Penn Northeast Conference UCC, 431 Delaware Ave., Palmerton, PA 18071
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Letter from Bonnie
Dear friends, This week the 33rd General Synod of the United Church of Christ begins. While registration is required for attendance at plenary sessions, committee meetings and workshops, worship is open to everyone. Worship services at General Synod are usually wonderful and although General Synod is virtual this year, I would hope worship would surpass our expectations.
Worship services are held on Sunday, July 11 at 5 pm, Wednesday evening, July 14 at 8 pm and Sunday, July 18 at 6 pm. The General Synod worship services will be streaming to the UCC YouTube channel and Facebook page for folks not registered for Synod. Please consider joining us for one of the worship experiences.
As General Synod will be occupying my time from every evening and most afternoons between July 11 and July 18, I will be less available for email and in the office for phone calls next week. If the General Synod had been meeting in person, I would have been in Kansas City all week and even less accessible. Please be patient if you need something from me. I am engaging with the wider church this week, as a representative with our delegation (26 delegates) and staff. The office staff will be covering a lot of details, so I am asking you to be patient with them, and their ability to get quick responses to your requests.
The theme of General Synod this year is “Rooted in Love” and utilizes Psalm 1:3a as the basis for that theme, “They are like trees planted by streams if water, which yield their fruit in season.” We are, in fact, as followers of Jesus, rooted in the love he shared and demonstrated among us.
Sometimes we can get too rooted and be “stuck in the muck” so to speak. We can be slow to move into the callings of God on our lives, into loving our neighbors, into listening to one another with compassion and kindness. And yet, unless we are firmly rooted, it is nearly impossible to bear the fruit of our faith and spiritual lives. Jesus reminds us that we are known by the fruit we produce. My question is what fruit shall we produce?
As for me, I want to exemplify faithfulness to Jesus, a sense of being rooted to the scripture as foundational for my faith, an openness to help the church become the “big tent” that welcomes everyone and all theological perspectives, a voice for justice, mercy, generosity, and kindness in the world. The rootedness of my faith, for me, means the development of branches that stretch out to welcome people from the margins, the least, the lost and the outcast. What does the rootedness of your faith call for you to be and do? Perhaps this week we can think on the fruit we will bear in this season.
Blessings, Bonnie
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Pre Synod Workshops Begin Today
July 7 - 10, 2021
Click Here for all the information you need to access them live or on-demand.
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SHOW UCC PRIDE
Once again, PNEC will have a booth at Lehigh Valley Pride on August 15th from Noon to 6pm - Jewish Community Center, Allentown. All congregations and friends are welcome to help staff the booth so we can all enjoy the day and still show our extravagant welcome to the LGBTQIA+ community. Contact Gary Barraco at 732-241-6635.
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Invitation for clergy to participate Sunday, August 15 @ 10:30am
Greetings colleagues, Hope this finds you well in the midst of the summer season.
You are warmly invited to participate in-person at the Bethlehem Interfaith Group's Pre-Pride Interfaith Service on Sunday, August 15 @ 10:30am at the Jewish Community Center which is located at 702 North 22nd Street in Allentown, PA (18104). Rev. Brandan Robertson is preaching (you can learn more about Brandan here: https://www.brandanrobertson.com/). The service will be followed by the Pride Festival from Noon-6pm on the grounds of the JCC.
We hope to assign a speaking part to every participant, but depending on the number of clergy present, there may not be enough speaking parts for everyone. However, all clergy will be asked to serve as Blessers during the Pre-Pride Interfaith Service: there will be a portion of the service set aside for clergy to bless individuals, couples and families who want a blessing. You may use whatever wordage that is consistent with your faith tradition for the blessing. Also, feel free to forward this email to your colleagues.
To participate, the following is needed: Send an email to revbethgoudy@mcclv.info confirming that you will be present on Sunday, August 15 @ 10:30am. In the email list your name, your clergy title and your faith community affiliation exactly as you would like it publicly shared. You'll be kept informed about the details of the service. Lastly, all clergy participants are asked to stay after the service is completed so a few photos can be taken.
Thank you for considering being a part of the Pre-Pride Interfaith Service - I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Blessings, peace, good health,
Goudy (thanks for using my last name, rhymes with "howdy")
Elder, Metropolitan Community Churches; President, Bethlehem Interfaith Group;
Pastor, Metropolitan Community Church of the Lehigh Valley
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Strength in Communities
2021 Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month Toolkit
A toolkit that highlights alternative mental health supports created by BIPOC QTBIPOC communities of color, for BIPOC and QTBIPOC communities of color. Click Here to read more...
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Race and LGBTQ issues, consensus reigns...
When the United Church of Christ kicks off its General Synod on Sunday (July 11), the Rev. Traci Blackmon isn’t worried about fractious votes, conservative insurgencies or to-do’s over high-level resignations — or calls for the same. The UCC, in short, is no Southern Baptist Convention, which endured all of the above at its annual meeting last month. What worries Blackmon, she said, are technical glitches. Read More at the link below
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UCC Cornerstone Fund Launching a New Program
Creation Care Investment and Loan Program
The UCC Cornerstone Fund has already raised over $2Million in investments from our Founding Investors who include the National Setting and United Church Funds, as well as the Wisconsin Conference, and CHHSM. Penn Northeast Conference is invited to join in becoming founding investors. We are targeting initially raising $3Million in investments. The loan program will provide low cost loans to help churches reduce their carbon footprint/lessen their environmental impact and improve overall operating efficiency in the process. Read More...
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Special Report: The UCC 3 Great Loves Initiative
Contributed by Rev. Dave Sigmund, 3 Great Loves Ambassador, and Rev. Kim Whisler-Vasko,
3 Great Loves Coordinator
3 Great Loves launched at General Synod in Baltimore in 2017 as a way to engage our
denomination in a shared response to our newly crafted Purpose, Mission, and Vision
statements. 3 Great Loves has been us, collectively, as a united church, putting “hands and
feet” to those statements. Living out our love for God, and living and giving Christ’s love, and
seeking to make a just world for all through the lens of 3 Great Loves: Love of Neighbor, Love of
Children, and Love of Creation. And 3 Great Loves shared the stories of how all of us are living
out that love, God’s love, in missional, measurable, and meaningful ways. Read More...
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Alzheimer's Association - Greater Pennsylvania Chapter
Take a minute to view a sampling of our chapter’s July education offerings. Click Here...
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COVID-19 Liability Considerations for Clergy
On July 15 at 2:00p, the Insurance Board will host a webinar on "COVID-19 Liability Considerations for Ministers," providing guidance on current COVID-19 HR and liability considerations.
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UCC News Digest: Still wiping out medical debt
Click Here to read full article...plus other interesting articles.
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Vital Conversations
As the light at the end of the COVID tunnel grows brighter, our churches and our people are excited to “get back” to some sense of normal ministry. However, our excitement is not without some apprehension: “How do we regain the momentum that was halted by closures? How do we decide what to restart and what to leave ended? How do we re-ignite the congregation’s passion for worship and service?” The Congregational Vitality Team wants to provide an on-going space for asking and discussing these questions as our churches navigate this exciting season of new beginnings. Every fourth Monday of each month (starting June 28th at 7 PM), we are inviting interested clergy and lay leaders to attend a Zoom conversation where they can talk through situations with other leaders, learn, and brainstorm together.
Meeting ID: 817 9668 4439
Passcode: 292474
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CONFLICT TRAINING DATES ANNOUNCED
This training is particularly effective for leadership councils, Sessions, Vestries and curated congregational groups. This 1.5 day online workshop will walk your group through how to become skilled in conflict transformation. You will learn skills that will reshape your interactions with present and future congregational conflict and equip you for managing conflict in your work and personal life.
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SAVE THE DATE
October 19, 2021
9AM to 3PM
Ministry Day - Jordan UCC, Allentown
and via Zoom - watch for details
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Hope, Healing and Recovery Across the Family System
Thursday, August 26, Treatment Trends is hosting a full-day, in-person conference entitled “Hope, Healing and Recovery across the Family System”. It will be held at Homewood Suites in Center Valley. Click Here for flyer which has the link to register for this event. More details will be posted to www.treatmenttrends.org before the conference.
The conference is for both professionals as well as adult family members who’ve been impacted by a loved one’s addiction are invited to attend the conference. Seating is limited!
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Advanced Boundary Training
August 19, 2021 - 1:00 to 4:00PM
Faithfully Fulfilling Covenant Beyond the Local Church
Sponsored by Pennsylvania Southeast Conference - $20 -online
Facilitator: Rev. William Worley
Boundaries are not just behaviors lines that we don't cross, they also mark areas included in our practice of ministry. In this boundary training workshop, we look at what it means to minister in a system that prizes autonomy with expectations like “actively participates in the Covenantal Life and Work of all Settings of the United Church of Christ.” This, with other sections of “COVENANT WITH THE UCC TO” from UCC Ordained Ministerial Code, invite us into conversation about what it means to be the wider church and how that impacts the role and function of the local church pastor. Click Here to register
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Ready-To-Stream Worship Kit
Summer Edition
In this time of in-person and online worship, Phillips Theological Seminary offers churches a vacation from creating and preparing their weekly worship service. Phillips has created a second, complete digital worship service as a summer gift to pastors and congregational leaders.
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Youth Mental Help Providers: Free Training - Trauma Informed Care and Treatment
for Mental Health Professionals -CEU's – 9 to 11AM (Central Time) Via Zoom – Click Here
Join this FREE training series for Mental Health Providers and other professionals who work with meeting youth mental health needs. This is the second of four separate training opportunities to be offered between June and September. This training examines what it means to go beyond being trauma aware and trauma informed, and shifts the focus to how to effectively address trauma symptoms and provide trauma-specific treatment. This training is intended for professionals who provide youth mental health services. The training will begin with a review of basic information about trauma, including defining childhood trauma and subsequent symptoms, and will take a deeper look at diagnosing trauma in children.
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DISASTER MINISTRIES UCC
Surfside Building Collapse Situation Report
Here is vetted information on the UCC response to the building collapse in Miami from the national setting -
If we have churches and individuals who want to support the UCC response to the building collapse in Miami, the UCC is working with the Miami long-term recovery committee (FRIEND) in serving those who have been affected by the collapse. The UCC is seeking funds so we can make grants to support this effort.
Or - You may make a gift by mailing a check made payable to the United Church of Christ, to 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115. Please be sure to note Emergency USA - Miami Response on your check in the memo section and/or in an attached letter.
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