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KANSAS-OKLAHOMA CONFERENCE

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

 

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K-O e-NEWS

    MARCH 7, 2011

 Global Missions /Justice Witness  

   
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God is Still Speaking: Growing Safe and Healthy Congregations and Families in the Church

 

A webinar series for church members and leaders - FREE!

Download Flyer

Growing Safe and Healthy Congregations and Families in the United Church is a webinar series designed to increase our capacity to effectively respond to and prevent domestic and sexual violence in the life of our church. Each webinar will address a different topic from a theological perspective as well as provide best practices and resources.  Interaction with the presenters will be possible. This series will educate, equip and inspire both clergy and laity to join the movement to end sexual and domestic violence and abuse. Offered by Justice and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ and the FaithTrust Institute (FTI).

Registration is required for each webinar. There is no cost to register and participate. All sessions will begin at 3:00 pm Eastern and last for one hour

March 8, 3:00 PM EST:

Webinar symposium (1 hour)

Men's Ministry: Men Stopping Violence Against Women
What is required of Our Brothers in the UCC in the movement to stop violence against women and girls?  What can men do individually and collectively? This webinar will discuss the fundamentals of gender based violence and review successful secular community based and church models for men to stop and prevent domestic violence.
Speakers: Greg Loughlin; Dick Bathrick

To register for this meeting

1. Go to https://pbucc.webex.com/pbucc/j.php?ED=125904007&RG=1&UID=0&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D
2. Register for the meeting.

Once the host approves your request, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the meeting.

 

Vehicle Donation Program 

  

 Global Ministries is excited to announce that we now have a Vehicle Donation program! 

 

Do you need to get rid of an old car or just about any other vehicle (truck, RV, boat, trailer, golf cart, snow mobile, airplane, and more!)?  Global Ministries is working in conjunction with CARS (Charitable Auto ResourceS, Inc.), an organization that provides this service for hundreds of non-profits, including church organizations. Global Ministries will receive 70% of the proceeds but is not responsible for any of the costs. You will receive a tax receipt for the sale price for your charitable contribution. Even if your car hasn't run in years, don't worry.  They're equipped for towing, too.

 

Learn more and take the next step by calling 877-537-5277 or visiting http://globalministries.org/give/unconventional-giving.html.  Be sure to identify "Global Ministries" as your charity. After you have called or filled out the form a Vehicle Donation Representative will schedule a pickup that is convenient for you, and will provide you with confirmation of your donation.  The average pickup time is usually 24-48 hours from the time you contact them. 

 

It is quick and easy, and your tax-deductible donation will touch lives and be a Critical Presence in lives around the world! 

 

 

 UCC YEARBOOK INFO

  

Yearbook materials were due in the conference office by Feb. 21.  So far we have only received 24 of the 74 churches.   

 

The national office extended the deadline for us because of technical problems,  So if you can have them in the office by the 10th of March we can still process them.

 

If you need assistance with the process please call the office, we would be glad to help you.

 

 

Judy Vincent
Office Associate
Kansas-Oklahoma Conference
316-686-4331
800-880-6466
 

 

Poetry Reading and Discussion 
 

 

 desmond egan

 

Tori Carder, member of St. Paul's UCC, Eudora, KS ~~ part of a Winning Idea!! 

 

    

 


Steve Butcher (left), Nat Coppernoll, Tori Carder, Chris Paulson and Ryan Stauffer, talk Friday afternoon about their plan for Haiti. (photo by Tom Dorsey / Salina Journal)
  
Winning idea

11/20/2010
By ERIN MATHEWS | Salina Journal
McPHERSON -- The five McPherson College students who found out Friday they won the college's Global Enterprise Challenge fully expect to change lives -- starting with their own.
  

"We created something we can actually go and change people's lives with, and that's just thrilling," said Tori Carder, a sophomore education major from Eudora.

 

Carder and teammates generated the winning idea for a sustainable social enterprise and will be traveling to Haiti to implement their plan. Team members will each receive a $1,000 scholarship and independent study credit, as well as the chance to make their idea a reality.

 

The student body gathered in Brown Auditorium on Friday to hear President Michael Schneider announce which idea of six proposed by teams of students was selected to win the Global Enterprise Challenge.

 

Schneider said picking the winning entry was tough, because all of the ideas had merit. He encouraged students involved in the other teams -- which proposed planting moringa trees, starting tilapia fish farms, providing portable greenhouses and creating affordable water filtration systems -- to pursue their ideas as well.

 

"Wow, you blew us away," he told the students who competed. "You showed us something this week. You made a dent. You created a buzz. You were remarkable."

 

The winning entry, called Beyond Isles, was an idea to create a community market involving both a physical marketplace for agricultural and clothing products and a global online market on Tortuga Island in Haiti.

 

The concept was crafted by Carder; Nate Coppernoll, freshman in history from Stillman Valley, Ill.; Steve Butcher, sophomore in automotive restoration from Atlantic, Iowa; Melisa Grandison, senior in communication, Spanish and education from Quinter; and Ryan Stauffer, senior in business from Milford, Neb. They were assisted by mentor Chris Paulsen, instructor in automotive restoration.

 

"The point is to help people," Carder said. "We're ready to put in as much time as it takes. We're in it for the long haul."


 

NEW CHURCH START BOOT CAMP 

 

 

I am pleased to announce that the Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ, will host a "New Church Start Boot Camp", May 18-20, 2011 at the MACUCC Conference Center in Framingham, Mass.  This workshop will be lead by Jim Griffith, the leading new church start trainer in the country.  This gathering is for those pastors and teams that are contemplating a new church start or have begun one. 

 

In this workshop you will learn all the practical skills of how to:

  • Network and gather new people
  • How to raise "virtue" capital
  • How to develop leadership
  • How to determine the public launch of worship
  • And many other strategies essential to a fruitful new church start

Please click here for a flyer with all the details.....

 

I hope key leaders in your Conference will take advantage of this terrific workshop, and if you have any questions, please feel free to call on me.

 

With grace and peace,

 

Rev. Paul B. Nickerson

Associate Conference Minister for Evangelism, Vitality and New Church Starts

Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ

508-875-5233, ext. 236

[email protected]

 

  

 

  WOMEN of Oklahoma and Kansas!!

Registration must be postmarked by March 25th.
Get your forms in!!!!!  
 Please note:   If you registered for the Fall Assembly that was postponed, you must register again.  The checks were destroyed and forms were not kept.  Sorry for the inconvenience!
  
K-O Women have a rare opportunity to listen, learn from and be inspired by a very gifted, creative Biblical storyteller, teacher and pastor, Elaine Blanchard, at this spring's gathering.  You truly will not want to miss this opportunity!
  
Please consider attending the K-OWF "ASSEMBLY"
at White Memorial Camp (north of Council Grove, KS)
on APRIL 8-9-10th...
Theme -  "Where's the HOPE?"
Keynoter - Rev. Elaine Blanchard, TN
  
Have you wondered about the HOPE found in the Bible, especially in such
places as  Revelations as written long ago, with eery visions and creepy verses amidst words from cherished hymns and funeral-familiar promises of salvation? 
  
Have you wondered how HOPE exists in your own life in these trying times?
  
Have you thought about the "story of HOPE" that lies deep within your own soul?
  
  
Elaine presenting a skit at a gathering in Tennessee
  
  
  
Sign up to attend all or part of this great event.
See you in APRIL at White Memorial!!

  

APRIL 8, 9 & 10

Come for all or part....just COME!

 

 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE BROCHURE

AND REGISTRATION FORM

 

 

 

  

The Pilgrim Press launches 'Your Life, Better' book series and weekly, streamlined e-newsletter

 

When The Pilgrim Press joined the UCC's communication ministry one year ago, it envisioned reaching out to serve the people in the pews.

 

That goal now accomplished, the vision will come to full fruition this spring with the introduction of "Your Life, Better" -- a book series offering transformative, creative and straightforward suggestions to add spirituality to everyday experiences.

 

The first set of "Your Life, Better" books are available for pre-order and will ship in mid-March. The second set will be available this summer. 

 

For more information, email [email protected]

 


Survey for Ministerial Candidates and

Local Church Search Committees 

 

On-Line Survey for Search and Call

The United Church of Christ is currently engaged in revising the Search and Call process. Four major aspects of the process are being looked at; the Employment Opportunities listing, the Searchable Ministerial Profiles Database (accessed only by Conference Staff), the Ministerial Profile and the Local Church Profile. Long-range visioning is also taking place. Surveys have been developed to gather information from the wider church.

 

If you are a Ministerial Candidate that has been in the Search and Call process sometime in the last year, regardless of whether you have been called or are still searching we would like your feedback at: http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e3errsumgk5gkota/start

 

If you are a member of a Local Church Search committee that has been in the Search and Call process sometime in the last year, regardless of whether you have called a candidate or are still searching we would like your feedback at: http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e3euetrzgk5yvww1/start

 

 

K-O YOUTH EVENT ~ March 18 - 20

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT

www.whitememorialcamp.com

or  Click here to download registration form

 

 

 

28th GENERAL SYNOD

  
 

      

Planning on joining us?

      

Nominations for Prophetic Justice Work 

 

         

The Board of Directors of Justice and Witness Ministries has approved the recommendation that we seek candidates to honor at our General Synod XXVIII dinner who have done exemplary work in the area of justice.

 

If you know a prophetic justice worker, a local church, or grass roots organization that you think deserves to be honored for effective justice work, please fill out the form below. You may duplicate this form (link provided below) for more than one nominee.

 

 

http://www.ucc.org/justice/justice-award-nomination.html

ASSOCIATIONS AND CONFERENCE COMING EVENTS

Link to

the K-0

Calendar 

April 16 -- Central/Western Association Spring Meeting

 

April 16 -- North Central Association Spring Meeting

 

April 30 -- Eastern Association Spring Meeting - Ecclesiastical Council at Colonial UCC, Prairie Village

Prayer Requests from our K-O Family
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just received word of the passing (cancer) of our friend

and Sister-in-Christ, Marlene Becker...

formerly serving with her pastor husband, Gene, in Great Bend, KS,

former K-O Women's Fellowship President, and

former member of the CCW Board.

Blessings and prayers to her family...

 

Blessings and hugs,

Jo Ann Chance

Marlene M. Becker

Becker, Marlene M. on Thursday, March 3, 2011, at age 73. Beloved wife and best friend for 52 years of Rev. Gene A. Becker; beloved mother of Cynthia (Rev. Bruce) Moeller of Columbia, IL and Warren A. (Patty) Becker of Jefferson, WI.; dear sister of Delores M. Stauffacher; dear sister-in-law of Jan Moehnke; dear step-grandmother, aunt and friend to many. Marlene was a member of Eden United Church of Christ, a retired nurse supervisor at the Nazareth Living Center and a member of P.E.O., Chapter GB. Services: Visitation at JOHN L. ZIEGENHEIN & SONS South County, 4830 Lemay Ferry Rd, on Monday from 4 � 8 PM. Visitation Tuesday at Eden U.C.C., 8920 Eden Avenue, Affton, MO (63123) from 10 am to the time of funeral service at 11 am Tuesday. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Eden U.C.C., deGreeff Hospice House or the Nazareth Living Center are appreciated.

 

 

K-O PRAYER CALENDAR
 

 

 

 

 

First Congregational,  Russell, KS ~  Pastor Kasey Crosby & Congregation

 

First Congregational, Stockton, KS ~ Rev. Vince Williams & Congregation


 
Rev. J.F. Wickey,  President of the Kansas Oklahoma Conference

 

 

UCC CALENDAR OF PRAYER
 

 PRAYER CALENDAR FOR MARCH 2011

K-O INTERIM CONFERENCE MINISTER'S SCHEDULE
 

  

March 13 -- The United Church of Norman, Norman, OK

 

March 18-20 -- Conference Youth Event, White Memorial Camp

 

April 8 - 10 - K-O Women's Spring Assembly, White Memorial Camp

 

Krista would be happy to visit your congregation.  Call her  at 316-686-4331 to schedule a date.

K-O CHURCHES IN TRANSITION
 

Cathedral of Hope, Oklahoma City, OK  Rev. Joe Meinhart is interim pastor
 

Congregational UCC, Carrier, OK   
Rev. Gordon Epps is interim pastor.  
 

Community Congregational UCC, Gaylord, KS
 Rev. Linda Kemp is interim pastor.
 

Fairmount UCC, Wichita, KS  
 

Federated Church, Kingfisher, OK Rev. Sam Steele is interim pastor.  

First Congregational UCC, Anthony, KS


First Congregational UCC, Centralia, KS 
Pastor Scott Caulley is supply pastor.
 

First Congregational UCC, Great Bend, KS
 Rev. Stan Crawford is interim pastor.
 

First Congregational UCC, Goltry, OK 
 

First Congregational UCC, McPherson, KS 
Rev. Constance Lunn is interim pastor
 

First Congregational UCC, Onaga, KS 
 Pastor Scott Caulley is supply pastor. 
 

First United Church of Christ, Newton, KS
Pastor Jerry Scribner is supply pastor.
 

Highland Trinity UCC, Newton, KS 

 
Immanuel UCC, Ellinwood, KS
Rev. Larry Young has resigned and his last Sunday leading worship is March 13.
 

St John UCC, Baldwin City, KS 
Rev Lewis Hinshaw is supply pastor
 

St. Paul UCC, Eudora, KS
  Pastor Rodney Nitz is interim pastor
 

St. Peter's UCC, Inman, KS 

 

United Church of the Good Shepherd, KC, KS  Rev. Art Foster is supply pastor.

 

United Church of Norman, Norman, OK  Rev. Warren Jensen is interim pastor.

 
Zion UCC, Junction City, KS.  Rev. Patty Brown-Barnett is interim pastor

QUICK LINKS
 

 Archived e-NEWS emails 

 

United Church of Christ

 

Kansas-Oklahoma Conference  

 

White Memorial Camp and Conference Center 

 

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CONTACT INFORMATION
           

   Rev. Krista Betz, Interim Conference Minister

    Kansas-Oklahoma Conference 
    1245 Fabrique                                         
    Wichita, KS 67218
    800-880-6466
    Sara Shaw, Camp Director
   
620-767-5165 (Camp Office)
   
620-202-0311(Cell)
   
620-767-7244 (Fax)
   
1271 South 1050 Road
   
Council Grove  KS  66846-8520
   
[email protected]

 
    Nancy A. Wolfe, Conference Communications Coordinator
    3020 SE Virgo Ave
    Topeka, KS  66605
    785-806-4580

 
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