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Rooted in Faith and Practice
 Looking for a blog focused on both informed faith and intentional practice? Interim Associate Conference Minister Kent Ulery has created just such a site - Rooted in Faith and Practice - where he comments either on Christianity in the public square or on best practices in church administration. Check out his latest post at Rooted in Faith and Practice and be sure to leave comments for your colleagues' insight.
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"Mission 4/1 Earth: 50 Great Days" is about boldly living Jesus' let-your-light-shine proclamation in the Sermon on the Mount: "That they may see your good works!" It is an opportunity to live out our faith - in unity, as one church - for the sake of our fragile planet Earth.
Launching on Easter Monday, April 1, 2013, and continuing through the 50 days of Eastertide, United Church of Christ congregations, colleges, seminaries, camps and outdoor ministries, and health and human service agencies will join together in a shared mission campaign to:
- Collectively offer more than one million hours of engaged earth care.
- Collectively plant more than 100,000 trees.
- Collectively write and send more than 100,000 advocacy letters on environmental concerns.
Groups are encouraged to engage in creative local mission projects, service opportunities, educational programs, worship services, and media events. Your innovation will spark momentum for the initiative and stir the imaginations of other UCC people, agencies, schools, and congregations.
The Wisconsin Conference is working on forming goals for Mission 4/1 Earth. What will YOU do?
Read more about Mission 4/1 Earth on the UCC website. |
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McFarland UCC Enjoys "Messy Church"
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A new approach to worship for families is being tried the second Sunday of each month at McFarland UCC: Messy Church. Messy Church is about storytelling from the Bible, crafts and quality time together, snack and a simple picky-eater-friendly dinner, and a closing 15-minute devotional time. Pastor Kerri Parker and other team members from the McFarland UCC have attended the Wisconsin Conference's Turnaround Church program and have been exploring ways to revitalize and renew their congegration. |
Feed Your Spirit
New UCC "Feed Your Spirit" webpage offers spiritual lift with practical ideas and theological depth
This month, the United Church of Christ debuted a new webpage: Feed Your Spirit. The page is offers resources to individuals to use in their own spiritual growth and development, featuring the following elements to help people add faith and God to everyday life:
- StillSpeaking Daily Devotional - the original Daily Devotional now in its 6th year.
- Spiritual 8-Ball - ask it a yes or no question, get a scriptural answer; new answers rotated in quarterly.
- Peek, Ponder, Pray - a new photo, 2-sentence reflection, and prayer every day.
- Praying the News - twice weekly, brief commentary on current news story, including popular culture and sports, with link to the story and a prayer.
- Spiritual Practices - brief, easy instructions on practices like Lectio Divina, Tibetan Prayer Flags, Fasting, Keeping Shabbat, Prayer beads, the Jesus Prayer, Midrash, and more.
- Which Bible Character Are You? - Interactive quiz that tells you who you most resemble from the Bible and gives you a follow-up bit of advice.
- Dear Theo - an advice column with new readers' questions weekly.
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MissionInsite Religious Survey Quadrennium
Through the Wisconsin Conference's membership with MissionInsite, Wisconsin UCC churches may now access the MissionInsite Religious Survey Quadrennium, a full survey of American Religious Beliefs, Attitudes and Practices as compared to national averages.
Churches can use the data found at the MissionInsite website to start conversations around who lives in the neighborhood and why they might need the church. The conversation you start about the people who aren't there yet will help you to better understand the people who are.
To access the Quadrennium report, follow the directions on the WCUCC MissionInsite webpage, if it is your church's first time registering with MissionInsite. Then, after you have finished creating your MissionInsite account, login to MissionInsite and find the Quad tab of Predesigned Reports. Individual Quadrennium variables for the study area selected are found in the Quad tab of Build a Report. Don't forget to check out the many other resources available to you while you're at the website - free to you through the membership of the Wisconsin Conference. |
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Searchable Ministry Opportunities Database
In February 2013, a searchable online listing of all UCC Ministry Opportunities replaced the previous United Church Employment Opportunities weekly bulletin. The new UCC Ministry Opportunities is a live, dynamic database built for exploring God's call. Click here to check it out. |
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United Church Camps
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Come ignite your fire, feed your soul, and build your faith at Moon Beach and Pilgrim Center in 2013. Whether you are looking for an event you participated in last year or something new, there are plenty of outdoor ministry activities to choose from. Events start soon including a Rainbow Weekend Retreat, Young Clergy Event, Women's Wild Winter Retreat, and Steps on the Journey of Healing. To learn more about offerings, including several new ones, and to register please visit www.ucci.org.
United Church Camps is also looking for summer volunteers and staff. If you are interested, please contact Mike or Glenn. |
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Eden Theological Seminary Offers Scholarships
"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 that Eden is extending, please contact Rev. Carol Shanks, Director of Admissions, at 877-627-5652. You can also read more at www.eden.edu. |
"Change your life. Change the world." Spend your summer - May 30 to August 12, 2013 - in one of the Summer Communities of Service. Applications for 2013 for participants aged 19-30 are now ready. For more information, click here. Summer Communities of Service is a n ecumenical collaboration of UCC Volunteer Ministries and the Alliance of Baptists. |
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Kent Ulery's Blog
Interim Associate Conference Minister Kent Ulery writes a blog: Rooted in Faith and Practice.
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Spring Youth Event
FEED THE HUNGRY! Games, April 5-7, 2013, grades 9-12.
Housing forms are due
March 3, 2013.
More information
Online registration |
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Conference Events Calendar
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Got News?
Let us know! If you have something you'd like considered for publication in Wisconsin Conference Life, please send it to Nola at nrisseconnolly@wcucc.org. |
PO Box 435
DeForest, WI 53532 |
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