ALL CONFERENCE E-MAIL 
Dec. 30, 2009
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WISHING YOU ALL A BLESSED NEW YEAR
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- Resource Center Shopping Cart is not working
- Resource Center Plea
- 2010 Conference Yearbook available
- Annuity Plan members education webinar
- Together Building Bridges
- “Faithfully Facing Dying” Lenten Resources
- New Year’s Resolutions??
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1. Please note that the Shopping Cart for the Resource Center On-line Catalog is not currently working properly. So, until further notice please email requests directly to the Resource Center at resourcecenter@maineucc.org or call 1-800-244-0937. Thank you, Anne
2. Resource Center Plea
Adapted for the Maine Conference UCC original by L. E. Moeller
Better not wait… what, it’s Advent?
‘Tis Advent, then Christmas, then New Year’s…oh, my!
Yet some things can’t wait… so please hear my cry;
God has touched many… wh’er by eye, lip or ear…
As tons of materials we’ve shipped through the year.
To Scarborough… Norway… Durham…Blue Hill …
To Wendy, to Carol… and others galore!
Your servants to be, our mission it is…
It’s in Christ we are one… the mission is His!
Amidst all these great memories…
This year-ending PLEA:
Return all your stuff… it’s time to IN-VEN-TOR-Y!
Thank you for a great year!
3. The 2010 Edition of the Maine Conference Yearbook will be available on the website by the end of this week. Section 1 containing Commission and Committee members, and Association information; and Section 3 containing local church addresses, pastors and hours of worship will be posted on the website this week. Section 2 containing address and phone number of Conference clergy and lay leaders will not be posted to the website, but will be available from the Conference office.
4. Did you know that, as an Annuity Plan member, you determine how the contributions made to your accumulation account are invested? You can change the way your existing accumulations and future contributions are invested. A periodic review and reallocation of your assets is important as you get closer to retirement. Now, you can reallocate your investments securely online using a new electronic form.
The Annuity Plan offers eight Fund options designed to meet your financial goals, taking into account your personal investment risk tolerance. You can invest in any of the Funds – or in a combination of Funds – that best suits your needs, including four Target Annuitization Date (TAD) Funds that are automatically reallocated to help preserve the value of your investments as you draw closer to retirement.
To learn more about your investment options and how to use the online form, join us for an online Member Education Webinar on Wednesday, January 13 at Noon (Eastern). The webinar will be conducted using WebEx conferencing technology. During the online presentation, there will be an opportunity to have your questions answered by knowledgeable Pension Boards staff.
To participate, you will need:
- a computer with Internet access (to view the presentation), as well as
- a phone (for audio)
Click here to register with WebEx for the January 13 webinar.
Once you register, you will receive a confirmation e-mail with instructions for joining the meeting, including a telephone number for the audio portion of the presentation.*
For technical assistance:
- Go to https://pbucc.webex.com/pbucc/mc
- On the navigation bar on the left click “Support”
If you have questions about the January 13 webinar, please contact info@pbucc.org.
We look forward to your participation!
For general information on PBUCC's Member Education program as well as information about PBUCC's Member Education Conference Call/Webinar Series, please see the Member Education section of the Pension Boards’ web site at www.pbucc.org.
5. Women Leader's of New England
CELEBRATION VIII,
TOGETHER BUILDING BRIDGES
"Happy New Year!" The time is getting closer! Come, Renew Your Spirit! Join other Christian women from around New England when we get together to celebrate our faith in Burlington, VT. March 12-14, 2010. This is a once every four years event. We had around 1000 women attend in 2006.
It’s not too late to register for the UCC Women Leaders of New England CELEBRATION VIII, Together Building Bridges. If you missed the early registration for a mere $10.00 more you can still register. Choose from 28 stimulating workshops and sign up for any of the speaker meals planned during our exciting event. This can be easily done by going to our website uccwomenscelebration.org.
It will be held at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Burlington, VT. Be sure you make your hotel reservations by calling one of the three hotels we have suggested, The Sheraton, The Holiday Inn or The Best Western. Ask for the New England Women's Celebration VIII rate.
Please invite your daughters, granddaughters (14 and older) and friends for our intergenerational participatory workshop, "CONNECTIONS".
Remember, your Association, church or women's group, if you have one, may have scholarship money to help send some of your youth or members of your church to this once every four year event for women around New England. For further information contact the Coordinator, Susan Waldron 860 923 2887 or swaldron01@snet.net
There is not much time left to register. We hope to see YOU there!
6. Dear Friends:
In 2007 and 2009 the General Synod referred two Resolutions on death and dying for further study. JWM was designated as the implementing body. A new study guide entitled “Faithfully Facing Dying: A Lenten Study Guide on Critical Issues and Decisions for the Members of the United Church of Christ” has been prepared by a dedicated committee to assist churches in a six-week Lenten study and discussion on the range of choices which surround dying and death – hospice care, advance directives, removal of life support, physician aid-in-dying, pain and many other issues.
Conferences, Associations and Local Congregations are being asked to:
- Engage members in a six-week Lenten Study to reflect, learn about and discuss issues pertaining to end-of-life.
- Participate in a survey after Easter. We will ask you to provide feedback on what your members think and feel about various end-of-life choices. The feedback will be used to assist the committee in the preparation of new resources that will help clergy and lay members of the UCC when these issues do arise.
You may download the complete Study Guide here. A Resource list will be added to the web page on Monday.
http://www.ucc.org/justice/health/faithfully-facing-dying/
We look forward to your participating in this important study and to your subsequent feedback.
“If we live, we live to the Lord and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we llive or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Romans 14:8)
Have a wonderful and blessed holiday.
Peace,
Barbara T. Baylor, MPH
Minister for Health Care Justice
Justice & Witness Ministries, United Church of Christ
Phone: (216) 736-3708, Fax: (216) 736-3703, Email: baylorb@ucc.org
7. Helpful Holiday Diet Tips
1. If no one sees you eat it, it has no calories
2. If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, they cancel each other out
3. If you eat standing up, it doesn't count!
4. STRESSED is just DESSERTS spelled backwards
5. If you eat the food off someone else's plate, it doesn't count
6, Cookie pieces contain no calories because the breakage causes calorie leakage
7. Food used for medicinal purposes have no calories. This includes: any chocolate used for energy, brandy, cheesecake, and Haagen-Daz Ice Cream
8. When eating with someone else, calories don't count if you both eat the same amount
9. Movie-related foods are much lower in calories simply because they are a part of the entertainment experience and not part of one's personal fuel. This includes: Milk Duds, popcorn with butter, Junior Mints, Snickers, and Gummi Bears.