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Wednesday, December 11, 2013
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Thank you - This communication is made possible by your contributions to
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The next eHappenings will be shared on Friday, December 13th.
Due the Christmas/New Year's holidays, no eCourier will be shared on 12/25/2013 and 1/1/2014.
Our Wednesday eCourier schedule will resume on 1/8/2014. Thank you.
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Allen's Message to You
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;
But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31
Dear friends and partners in the Gospel,
This is a time in all religious groups when we are feeling the raw winter of unexpected change. We feel the ache of stretching the aging muscles of our institutional past, and we are disappointed that they lack the suppleness that once they had, that so empowered and inspired us. In the morning of the day of change, we wake up grumpy, feeling old and cold, and wondering where our yesterdays have gone. In times like these, it helps us to remember the centrality of our faith that every passing is a moment of rebirth, that nothing is lost in the memory of God, and that every time of renewal is born from a period of testing unfamiliar thoughts and ways in the context of our faith. So it is in the life of the church today. This is something that God already knows.
Meeting the people of the Missouri Mid-South Conference and hearing your hopes and dreams in the  Conference Conversations has been a great blessing to me. There have been many learnings as well, and I have kept a list of them, to be sure that they are included in the planning that is taking place among us. One thing that is clear to me is that the hopes and dreams of our community of faith have little to do with replacing the institutional presence that we used to have, and everything to do with finding our common calling to ministry and mission together as genuine partners in a mutually supportive network of Christian people who share their thoughts, hopes and dreams with one another along the way.
My prayer this Advent is that our Missouri Mid-South Conference will be one of many fellowships of Christ that find themselves strengthened by faith and by mutual care, and by confidence in God's renewing power, so that we may trust in the future that God provides, just one step and one day at a time.
May your Advent season be filled with anticipation and your Christmas be a sign of the joy that is to come.
Allen
Allen M. Fluent, Acting Conference Minister
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"Follow That Star: A Jazz Nativity"
Next performance is this Saturday!!! Follow That Star: A Jazz Nativity returns this December for its third season with an all-new production. Reimagining the Christmas story through the artistry of jazz and the magic of storytelling, this year's program will feature new jazz arrangements of Christmas music and dramatic twists that will creatively bring an ancient story to life for today's audience.
The Oîkos Ensemble under the direction of saxophonist, Rev.Cliff Aerie, will return as our musical hosts. To see and hear excerpts from last year's performances click here.
Be sure to attend the next performance in Washington, MO this Saturday:
- Saturday, December 14th at St.Peter's UCC, Washington - 7:00 pm (STL poster)
A performance will also be held in Kansas City, MO:
- Saturday, December 21st at St. Peter's UCC, Kansas City - 2:00 pm (KC poster)
Please print and share the above posters with your congregation, friends, family and coworkers. Jazz Nativity is pleased to announce its partnership with the Deaconess Foundation. Providing support to many local organizations, the Deaconess Foundation helps to ensure essential services to children and youth in need. Through the generous support of Deaconess and the financial sponsorship of our three host churches, all performances of Follow That Star: A Jazz Nativity are free to the public. An offering will be received to benefit local charities. We hope you will attend one of the performances and please spread the word among your congregation about this fabulous, free musical journey!
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Closing Service for Church of the Open Door
The closing Sunday worship service of Church of the Open Door UCC will be December 22nd at 10:00am. The service will be followed by a reception. Anyone available that day is warmly invited to come! The church address is 9440 Big Bend Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63119.
In memory of our beloved church, we ask you to corporately read in worship one Sunday the Statement of Purpose of Church of the Open Door, adopted in the year our founding, 1949. 
This is the church for which we strive, the church of the warm heart, the open mind, the adventurous spirit;
A church that cares, that heals hurt lives, that comforts old people, that challenges youth, that knows no division of culture or class, no frontiers, geographical or social
A church that interprets the truth in terms of truth
A church of the people, high as the ideals of Jesus, low as the humblest human
A working church, a worshipping church,
A church that inspires courage for this life and hope for the world to come;
The church of the living God. The Church of the Open Door.
Grace and peace to all,
Susan King Forbes, pastor
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Call for Nominations - UCC Manual on Ministry Working Group 
Please click here to read a letter/nomination form received from The Ministerial Excellence, Support and Authorization (MESA) Team requesting nominations to form a working group to revise the current UCC Manual on Ministry. The last update took place in 2002. All nominations will be reviewed by MESA, with a vision for inviting together a working group that represents breadth in life experience, theological and ecclesial perspective, church roles, and voice. Members of the working group will be asked to make a three-year commitment to this project, including an estimated 3 - 6 in-person gatherings across those years. Nominations are open now through December 31, 2013. Please send your completed form directly to the Cleveland address stated on the letter.
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SLA Ministerium Schedule for 2014
The SLA Ministerium will meet on the following days in 2014 - Wednesdays from 10-11:30am, however May is an evening meeting.
January 8 - Faith Aloud, Christ Church UCC (host: Becky Turner)
February 12 - 'Love's Moral Framework', Prince of Peace UCC (host: Lois Yatzeck)
March 12 - Every Child's Hope (host: Julie Jennings)
April 9 - Joint Neighborhood Ministries, Epiphany UCC(host:Mary Albert)
May 14 (evening) - Neighborhood Houses at Caroline Mission (host: Darlene Sowell)
June 11 - St John's Community Services (host: Johnniest Henry)
July 9 - Isaiah 58 (host: Brenda Booth)
August 13 - Doorways (host: Justine Craig-Meyer)
For further information about the St. Louis Association Ministerium, please contact Rev. Kevin Cameron at Parkway UCC. 314-872-9330 or kevin@parkwayucc.org.
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2013 Christmas Fund Offering
The Christmas Fund Offering is one way that we, as members of The United Church of Christ, embody God's love for one another, living out a holy vision of caring and compassionate relationship. By increasing your local church's mission to include The Christmas Fund, you will also be increasing your giving to The Good Samaritan Fund and your own local retired pastors. Please consider giving generously!
During this Advent season, please share these two educational pieces in your church bulletin:
For further information or assistance please contact The Good Samaritan Fund Board: Chair: Alvyne Rethemeyer, R.N, Secretary: Dave Detering, Treasurer: Norm Volle, Doug Dischinger, Rev. Ivan Horn, Rev. Margaret Diz Philip, Linda Stoecklin, R.N., Rev. Russell Viehmann.
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Eden LIFE Retreat
Register today for Eden's 2014 LIFE Retreat on January 10-11, where you can set aside time in the New Year for learning, reflection, and interaction with others. LIFE provides opportunities for enrichment and growth through participation in this two-day retreat which is geared toward both laity and clergy.
Choose between two fascinating courses taught by Eden faculty members. Dr. J. Clinton McCann, Evangelical  Professor of Biblical Interpretation, will teach the certificate course titled "God Revealed in Scripture: Biblical Theology". Dr. McCann's research and writing have focused on the Psalms. He is a noted biblical scholar and has served as chair of the Psalms Section for the Society of Biblical Literature for ten years. Rabbi Howard Kaplansky, Rabbi Emeritus of the United Hebrew Congregation in St. Louis and Adjunct Professor at Eden will teach the elective course titled "Impact of Judaism on Christianity". Active in community affairs, Rabbi Kaplansky has served on the Boards of many organizations and was formerly vice-president of the St. Louis Interfaith Clergy Council and of Doorways.
Please note that online registration is no longer available at this time. You may register by downloading the registration form at www.lifeateden.com. Or you may contact Jill Schantz by email at jschantz@eden.edu or by phone at 314-853-4865.
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Prepare the Way of the Lord
This week makes me recall the time two years ago when I was with a mission group in Colombia, South America during the second week of Advent. On Dec 6 (in the early summer heat) we traveled upriver deep into the Colombian rainforest to meet with a group of 250 villagers. It had rained heavily the night before so our hosts gave each of us a pair of knee high rubber boots in order to more effectively slog through about three quarters of a mile of jungle from the river bank to the village. But we had no need for our boots.
The entire village had been hard at work for several hours preparing a way for us. They had laid palm branches all along the path! Where the rain had washed out the path they mounded sand then covered it with smaller leaves. The community walked each step with us carrying welcoming banners, singing and chattering. One young woman, who was pregnant, rode on horseback holding an umbrella to shade herself from the sun. Each step we took felt like a parade of joy because our path had been so lovingly prepared.
We as a conference are preparing for new days and new ways, while we celebrate the history and traditions of our churches. How are we preparing as we travel this journey? More importantly, what is our God preparing us for? What are we choosing to carry on our trip? Hearing the views of so many, I have carried with me the voices saying, "prepare with prayer, prepare with planning, prepare with a spirit of hope". Won't you add your prayers for the conference in this season of preparation? Be sure to share your ideas as well!
Jan Aerie, jan@mmsucc.org, 314.918.2601
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2014 Conference Youth Event
The 2014 Conference Youth Event will be held on February 15-17 at Camp MoVal. The theme is "Pray, Play and Stay Together: In God's Embrace." The youth will connect with God in nature and fellowship, hang out with friends, experience cool workshops, enjoy awesome games and share their gifts with others. The cost of registration is $120 and is open to grades 9-12. Click here for further information and keep watching the eCourier for new updates! Be sure your church is represented at the 2014 event, show your youth spirit!!!
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Name Change for Deaconess Parish Nurse Ministries
EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2014, THE DEACONESS PARISH NURSE MINISTRIES WILL BECOME:
Deaconess Faith Community Nurse Ministries
Please make certain that any listing or reference to our organization January 1, 2014, or after appropriately and accurately reflects the new name of the organization.
Additional communications regarding our new name and organization will be provided beginning January, 2014 and throughout the year. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact either
Rev. Donna Smith-Pupillo, RN, Deaconess Faith Community Nurse Ministries' Executive Director, 314.918.2596 or via email at dsmith-pupillo@eden.edu. Or Jim Schnurbusch at 314.413.8673 or via email at jim@orgstory.org.
Please note that our office address remains the same:
Deaconess Faith Community Nurse Ministries
483 East Lockwood Avenue, Room 106 (Schultz Hall)
St. Louis, MO 63119
Thank you!
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UCC Disabilities Ministries and UCC Mental Health Network
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (December 11, 2013)
UCC DM Contact: Rev. Kelli Parrish Lucas, UCC DM Secretary kelli@womenwhospeakinchurch.com (760) 542-8570
UCC MHN Contact: Rev. Alan Johnson, MHN Chair revalan2004@comcast.net (720) 304-6918
Growth Brings Change to UCC Disabilities and Mental Health Ministries
Our ministry of inclusion and accessibility is growing! The success of our four "Widening the Welcome: Inclusion for All" Conferences has helped us reach out to more people and their families with disabilities and mental health challenges than ever before. We have been actively making an impact at interfaith and ecumenical conferences as varied as the White House Conference on Mental Health, to the World Council of Churches in South Korea. Work at the congregational level is growing as churches address architectural changes and create committees to provide mental health and disability ministry for their congregations and/or communities. People with developmental and cognitive disabilities are seeking increased acceptance and inclusion, too.
Each area of disability and mental health ministry is seeking more of our attention than our current structure can deliver. Therefore, the UCC Disabilities Ministries Board has voted that effective January 1, 2014, the Mental Health Network will be its own entity rather than a sub-committee of UCC Disabilities Ministries.
Rev. Lynda Bigler, Chair of the Disabilities Ministries Board and Rev. Alan Johnson, Chair of the Mental Health Network are excited about the opportunity to expand their ministries. Becoming separate Boards will enable each group to more intensely focus on its particular ministry and will allow for a wider array of projects being undertaken and completed without working together on everything. "By modifying our structure we hope to reach more people at all levels of the church," said Rev. Bigler. "We can focus our energies on even more ways to encourage local churches to become A2A, Accessible to All," she says. Rev. Johnson adds, "The new structure will also allow us to work more closely with individual congregations in addressing and meeting their needs regarding mental health. The boards will join in partnership as we both envision more Widening the Welcome Conferences in the future." Both Revs. Bigler and Johnson emphasize that "inclusion and accessibility for all" remains the core mission of both the UCC Disability Ministries and the UCC Mental Health Network.
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Lecture series on Teilhard de Chardin  The Oblate Ecological Initiative and the School Sisters of Notre Dame Office of Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation, Central Pacific Province is sponsoring a three-session series titled, "Teilhard de Chardin, Pilgrim of the Future". The sessions will take place December 14, January 25, and February 22, 1:30-3:30 pm in the Loretto Center across the street from Eden. Please click here for the registration flyer and further details.
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Get Real, Finding Your True Self in Jesus at Camp Moval
The 2014 Outdoor Ministry theme is "Get Real, Finding Your True Self in Jesus." Campers and participants will  explore the teachings of Jesus and how Jesus himself is a role model and what it means to be a true friend. Please see the Outdoor Ministry Program Schedule - use it to plan your summer and how you would like to spend this upcoming summer at Camp MoVal.
The camp brochure will be mailed to campers and churches in mid-January and registration will start February 1. Please do not forget about our new age group bracketing and age relevance for attending programs. Starting in 2014, grade level requirement will be the grade campers are going into. We know that for many years this has been a confusing issue and we want to use standard approach to grade levels. There will also be a transition in the summer of 2014 for high school seniors as we create new programs for college students and young adults.
Also, do not forget that Camp MoVal will be going through the accreditation process with the American Camp Association during the summer of 2014. Camp MoVal is also looking for a variety of qualified staff to fill its summer camp staff positions. If interested or need more information, please contact Jeremy Force, Outdoor Ministry Director.
There are still some available dates if you would like to have someone from Camp MoVal come and share with your church, cluster or association. If you would like to schedule a visit or have any questions, please call the camp office 636-583-2730. You can also find us on the web at www.campmoval.org or follow us on Facebook.
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Preparation heightens anticipation. The more attention given to preparation, the more the excitement of anticipation builds. As we "deck the halls" and "make our houses as fair as we are able," we remind ourselves we are preparing for the coming of our Lord, the Messiah, The Savior of us all! Our Church's Wider Mission (OCWM) gifts are heightening great anticipation for miracles of lasting goo d this Advent:
>The conference Vision Team holds its first in-person meeting with consultant Dick Hamm this Saturday
>Our mission churches in the Congo are helping to work for the rights of women and children and for peace in the land in this season and beyond
>Joyous music and generous gifts of food and clothing grow as congregations give to their communities
As you prepare for the coming of our Lord in this season of anticipation, know that miracles abound through your giving.
Our Church Works Miracles!
OCWM: creating miracles every day.
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Calvin Symposium on WorshipThe Calvin Institute of Christian Worship is hosting an event on January 30-February 1, 2014 in Grand Rapids, MI.  This is a conference for pastors, worship leaders and planner, artists, musicians, scholars students and other interested worshipers. 1,500 attendees will gather from over 20 countries and many denominational backgrounds. 100 presenters, including Alison Adam, Jeremy Begbie, Sandra Bowden, Constance Cherry, Richard Foster, Pablo Jimenez, Michael Nabors, and many more. The worship theme is The Book of Exodus, with Emphasis on Prayers of the People. Register now at worship.calvin.edu.
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Great Lakes Regional Youth Event 
We're already gearing up for the Regional Youth Event (RYE), which will be held on July 10-13, 2014 at Lakeland College in Sheboygan, WI. The following conferences are participating: Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana/Kentucky, Illinois, Illinois South and the Missouri Mid-South. The RYE is open to all youth grades 6-12. Cost and registration materials will be available soon, but mark this date on your 2014 calendars now! Flyer.
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Please be sure to complete the following items by December 31, 2013 to earn up to $200 in financial incentives through the 2013 Healthy Stewards Wellness Rewards program.
How to earn your incentives:- Log in to the member website at www.highmarkbcbs.com.
(If you need to register, please follow the instructions to get a login ID and password.) - Click on the Rewards Program link.
- Complete each of the following:
* Wellness Profile (earn $100)
* Personal Health Record (earn $50)
* Preventive Visit (earn $50)
For login assistance, please call 1.877.298.3918. If you have Healthy Stewards Wellness Rewards questions, please call a Pension Boards Health Services Representative at 1.800.642.6543, ext. 2870.
Note: The incentive check for your participation in the activities listed above will be mailed to you in 2014. | |
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Conference Office Holiday Schedule
Please note the following days when our office will be closed for the holiday season:  - December 24, 25, 26 and 31
- January 1
- We will be open for half a day on December 23 and 27 from 8 am to noon.
Several of us are taking a few days off in December (there's still shopping to do!) but we will always be available to assist you with any needs that arise. Thank you for your patience!
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Quotes for Your Week - A Great Future
There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly.  - R. Buckminster Fuller
There is a great future in front of you; you can leave your past behind.
- Joel Osteen
When you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.
- Joseph Campbell
When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness.
- Joseph Campbell
There are all kinds of futures. There is a hoped-for future, there is a feared future, there is a predictable future, and there is an unimagined future.
- Werner Erhard
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Employment postings will run for one month, unless otherwise specified.
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Contact Us
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Missouri Mid-South Conference United Church of Christ 314-962-8740 or 877-877-5884 Email renee@mmsucc.org to submit information for a future issue. Not all submissions may be used in future eCouriers. |
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