ALL CONFERNCE E-MAIL 
September 16, 2009
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- Come to Annual Meeting next weekend.
- Director will lead discussion of “Aliens Among Us”
- Free Choir Robes and/or Hymnals
- Attention Youth Ministry Leaders - Fall Convention 2009!
- Resourcing the Local Church Committee Nomination.
- An invitation from the Brewer Church
- Chautauqua Chaplain of the Week Program
- Bulletin Bloopers
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1. Please join us at Sunday River as we “Hold Fast to Love and Justice” at the Maine Conference 2009 Annual Meeting, next weekend, Sept. 25-27. The reports, budget and agenda for Annual Meeting are posted on the Conference website. If you are having trouble finding or printing them for your delegates, please call Sue at the Conference office. This is a wonderful time to greet old friends and make new ones, work and worship together for the good of all, and revel in the beauty that is God’s world in the fall. See you on the mountain.
2. The Witness Life Commission is pleased to announce that Director Martina Radwan will be with us at Conference Annual Meeting and will participate in the discussion following her film, “Aliens Among Us”. We look forward to meeting Martina in person and hope you will all welcome her back to Maine and to our church family.
3. GET PAID TO STAY HEALTHY: 2008 myhealthIQ participants can qualify for $100 incentive. Visit our website to learn more!
In our efforts to gain participation for the myhealthIQ wellness exam available to UCC (Non-Medicare) Members at the Maine Conference Annual Meeting in Bethel, ME on Saturday, September 26th we would like to provide you the below link to make reservations to attend the exam.
Please click https://www-secure.pbucc.org/healthy_stewards.asp here to reserve a spot for your wellness exam or contact Camale Allen, Wellness Administrator at callen@pbucc.org or by phone at 800.642.6543, ext. 2872 today! Please visit www.pbucc.org to learn more about this exciting wellness offering!
4. FREE CHOIR ROBES AND/OR HYMNALS
Choir robes are cream colored with brown yokes and full sleeves that fasten at the wrist. There are about 26.
Hymns for the Living Church was published in 1974 by Hope Pub. Co. and printed in 1987. Covers are dark blue. There are about 24.
If you have an interest in these please call Pastor Biggar at the Standish Congregational Church - 642-3386 or e-mail at crbbiggar@earthlink.net
5. The State Youth Council of the Maine Conference (the "SYC" - a group comprised of all high school youth in the Conference) will be holding their annual "Fall Convention" October 16-18th at Pilgrim Lodge. This is one of many great opportunities provided by the SYC for kids to meet others their own age from around the state and have a great weekend of fellowship and faith at a fantastic location. All of the event details, including the registration form are available on the SYC website:
http://www.MaineSYC.org Please pass this info along to all high school youth you work with and encourage them to attend. Due to financial concerns the event will need to be cancelled if enough registrations are not in the mail by September 26th, so please hurry! Every church should be sending at least 1 youth delegate to make sure there are youth voice from all over the state. Churches are encouraged to provide financial support for their youth but assistance is also available from the SYC (cost should not prohibit any youth from attending). This is a great opportunity for kids to get involved in the life of the church at the Conference level. Please pass this information on to your youth and/or the person who works with youth ministry in your congregation! It's going to be an amazing event but we NEED YOUR HELP to make sure it's a success! If you are at Annual Meeting please stop by the State Youth Council display. We would love to meet you!
6. Resourcing the Local Church Committee Nomination.
Nominations for a lay person from the central/mid-coast area are needed to serve on the Maine Conference Resourcing the Local Church Committee (refer to http://maineucc.org/resources/resourcing_local_church_guidelines.htm for more info). The RLC committee meets 3-4 times a year (typically on a Thursday at Hammond Street Congregational Church in Bangor) – their next meeting is scheduled for October 15, 2009 at 10:00 am. The committee makes decisions to award grant monies to churches who request funding for emergency needs or special projects. The money comes from an endowment that was raised during the last Conference Capital Campaign. Nominations should be forwarded to Rev. Darren Morgan, Acting Associate Conference Minister for Small Church Development, who staffs this committee. Nominations will be submitted to the Coordinating Council who makes the appointment. If you have any questions, contact Rev. Morgan at dmorgan207@roadrunner.com or telephone 944-9469.
7. An invitation from the Brewer Church
1000 Voices
To benefit the Brewer Christian Food Cupboard
September 20, 2009
2:55-3:20 p.m.
Brewer High School Gym
Who's Invited?
Anybody and everybody who sings--in a choir, in the car, or shower--or likes to listen to other people sing! This promises to be a fun-filled event for people of all ages and stages in life.
The Back Story
During the past couple years, the Music Committee has invited people who attend Sunday service at First Congregational Church to write about their favorite church songs for the church newsletter. Here’s what Don Skinner wrote about his favorite hymn O, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.
“It was the first hymn sung, with gusto, by the congregation of a small farming community Methodist Church, on the day I joined that church in 1950. I have often wondered how great it would be to hear a thousand voices sing it with the same ‘gusto’ that that small congregation sang it, on a brisk autumn Sunday with fields of grain promising an abundant harvest.”
So, we wanna get 1000 people together to sing "O, for a Thousand Tongues" so that Don can hear what it sounds like!
What to Bring
1. Bring a can or box of food as a donation to the Brewer Christian Food cupboard because according to Jim Rouche, food cupboard manager, the Cupboard is seeing more first-time clients each month and this is a good time of year to replenish the emptying shelves.
2. Bring a musical instrument, if you play one and can transpose the music in your head.
3. Bring your family and friends, cuz that's the only way we'll get 1000 voices!
Come When You Can, Leave When You Must
Doors will open at 2:10 and "Gathering Music" will be provided by Pat Sylvia & Friends, Shawn Williams. We'll sing "O for a Thousand Tongues..." either side of 3 p.m. And when we're done, "Traveling Music" will be provided by musicians from First Congregational Church of Brewer.
Questions and More Information
You can get more information, as it becomes available, on Facebook at "1000 Voices" event, http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=109898784496 by emailing athousandvoices@gmail.com or calling 989.7350.
8. Our 2009 Season at Chautauqua has ended and it was a wonderful season. The Chautauqua UCC Society Inc. welcomed nine Chaplains this year including Dr. Heidi Hadsell, president of Hartford Seminary.
I encourage you to look at our website www.chautauquaucc.org to find out more about the Society and our programs. You may also want to look at the Chautauqua Institution's website ciweb.org to view the upcoming season and the various topics for discussion.
Attached please find the PDF file for the application for the Chautauqua Chaplain of the Week program funded by the Chautauqua UCC Society, Inc. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. Rev. LaVerne M. Gill, Chaplain Administrator lmgill2309@yahoo.com
9. Bulletin Bloopers: The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday : “I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours”