1. National Youth Event
2. National Yearbook Forms
3. Save the Date for Annual Meeting
4. Invitation from Congregational Church in Cumberland
5. Valerie Tutson, Master Storyteller
6. Update from John Thomas
1. The first mailing for the Maine Conference’s trip to the National
Youth Event has been sent to all the churches and interested youth.
Now is the time to begin your fundraising efforts to help young people attend
this exciting event. National Youth Event will be July 24-28, 2008 in Knoxville,
and the Maine Conference would like to fill buses to go to Kentucky. The information
and preliminary registration forms are also available on the Conference website
www.maineucc.org. Additional information will be sent as it becomes available.
2. National yearbook forms should now have been received by all the church offices.
If you haven’t received yours yet, please contact Sue Stevens (suestevens@maineucc.org)
in the conference office. Remember, these are end of the year reports for 2007,
so you do not need to wait for your annual meeting to complete the forms. Please
return the yellow copies of each form in the enclosed envelope, addressed to
the Conference office, by January 30. Thanks for your help.
3. Just a reminder that the Maine Conference Annual Meeting
this year will be held at the University of Maine in Farmington on June 20 –
22, 2008. Save the Date and Watch for more information in future ACE editions.
4. An invitation from the Congregational Church in Cumberland UCC to attend
two very special events with Valerie Tutson ~ Professional Storyteller,
“Telling Our Stories”, Saturday, January 19th, 2:00 –
4:00 p.m., a workshop for teachers, other adults, and children (age 5 and up)
who are interested in learning more about this the wonderful art. Participants
will be able to explore their own stories and learn story-telling techniques
in a highly participatory program. For planning purposes, please call the church
office if you plan to attend (829-3419.)
A Performance, "Stories from Black History", Saturday,
January 19, 7:00-8:30 p.m. Please join us for an evening performance with this
very special guest. A pot luck dinner will precede the performance, at 5:30
p.m.
5. First Parish Church, Main Street, Yarmouth is also hosting Master
Storyteller, Valerie Tutson, January 12 and 13. Valerie will be at
First Parish not only to share stories of the people of faith behind the civil
rights movement, but also to help each of us find the power in our own stories.
Valerie will present a Workshop on Saturday, January 12 at 2:00 p.m. followed
by a Storytelling Performance that evening at 7:00 p.m. She will also present
at worship on Sunday, January 13 at 10:00 a.m. All are welcome.
6. From Advent through Epiphany members of the United Church of Christ have
observed the incarnation in many ways through fruitful works pleasing to God.
I am particularly grateful for the generosity that has surpassed our $100,000
goal of support for Iraqi refugees forced to flee their homes by sectarian violence.
To date we have received $141,594, which will be shared through
our ecumenical partners to help provide humanitarian aid to these displaced
persons. Contributions can still be made online if you still wish to make a
gift. Our members have also been generous with their prayers for U.S. servicemen
and service women, many of whom face danger and were unable to be with family
and friends during the holiday season. You may read some of those prayers posted
online.
Make us worthy, O Lord, to honor Your birth. Through our generosity, our
prayers, and our protest for peace, may Your light shine forth in our souls.
And may the prayers of all our Iraqi sisters and brothers, of whatever faith,
be met by the One who has come among us to make this world worthy of its Creator.
God Bless You,
The Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ