ALL CONFERENCE E-MAIL
1. Pilgrim Lodge On-line Registration is up and running.
2. Clergy Spring Retreat
3. Spring Church Educators Day, March 25
4. April 19th Border Event postponed
5. Get your NYE Registrations In
6. Director named for Academy for Congregational Life & Leadership
7. NEAUCE Christian Education Event
8. “Border Event” on April 4
9. File your Income Tax return
10. ANTS welcomes John Bell
11. Bates hosts Barbara Brown Taylor
12. Holy Week message from Rev. John Thomas
_____________________________________________________________
1. Pilgrim Lodge On-Line Registration is up and running!
The new system is running well and camps are already beginning to fill. PL registration
has never been easier. Go to www.pilgrimlodge.org. If you do not have a VISA
or MasterCard or simply prefer paper registration you can get what you need
on-line for that as well, or alternatively call or email the conference office
(846-5118). (cathycroudis@maineucc.org) The camp brochure is out and you can
request a copy of that as well
2. Clergy Spring Retreat: Deep Rest - April 29-30, Living
Water Retreat Center, Winslow.
I am so tired; I need some time to rest. What is rest? What does it mean to
be spiritually weary or rested? Do we believe we deserve deep rest, or is it
only for the afflicted? Can we recognize what brings us rest when we see it,
can we embrace it? Bring your own noticings into our day of worship, playful
reflection and wandering. Come wonder what life might look like if God desired
nothing more than our true rest.
Facilitator: Rev. Joan L. Smith is ordained UCC clergy from Vermont, whose calling
has included parish ministry, spiritual direction, retreat leadership (most
recently at Greenfire Retreat in Tenants Harbor), Hospice chaplaincy and a vocational
counseling practice. Joan currently offers Restorative Retreats for individuals
and groups at The Guest House in Rockland. Visit healingsoup.com for a taste
of her emerging ministry.
Please register with Cathy Croudis. The registration form is on the website
3. Spring Church Educators Day on March 25th to Focus on Confirmation
The Spring Church Educators Day for clergy and educators will be held 10:00
a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the North Yarmouth Church and will focus on models, resources,
and ideas for confirmation. Leaders include the Rev. Linda Hirst, Kris Galasyn,
and Annette Mott. Please contact the Resource Center (resourcecenter@maineucc.org,
1-800-244-0937) to register. The cost is five dollars per church, payable at
the door. Please bring a bag lunch; beverages will be provided. Follow the link
below to an event flyer on the Conference web site: www.maineucc.org/news/Spring
Church Educator 2008.htm
4. April 19th Common Border/Faith in Common
Due to scheduling conflicts in the Maritime Conference, our Border Event, “Exploring
Our Connections with the Earth”, originally scheduled for April 19, has
been canceled. We hope to reschedule so that we can join together with our friends
in the United Church of Canada and consider these concerns so important to all
of us.
5. NATIONAL YOUTH EVENT – NOW IS THE TIME!!!
Only 28 days left to register without late fees!
ONLY 126 Days until we leave for Knoxville.
Registrations are coming in – is yours here yet? !
6. Director is Named for the New Maine Conference Academy for Congregational
Life and Leadership
The Maine Conference is happy to announce that the new Director for the Maine
Conference Academy for Congregational Life and Leadership is the Reverend Peggy
Dunn, pastor of the Gardiner Congregational Church U.C.C. Peggy brings training
and experience as a pastor, administrator, consultant, and retreat leader to
this position. In her letter of application Peggy wrote with regard to the new
Academy, which is set to begin this fall, “I am a strong believer in the
capacity of unordained leadership to serve the contemporary church in effective
partnership with those who have been called to ordination. It would be a joy
to help bring such a model to life.” Peggy also brings to the Academy
her well-known gift for assisting others in spiritual deepening. Welcome Peggy!
If you are interested in learning more about the Academy and have not already
expressed your interest, either by signing a list at last year’s Annual
Meeting or by contacting the Resource Center since then, you may contact Peggy
at meUCCacademy@gmail.com . Those who have already registered an interest will
receive a copy of the full registration brochure when it is completed.
The Academy is intended to be a gathering of Christian learners dedicated to
growing in faith, deepening in knowledge, and developing the leadership necessary
for vibrant life in the church today. It consists of a two-year core program
of monthly classes/retreats with an optional third year of specialization. The
primary site for class meetings will be the Bangor Theological Seminary campus
at Husson College in Bangor. Retreat sites are still under negotiation. Anticipated
annual costs for participants are $800 tuition plus the cost of books. It is
intended that students and their congregations would share these expenses.
7. Register for the May NEAUCE Christian Education Event Before
April 15th Deadline
This year’s New England Association of United Church Educators conference
will be held Tuesday through Thursday, May 6th through 8th at the Craigville
Conference Center on Cape Cod. The theme is “Renewal, Rejuvenation, and
Resources for the Emergent Church.” The opening speaker is Susan Dickerman,
the keynoter is Rev. Dr. Ivy Beckwith, and the worship leader is Rev. Dr. Dirkje
Legerstee. Many workshops will be offered. This event is the best buy going
for a renewing and invigorating learning event at a beautiful location. The
full event fee (includes registration, lodging and meals) is $225 for AUCE members
and $250 for non-AUCE members. The Maine Conference is offering a fifty dollar
scholarship to all Maine Conference participants. You simply pay fifty dollars
less than what you owe and the Maine Conference will be billed for the remainder
(the registration form has a way for you to do this). Follow the link below
to the registration flyer on the Conference web site: www.maineucc.org/resourcecenter/neauceregform08.pdf
8. “Border Event” Registration Deadline is March
28th
On Saturday, April 5th, the Maine Conference UCC and the Maritime Conference
of the United Church of Canada will co-sponsor a border event in Florenceville,
New Brunswick (just across the border from the Houlton/Presque Isle area). The
event will be held 10:00 a.m to 3:30 p.m. and will include mutual conversation,
workshops, and worship. The theme for the day is “Common Border/Common
Faith: Small Churches Walking Along Together.” Annette Mott from the Maine
Conference and Janice MacLean from the Maritime Conference will serve as co-leaders.
The registration fee, which includes lunch, is ten dollars for the first person
from a congregation and five dollars for each additional person. Contact the
Resource Center (resourcecenter@maineucc.org, 1-800-244-0937) to register your
church team. Follow the link below to an event flyer on the Conference web site.
www.maineucc.org/news/Border Event.pdf
9. Even if you don't usually file an income tax return because
you're on Social Security or Veteran's Benefits, you need to file this year
to apply for your tax rebate money from the Federal Government.
Peggy Riley, New England spokesperson for the IRS, says most people won't have
to do anything differently with their Income Tax to get their rebate. The IRS
will automatically send it, after they file their tax return. People who are
on Social Security or Veteran's Benefits and don't normally file a tax return
will have to file in order to get their rebates.
Riley says those people should file a 1040 or 1040A form and report their benefits
at the top of the return and write "Stimulus Payment" so the IRS knows
they're just filing to get the payment.
If you need assistance filing your income tax return there are several centers
to assist you. Call 1-800-829-1040 for a center near you.
10. Andover Newton Theological School welcomes John Bell, of
the Iona Community, on Tuesday April 15, 2008. John will present “Stumbling
Blocks and Stepping Stones for Worship, a workshop on the challenges and opportunities
of using music in worship, at 4:00 – 5:30 pm in the Meetinghouse. Dinner
will follow in the Cafeteria. A “Big Sing”featuring new hymns, interfaith
and world music will follow in the Wilson Chapel. A $5 offering for each event
is requested. For futher information, contact Jennifer Shaw at ANTS (617) 964-1100
ext. 228
11. Bates College will host Barbara Brown Taylor in a lecture
entitled “Sabbath – Self Care or the Mending of the World”
on Wednesday, April 2 at 7 pm in the Bates Chapel. For more information, visit
their website at: http://www.bates.edu/x166823.xml
A Holy Week Message from the Rev. John H. Thomas
A Word to Sustain the Weary
The daily lectionary invites us to read these words from Isaiah’s Song
of the Servant on Wednesday in Holy Week,
The Lord has given me the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.
Morning my morning he wakens – wakens my ear to listen as those
who are taught.
(Isaiah 50.4)
On Wednesday, March 19, as we mark the fifth anniversary of the beginning of
the war in Iraq we seek words to sustain those who have grown weary with the
drumbeat of destruction and the cadence of injury and death that have accompanied
us and the people of Iraq over these long years. We listen for words that can
call us beyond our weary lament to action, wakening us to commitment, rousing
us from resignation, calling us to hope. And we dare to claim the vocation of
God’s Servant, sustaining a weary world with a Word that speaks and acts
for justice and for peace.
The betrayals, deceptions, and moral compromises of this war weigh heavily upon
us. With the disciples we have felt the urge to run away from courageous word
and witness against the war. We have tried to wash our hands of complicity in
the crucifixion of Iraq and its people. Here and in Iraq we have buried the
dead, sometimes in dignity and honor, often in frightened secrecy. We have wept
for all who have slaughtered in this conflict, but have shrunk from bearing
the burden of the cross. This Holy Week the “judgment of the cross falls
steady, clear, and sure.” Is there a word to sustain the weary?
A prayer written by the Rev. Yousif al Saka, an elder in the Presbyterian Church
in Baghdad, offers one word, full of poignancy and promise:
We beseech You, we humble ourselves for the name of our Savior Jesus Christ,
to send your Holy Spirit to shade the land of Iraq,
so that peace may prevail in its dwellings, and the acts of violence, kidnapping
and persecution may cease;
so that the displaced may return to their homes, the churches may reopen their
gates without fear from shells and explosion;
so that smiles may be seen again on the faces of children that have been stolen
from them here in this difficult time;
so that the elderly may lean back on their chairs in comfort and tranquility
saying farewell to their children when leaving for school or work without anxiety
or fear;
so that mothers think only of happy, prosperous, and peaceful futures for their
daughters and sons.
O Lord, have pity on us, we Iraqis. Let the light of your face shine on us,
bless us, strengthen our belief, and bestow patience upon us.
Can this word keep alive an imagination born of God’s promise, free from
the grip of the world’s imperial projects? Can this be a word to sustain
us?
Amid our weariness on this sad anniversary day, and in the midst of our Holy
Week pilgrimage, may we be confronted once again with a messenger telling us
“Do not be afraid!” May we turn from our vigil over the dead and
the dying to a courageous witness to life and peace in the Risen Christ. May
our lights, reflecting the light of Christ, dispel the shadows, that morning
by morning our voices may sing and our deeds proclaim, “The powers of
death have done their worst, but Christ their legions has dispersed; let shouts
of holy joy outburst. Alleluia!”
John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ