ALL CONFERENCE E-MAIL                
July 28, 2010
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Remember . . .
Your OCWM (Our Church's Wider Mission) contribution to the Maine Conference makes this email newsletter and the
numerous programs described herein available to you and your church.
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  1. Academy Registration Deadline is Aug. 16
  2. Condolences
  3. Seeking Director of Music and Christian Education Coordinator
  4. Looking for Church Windows workbooks
  5. Organ and Strings Concert invitation
  6. New in the Resource Center
  7. “Widening the Welcome: Inclusion for All” Invitation
  8. Watch Maine Public Broadcasting for BTS ads
  9. BTS invitations
  10. You can take a course at BTS in Portland or Bangor
  11. Did you volunteer at Ground Zero on 9/11/01?

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1.  The new Academy for Congregational Life and Leadership class is rounding out nicely with new registrations coming in. There is still room in this 2 year leadership-personal and congregational enrichment program which will begin September 11 in Bangor. The registration deadline is August 16th. Contact Peggy Wolfe Dunn, meuccacademy@gmail.com or 207-841-3027 for more information.

2.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Brad Hirst and his family on the passing of his mother, Mary B. Hirst, on July 19, 2010.  A service celebrating her life will be held at Second Christian in Kittery on Saturday August 14 at 11:00 AM.  Brad is the pastor at Second Christian in Kittery

3.  High Street Congregational Church in Auburn, Maine, has openings for both DIRECTOR OF MUSIC and for a CHRISTIAN EDUCATION COORDINATOR.  The Director of Music will be involved in the oversight of a music program, directing the choir, and working with the pastor in music selection for worship.  You will also be working with our very capable organist.  The CE Coordinator will help develop and maintain an effective, intergenerational Christian Education program, working closely with the pastor and with the volunteer staff.  Both positions are part time.  For more information, contact the church office at office@highstreetucc.org or by phone at 784-1306.

4.  Looking for Training Workbooks – Is there a church that uses Church Windows Program, the 2007version, that would have the Membership I and II training workbooks we could borrow?   If you have these workbooks please contact Jeanne at High Street Church in Auburn.  The office number is 784-1306 or e-mail at office@highstreetucc.org

 

5.  Broad Bay Church in Waldoboro invites you to a free organ and violin concert on Friday, August 27 at 7 pm with returning musicians, Kevin Birch and Anatole Wieck.  Featuring Waldoboro’s 1875 Hook and Hasting Tracker Organ which was restored in 2008 & 2009.  Performing music by Beethoven, Copland, Joplin, and others. The concert is open to the public at no charge.

6.  New in the Resource Center!
Worship Feast: 15 sketches for Youth Group, Worship, & More by Beth Miller
This resource includes both information about doing drama and scripts for dramatic presentation.  It offers suggestions on staging, tryouts, rehearsals, acting techniques and stage movement, and provides 14 sketches and a full-length play.

7.  As chair of the National Disabilities Ministry, Peggy Dunn invites you to attend the national gathering, “Widening the Welcome: Inclusion for All.”  It is hosted by our UCC Mental Illness Network and Disabilities Ministries, Sept. 23-25, 2010, in St. Louis. If you want to learn about what congregations are actually doing and implementing around A2A (Accessible to All) and Mental Health Ministry, or you want to know about the connection/interface between spirituality and mental illness/brain disorders and disabilities.  Go to www.wideningthewelcome.com, to see all the leaders and all the details for registration. 
8.  BTS spot ads will run before and after Maine Watch with Jennifer Rooks on Maine Public Broadcasting.  Maine Watch runs three times a week on television and once a week on radio. The television times are Thursday/8 P.M., Friday/8:30 P.M., Sunday/5 P.M. The radio version runs on Friday at 12:30 P.M.
9.  BTS warmly invites you to the following events:

  1. Opening Convocation at BTS for 2010-11; September 7, 12PM at Bangor Campus; 5PM at State Street Church;
  2. Inaugural Lecture of Bob Sherman, Buck Professor of Systematic Theology, Sunday September 19, 3PM, All Souls Church. Bob will talk about a Trinitarian Understanding of the Church. Reception to follow.
  3. Inaugural Lecture of Ron Baard, Imes-Lowry Professor Pastoral Studies, Saturday October 2, 2PM, First Parish Church, Brunswick. Ron will talk about Mandela, King, Forgiveness and Reconciliation. Reception to follow.

Please contact Leslie Heiser [mailto:lheiser@bts.edu] at BTS if you would like to attend any of these events.

 

10.  Did you know that at Bangor Theological Seminary, you can enroll in a program, take a single course or audit one at both our Portland and our Bangor campuses?
Here’s a sample of the individual classes being offered this fall.
Classes to be held in Portland
Introduction to the Old Testament, Monday morning
Counseling in Times of Grief and Loss, Monday afternoon
Introduction to Islam, Tuesday evening
The Four Gospels, Thursday afternoon
The History and Theology of the United Church of Christ, taught by David Gaewski on selected Fridays
Classes to be held in Bangor
Introduction to Buddhism, Monday afternoon
The Four Gospels, Tuesday afternoon
From Text to Sermon, Dr. James L. Haddix of All Souls Church, Wednesday afternoon
Creation, Ecology and the Christian Tradition, Thursday afternoon
Moral, Legal and Pastoral Issues in Health Care, Friday morning
Remember this is just a sample. For more information on the fall schedule, please go to http://www.bts.edu/current/ or Call 1-800-287-6781 to talk with a person.

 

11.  Time is running out for people who worked or volunteered in the vicinity of Ground Zero to register for workers’ compensation in case of future illness tied to that work.
Workers and volunteers must register by 11:59 p.m. on September 11, 2010 to be eligible for compensation and health care in case they later develop an illness tied to their activities at the World Trade Center site, said Joel Shufro, executive director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH).
“Workers are developing symptoms years afterwards that may be related to their exposure at the Trade Center,” Shufro said. “Unless they register, no matter how sick they may become, they will be barred from registering for compensation.”
Any eligible person who registers by the Sept. 11, 2010, deadline will have the right to file a 9/11-related workers’ compensation at any time in the future, no matter when 9/11-related symptoms began to occur. If a worker is or becomes ill and the claim is established, workers’ compensation will fully cover the cost of treatment, including prescriptions and hospitalization.

Those eligible to register include most people who performed any rescue, recovery or cleanup work, no matter how briefly, paid or unpaid, in lower Manhattan south of Canal or Pike Streets between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 12, 2002. It also includes those who worked at the Staten Island landfill, the barge operation between Manhattan and Staten Island or the New York City morgue (or any of the temporary morgues set up during that period).  There is no residency or citizenship requirement to register for 9/11-related compensation. If workers or volunteers meet other eligibility criteria, it does not matter whether they live in New York State.

For more about eligibility requirements and the registration procedure, workers and volunteers may go to the NYCOSH website at www.nycosh.org, or call the toll-free, 24-hour hotline, 1-866-WTC-2556. State guidelines and forms are here: http://www.wcb.state.ny.us/content/main/forms/WTC-12.pdf

The New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) is a non-profit education and advocacy organization, dedicated to ensuring that every worker has a safe and healthy workplace.   NYCOSH works in partnership with the United Church of Christ to provide assistance to all workers, volunteers and community residents who were adversely affected by toxic contamination resulting from the attack on the World Trade Center.