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HARTFORD -- In her pastoral letter of February 4th, Conference Minister the Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree announced a new pilot project of the Conference staff. The Threshold Initiative will help churches which show signs of vitality to further deepen and enlarge their ministries. "It is our belief," she wrote, "that by investing in those who are most ready, through their growth and development, neighboring churches will also be helped on their road to vitality." 03/05/2010
SHARON -- A warm fire, mulled cider, hay rides through freshly fallen snow, and an elegant turkey dinner with friends and family. This portrait of a Christmas tradition captures the events of Christmas Dinner at Silver Lake held at the conference center on December 6, 2009. 03/05/2010
HARTFORD -- The Connecticut Conference has received two Blue Globe Awards recognizing the generosity of the state's United Church of Christ churches to the One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) offering in 2008. UCC Wider Church Ministries also honored the First Congregational Church UCC of Old Lyme for giving the highest dollar amount in Connecticut that year. 03/05/2010
HARTFORD -- Connecticut Conference Minister the Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree, who has exercised that ministry since 1996, has notified the authorized ministers and local church moderators of her plan to retire from active ministry in the United Church of Christ on May 15, 2010. In her letter, circulated via email and also via post, she named the events of the last two years as the signals that it is the correct time for her retirement. 03/05/2010
HARTFORD -- I'm a reluctant planner. I have friends who plan their family's meals out a week or two in advance, and post the list on the refrigerator. I, in contrast, will decide what we're having for dinner that night by opening the refrigerator door to see what's inside. 03/05/2010
WATERTOWN -- About a year ago, I was "catching up" with an old friend that I hadn't seen in 30 years. At one point in our conversation he said to me, "The most important lesson I've learned over the years is that not everyone thinks the same way that I do." 03/05/2010
HARTFORD -- Few can travel hundreds of miles to participate in missions such as Simply Smiles in Mexico, or the Back Bay Mission. Giv2 (Give Squared) allows Connecticut Conference youth and adults to serve equally important missions in their own communities, giving back in response to God's gifts. The program helps existing neighboring youth groups interact through fellowship and service. 03/05/2010
MADISON -- The contemporary cultural landscape is profoundly different from the one in which the churches' oldest members remember -- and for that matter, considerably changed from that experienced by this year's confirmation classes when they first attended Sunday School. Expectations of leadership, media and the Internet, music and literature, attitudes toward wealth, and understandings of the world around have shifted with remarkable speed in recent years. The Church finds itself in an unknown country, seeking new ways to be faithful to its ancient calling. 03/05/2010
MIDDLETOWN -- Resolutions come easy. Executing them takes work. Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change said in December, "The world walks away from Copenhagen with a deal." He then added, "So the challenge is now to turn [the agreement] into something real, measurable and verifiable." 03/05/2010
MANSFIELD -- For more than a year, Ken Esposito has been working diligently to educate and mobilize members of the churches of the Connecticut Conference. Working in collaboration with the Christian Activities Council, Ken has helped dozens of churches to discuss what healthcare reform might look like in Connecticut, and, more recently, what the effort on the national scene requires. Ken has conducted workshops, organized forums, and worked with clergy throughout the state. 03/05/2010
CANTON -- No, the Conference hasn't gone to the dogs: the dog has come to the Conference. General, a young Labrador Retriever, now accompanies North Central Regional Minister the Rev. Ineke K. Mitchell on her travels around the state. His qualifications for ministry include both rigorous training and a pair of very soulful brown eyes. 03/05/2010
SHARON -- Silver Lake Conference Center is once again proud to announce the opening of summer registrations for a week of amazing church camp experience. We're already filling up, with flocks of first-time conferees attending at the behest of friends, parents, Pastors, or Christian Educators. As many as six hundred Silver Lake enthusiasts will return, including many clergy and lay leaders planning the program for the best week yet. 03/05/2010
HARTFORD -- I don't remember how I came across this book. I opened it when it came, just to check it out, and didn't put it down until I was finished about two hours later -- Not Your Parents' Offering Plate: A New Visition for Financial Stewardship, by J. Clif Christopher. 03/05/2010
HARTFORD -- The Special Commission on Conference Sustainability was established by delegates to the Connecticut Conference's Fall 2009 Annual Meeting in response to the challenges inherent in the 2010 budget. This commission was charged with studying the current financial model of the Conference to determine its sustainability in the future. In addition, the commission will develop alternative models of funding the Conference's ministry within the context of national and global ministries of the United Church of Christ. 03/05/2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI -- On January 12, an earthquake registering 7.0 on the Richter scale brought homes, hospitals, and government buildings crashing to the ground in the island nation of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The first aid from United Church of Christ churches -- in the form of funds contributed through One Great Hour of Sharing offerings -- arrived through partner agency Church World Service (CWS) within twenty-four hours. 03/05/2010
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