The Thanksgiving Day Free Store will be open for business for the 20th time this November, distributing winter coats and other necessities to individuals and families in need. As the name implies, everything in the store is free. The Thanksgiving Day Free Store is held at St. Stephen's School building on Clinton Avenue in Minneapolis, and is only open on Thanksgiving Day. In 2012, more than 700 people were served. The guests were mostly men, but there were more than 100 women and more than 70 children. Many were homeless.  

Is your church thriving? 

Thriving churches make a difference in people's lives. How is YOUR church making that difference? 

Come to Church on the Move at Associated Church in Owatonna on November 8 for a compelling keynote on just what makes a church a thriving church from Rev. Rick Wagner! What doors are opening for your church? 

Cost: $10/person; includes lunch. Bring a team of 5 and your fifth person comes at no cost!  

Register Now!  

• A Service of Farewell for Rev. Hank Campbell will be conducted Sunday, October 26 at 9:00am at UCC New Ulm. The church is located at 301 South Minnesota in New Ulm. Rev. Campbell has served the church in New Ulm since November 1995.
   
• Rev. Emily Goldthwaite Fries, Associate Minister at Mayflower UCC in Minneapolis was recently interviewed by Christian Century for an article introducing the United Church Funds' Fossil Free Investment Fund. You can read that article here.
   
• An Ecclesiastical Council for Charles Owens will be held Thursday, October 30 at 11:00am at Union Congregational UCC (3700 Alabama Ave, St. Louis Park), with lunch to follow. A period of examination to be followed by a vote on a motion that Charles Owens be ordained into the ministry of the United Church of Christ. Voting will be by all clergy with standing and lay delegates from a minimum of seven churches with standing in the same formula as prescribed for other voting meetings of the Conference. To ensure a quorum, please RSVP to the church at 952-929-8566 or info@unionslp.com. Anyone who wishes to have lunch following the Council is requested to so indicate with the RSVP. Find more information about Charles here.

• The General Minister and President Search Committee of the United Church of Christ, on which Conference Minister Shari Prestemon is a member, is requesting your prayers and your thoughtful consideration of who might best serve the UCC in this extraordinary way and lead us into the future.
  

  UCC: General Minister and President Search

  
  
• Back Bay Mission: Last opportunity to volunteer for the Back Bay Mission trip January 25-31, 2015. We have 23 volunteers now and can take 8 more volunteers. The deadline to notify Back Bay of the number of volunteers who will be traveling to Biloxi, Mississippi is November 15th. The cost of the trip is $175 plus the cost to travel to Biloxi, food, motel, gas and/or plane fare. If you have any questions, please contact Bob Peterson (rpeter446@aol.com) or 715-549-6798. If you are interested in volunteering, here is the link to the application form. Please email or mail it to Bob Peterson, 1200 McKinley Dr, Hudson, WI 54016.

   

• Unexpected Places! The Call to the 30th General Synod of the United Church of Christ has recently been issued, and registration is now open! Make plans to head to Cleveland this June with thousands of your fellow UCCers! Read the call now, and sign up!
   

• Give to the Max Day is quickly approaching. As GiveMN.org is working with a new vendor, there are some organizations that didn't transfer over. The Minnesota Conference was one of them, and your church may have been as well. To ensure that your church is active on GiveMN.org in time for Give to the Max day, send these 3 items to help@givemn.org or fax to 651-800-4910.
  • Church's letter from the IRS stating their EIN number.
  • A letter, on the church letterhead, requesting inclusion on GiveMN.org. The letterhead must include organization name, physical address, mailing address (if different), phone number, email address, and website. It needs to be signed by an elected officer of the church
  • Some kind of proof that the church is in good standing with the MN Conference. The church can use the Conference directory or a letter from the Conference affirming their good standing.

  If a church was on GiveMN previously, their web age will be restored. All organizations have until Oct. 31st to restore their pages. Otherwise they will not be able to participate on Give to the Max. The Conference Office will happily assist with these items if necessary. Contact Alison Bents at alisonb@uccmn.org.

   
• Clergy clusters in the coming week:
• South Central Cluster: Mon, Oct 27, 9:00am
  Federated Church, Morris
• Northwest Clergy Cluster: Tues, Oct 28, 10:00am
  First Congregational UCC, Moorhead