Celebrate Easter! Celebrate Mission 4/1 Earth!  

With Easter and Mission 4/1 Earth both right around the corner, what better way to emphasize our connections to God's glorious earth, but with all natural Easter egg dyes! Did you know you can use fruits, vegetables and spices to color your eggs instead of the prepackaged dye tablets sold in stores? A special thanks to Rayla Stewart Hogue
for the great idea and article. Click here to learn more!

"Continuing Testament. . .

          Extravagant Welcome. . .

                  Changing Lives. . .

                          That's Our Church Wider Mission"

In the Missouri Mid-South Conference we delight in giving to accomplish more together than we could possibly do alone. Through Our Church's Wider Mission (Basic Support) churches join in a partnership that extends our mission and ministry in so many significant ways. Indeed, even this E-Courier is made possible through our gifts. Our Church's Wider Mission is the lifeblood that connects the body, as we "embrace God's purposes, proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and respond to God's Holy Spirit with acts of faith." (from MMS Mission Statement). For a more information about what we accomplish-together-through Our Church Wider Mission please click here. 

Click here to see a church-by-church analysis of 2012 contributions to Our Church's Wider Mission (Basic Support). The analysis also provides comparisons with contributions in 2010 and 2011.

THANK YOU for your church's contributions to Our Church's Wider Mission! Each contribution is an expression of the covenant that binds us together. Each contribution supports the essential wider mission of our church. Each contribution is a symbol of commitment to continuing testament, extravagant welcome, changing lives.

As you review the chart of contributions to Our Church Wider Mission, a few notes:

1)If there is a question about your church's total, please contact the Conference.  

2)All 2012 contributions for Our Church's Wider Mission needed to be received by January 11, 2013 to be included in the analysis.  

3)The chart does not include "Special Support" for Our Church's Wider Mission ("One Great Hour of Sharing," "Strengthen the Church," "Neighbors in Need," "Christmas Fund")

It is unfortunate, but true, that contributions to Our Church Wider Mission continue to decline. Many churches remain at the same level, several have increased their contributions, some have decreased their gifts, and many contribute nothing. There was a decline of 5% from 2011 to 2012, compared to a 3% decline from 2010 to 2011.

A special word of gratitude is extended to those churches which have intentionally increased their contributions to Our Church's Wider Mission! There are so many ways to recognize and celebrate the faithful stewardship in so many settings: increased giving, per capita giving, an intentional effort to move toward 10% (or more) of local church budget going to OCWM, to name a few. At the Association spring meetings, churches will receive certificates for Our Church's Wider Mission.

Would you like more information about Our Church's Wider Mission? Contact Don Frandsen, Chair of the OCWM Covenanted Ministry (314) 849-8806 or Dale Parson, Conference staff (816) 257-9826.

2013 Boundary Training Dates 

Listed below are the 2013 dates for all Boundary Training sessions hosted by the Missouri Mid-South Conference office.  The fee is $30 per person, and this fee is waived for all retired clergy.  Each association is conveniently offering one spring and one fall date, as well as the opportunity to attend Boundary Training at the Conference Annual Gathering in June at Drury University in Springfield.  Please click here for the registration form and further details. 

Eastern Association

Thursday, May 9th at Faith UCC - Wentzville, MO

Thursday, October 10th at St. Peter's UCC - Washington, MO

St. Louis Association

Friday, April 12th at First Congregational UCC - Webster Groves, MO

Saturday, September 14 at St. Johns Evangelical UCC - Mehlville, MO

Western Association

Thursday, April 25th at Country Club Congregational UCC - Kansas City, MO

Thursday, September 26th at Salem UCC - Higginsville, MO

Conference Annual Gathering

Friday, June 7th at Drury University (Sunderland Hall) - Springfield, MO

Annual Information Review Form 

The annual Information Review forms were emailed to all authorized clergy, both active and retired, within the Missouri Mid-South Conference last week.  If you did not receive an email on 2/28 containing the form and the Minister's Code, please contact Renee via email at renee@mmsucc.org or by phone at 314-918-2602.  The forms are due back to the Conference office by May 1, 2013.  If you do not have an email address or your email address bounced back, the form will be arriving in your mailbox soon.  Thank you.

You Are Invited - Installation of Pastor Kim Brinkmann

St. Mark United Church of Christ and the St. Louis Association of the Missouri Mid-South Conference of the United Church of Christ invite you to a worship service for the installation of Kim Brinkmann as Pastor.

Sunday, April 7, 2013 at 3:00 PM
St. Mark United Church of Christ
1861 Missouri State Road
Arnold, MO 63010
636-296-6636
www.stmarkucc.org

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.   

Grape Country Cluster UCC Upcoming Meeting 

The Grape Country Cluster of United Church of Christ Congregations will be meeting at 7:00pm on Thursday, March 21 at St. Paul's United Church of Christ, Gerald.  Our speaker for this meeting will be Rev. Dr. Marc Wessels, ACM who will be discussing the upcoming "Mission 4:1" initiative in the United Church of Christ.  Marc is the Conference staff person relating to the Mission 4:1 Coordinating Committee in our Conference.  At this meeting, he will be telling us about what has already been  planned at the Conference setting, and discussing ways that we can be part of this initiative, as well.  All are invited to attend this meeting.

The Grape Country Cluster of United Church of Christ Congregations consists of clergy and lay people from the 17 United Church of Christ Congregations in Franklin and Gasconade Counties.  They meet monthly (usually the fourth Thursday of each month) to discuss issues of importance in the lives of their congregations, often bringing speakers in to present programming.  Their mission statement is:  "To share our resources, fulfill our goals and needs, and nurture and encourage the fellowship that demonstrates that the Spirit of the Gospel Lives!"  All are invited to attend meetings of the Grape Cluster, even members of churches not in their geographical boundaries.  Ken Schlottach, lay person from St. James, Charlotte, is the Grape Cluster chair.  He can be reached at 573.437.4308.

The April meeting of the Grape Country Cluster will be at 7:00pm on April 25 at St. Jordan's United Church of Christ, Jeffriesburg.  At their April meeting, General Synod delegate Gene Ridder will present information about the upcoming General Synod, and discuss pending resolutions.  Again, all are invited to attend.    

Camp MoVal Lenten Work Day

Come join us for our annual Lenten Work Day at Camp MoVal on March 23 from 9am to 3pm. Work projects will include general site cleanup, pool cleaning, cutting and splitting firewood, screen repair, maintenance building cleanup and organization, trail maintenance and much more. All are welcome to come and participate, please make sure that anyone under 18 comes with an adult chaperone.  We also ask that you please let the MoVal office know in advance of your attendance to make sure we have enough food for all of our volunteers and so we can plan an effective and efficient work day.

I thank you in advance for your support of Camp MoVal and our Outdoor Ministry programs. It is your support that makes our ministry possible. To confirm your presence at the Lenten work day, please email Jeremy Force or call the Camp Office at 636-583-2730.

St. Louis Association Mission Funds Outreach Application and Criteria

Dear Mission Partners, Congregational Leaders, and Pastors,

It is pleasure to serve you in supporting your work in caring for those in our community. The Outreach Committee in dialogue with the St. Louis Association Council has new criteria it is using to approve agencies and congregational outreach programs for funding support. Not only will we fund existing mission agencies through our ongoing supporting grants but support new projects for funding through one time grants for initiation of new multi-congregational mission projects.

Think creatively what your congregation can do with other congregations in the St. Louis area to care for others in meaningful ways. The application must be received by April 1st.

Western Association Annual Business Meeting

The Western Association Annual Business Meeting will be held on Saturday, April 20th, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at Ivanhoe United Church of Christ, 6512 Woodson Road, in Raytown, Missouri.  The featured speaker for the day will be the Rev. Dr. John H. Thomas, former General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ.  Dr. Thomas will speak and preach on building covenant relationships, and we will receive a new church, Peace Christian Church UCC/DOC into membership in the Western Association.  More information will be forthcoming, but please place that Saturday date on your calendars and we look forward to seeing you in Raytown.

Send Us Your Photos!  

Currently, less than 20 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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0oMt9NthQs 

There is an important and powerful progressive Christian movement in America and it includes churches from across many denominations. This movement enlivens congregations and communities and gives witness to God's goodness, justice and grace. Music is an essential element of this movement. The harmonies, rhythms and melodies inspire, express and fuel the movement and its people. The music of the movement includes at least three "canons" - a classical music canon, a spiritual/gospel canon and a contemporary canon. The progressive Christian movement is blessed by its engagement with the full range of these musical canons.  This year's Brueggemann and Kulenkamp lectures at Eden Theological Seminary's Spring Convocation will take up the Music of the Movement.

News from CUE Seminaries

Please join Chicago Theological Seminary Spring for our Worship Conference - April 19 & 20, 2013.   

For those unable to attend the event on-campus, selected portions of the conference will be available via live streaming over the internet. Headlining the event will be CTS alumnus and Professor of Worship at Garrett Theological Seminary, Dr. Ruth Duck.

The conference will run from 8:30 am on Friday, April 19 to noon on Saturday.  (There is no scheduled event on Friday evening of the conference.)

 Those who register for this option will be given a link to access all three of the plenary sessions.  

For more information or to register visit our new website at ctschicago.edu in the Continuing Education section of the site.  If you have questions, please email Joe Burt, Manager - Alumni Relations & Special Events at jburt@ctschicago.edu.