If I had a quarter for every time I've had a conversation about how the church just needs more young families, I'd be pretty well off. I bet you would too. You and other adults in your church might have fond memories of boarding a bus for that life-changing national youth gathering or the mission trip that inspired you to be a pastor or waiting along the side of the road while someone rescued your group as your church's old yellow school bus one more time on the way to the summer canoeing trip. Even with those wonderful memories in tow, you might have realized that what the church has done in the past to form children, youth and families in faith just might not be working any more.  READ MORE

 

This is a friendly reminder to you regarding Yearbook Reporting to the National offices in Cleveland. The deadline is fast approaching; March 9th will be here before we know it!  All of the information you provide is very important - giving a look into the historical window of the life of your church for generations to come. 

 

For online instructions and videos please visit:  http://www.ucc.org/research_yearbook.

 

To login to the UCC Data Hub please go to  http://datahub.ucc.org/.

 

READ MORE

 

**Please remember to take your time when entering your information - once you submit your report you will not be able to make any changes or additions. Also please make sure that when you fill out the report for Financial or Ministerial Support, do not include any kind of punctuation (no $ signs, commas, decimal points, etc.) - only whole numbers will be accepted. If any of these are entered with your figures the report will not be accepted. 

 

Please let us know if you have any questions - email (lisa@michucc.org) or call 517/332-3511 x204.  

 

We thank you in advance for your help! We realize that entering your information online is very different and may be somewhat 'scary' - but we are only a phone call or email away and ready to assist you if you have any problems.

 

 

 http://www.grbj.com/articles/81739-church-opts-for-solar-panels

 

 

Saturday, April 18, 2015

1001 Chester Road

Lansing, MI 48912

In preparation for the Festival of Faith, participants are encouraged to read our keynoter's most recent book. Lillian Daniel's book, When "Spiritual But Not Religious" Is Not Enough, is available through your local library, your favorite bookstore, or your favorite online retailer, including:  Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, & Indie Bound.

Online registration will be available soon! 

It was the desire of Immanuel United Church of Christ - Detroit, as it was disbanding, to award scholarships for seminary students preparing for Ordination and Service in the United Church of Christ. Scholarship funds are available through an endowment fund provided by Immanuel United Church of Christ - Detroit by a resolution adopted at a Special Congregational Meeting held on November 14, 1999.  The fund will be disbursed in accordance with the policies and practices of the Michigan Conference of the United Church of Christ. The Faith Formation Mission Area Team is currently responsible for selecting recipients.

We encourage Members in Discernment who are Seminary students to apply for this Scholarship, and for renewal(s) if eligible! The deadline for submitting applications (or renewal requests) is May 1st of the current year. Awards are granted during the summer so that funds can be disbursed at the beginning of the Fall Seminary schedules. A student is eligible for the scholarship for a maximum of three (3) Full Time years or equivalent (e.g. two to five Part Time years). 

Please visit the link below:

 

Stop chasing the next best way to do children, youth and family ministry and learn the latest best practices through one of these upcoming learning events. Whether you are a volunteer or a seasoned church staff person, these events will give your ministry a much needed shot in the arm! (And, you don't even have to travel very far!) Up to $100 matching scholarships are available to churches sending participants to these events.

Progressive Youth Ministry Conference:  March 19-21, 2015. 

Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago

 

The Shower of Stoles Exhibit, hosted by the Affirmations Faith Alliance contains an extraordinary collection of liturgical stoles and other sacred items representing the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT) people of faith, covering over 30 denominations and faith traditions, from six countries on three continents. This collection celebrates the gifts of LGBT persons who serve congregations in countless ways, including those who have been excluded from service, or who serve in silence, because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Shower of Stoles Exhibit will run from March 1 - March 14, 2015, 10 - 7p.m. on most days. The opening wine/cheese reception on March 1, 3 - 5 p.m. will feature Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg of Congregation Shir Tikvah, in Troy, MI, who will speak of his journey and has graciously donated a tallit (prayer shawl) in honor of this event. Reverend Beth Rakestraw, from Divine Peace Metropolitan Community Church in Waterford, MI will be our speaker at the closing ceremony/reception on Saturday, March 14.

The event is free of charge but donations are gratefully accepted and will allow the Affirmations Faith Alliance to continue providing these programs.

 

The Rebirthing of God:  Christianity's Struggle for New Beginnings

By John Philip Newell

 

John Philip Newell creatively weaves special places in the Iona community of Scotland with signs "... pointing to a radical reemergence of the Divine from deep within us".  He invites us to feel the hurt and grief of a dying form of Christianity, while still being open to ways that the Spirit is moving and fashioning something new.  Newell reminds us that our Christian story is one of resurrection, not resuscitation (as Carl Jung once observed).  He encourages us to reimagine Christianity as being a blessing to the earth.

 

This book was profoundly helpful and hopeful for me.  I have never been to Iona (although that is a dream of mine) but Newell brings it alive as he uses it to illustrate sign posts along a spiritual journey.  In eight movements, he envisions and reconnects us with a deep passion for the earth, compassion, light, the journey, spiritual practice, non-violence, the unconscious, and love.  Christianity is not dying.  It is changing, however.  A new beginning calls us to go deeper and to live a new relationship with God that is alive and challenging and risky and gentle and kind and loving and powerful and spirit-led and more than we can imagine.

 

If you have the sense that God is stirring things up among us and that the structures of the Christian church are not able to hold that movement any longer, this book may be as inspiring for you as it was for me. 

 

Rev. Cheryl L. Burke

 

Newell, John Philip (2014-06-06). The Rebirthing of God: Christianity's Struggle for New Beginnings. SkyLight Paths Publishing. Kindle Edition.

WE ARE THE DREAM OF JUSTICE ("DOJ") group of the Michigan Conference of the UCC ("MCUCC").  Last fall the MCUCC passed a resolution to help put an end to the "racialized" Criminal-Justice/Mass Incarceration system. The DOJ is the group formed by the Michigan Conference UCC to implement the resolution. This racialized criminal justice system impacts disproportionately on people of color; the impact is intentional and has racist roots. Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In The Age Of Colorblindness, provides important information about this latent but real racism in the U.S. This book has opened-the-door so we can clearly see the ongoing racism.

Read more about the on-going work of the Dream of Justice Team and learn how you can get involved.

Follow the link below to read the resolution and sign the Statement of Support.

 

In the Jewish Talmud we read: Never pray in a room without windows." While standing at his window in Northern California, UCC Pastor and therapist Wayne Muller reminds us: "This is prayer. This is deep, faithful listening, waiting for what is hidden to be revealed. Prayer is not words; prayer is what happens when you listen and wait, beneath the words, for the outline of heaven to emerge."

At the Window:  A Retreat on Prayer will be offered twice:

Tower Hill Camp & Retreat Center

12173 Tower Hill Road, Sawyer, MI 49125

8:30a - 4:00p

Pilgrim Park Camp & Conference Center

26449 - 1340 North Avenue, Princeton, IL 61356

8:30a - 4:00p