them.
The next few months are not going to be easy. They’re just not. I’m also confident that God is with us and in the coming days we are going to expand our creativity, love, covenant, and faith in more ways than we could have imagined. So, take a deep breath. Let it out slowly. Take another deep breath. Let it out slowly. When you’re ready, try saying these words from Psalm 56 a few more times: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.”
I put my faith in God and rest in God’s peace. That does not mean I am not concerned. It does mean that I am taking positive actions, seeking to reduce my anxiety and offering resources to you as I am able. May you feel Christ’s presence in these days.
Blessings, Bonnie
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We heard from the UCC Mental Health Network Executive Committee
through their chair, Rev. Alan Johnson, this news:
“I wanted you to know that at our UCC MHN Executive Committee call today we decided to postpone the WISE PNE on May 16. Because of the extent to which the coronavirus has impacted everyone and every organization, we chose to err on the side of care for everyone. We know that we have already put much energy into the planning, yet we wanted to make sure that people knew we were also keeping their health needs ahead of our plans. Even two of our members of the UCC MHN board indicated that their churches will be offering worship services via streaming at this point until further notice.
At the call today, we are hoping that you might consider our suggestion to postponing the WISE PNE until next May 2021.
The national UCC offices have asked us to recommend some resources for our churches which would be helpful for those who have a mental challenge. Such issues as isolation and lack of community which builds resilience.
We will be sending out this notification through our UCC MHN emails.”
We have been excited about sharing this learning opportunity with our congregations, but will continue to support the efforts of our churches who are seeking to be more inclusive and to become WISE. We look forward to 2021 and offering this event.
Blessings, Bonnie
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Please bring a small bottle of water from your home church or Conference to use during our water blessing.
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A Request to Bring Items for People in Need to the 2020 Spring Meeting
As a sign of community and unity, we will be gathering items for people in need at the PNEC Spring Meeting. We are asking each church to collect a quantity of one particular item: shampoo, dry shampoo, 3 in 1 shampoo/body wash, body spray, lotion, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, comb, body wipes, soap, socks (men’s or women’s), washcloths, men’s undershirt T-shirts (M, L, XL), men’s or women’s underwear, and pocket packs of tissues. Once your church decides on an item for collection, please email me (
jomarchetto@rcn.com
) or Bob Gutekunst (
gutekunst66@hotmail.com
) to help us coordinate the collection. At the spring meeting, we will work together to put the items in bags to distribute to our many interfaith partners.
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Call to the PNEC Spring Meeting 2020
"Growing Together"
Greetings Friends! Our Conference-wide meeting will be a special interfaith event for education, training, and building relationships. We will meet Friday, April 24 through Saturday, April 25 at The Chateau Resort and Conference Center at Camelback, Tannersville.
Attendance at the spring conference meeting, keynote through the conclusion of business on Saturday will qualify for the completion of the triennial cultural competency education requirement for authorized ministers.
To read the rest of the Call letter...
CLICK HERE
You can also register through tithe.ly at the following link:
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Preaching for Lay Worship Leaders
Bringing the Scriptures to Life!!
April 18, 2020 from 9AM to 3PM
Penn Northeast Conference, 431 Delaware Avenue, Palmerton
Presenter: Rev .Dr. Becky Beckwith
Cost: $15 per individual; $45 for a team of 3 or more from a church
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Phoebe Ministries Puts Preventive Measures in Place for COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
The following precautions apply to all Phoebe Ministries Personal Care and Health Care Center communities. Specific precautions for Phoebe’s Independent Living communities and Affordable Housing communities are detailed at (
click here to read more...)
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2020 Boundary Training
offered by Lehigh Presbytery
(3 different sessions)
PLEASE NOTE: These are the only boundary training being offered in 2020
Click here
for the flyer for three sessions of Boundary Training Offered by the Lehigh Presbytery in 2020. These sessions will be led by David Olsen.
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A Support Group for
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
The group is offered on Wednesdays at 9:30am in the BHA Conference Room,
413 Bridge St., Weissport, PA 18235; 610.379.9304
The group has been designed to offer support and education while addressing feelings and concerns related to raising grandchildren. The group is facilitated by a staff psychologist. Please call the office for more information or come in and sign up to participate.
Terry Berger M-Div., LCSW, Clinical Director
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A Lenten devotional called “40 Days of Solidarity.”
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The Story of Worship
June 11, 2020
9AM to 4:30PM (Registration 8:30AM)
Jordan UCC, Allentown -- details TBA
(This will count for 7 hours of continuing ed.)
Stories are powerful. But harnessing the power of story in worship requires more than a few film snippets or sermon illustrations. Whether we realize it or not, most people make sense of their lives in terms of a life story. Every Sunday, when people gather in our churches to worship, it is an opportunity for peoples’ life stories to be woven into the fabric of God’s story and the story of the church. This workshop will look at how we better seize that weekly opportunity by being more attentive to the story our worship tells and presenting a more holistic view for incorporating story and storytelling practices into our worship.
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Leading Worship for Lay Leaders
March 28, 2020 - 9AM to 3PM (Registration begins at 8:30AM)
Registration Deadline: March 17
Penn Northeast Conference Office, 431 Delaware Avenue, Palmerton
Note: This is a repeat of the same workshop that was held on Sept. 14, 2019
A one day seminar designed to help lay leaders prepare and lead worship!
Who may be interested?
Congregations who struggle to find supply ministers to lead weekly worship service and lay members who are interested in leading their congregations in worship. Let’s face it, many congregations need a supply minister to fill the pulpit if the minister is away or if the church is in transition between ministers. In order to assist congregations facing this situation, the Local Congregational Support Working Group of the PNEC Committee on Ministry is conducting a one-day seminar designed to help your members develop and present a variety of worship services, using readily available resources from the Conference, the UCC website and other online and paper resources.
Click Here
for detailed flyer with registration information.
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ITEMS OF INTEREST...
--March 31 -
**
House of Worship Seminar for Active Shooter Incidents
- Tuesday, March 31 from 6:30 to 8:30PM at the Jim Thorpe Area School District High School Auditorium, 1 Olympian Way, Jim Thorpe, PA. Topics: Protective Measures; Active Shooter Preparedness. Sponsored by the Carbon County Emergency Management Agency and the US Department of Homeland Security.
Registration:
Please RSVP to Carbon County EMA (570-325-3097) or email
ccema@ptd.net
--
March 31, April 14, April 28, May 12, May 26 - All Conference Book Study "White Fragility" Zoom Conversations -
We will be reading and discussing the book,
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
by Robin Diangelo. This book examines the emotions and behaviors which impact our ability, as Caucasian or Euro-American individuals, to talk about issues of race. The Conference will be sponsoring 6 Zoom conversations about the book. (Please see the
attached
flyer for dates, times and Zoom links.)
If you looked at the flyer previously, please look again as the information has changed. We have cancelled the March 17 meeting, which was to be the first meeting.
You are welcome to join us as individuals, congregational groups, or Area Mission Councils. We welcome your active participation.
For authorized ministers,
attending all 6 sessions will qualify as the completion of the triennial anti-racism training requirement.
--April 7 - 9AM-12:30PM -
Disaster Recovery Challenge: A Poverty Simulation, East Side Youth Center, 1140 E. Clair St., Allentown -
Registration is required (class is free), see the
attached flyer
for details on how to register. All questions should be directed to Tanya Hook, Lehigh County Emergency Management.
tanyahook@lehighcounty.org
or 610-782-4600.
--April 18 -
**
Volunteers are wanted
to participate as victims/actors during the Lehigh Valley International Airport Full Scale Exercise to be held the morning of S
aturday, April 18, 2020
. This is a great opportunity for folks with functional needs to participate as well. They are looking for about 50 more volunteers so feel free to share. You can sign up using this link. There is also a box to ask questions right in the survey.
www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020ExerciseVolunteer
--April 20 -
Healing the Earth – Our Common Home - A Call to Action – Celebrating the 50
th
Anniversary of Earth Day -
St. Francis Center for Renewal, 395 Bridle Path Rd., Bethlehem. This workshop will be offered at two separate times: 9:30 to 11:30am OR 7 to 9pm. Call 610 867-8890 to register or call 610 769-0780 with questions. Freewill offerings gratefully accepted.
--May 5-7 -
Clergy Convocation 2020
with Rev. Dr. Emily C. Heath - Double Tree by Hilton, 2400 Willow St. Pike, Lancaster - (qualifies for 10 contact hours).
Click here
for full flyer, schedule, and how to register -
Deadline April 1, 2020
--May 30 - Valley Over The Edge -
Lehigh Conf. of Churches is hosting, to help those most in need in the Lehigh Valley.
Read more...
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DISASTER MINISTRIES UCC
New Guidance from the CDC on large gatherings...
For the new guidance from the CDC go to
Shalom,
Karl Jones,
Disaster Response Coordinator; cell: 570-617-4018
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Tennessee tornadoes - a conversation with the conference minister -
UCC Disaster Ministries is in contact with the UCC’s Southeast Conference since Tuesday (March 3), when tornadoes swept through central Tennessee, taking more than two dozen lives, displacing many others and causing extensive damage.
Read More...
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**Updated listing of drop off sites for the CWS kits and buckets
. The link is different for churches to apply, there are some updated statistics and we lost one drop off site.
See listing
.
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