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KANSAS-OKLAHOMA CONFERENCE
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
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K-O e-NEWS
FEBRUARY 28, 2012
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Regional Mission Trip to Nicaragua in August
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After a few years of hiatus, the long-awaited next regional mission trip is set! We will visit Nicaragua, August 4-11, 2012. In cooperation with the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference of our United Church of Christ partners and with Global Missions, the joint mission agency of Disciples and UCC, Regional Mission Trip Coordinator Pat Nixon, pastor of Trinity United Christian Church in Cheney, will lead our visit to Mision Cristiana near Mangua, Nicaragua.
The purpose of this trip is two-fold: to experience our wider church at work in the world, and to take part in the mission directly. While in Nicaragua we will work with Global Missions missionaries LauraJean Torgerson and Tim Donaghy. We will see and share a piece of the larger mission work that we support through our offerings.
Local Details: In Nicaragua we will stay and work at the church center "Mision Cristiana," This is the place where the Nicaraguan church gathers for programs beyond the local congregation. We will also share in their lively and life affirming worship services. During mornings we will work on our project, and in the afternoons and evenings we will connect with the people of Nicaragua. A live volcano, hiking trails, and a lively arts and crafts market are within a few minutes of the center.
What's the living like? Mision Cristiana is in the community of Ticuantepe, about 15 miles southeast of Managua. We will live in dormitories at the center, which have bunk beds with twin mattresses and electricity. Participants will bring their own bedding, and if possible leave it behind for the use of the center. Cold water showers and toilets are down the hall; typically men are on one floor and women on another. Our meals will come from the dormitory kitchen, and are said to be pretty good.
What will we do? We will help finish a house which will be used for missionary lodging, classes, and general meetings. At this writing it is a bare block structure. Work groups this year will level dirt, mix concrete, pour floors, install wiring and plumbing, paint, and more. As the last group for the year, we will finish the remaining work. Depending upon needs at the time, we may also help with a church after school program.
Money, Participants, and More: This trip is open to youth and adults. Anyone under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Cost for this adventure is $500 per person plus air fare, currently $800 per person. The cost includes lodging, food, transportation, and interpreter. A $100 deposit will be required by May 1.
Even if I don't travel, can I help? In addition we will need money for project supplies. Mision Cristiana simply cannot pay for things like this, and we should not put them in a position where we cost them money.
To support this project with your gifts, send them to the K-O Conference office marked "Nicaragua mission." Churches of mission participants are especially encouraged to support this need.
Interested? Have questions? Please contact Pat Nixon soon to indicate your interest: Patrick@cheney.kscoxmail.com OR nixon748@cox.net, 316-540-6161.
Are other trips planned? Pat Nixon is the Regional Mission Trip Coordinator for our region, and holds a corresponding position with the local UCC conference. In conversation between our region and the conference, tentative plans are to sponsor mission trips in the Americas in even-numbered years, and beyond the Americas in odd-numbered years. South India is the likely destination for 2013.
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Senseless Violence in our Community
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The UCC's 5-member Collegium of Officers today (Feb. 28) released a pastoral prayer in response to the tragic shooting of five high school students at Chardon (Ohio) High School, near Cleveland.
Here is the complete text to the pastoral prayer released by the UCC's Collegium of Officers:
Loving God,
With heavy hearts, we join with Greater Cleveland, our nation and global neighbors in our concern for those impacted by the shootings at Chardon High School on Feb. 27. May your healing presence be felt in lives broken by violence and weary with grief. Console with your abiding love each student, parent, and community member, and guide those with the responsibility of counseling them in this difficult time. Be especially with the families of those whose lives ended so abruptly as they struggle to make sense of their losses.
In this season of Lent, this devastating news reminds us of the many ways we fall short of your vision of shalom, even as we strive to follow Jesus, the Prince of Peace. We live in a culture saturated with subtle and overt forms of violence, and this tragedy is yet another sign of what it is doing to our children and our communities.
Gracious one, be with us as we contemplate this news and look for ways to support the people of Chardon. Challenge us to take inventory of our own hearts, looking into how well our own lives to bear witness the peace and the justice you envision for this world. Grant in our living a humble mindfulness of your way, modeled in Christ, that in our daily lives we would reckon with your wisdom and choose it over the way of the world.
Guide our efforts to bear witness to your resurrection ways in Good Friday moments such as this.
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Wednesday, February 29, 2012 thru April 4, 2012
11:00 AM central time - 12 Noon
| | | | | | Please join us each Wednesday at NOON EST February 29 -April 4 for Lenten Lectio at Lunch.
In this busy church season give yourself the gift of a mid-day spiritual practice. Gather with people from around the nation to refresh and renew your spirit for the work you do. This lunch time lectio divina service will be led by Kimberly Knight, online pastor and social media coach who has been leading worship online for nearly five years. Gather with us to experience the beauty and mystery of ancient practices in the world of new media.
Cost: FREE
Registration Web Link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/248876977
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Contact For more information contact Gregg Carlson |
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GIVE IT UP! CALENDAR -- CLICK HERE
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Shannon Gorres --a UCC Seminarian at Phillips Theological Seminary and member of Plymouth Congregational UCC, Lawrence, KS will join with faith leaders, students and community members in a
"Fast for Fair Food"
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Dear friends,
This time next week, I'll be in a 6 day Fast for Fair Food with farmworkers in the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW).
The CIW is a community-based organization of mainly Latino, Mayan Indian and Haitian immigrants working in low-wage jobs. They have organized a Fast for Fair Food in Lakeland, Florida, from March 5th to March 10th, 2012. The CIW has invited
faith leaders, students, and community members to join them in the fast.
Lakeland, Florida, is the site of the headquarters of Publix, one of the top grocery store chains in the southern USA. Workers from Immokalee -- men and women who put food on tables across the country -- will go without food again, this time to demand that Publix support that groundbreaking new partnership, that Publix support the fundamental human rights for farmworkers that are taking root today in Florida's fields thanks to the CIW's Fair Food Program."
We are fasting to call on supermarket corporations to help fix what is incredibly wrong in our nation's food system: a farmworker makes 50 cents for filling a 32 pound bucket of tomatoes that sells for $80 in the grocery store. While a Fair Food agreement outlines a strict code of conduct for worker health and safety, the supermarket industry has yet to sign on, and is thus the only remaining obstacle in the way of long-awaited, urgent change in the fields.
Being a modern day abolitionist means supporting Fair Food.
What you can do to support the Fast for Fair Food: 1. If you shop at a supermarket owned by Publix (SE USA), Ahold (NE USA), or Kroger/Dillons (Midwest), print, sign, and bring a letter to the grocery store manager letting them know about the campaign, or email online (http://ciw-online.org/2010eaction.html). 2. Email me your words of encouragement (smgorres@hotmail.com) for fasters by this Friday, March 2nd. I'll print them off and bring them to Florida, where they'll be read out loud as the days get hard and posted as visual reminders of support for fair food from across the nation. (If you choose to fast for a day in solidarity with us, please let us know which day. If you choose to buy Fair Trade food, plant a garden, pray, or other form of allied work, please tell us!) The 6 day fast ends with a 3.5 mile procession. 6 days of struggle will end with the breaking of bread and hopefully, a breaking of supermarket denial. Stay updated on the 6 day Fast for Fair Food at:
Siempre, Shannon Gorres In support of making fast food fair food: The next step" (UCC General Synod 25) expresses support for the Fair Food Alliance and Coalition of Immokalee Workers http://www.ucc.org/synod/resolutions/IN-SUPPORT-OF-MAKING-FAST-FOOD-FAIR-FOOD.pdf http://www.ucc.org/news/a-ucc-first-for-support-of.html The United Church of Christ - Thirty years of faithful accompaniment with farm workers (GS XXIV, 2003) http://www.ucc.org/synod/resolutions/THE-UNITED-CHURCH-OF-CHRIST-THIRTY-YEARS-OF-FAITHFUL-ACCOMPANIMENT-WITH-FARM-WORKERS.pdf http://www.ucc.org/ucnews/julaug03/coachella-95-remembered.html http://www.ucc.org/justice/farmworkers/uccfarmworkers.pdf |
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EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
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The UCC Insurance Board is conducting a webinar entitled
"Convicted Sex Offenders As Congregants"
February 29th 11AM & 3PM Eastern Time
Review of the challenges of accepting a convicted sex offender to your congregation and discussion of related clergy/penitent privilege. Guest: Don Clark, Esp., Special Counsel to the UCC.
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K-O PRAYER CALENDAR
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* The Congregation of United Parish of Lenora
Lenora, KS
* The Congregation of First Congregational UCC
Anthony, KS
* Sara Shaw and family - White Memorial Camp
Director - Council Grove, KS
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UCC CALENDAR OF PRAYER
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LOCAL CHURCHES, ASSOCIATIONS AND CONFERENCE COMING EVENTS
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Link to
the K-0
Calendar
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The Honors College at the University of Oklahoma
presents a Presidential Dream Course Lecture
March 1, 2012
"Christians and Jews:
New Directions in an Old and
Difficult Relationship"
by
Mary Boys, Ph.D.
Union Theological Seminary
(booksigning after the talk)
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
Robert S. Kerr Auditorium
(free parking at the site)
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March 24 ~ Oklahoma Association
Ecclesiastical Council for Lori Walke
April 16-19, 2012
Oklahoma City
National Workshop on Christian Unity
"The Hope of Our Calling"
Watch for full details in the next edition of KO e-News
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July 28 to August 5 ~ Community of Hope UCC, Tulsa, invites you to join the team going to Nicaragua. The cost of the trip will be approximately $1,400 depending on airfare. If you are thinking about going, have questions, or need more information, please contact the Mission Team Coordinator, David Hoot, at 918-747-8928 or davidhoot@hotmail.com. All are welcome! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
K-O Conference Council Meetings
May 5, 2012 - Wichita
July 20-21 at White Memorial Camp |
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SAVE THESE DATES FOR
ASSOCIATION SPRING MEETINGS!
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April 14 ~~ Oklahoma Association Annual Meeting
April 21 ~~ Central and Western Association Annual Meeting at
Garden City, KS
April 28 ~~ North Central Association Annual Meeting at
White Memorial Camp and Conference Center
April 28 ~~ Eastern Association Annual Meeting - location tba
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| K-O INTERIM CONFERENCE MINISTER'S SCHEDULE |
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March 11 ~ First Congregational UCC, Great Bend, KS
Krista would be happy to visit your congregation. Call her at 316-686-4331 to schedule a date.
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| K-O CHURCHES IN TRANSITION |
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Central Congregational UCC, Topeka, KS ~ Rev. Scott Kenefake is interim pastor
Carrier Congregational UCC, Carrier, OK ~ Rev. Gordon Epps is interim pastor.
Community Congregational UCC, Gaylord, KS ~ Rev. Linda Kemp is interim pastor
Community of Hope, Tulsa, OK
First Congregational UCC, Anthony, KS
First Congregational UCC, Great Bend, KS ~ Rev. Stan Crawford is interim pastor
First Congregational UCC, Goltry, OK
First Congregational UCC, Manhattan, KS ~ Rev. Victor Force is interim pastor
First Salem UCC, Wichita, KS ~ Pastor Myra Sorrell is serving as supply pastor.
Highland Trinity UCC, Newton, KS ~ Rev. Bill Hickerson is supply pastor
Immanuel UCC, Ellinwood, KS ~ Rev. Katrina Palan is interim pastor
Open Table UCC, Owasso, OK ~ Rev. Melinda Foster has announced her resignation and her last day leading worship is May 19, 2012.
Puritan Congregational Christian Church, Drummond, OK. ~Rev. Matt Perkins is supply pastor
St John UCC, Baldwin City, KS ~ Rev Lewis Hinshaw is supply pastor
St. Peter's UCC, Inman, KS~ Rev Christine Edwards is the interim 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
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| QUICK LINKS |
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| CONTACT INFORMATION |
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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
wmcucc@tctelco.net
Nancy A. Wolfe, Conference Communications Coordinator
3020 SE Virgo Ave
Topeka, KS 66605
785-806-4580
Our Church's Wider Mission is the lifeblood of ministry and mission in the United Church of Christ. Your contributions to this offering make this weekly e-communication and much, much more possible. Thank you for your generous support! Our covenant as local churches, associations, conferences and the national setting of our denomination is made evident through this mission together. |
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