Bonnie's Letter

But Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26, NRSV)

Dear friends,

I have been thinking of the impossible lately. Many folks indicate it is impossible to overcome injustice. Others claim it is impossible to counteract hate and violence. Others claim that removing systems of economic injustice is impossible. Still others claim to remove racism from our culture is impossible. Yet, we proclaim, as Jesus did, that with God all things are possible.

I wonder if we limit ourselves by only thinking about what we can do – or even thinking that God can do all things without us. For you see, I believe we are the hands and feet, the voice, and the heart of God in the world. While we cannot do all things alone, I think that with the power of God’s faith and love, wisdom, and blessing, we can do much more than we believe we can.

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in the Join the Movement dinner at General Synod. Author Ibram X. Kendi was interviewed by Rev. Traci Blackmon. I have been inspired by Kendi for some time, but his wisdom, his voice, and his honesty were so apparent in every word he shared. One thing he spoke about was solidarity. He mentioned many social and justice issues and reminded us that all these injustices: sexism, homophobia, racism, ablism, all are actions of bigotry. He reminded us that if we want to change the systems of injustice and oppression in the world, we must act in solidarity. The systems of oppression are interconnected and our response to them must be as well.

I felt challenged by his words. Often, I choose the justice issue I feel needs to be addressed and forget how interconnected all issues of injustice are. Yes, I know that God can do all things and certainly I want us to pray to God for the changes we need to see in the world – but more than just prayer, unified actions of solidarity are needed to change the world, to transform it so that it is more a reflection of what God intended. May we act, in faith, in love, in solidarity and be partners in the transformation.

Blessings, Bonnie

Summary Notes from the July 19, 2023 Conference Board Meeting

Please Click Here to Read...

Keystone Working Group – Communications Summary of 2023-07-14 Meeting

With the grace of God, we recognize that Together We Are Stronger, The Keystone Conference.

The seventh meeting of the Keystone Working Group* took place Friday, July 14, 2023. Guided by the Spirit, we realized that our work has moved from being a “study group” to a “working group” as we build a vision of what a Keystone Conference can be. We have now identified essential functions of a Keystone Conference to support mission, ministry and authorized ministers in diverse settings. These ministry functions are: 

Faith Formation

Mission

Generosity and Stewardship

Search and Call

Digital Ministry/Technology

Communication

Congregational Futures

Leadership Training for Pastors and Lay Leaders

Disaster Ministries

Ecumenism

Spiritual Revival

UCC Identity

Administrative/Legal/Fiscal Oversight

Together we created a vision for new and stronger ministry. We are now preparing how to engage leaders and congregations in our four conferences this Fall. We will share WHY we are proposing the new Conference and explore WHAT functions we believe will most enhance our churches’ mission and ministries. We want to know how “Together We are Stronger, the Keystone Conference” rests in our hearts. We also seek your thoughts about the proposed functions.

We invite everyone to visit the Keystone Conference Project website hosted by PSEC. You can read how this project came about, our study information and the summaries for each meeting. https://psec.org/keystone/

We do not have answers for everything. Our work has focused on the WHY and WHAT. We have not yet detailed “HOW will this work?” And there are certainly “What about. . . ” issues to consider. So we are counting on your questions and comments in our fall gatherings to strengthen the project. With the grace of God, we will discern next steps affirming, “Together We Are Stronger, The Keystone Conference.”

You are invited to connect with us by email, at Keystone.Conference.Project@gmail.com. You may also use the postal service and direct mailing the Keystone Working Group through your own area Conference Office.

Conversations in Fall 2023 and Winter/Spring 2024 will guide us to a “Mini Synod” of our four conferences, June 6-9, 2024. Save the date for this magnificent opportunity to share, learn and experience what God is doing in and through us all. Outstanding national and regional speakers and leaders will be with us. We will also provide for video sharing of this “unity conference.” At this gathering we will determine if we stand in agreement to move forward toward being a unified conference in our boundaries and structure. Our goal is to work toward a resolution for becoming ONE Keystone Conference at the Fall 2024 Conferences. We will share more soon.

We recognize through each phase of our work that God is still speaking. We rely on the grace of God in the next steps of our journey in the assurance that “Together We Are Stronger! The Keystone Conference.”

Sharing our progress in grace and hope,

KWG Communications Team

Steve Davis                       St. John’s UCC, Fullerton (PNEC)

Heather Kurtz                    Zion UCC, Arendtsville (PCC) New Addition                         

To Be Selected                  (PSEC)

Deb Long                           First Trinity UCC, Youngwood (PWC)

*A study, discernment and working group of the 4 PA area UCC Conferences – Penn West, Penn Central, Penn NE, and Pennsylvania SE

Trainings Offered by Pennsylvania Southeast Conference

Basic Boundary Training on Sept. 14 in Schuylkill Haven. Click here for more info. To register click on link: -  https://basicbound0914.eventbrite.com

Advanced Boundary Training (Managing Pastoral Transitions) on Sept. 27 on Zoom (or view the recording of the event on your own time and complete a one-page synopsis). Click here for more information. To register click on link: https://advbdry0927.eventbrite.com

Advanced Boundary Training (From Gutenberg to ChatGPT: Tools, ethics, technology and best practices in the life of Church) on Oct. 18 on Zoom. Click here for more information.

OFFERED by Penn Central Conference

Fifth Stream Conversations - Rev. Dr. Nora is planning three fall conversations open to the whole church on the recognition of the UCC’s fifth founding stream, the Afro-Christian Convention. At Synod the Historical Council made a formal report that the Afro-Christian Convention has been named the “fifth stream” alongside the Congregational, Christian, German Reformed, and Evangelical Synod. The Convention was always a part of the denomination but had been lumped in with the (white) Christian stream. There were, as Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer put it in his official apology, “always five.” He shared his grief of how so many children and adults had learned that there were only four theological streams/traditions present at our founding and this fifth tradition had been willfully subjugated, rather than lifted up for recognition.

This will be exciting learning for us as we explore the Afro-Christian Convention together and refresh our existing knowledge around the Christian, Congregational, Evangelical, and Reformed traditions also present at our founding. The first two sessions will be largely the same with in-person and zoom options available and the November date will be sort of a deeper dive into the Afro-Christian Convention with some of the contributors to the new book Afro-Christian Convention: The Fifth Stream of the United Church of Christ available from Pilgrim Press, Amazon, and your favorite local bookseller.

3pm September 24^th Mt. Zion, York In-person and Zoom

3pm October 15^th St. Paul’s at the Farm, Lewisburg In-Person and Zoom

3pm November 12^th ZOOM for all Participants

Register here: https://penncentralconference.regfox.com/the-fifth-stream

Book Launch

Monday, August 7, 2023

Wesley UMC, 2540 Center St.,

Bethlehem, PA

Doors Open at 6:30 PM

Event from 7:00 - 8:30 PM

Click here for full schedule and flyer.

Dear Friends,

The Authorized Ministry Compensation Sub-Group of the Committee on Ministry recently met and reviewed the Compensation Recommendations for 2023. As we review the materials, we considered the continuing economic challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the much higher cost of living in the United States.

It is projected that the Cost-of-Living increase in 2022 will top 6% and the 2023 projections are between 6-8%. Yet, ongoing expenses of all kinds are becoming more and more challenging for our congregations and for their individual members. It is not lost on us that pastors and their families also experience these economic challenges.

Nonetheless, the Sub-Group is not recommending an increase to the base salary recommendations. Rather we are asking congregations who do not yet meet the minimum salary expectations to increase the pastoral salary by 1-2% if possible. Additionally, we are recommending that additional vacation, personal time, continuing education time or continuing education funding be offered if the salary cannot be increased.

Please remember to update the Ministerial Call Agreement and the Three-Way Covenant forms and submit those to the conference office by January 30, 2023. These forms are on the PNEC website (www.pnec.org).

         Penn Northeast Conference 2024 Full Time Authorized Minister’s Compensation Worksheet

Penn Northeast Conference 2024 Ministerial Compensation Recommendations for Authorized Ministers

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to one of the subgroup members.

In Christ’s Truth and Love,

Rev. Mark Rowell   markrowell@gmail.com

Ms. Taryn Jory       tjory1@aol.com

Rev. Laura Oesterle oesterlel@moravian.edu

Ms. Kristen Lewis   keflewis@gmail.com

Rev. Dr. Bonnie Bates, staff advisor       bonnieb@pnec.org

Advanced Boundary Training: From Gutenberg to ChatGPT: Tools, ethics, technology and best practices in the life of Church

Wednesday, October 18 on Zoom - Facilitated by Rev. Ryan Henderson

It has been over 500 years since the Reformation empowered and equipped the church to adapt through a major shift, today is not much different. In this time together we will explore

1. Best practices and talk about what is working in our churches
2. Brainstorm/dream about where we might go and
3. Talk about new growing edges (and ethical struggles) in technology including the use of Artificial

intelligence and ChatGPT.

REGISTER

The Penn Northeast Conference wants to especially thank the 40 PNEC Ambassadors who are regularly sharing information from the Generosity Team and the rest of the Conference. You help us share the wonderful activities, programs, and educational training sessions being offered through the conference. Thank you. You are making a real difference! Blessings, Bonnie

Diversity Training

 Wednesday, November 8 on Zoom

Facilitated by Rev. Cean James and Rev. Kevin McLemore (PSEC)

Diversity - what is it, how does it increase the vitality of our communities and congregations and our commitment to Christ? All authorized ministers are required to regularly complete training on Cultural Diversity/Sensitivity and Institutional Racism.

If you cannot make the scheduled time: we are offering an option to "view the recording of the event on your own time and complete a one-page synopsis of what you viewed".

REGISTER

https://diversity110823.eventbrite.com

Lehigh Valley Pride

Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center PROUDLY announces that the 30th anniversary of Lehigh Valley Pride will be a FREE event held on Sunday, August 20, at the SteelStacks in Bethlehem from 2 to 8:30 p.m.

• Rev. Gary Barraco reserved space for a unified PNEC booth again. Folks can email him if they want to be part of the planning team. garybarraco@verizon.net
• Want to learn more about becoming a vendor at Pride? Click here..
• Want to learn more about becoming a sponsor at Pride? Click here..

Here is the link to sign-up to help at the Pride event on 8.20.23 --.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409044DAAAA29A3F94-pnec2

CLICK HERE for other dates/events

One Shepherd, Two Flocks: Advice and Guidance on Sharing a Pastor

 Saturday, August 12 on Zoom

Rev. Kevin McLemore (PSEC) and others will conduct a free workshop on why sharing a pastor with another congregation is a good option for many congregations in this time of pastoral scarcity. Pastor McLemore and others will share practical strategies on how to talk to your congregation about this possibility, how to find a pastor and congregation willing to do so, and how other churches are already doing it successfully. Pastors who currently pastor two congregations will join us to share both the blessings and challenges of this arrangement, and how to avoid some of the mistakes they’ve witnessed in their own settings.

REGISTER

Generosity Updates

• Upcoming Stewardship Webinars - Selected 4th Wednesdays

7:30pm - 8:30pm

Eastern Time Unless Noted -- Webinars Are Not Recorded

August 23 – Narrative Budgets: Telling your Story by the Numbers

A narrative budget translates the line items of a traditional budget into a story of how your congregation makes a difference in the world. It can be a helpful tool for a stewardship campaign or annual meeting. By telling the story of our congregations' impact, we can inspire generosity in our donors. Registration for Narrative Budgets

Disaster Ministries

URGENT HELP NEEDED

Significant flooding occurred the weekend of Juy 15^th & 16^th in the Bangor and Marshall’s Creek areas. Approximately, 14-16 properties need either debris clean up, removal of downed trees or mud removal (mucking) from basements & 1^st floors. If anyone from your congregation would like to assist the clean up teams please contact PNEC Disaster Coordinator Steve Hummel at 484-239-5578 or revstevehummel@gmail.com so we can record your availability and provide it to the teams working in those areas. Let us truly show love of neighbor by stepping up and helping out. Thank you for your consideration!

For those who survived the flooding but still require help you can call up until Aug. 4th: (844) 965-1386 to register your property with Crisis Clean-Up!

Recover flyer &  Recover Flyer in Spanish

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Focus Group Study Seeks Participants

Heavy rain brings flooding impacts: What information to you need to be prepared?

See three flyers below (one date is August 9, another date is August 10, and one is in spanish)

August 9

August 10

Spanish