1. Remember - even though we are meeting in September for the 2009 Annual Meeting, the next three years, Annual Meeting will be held in June at the University of Maine in Farmington. Next year Annual Meeting will be June 11-13, 2009 in Farmington. Please keep this in mind when scheduling events for next summer. Thanks.

2. If you were not able to attend General Synod in Grand Rapids, but are interested in what was happening there, Videos of various GS highlights can be found in the “Video Gallery” which is arranged by day and event: http://www.ucc.org/synod/videos/ (It may take a few moments to load larger files, but they are available and easy to locate.)

3. Save the Date: This year’s Fall Learning Event is scheduled for Nov. 13 – 14, 2009 at High Street Congregational Church in Auburn. Our leader will be Diana Butler Bass, author of Christianity for the Rest of Us. Watch future editions of ACE for more details.

4. Amigos Para Siempre…Sharing the Honduras Story
For more than ten years now, adults and youth from churches in the Maine Conference have traveled to Honduras where they have partnered with the Evangelical and Reformed Church of Honduras on construction projects and medical missions. Relationships have deepened through youth and pastor exchanges in both countries. It’s time to celebrate this amazing partnership! All those who have participated in a mission trip or exchange are invited to a fiesta on Sunday afternoon, October 4, at the Waterville UCC beginning at 3:00. Bring photos and other materials for display (tables will be provided; if you bring a powerpoint, you’ll need your own AV equipment). Bring fundraising sale items if you wish. Wear your mission trip t-shirts - a group photo will be taken. Each group is asked to bring something for a potluck dinner. Come with one team story that is symbolic of your experience in Honduras (yes, one story). We will end our fiesta with a celebration of worship that will include the commissioning of the teams scheduled for 2010. RSVP by September 28 to Rev. Sally Colegrove (colegrove21353@aol.com) or Rev. Marcia Charles (revmcharles@gwi.net).

5. Witness for Justice #433
July 20, 2009
Health Care for All in My Backyard M. Linda Jaramillo
Executive Minister
We often hear the phrase, “not in my backyard.” It usually describes what we don’t want built near us or who we don’t want living next door. For example, we don’t want a major freeway going through our backyard. Or we don’t want a toxic garbage dump close by. Or we don’t want that family living near us. I suggest that we start saying what we do want in our backyard.
Here is what I want in my backyard, known as my country. I want everyone in this nation to have access to quality health care. I want everyone to have a public health insurance plan that covers their needs. I want everyone to be able to choose their own doctors or other health care providers. I don’t want race or ethnicity to define who is healthy and who is experiencing health challenges. My backyard would not be a hospital emergency room turned into a medical clinic.
If you have been to a hospital emergency room lately, you would find babies crying in pain due to an ear infection because their parents cannot afford insurance or a doctor. You would find elders on fixed incomes sitting quietly waiting for hours because of an infection that won’t heal. You would find families filling out piles of paperwork just to have their child’s injury seen by a medical provider. This backyard does not look anything like some doctor’s office waiting rooms with magazines to read, toys to occupy a child’s time, shiny or carpeted floors, or soft music in the background.
The backyard hospital emergency room continues to be the place for urgent care for injuries or for those times when a child’s fever is spiking out of control. But today the hospital emergency room is much more – it has become the only place for millions of persons without insurance to go for general medical care.
The majority of Americans in our backyards agree that health care must be made available to everyone regardless of their age, income, gender, race or ethnic background, etc. But our health care delivery system in this nation is broken. Our backyard is a mess. More than 47 million people are without health insurance of any kind and another 2.5 million don’t have enough insurance to cover their health care needs. We hear story after story of families losing their homes and backyards due to bankruptcy because of medical bills.
Our President and Congress have finally embarked on a critical journey to clean up our backyard – our health care system. But it will not be easy because corporate profit backyards are being threatened. Expensive ads are already telling us that we cannot afford to support public insurance plans.
Our backyards may look different, but I’ll bet each of them includes someone we know or someone we love without basic health care and health insurance. Please call your Congress person today and tell them what you want in your backyard: a) coverage for everyone; b) all-inclusive benefits; c) choice of health care providers; d) no more racial and other disparities; e) waiver of pre-existing condition exclusions without any age limits; f) a public health insurance option for everyone. People’s very lives depend on it.

For information about a phone in campaign to your Senator/Representative, visit the Maine Conference website (http://www.maineucc.org) and click on the link for “Health Care Action Alert 09”

6. "Senior version of Jesus Loves Me"

Here is a new version just for us who have white hair or no hair at all. For us over middle age (or even those almost there) and all you others, check out this newest version of Jesus Loves Me.

JESUS LOVES ME

Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow
Though my sight is growing dim,
Still He bids me trust in Him.
(CHORUS)
YES, JESUS LOVES ME.. YES, JESUS LOVES ME..
YES, JESUS LOVES ME, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.

Though my steps are oh, so slow,
With my hand in His I'll go
On through life, let come what may,
He'll be there to lead the way.
(CHORUS)

When the nights are dark and long,
In my heart He puts a song..
Telling me in words so clear,
"Have no fear, for I am near."
(CHORUS)

When my work on earth is done,
And life's victories have been won.
He will take me home above,
Then I'll understand His love.
(CHORUS)

I love Jesus, does He know?
Have I ever told Him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say,
That I love Him every day.
(CHORUS)