HARTFORD (08/03/2007) -- We did it! With a warm, welcoming spirit; with cheerful, committed labor; with faith in an ever-present God: We brought together the United Church of Christ in the city of Hartford for five days of celebration, inspiritation, rededication, and prayer. This issue of ConnTact celebrates the 50th Anniversary General Synod held in June. Thank you all!
HARTFORD -- The Conference's Legislative Agenda for 2007 was an ambitious one, registering several successes in key areas. The legislature went into special session to finish as much business as possible, and was frustrating in many regards for its failure to address several critical issues. But it also presented opportunities to address issues the Conference wants to have voice on, which delegates to the Conference Annual Meeting have identified and approved through the years as Resolutions. In consultation with the Conference Minister to prioritize the most pressing policy issues, those actions guide my activity as Public Policy Advocate for the Conference. 08/03/2007
HARTFORD -- "To be Christian is to be centered in the God of the Bible," writes Marcus Borg in The Heart of Christianity. But there are many people in Christian churches who do not know much about the Bible. An Associated Press article found online quotes the youth pastor of a Congregational Church in Michigan who asked colleagues to administer a simple Biblical knowledge test to parishioners. "The scores were just atrocious," he said. 08/03/2007
NEW HAVEN -- The Freedom Schooner Amistad, a re-creation of the vessel on which 53 captive Africans attempted to win their freedom in 1837 and whose struggle for freedom inspired the religious abolition movement, sailed from her home port of New Haven to begin an 18-month voyage that will bring her to England, Sierra Leone - the home of the original Africans - and back across the Atlantic's Middle Passage. Blessed by the presence and good wishes of local, state, and federal public officials and hundreds of wellwishers, Captain Eliza Garfield and her crew set sail on the first day of summer. 08/03/2007
HARTFORD -- The Connecticut Conference will add a full time Associate Conference Minister for Youth and Young Adult Ministries to help develop Conference-wide ministries opportunities with and by youth and young adults. 08/03/2007
HARTFORD -- Thanks to all of you - women, children and men - who baked cookies and helped us reach our ambitious goal for General Synod 26 and the 50th Anniversary celebration. 08/03/2007
HARTFORD -- General Synod 26 considered 17 proposed resolutions during plenary sessions on June 25 and June 26. 08/03/2007
HARTFORD -- The twenty-sixth General Synod of the United Church of Christ celebrated the denomination's fifty years of ministry in the US and around the world in Hartford June 22-26. A galaxy of speakers and performers shone indeed: delivering insight, inspiration, and encouragement to an estimated 10,000 delegates and visitors. The Connecticut Conference's nearly 1,100 volunteers made it shine with attention to detail, genuine welcome, and 13,000 dozen cookies. 08/03/2007
HARTFORD -- Words and images from the United Church of Christ's golden anniversary General Synod in Hartford, Connecticut. 08/03/2007
FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE -- I have never heard of a mission trip that included an audience with the president of the country, meetings with the mayor and a regent tribal chief, dinner at the American Ambassador's home on dinnerware with the seal of the President of the United States of America, appearance on national television news twice, interviews on the United Nations radio station, and newspaper articles on two different days. We were more like celebrities than missionaries. 08/03/2007
HARTFORD -- The Board of Directors of the Connecticut Conference has voted to officially confirm a Missionary Relationship with Michael Joseph, who is beginning a three-year term with the Restoration, Life and Peace Commission of the Council of Evangelical Churches (CEDECOL) in Colombia. 08/03/2007
HARTFORD -- Pastoral transitions which have been reported to the Connecticut Conference. 08/03/2007
WATERTOWN -- Like many of us, I first learned to pray as a child. My parents taught me to "say my prayers" before bedtime and I learned prayers in religious education classes. At some point on the journey from childhood to adolescence I simply stopped praying on a regular basis. As a young adult I became actively involved in the life of a local church. I discerned a call to ordained ministry, completed seminary, and began serving as pastor of a church. But I was not serious or disciplined about private prayer. 08/03/2007
HARTFORD -- The Connecticut Conference has introduced a new online discussion forum on its website, at www.ctucc.org/shineon. "Shine On!" offers the ability to share their wisdom and insights with other members of Connecticut's United Church of Christ congregations, and allows more casual web visitors the opportunity to see what others have written over time. 08/03/2007
HARTFORD -- Smaller member churches have different needs than larger churches. And today's challenges make that statement clearer than ever. Leaders of these churches, lay and clergy, want and need resources to address their unique situations. 08/03/2007
SHARON -- A beautiful spring day in a glorious natural setting greeted attendees at the Spring Session of the Connecticut Conference's 2007 Annual Meeting on Saturday, May 12. More than 400 delegates and visitors gathered at Silver Lake Conference Center to elect Conference officers, attend workshops, hear a thought-provoking address from the Rev. Peter Sawtell, Executive Director of Colorado-based Eco-Justice Ministries, and worship "Silver Lake style" to the accompaniment of drums and guitars. 08/03/2007
HARTFORD -- After 5 and a half years helping administer the workings of the Connecticut Conference, I have very mixed feelings about retiring on August 1. My husband, Bob, and I have always said that work gets in the way of all our other interests and activities, and that will soon no longer be true. 08/03/2007
HARTFORD -- "In order to make room for our children's story today, I need some help from someone very strong. Who can help me?" I asked. Predictably the fifth grade boys all volunteered. I selected one I thought could handle this, and told him I needed him to move the piano -- a grand piano. With excitement that he was going to prove his strength, he strode over and started to push as I told him where it needed to go. It wouldn't budge. 08/03/2007
