When our church receives new members, we share a covenant that includes the commitment to "journey together." Often, we realize this can mean "journeying" into unwanted, dark, difficult or surprising places with each other. We have stood with each other as loved ones pass away. We stand with each other in the difficult role of being children of aging parents, or parents of growing children. We bear witness to the power of hope when someone we love struggles with depression. We celebrate commitments made, successes honored, and loves found. The Christian faith, we realize, is rarely about solutions; it is about the authentic and real journey of life and a common trust that our God walks with us, no matter what.

 

For a variety of reasons, a former bishop in another denomination found us in the immediate aftermath of a horrible car accident that resulted in the death of an innocent and lovely woman in a nearby community.

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There's less than a week left to register for the Great Lakes Regional Youth Event in Sheboygan!

Do you want to deepen your faith and knowledge? Do you want to grow in spiritual maturity? Do you want to gain skills for empowering the ministry of Christ's church? Then Lay Academy is for you! The next sessions of Lay Academy, Faith Foundations Year 1 and Lay Leadership Skills Year 3, are now forming. The registration deadline is coming right up on July 31.

 

Church takes Open and Affirming stance, ordains first gay minister courtesy of MyWalworthCounty.com.  

 

Since the publication of the above article, Rev. Erik Koepnick presided over the state's first gay marriage in Milwaukee, and he married his partner, Ryan Reichard. -Ed. 

Taught by Dr. Martha Ann Baumer, this course is an introduction to the United Church of Christ, appropriate for any person interested in its history and polity, with an invitation to explore further.

 

Topics include:

• The United Church of Christ Today
• Covenant Commitments and Basic Ideas
• How We Got This Way, Parts I and II
• Ministry
• Worship
• Common Life, Basic Texts
• Current Concerns

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Do you have creative tendencies? Free time during week days? The Wisconsin Conference Arts Committee is looking for new members. The Arts Committee is the group that creates those fabulous Annual Meeting stage designs each year. The committee begins its work in September, and continues to June, as the committee prepares for the art installation at Annual Meeting. Committee meetings are at the Conference Center in DeForest, and workdays are at Pilgrim Center. Interests/talents in any of the arts are welcome.

 

Become part of the fun and camaraderie with others engaging in the creative process in a faith context. Submit your name as a candidate for the Arts Committee! For more information contact Roberta Tucker at rstucker@charter.net. 

 

The June issue of The Parish Paper is all about "Caring for the Caregiver." You can check it out on the Wisconsin Conference website.

 

Congratulations to Milwaukee's Plymouth Church! They received a Mayor's Design Award for their recent building renovation.

 

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Wisconsin Conference United Church of Christ | 4459 Gray Road | PO Box 435 | DeForest, WI  53532

   

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