1. Seeking SYC Advisors
2. Eric Smith joins Maine Council of Churches
3. Mission Interpreters Training
4. Halos and Hammers to visit Waldo County
5. Annual Meeting 2007 Info Available
6. What was your action on the 2006 Resolutons?
7. “Living the Questions” program
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1. Due to recent relocations and resignations the State Youth Council (SYC) is looking to add two advisors to it's ranks. Ideally they will both be female as the current advisors are both male. One of the new advisors has to be a clergy member in good standing with the Maine Conference of the UCC. The other may be a lay person. Below is a link to the SYC Advisor page. There you will find more information about what is involved in the Advisor position, and a downloadable application packet. If you're interested in helping the SYC, please download the application packet and return it by July 27th. http://mainesyc.org/advisors.html

2. The Maine Council of Churches announces that Eric C. Smith has joined their staff. In his role as Congregational Outreach Coordinator, Smith will be traveling throughout Maine bringing the work of the Maine Council of Churches to individual congregations, assisting churches with their own mission and focusing on how individuals can work with the Council on social justice issues. Smith is a lifelong member of the First Parish Church, United Church of Christ (UCC) in Freeport and is completing four years of service as Assistant Minister for Children, Youth and Mission with the First Parish Church, United Church of Christ in Gorham. He began his work with the Maine Council of Churches on May 1st. Smith served for four years as Assistant Director of Outdoor Ministries for the Maine Conference, United Church of Christ at Pilgrim Lodge in West Gardiner. He remains committed to spiritual development outside the Sunday school classroom and to challenging youth and young adults to live out the gospel in their daily lives.

3. The growing Mission Interpreters project is offering yet another national training for interested mission advocates. We would ask that you please forward the attached information to your conference mission/outreach committee and to any interested individuals. This October 19-21 training will be held in Cleveland and is open to all. While we hope your conference will help to support the cost of the training and travel for individuals, scholarship money is available. We appreciate your participation in getting this information to those who will bring greater mission awareness into your conference team. If you have any questions, please contact me or Bob Shebeck  at bshebeck@dom.disciples.org.

4. The United Church of Christ in Southbury, CT has announced that 67 students and chaperones will journey to Waldo County, Maine to paint, repair, install, insulate and remodel property. The communities of Frankfort, Searsport, Belfast, Stockton Springs and Holden have readily accepted their assistance and have provided an incredible amount of support to facilitate their efforts. They are beginning the planning process for next summer’s mission trip. Halos and Hammers is an independent group designed to provide assistance to communities that never dreamed of receiving assistance. We will work with your community to identify work projects, provide the work force to accomplish those projects and supply many of the materials to make miracles happen.
To learn more about what we can do for you, please visit our website for Mission Trip Application Information halosandhammers@sbcglobal.org

5. Even though summer has just gotten into full swing, fall is rapidly approaching, and that means the Maine Conference Annual Meeting. This year’s Annual Meeting theme is “Let Your Life Shine” and our keynote speakers are David Shoen, Coordinator of the Congregational Vitality Initiative, and Edith Guffey, Assoc. General Minister of the United Church of Christ. We will gather at the Grand Resort Hotel, Sunday River in Bethel on September 28 – 30, 2007 for fellowship, worship and prayerful consideration of the business of the Conference. A tentative Agenda, registration forms and other important information concerning the 2007 Annual Meeting are available on our website at www.maineucc.org/annualmeeting/2007/frontpage.htm.

6. What did you do this last year? At our 2006 Annual Meeting, we approved two resolutions encouraging our member congregations take action during the following year. We would like to know what your church family did to follow up on the “Quality and Equality of Marriage” and the “Fair Trade/Fairly Traded Coffee” resolutions. Actually we would like for you to share what you did with everyone at the 2007 Annual Meeting. To share your church’s follow-up to these resolutions, please send a brief (100 word) description of how you acted on one of these resolutions, to Sue Stevens at the Conference Office. Sue will gather the responses together and post them on the Conference website for everyone to read. Several will be chosen to be read aloud during one of the “Speak Out’ sessions during the A 2007 Annual Meeting. If you have any questions, please contact Sue at suestevens@maineucc.org

7. After a month's hiatus, the Resource Center continues its description of the four adult education courses produced by the "Living the Questions" publishing group, which are available for loan to churches. Any congregation that pays its audio-visual subscription fee for the year may borrow these resources for the full term of their study.

“Living the Questions" produces DVD and web-based adult study resources from a progressive Christian viewpoint. This week we highlight "Victory and Peace or Justice and Peace?" featuring John Dominic Crossan. Containing nearly four hours of DVD content, this study explores the juxtaposition of Roman Imperial Theology and the Kingdom of God. Ideal for Advent and Lent. Flexible in format, this study can be conducted over 4, 6, 8 or 12 weeks. Contents include: Justice & the World: What is the Character of Your God?; History & Jesus: What is the Content of Your Faith?; Worship & Violence: What is the Purpose of Your Prayer?; Resurrection & Community: What is the Function of Your Church? Downloadable discussion guides are available on the publisher's website.