On Sunday, November 3, 2012 representatives from the Missouri Mid-South Conference and the Northeastern Regional Mission Council and the Discovery Bay and St. Andrews Charges of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands celebrated 20 years of partnership and signed a new covenant agreement to continue our covenant partnership through 2015. The partnership document reads in part, "We continue to seek a partnership that will offer diverse opportunities for the participation of the members of our respective denominations. We seek a mission that involves trust and respect born of mutual knowing. Our partnership in mission will be a relationship building process to establish global friendships in Christ. We will strive to learn of one another's spiritual gifts. We will witness and give voice to our ministry through Jesus Christ." The complete text of our partnership agreement is posted on the MMS website and can read by clicking here.  

For the past 20 years we have lived out our partnership through work camps from congregations in the Missouri Mid-South Conference traveling to Jamaica to engage in a diversity of mission projects ranging from leading Vacation Bible Schools, assisting in the construction of new church building, and participating in the and Day of Fellowship in Jamaica. We have received partners from Jamaica who have participated in our Annual Conference Gathering, worked at the Emmaus Homes in Marthasville, and worked as part of the summer staff team at Camp MoVal.  The signing of a new three year partnership agreement along with the expansion of our partnership to include congregations in the Kingston area provides an opportunity for us to expand our partnership in new directions. When representatives from our partnership committees met at the Jamaican Synod offices on November 5 we agreed to concentrate our efforts in three areas:

1. Congregation to Congregation Partnerships

One of the first projects of the partnership in the early 1990's was the "twinning" of congregations in Missouri and Jamaica. During the first five years of the partnership a number of MMS congregations were twinned or partnered with Jamaican congregations. According to the records we could identify the following partnerships:

• Evangelical UCC in Cape Girardeau with Carron Hall United Church
• St. John's Bem UCC with Discovery Bay United Church
• Zion UCC Troy with Salem United Church in Islington Jamaica
• St. Peter's UCC New Haven with Runaway Bay United Church
• St. Thomas UCC Chesterfield with Lauriston United Church
• First Congregational UCC in Little Rock Ar with Boscobel United Church in Oracabessa.

We would like to invite congregations in the Missouri Mid-South Conference to consider establishing a partnership with a congregation in Jamaica. For the congregations listed above this might mean an effort to reconnect with your partner church or restart your partnership. For most of our MMS congregations this would mean prayerfully considering entering into a partnership with a Jamaican congregation.  

Although each partnership will grow in unique ways a congregation to congregation partnership might include some of the following elements.

• Pastor to Pastor e-mail contacts and conversations
• People to people e-mail correspondence
• Establishment of a partnership Sunday each year with the sharing of a joint liturgy and a celebration of what is happening in the life of each congregation.
• Exchange of congregational newsletters, websites or Facebook pages
• Youth group to youth group correspondence via e-mail or Facebook

As the partnership grows it may eventually include a pastoral exchange between congregation or people to people visits between congregations.   The point of the partnership is to learn from each other. To learn about mission and ministry, joys and challenges in each others setting for ministry. These partnership will enable us to celebrate the diversity of the church of Jesus Christ which is always larger then an individual congregation or community.    

If you would like to explore establishing a congregation to congregation partnership please talk with Jeff Whitman or Linda Adams chair of the Jamaican partnership committee.  

2. A Partner from Jamaica to Serve at MoVal

We would like to identify someone from Jamaica who would travel to Missouri in the summer of 2013 to serve as part of the Summer staff. We are in conversation with Jeremy about accomplishing this goal.  

3. A Joint Young Adult Work Camp

During our visit in Jamaica in November we met with the chairperson of the United Church in Jamaica Young Adult group. The UC Young Adults are planning a work project at Pringle Home to help with the construction of a new building on the property.  We talked about the possibility of a join work camp with Young Adults   (post high school to age 35) from Missouri Mid-South and the United Church in Jamaica. We hope to begin plans for this after the Christmas holiday.  

As we move into the next three years of our partnership I encourage your prayers for our Jamaican partners. I invite you to contact Linda Adams and become part of our Jamaican partnership team. I ask you consider a congregation-to-congregation partnership with a congregation in Jamaica.

Rev. Jeffrey Whitman

Last month we received the following e-mail from our partners in Bokungu district of the CDC in the Congo: Beloved in Christ,

We greet you and hold you in our hearts and would like to inform you of our progress since the last time we were in touch. First, we have learned through an informal source that a member of your community has passed away and would like to take this opportunity to extend our deepest condolences.  We are happy to report that the construction project of our chapel is moving along remarkably well as you these photos attest. By the intermediacy of our dear mother, Sandra Gourdet, Bokungu's district committee has sent you a wooden Bible to solidify our fraternal intimacy in the word of God.  

Receive our greetings in the name of Jesus Christ.

Reverend Mbomba wa Mbomba Isidore

I want to express our thanks to Chris Nkemba Ndjungu for translating Rev. Mbomba's e-mail to us. Chris is from the Congo and is a student at Eden Seminary. The pictures mentioned above are on the website and the Bible is on display in the conference office.  

In the past few days we have heard news stories about violence in the Congo as a rebel group called the M23 militia has attacked a major city in the eastern part of the country Oxfam reports that The Crisis in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has recently escalated to the point where a major city of an estimated one million inhabitants has been taken by the Rwandan-backed M23 proxy militia. Hundreds of thousands of Congolese in the North Kivu province have been rendered homeless and displaced. Congolese are suffering violent abuse on a massive scale - including rape, kidnap and murder."  The response from the international community has not been commensurate with the dire conditions faced by the Congolese people. In spite of several United Nations studies that document the source of the instability and the role that Congo's neighbor, Rwanda has played in arming, training and financing the destructive M23 proxy militia inside the Congo, the response from the international community has been tepid at best and equivocal at worst.

All Things New, Look What God Is Doing is the theme for Outdoor Ministries in 2013. Throughout the course of the 2013 program year, everyone is invited to come and participate in the many different outdoor ministry opportunities provide to for you at Camp MoVal and beyond. New camping programs along with many traditional programs are part of the 2013 schedule to insure that everyone has the opportunity to experience God and Creation in whole new way.

Some of the new programs in 2013 are a Grandparent and Grandchild Camp, three Day Camps in three locations to better serve our whole conference, a social justice camp based on the Hunger Games Series and many other opportunities. Camp and Outdoor Ministry is the a special time and place where all people, young and old from many different places can come together and be part of one community, one family and feel safe in a space where everyone is cared for and loved in Christian Hospitality.

The camp schedule is available on the Conference website, which gives everyone plenty of opportunity in advance to plan for their chance to get away and participate at Camp MoVal or one of our other Outdoor Ministry programs next year. If attending a program is not for you, maybe you would like to volunteer as a counselor, or director or just come and assist for a day, we can always use the extra help. We would not be able to provide the great programs without all of the volunteers that give of their selves and time to make Outdoor Ministry successful.

The camp brochures will be sent out in late January of 2013, be watching for them to arrive. Also, be watching for the launch of our new Camp MoVal website at www.campmoval.org , this will give everyone more up to date information about Camp MoVal and the Outdoor Ministry programs. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Camp MoVal office at 636-583-2730 or email the Director of Outdoor Ministries at jeremy.moval@mmsucc.org. We look forward to serving you at Camp MoVal and the Outdoor Ministries programs. Have a wonderful Holiday Season.

Friends,

My thanks to all of you for your support of disaster ministries regardless of where the disaster occurs. It is probable that all of you have seen the UCC web page created to provide information about Hurricane Sandy relief, response and recovery efforts. Yesterday, we added a Sunday bulletin insert which includes a prayer written by Jim Moos. Please share the link below with local churches in your Conference. A word encouraging people to check on the web site for information would be greatly appreciated.

Peace,

Florence

Hurricane Sandy, UCC web link:  

 http://www.ucc.org/disaster/hurricane-sandy/ 

Got Cookies?      

The Jazz Nativity is coming next month. The planning committee recognizes that many churches and individuals would like to contribute something but may not be able to do so monetarily. How about cookie baking? We want to have punch and cookies after each performance and that means a lot of cookies! If you are able to contribute cookies, please contact Jane Porchey at 314-961-0283 or porchey@att.net

Welcome to the Newest Member of the Council of Health and Human Services Ministries   

Please join in welcoming St. Andrew's Resources for Seniors System in St. Louis as the newest member of the Council of Health and Human Services Ministries. On November 7th, the CHHSM Board of Directors granted provisional membership in CHHSM to St. Andrews. Full membership will be voted on by the full CHHSM membership when they gather for their 75th Annual meeting in Chicago in March 2013. St. Andrews was recommended for membership by the MMS Conference Council in October. St. Andrews provides support and services to organizations in the St. Louis area working with Sr. citizens including Cape Albeon in Valley Park, MO.

Joint Neighborhood Ministry Night at Plowsharing in Kirkwood 

"I'm Dreaming of a...." 

"...Masters of Divinity degree".  Maybe you have wrestled with a call to ordained ministry but just can't seem to find your way to seminary. Eden Theological Seminary, a United Church of Christ seminary  located in St. Louis, Missouri, is helping people explore theological education by providing free tuition for first year students in the Masters of Divinity degree beginning Fall 2013. If you have a bachelor's degree and are interested in learning more about the extravagant welcome which Eden is extending, please contact Rev. Carol Shanks, Director of Admissions at 877-627-5652.  You can also read more at www.eden.edu  

Bem Church Youth Help Owensville Community         

This past weekend, the youth from St. John's, Bem United Church of Christ participated in the annual Salvation Army Bell Ringing Campaign.  They rang the bell outside of the Owensville Wal-Mart all day Saturday, collecting funds for the annual drive.

This campaign is part of the Owensville/Rosebud Ministerial Alliance's Outreach Program.  This Ministerial Alliance, which includes pastors from six United Church of Christ Congregations, four United Methodist Congregations, two Baptist, three Missouri Synod Lutheran Congregations, two Catholic parishes and several other non-denominational congregations, organizes this campaign annually.  The Owensville/Rosebud Ministerial Alliance is also a Salvation Army Extension Unit; which allows them to distribute the proceeds from this Bell-ringing campaign throughout the year.  85% of the funds received during this Advent program are distributed within the Owensville Community; with the remaining 15% used by the Midland Division of the Salvation Army for their outreach programs.

Funds raised through this campaign are used:  to purchase lice kits for the Gasconade County R-2 School District nurses to distribute to those in need; to fund a back-to-school fair each year that purchases school supplies for 150+  Gasconade County R-2 students; to purchase diapers for distribution at Helping Hands Outreach Center, one of the mission outreach agencies in Owensville; and to provide utility assistance for 100+ families throughout the year.    

The youth from Bem Church are proud to be part of this annual campaign.  Much of the money raised goes to help their fellow classmates in the Gasconade County R-2 school district, making this bell-ringing program even more special to them.

We Need Your Photos for the Music Photo Album   

The creation of a Missouri Mid-South Conference "Music Photo Album" is underway. We are asking each MMS congregation to share 5 random pictures of their church and congregation. To be  easily recognized, send 1 picture of your church sign which includes your church name, and 1 picture of your church building. The other 3 pictures are totally up to you, so your congregation can showcase your church's unique qualities and spirit. The pictures will be arranged randomly in a computer photo album and then put to music. The hope is that this project will be completed by the 2013 Conference Annual Gathering. Currently, only 3 congregations have provided pictures which have been used to create an example video of this project. Anyone can see the short video by following the internet link provided at the bottom of this article. We cannot stress enough that to make this project a success EVERY congregation MUST be represented. Pictures can either be mailed to the Missouri Mid-South Conference office or emailed directly to Rev. Dr. Doug Kaufman. Both the snail mail and email addresses are provided at the end of the video. Please spread the word about this project because we want each MMS church represented.  

Thanks so much! Keep The Faith.

Bem Church Confirmation Students Offer Testimony

This past Sunday at St. John's UCC, Bem the Confirmation Class of 2012 offered their testimonies of faith during the Sunday morning Worship Service. The worship service was led by these youth, who wrote the liturgy themselves. This event is part of their Confirmation exercises, the next stage of their journey in Christian Faith that begins with Confirmation. They will be confirmed Sunday, December 2 in worship.

Morgan Aytes, Allison Czeschin, Dakota Gerloff, Jessie Smith and Garrett Wood each offered a brief homily based on their personal understanding of faith, as it has evolved during Confirmation Classes. These classes took place over a 14-month period, from October 1, 2011 through November 14, 2013. Part of their Confirmation journey also included two field trips, to the Festival of Sharing in Sedalia, and to various religious institutions in St. Louis, including a Greek Orthodox Church, a Jewish Synagogue, and the Cathedral Basilica (Roman Catholic).

The Confirmation experience is both individual and communal. During their classes, the students develop skills at Biblical interpretation, learn about the heritage of our context, and are invited to develop their own personal understanding of faith. This is done in the context of community, which calls them to faith based action, living lives that exemplify Christianity in the world each day.

It has been pointed out by theologians that Christianity is "always one generation away from extinction." The people at St. John's, Bem feels it is their duty to share their faith and the lessons of their heritage with the next generation. Through this Confirmation class of 2012, that faith journey is continuing well into the next generation.      

You Are Invited - Installation of Stephen T. Westbrook  

St. Johns Evangelical United Church of Christ and the St. Louis Association, Missouri Mid-South Conference United Church of Christ cordially invite your presence and prayers for the     

Installation of Stephen T. Westbrook

Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.

St. Johns Evangelical United Church of Christ

11333 St. Johns Church Road

St. Louis, MO 63123

All clergy are asked to arrive by 2:30 to assemble for the processional and are invited to robe and/or wear red. A reception will follow the service.

You Are Invited - Installation of Rev. Chase Peeples

Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ and the Western Association of the Missouri Mid-South Conference of the United Church of Christ invite you to a worship service for the installation of Rev. Chase Peeples as minister.

Sunday, December 9, 2012 at 3:00 PM
Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ
205 West 65th Street
Kansas City, MO 64113
(816) 523-4813
www.cccucc.net  

All clergy are asked to arrive by 2:30 to assemble for the processional and are invited to robe and/or wear red. A reception will follow the service.