CONFERENCE NEWS

^{Moving Together in Spirit as a Conference / JANUARY 4, 2024}

CONFERENCE MINISTER'S CORNER

Rev. Dr. Tony Clark, Transitional Conference Minister

“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.” 

John 1:5 NRSV

Blessed Advent to you all! This is the time of the year when weather and shortened daylight call us inward. I love the dark nights of winter, especially when it snows, big fluffy flakes that drift downward blanketing the world in silence and snow. During the long dark nights, when it feels like it is 9 pm when it is merely 5:30, I look for the light, I long for the light. Our Christmas and New Years celebrations with rituals of candle lighting and songs and words of light come when the Northern Hemisphere is in the dark of night more than the light of day. We seek after the light, and we recognize the light of Christ being reborn into the world even as the days begin to lengthen ever so slightly.

I have begun to name to myself in November that we will not have this amount of sunlight until February. Those three months seem interminable, and yet by naming that, I remind myself that the change of seasons and the length of days is cyclic, and the light will return in time. I have also tried to unplug and disconnect from the ethereal connections I make through my phone, at least for a few hours at a time. Setting the phone down and not checking it for a bit is a gift I give myself, to be present with what is right here and now, to slow down, and to pay attention to the quietude and darkness.  

While on retreat in Tucson last week, I took a digital fast to reconnect with God. One of the allures of Tucson, particularly at this time of year, is the dancing of sunlight and shadow on the rough ragged red rocks around the region. Sunrises and sunsets were gorgeous as oranges and reds sprayed across the sky and the dark royal blue turned increasingly lighter. The retreat center, which backed up to the Saguaro National Park, had icons and symbols of our faith in buildings and on some of the rocks, and there were pictographs on the grounds that included a spiral across which a sliver of light moved, marking the passage of sunlight during the year. Light, and its contrasting darkness, were elegantly exaggerated in the desert and gave me much to ponder. This time of year, this change of years, this celebration of the light of Christ shining in the darkness, calls me into introspection; the season of silencing snows and long dark nights calls me inward toward reflection.  

At the end of this year, I give thanks for each of you and I lift your churches into prayer often. I am grateful that God has drawn us together, and I look forward to being in ministry with you in 2024, when we will take the Christ light out to our big sky corner of the world. 

May the light of Christ shine in your darkness, may the joy of the Holy Spirit light up your soul, and may the Creator of seasons and snow bless you in the passing of time. 

Peace,

Pastor Tony

Looking ahead to 2024: Programs, projects and plans from UCC National Ministries

Year in review: Our top stories of 2023

Camp Trailer Fundraiser

Greetings Everyone! Outdoor Ministry has been asked by campers why we did not take a special offering at the end of camp. Instead of a general-purpose offering, we wanted folks across the Conference to have an opportunity to participate in a special project.

To support Outdoor Ministry and other Conference missions, we are asking folks to

consider participating in a special fundraising opportunity. Not having our own facility creates logistical issues for storage during the camps, for transporting programming needs, for storage during the off-season, and for portability of events around the Conference. We have come up with a solution, and we are asking folks around the Conference to help make it a reality. We are trying to find a 6 x 6 x 12 trailer to serve as our Conference on wheels. Here is our project:

Find a Suitable Trailer

Consider helping Outdoor Ministry locate a trailer that is available for $5000 or less

that we can equipped for our purpose. Contact Trudi Downer with details.

Individual Support for Mission

• Consider sending the amount you would have contributed to the special camp offering to Outdoor Ministry for the trailer.
• Consider a year-end gift to help with this worthwhile project.
• All money raised will first go to paying for the trailer and then to fitting the trailer with shelving, power, etc.
• In-kind gifts of materials and labor to fix up the trailer are welcomed.

Donation Link:

https://www.aplos.com/aws/give/MNWC/trailer

Spare Change for Mission

Place a jar in your Church and ask folks to contribute loose change to the jar from now until the end of the Christmas season. In January, contribute the offering to the Outdoor Ministry Team for purchase of the trailer. If each of our 26 Churches could offer $200 for the mission, we can pay for a trailer for use at all Conference events and be on our way to having a visible reminder of the important ministry in our Conference.

A Special Gift from Jim and Val  Pastor Jim and Val of Molt would like to share lessons on Reiki with members of the Congregation and others around the Conference who would like to join. Reiki is a Japanese form of energy healing. Jim and Val have been sharing this system of touching with the hands based on the belief that such touching by an experienced practitioner produces beneficial effects. The first session will be learning about Reiki followed by sessions to learn how to practice Reiki. First Session Options: January 7, January 21, or January 28. Email jim-access1@msn.com for more information.

Clergy Scholarships! Any MNWC clergy, active or retired, who registers for any Singing Waters MT event at Mimanagish in 2024 can receive 80% off thanks to a generous donor. Spouses and partners may accompany them at the same discount. Before registering, contact Cathy Barker at cbarker@mimanagish.org

for the coupon code.



See the list of events here: 

https://www.mimanagish.org/events/category/singingwaters/  

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day on January 11

raises awareness of the persistent issue of human trafficking. Though the entire month of January has already been recognized as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, this day is specifically dedicated to awareness and prevention of illegal practices. Since the Senate established this day of observance in 2007, it has drawn massive public support from individual donations to government-organized events. The horrific injustice of human trafficking can affect people of any race and background, and on this day we are all called to fight human trafficking wherever it exists.

2016 Alderson Ave Billings, Montana 59102

406-656-8688 / www.mnwcucc.org