K-O e-NEWS 

JUNE 21, 2012 

RESOLUTIONS FOR ANNUAL MEETING

The 2012 Annual Meeting of the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference will be held November 9th,10th, and 11th, in Wichita.  You will be receiving further information and an invitation to the meeting in due time.  However, there is one early deadline that needs to be noted - the deadline for submitting proposed resolutions for consideration by the delegate body during the conference.  Resolutions are subject to the provisions of Article l, Section 5 of the By-Laws of the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference.  Any resolution must be presented to the Executive Committee of the Conference Council by a voting member of a church or Association as sponsor for the resolution, and must be received by July 1,2012.  The Executive Committee can accept or reject any proposed resolution for submission to the annual meeting.  If rejected by the Executive Committee, a sponsor may present the resolution from the floor.  No resolution not timely submitted to the Executive Committee can be presented from the floor.  Proposed resolutions should be mailed to the Conference President, Jeff Keller, at 409 Warner Park Road, Manhattan, KS  66503.

  National Health Ministry Survey   

We invite you to participate in a Church Health Survey, developed by Gramercy Research that will help identify what strategies will inspire congregations to better health. Your participation in this survey will allow us to evaluate how individual churches view health-related activities in a church setting, and help us to develop materials that fit churches' needs.

If you choose to respond, you may be eligible to win a Visa gift card worth $15. The survey should only take 5-10 minutes to complete; we ask that you submit just one survey per congregation. All surveys are due Saturday, June 30. Thank you so much for your participation and support of church health!

  OCC Social Justice Ministry Network  

  Kansas Ecumenical Ministries Workshop   

Friends,

We are all of us aware of the disasters that have already occurred this year around the world.  In the U.S., hurricane season (officially begins June 1) has made an early start with Tropical Storm Alberto sitting off the Eastern Coast.

Since the beginning of January, CWS has shipped thousands of kits - baby kits, clean up buckets, school kits and hygiene kits to assist people impacted by disasters.  Your help is urgently needed to increase supplies that are currently available in the CWS warehouses.

Most needed are baby kits, clean up buckets and school kits. 

Below is a link to the CWS brochure that includes information about kit ingredients and shipping.  Please share this with our local church members and other friends within your Conference.  Your help to communities in need is greatly appreciated.

Web link:  http://www.churchworldservice.org/site/DocServer/KitGuide.pdf?docID=361

The Center for Progressive Renewal has announced Praxis21: Practicing Progressive Christianity in the 21st Century as the theme for its annual New Church Leadership Institute (NCLI) to be held August 8-10, 2012. Created six years ago, NCLI features world-class church planting and renewal experts within the progressive church, and is one of the main programs of the Center for Progressive Renewal (CPR). The conference will be held at the Courtyard by Marriott Conference Center; 130 Clairmont Road; Decatur, GA 30030, and registration is now open at www.progressiverenewal.org.

Dozens of speakers will participate in NCLI, the only conference of its kind in the United States. Presenters will include Phyllis Tickle, Laurie Beth Jones, Eric Elnes, Ben Guess, Ken Samuel, Cameron Trimble and Michael Piazza.  Praxis21 will focus on six major themes including global trends that are reshaping what it means to be church in this time; how leaders can "retool" themselves to lead churches into a new age; and how to build sustainable ministries for the present and future. Modeled after the TED conference format, each session will be presented in plenary format with 4 to 5 speakers, presenting their best ideas in short, 18 minute segments. For those who desire to spend more concentrated time on specific issues, a one-day pre-conference intensive will be held in seven specific areas including "Pre-Launch Church Planting," "Digital Discipleship: Social Media in Ministry," " Hispanic Ministry in the Progressive Church," and "The Black Church: Defining a Future of Growth."

The EARLY BIRD registration discounted fees end on June 8th.  So encourage registration now to receive discount.  There are several discounts as well for groups of 2 - 5, 6 - 10 as well as for seminary students.  We also offer scholarship aid  http://praxis21.org/registration/scholarship-information/  

YOUTH CAMP SCHEDULE AND BROCHURE  

DDA Camp Schedule Brochure 

 Visit the website  ~~ www.whitememorialcamp.com   

I just returned from serving as your proxy at the 98th Annual Pension Board meeting in Cleveland. The proxy voting process is required to fulfill the State of New Jersey corporate regulations. It is essential that participants return the proxy voting cards to establish a quorum for the meeting. This year of the 16,000 voting participants in the Annuity Plan, only 4,097 ballots were returned.

The vision statement for the Pension Board is: To strengthen the church by helping participants achieve health and economic security. Even though the Annuity Plan is the foundation, the Pension Board supervises other programs including UCC Health and Dental Benefits, Ministerial Assistance, Clinical Intervention, Life Income Disability Insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Healthy Stewards and Member Education.

The changes to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation were passed with only a few negative votes. Changes will allow the Pension Board to charge a user fee for benefits to other denominations and groups within the UCC such as United Church Funds.

The chief investment officer, David Klassen, gave a very detailed report on stock and bond performance and the state of the economy. He projected a self-sustaining but slow recovery. Detailed information is in the 2011 annual report.

The Insurance Board is separate from the Annuity Plan; however, many questions were raised and answered. Health costs are increasing by 1/3 because of inflation and 2/3's due to increased use. We have more high cost claims than other denominations and more sick people. In 2011 the top 100 claims cost a total of 6 million dollars. Persons are allowed to enroll beyond the 90 day window if they can prove to be healthy at the time of application. Last year 92 persons applied, and 58% were enrolled. Of the 42% denied, 7 appealed and were admitted. UCC plan is based on "medical necessity" as determined by a hospital board. Thus benefits do not include Viagra, treatment for autism or transgender procedures among other things. It will pay for post-surgical needs after transgender surgeries.

The Pension Board is trying to increase communication to members through e-mail to reduce postage costs. Mailings will continue to those who do not have internet access. The Board has 13,500 addresses out of 22,829 members.

There are still challenges to the tax laws regarding housing allowance. The Church Alliance is working to protect that benefit. Some Conferences and churches are questioning the 14% contribution rate to the Annuity Fund. In the United Church of Christ 2,140 churches have a yearly budget less than $100,000. Only 9% of lay workers in the UCC are participants in the Fund even with a 3% contribution rate. There will soon be more retirees than active participants in the Annuity Fund. New participants last year were equal to the number of deaths.

Our own Krista Betz was introduced as the new head of the Ministerial Assistance Fund. She will be moving to Manhattan in October to begin this new ministry as Doug Borko retires.

The complete minutes of the annual meeting will be posted on the web site www.pbucc.org Also found on the web site is the detailed 2011 annual report.

Link to

the K-0

Calendar 

June 24  ~ Rosedale Congregational UCC, Kansas City, KS

July 8 ~ Emmanuel UCC, Ellinwood, KS

July 20-21 ~ Conference Retreat at White Memorial Camp 

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

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