On October 5, 2022, churches from across the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ gathered at Edwards House in Framingham, MA to view...
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“Patience is a virtue. Virtue is a grace. Grace is a little girl who would not wash her face.” Maybe you have heard this little poem by Dick King-Smith. My mother ...
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From your Faith Community Nurse, Minister of Health & Wellness Deborah Ringen Wow, it is August already! Summer days bring fun, family, vacations, and the realization ...
The last fifteen months have been stressful for you, your families, and your work as faith formation leaders. Everything shifted, and EVERYTHING related to your work had ...
Wow, keeping track of new guidelines in the pandemic response can be very confusing! How can we decide the best way to move forward? How do we balance caution and caring ...
Excitement is growing, the desire to, “resume life as normal, pre-pandemic,” is strong, but is it safe? Southern New England Conference UCC states are beginning to ease ...
May 2021—Volume 28, Number 5 Copyright @ 2021 by Dana Horrell The end of the COVID-19 pandemic and a return to normal life requires that a ...
We can all pitch in to advocate for communities of color and vulnerable populations by publicly distributing information from the CDC and local public health officials ...
Recently, I began volunteering to give COVID-19 vaccinations at a drive-through mass vaccination site in Connecticut. Currently my job consists of writing and teaching ...
This past year has been difficult for so many of our churches. I serve as the Pastor of the Federated Church in Colchester, Connecticut and we formed a Reopening Team in ...
How Can We Build Trust in a Vaccine? March 2021—Volume 28, Number 3 Copyright @ 2021 by Dana Horrell The development of a vaccine for the ...
Here we are a little over a week into the new year. Our nation and our world continue to struggle under the COVID-19 pandemic. As of January 12th all three states in the ...
"The past ten months of pandemic can either be lost time or the time of our lives, or a mixture of both."
From the CDC: "Community- and faith-based organizations, employers, healthcare systems and providers, public health agencies, policy makers, and others all have a part in...
Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are among 40 states that have reported an increase in overdose deaths during 2020 as compared to 2019. The pandemic is ...
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Friends, This past week has had records set in the current Covid surge. We keep seeing new records across our region and across the country in terms of daily new cases, ...
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The survey says: Last month we sent a survey our to all of our churches. We were checking in on what you were doing, what you needed, what was helpful and what you were ...
Word cloud created from most frequently encountered words from the survey. The larger the word appears, the more often it occurred. We received nearly 300 ...
Last April, I wrote a blog titled Mental Health and Suicide Resources discussing the unique circumstances of the pandemic such as isolation, loss of a job, uncertainty ...
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This October our Conference sent out a survey to all of our Conference’s churches. We asked about many aspects of church life from worship to fellowship to ...
“In the middle of the journey of our lives, I found myself upon a dark path” ~ Dante I don’t want to talk about it.[1] Having served some years in parish ministry, I ...
All human beings experience feeling “blue” or “down in the dumps” sometimes. It may come as a surprise, but clergy are human too! It can be hard to admit that one might ...
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Friends, There is that fall chill in the air. It is the change of seasons. And with it comes new decisions we face in our church life. The current state of this ...
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People are getting out more as local restrictions ease allowing restaurants, businesses and schools to open with specific guidelines to reduce the threat of coronavirus ...
This interview captures the reality of the experience of COVID-19 and the theological reflection required to make sense of the world in the pandemic. The Rev. Karen ...
How can clergy juggle family caregiving and the stress of serving their flock during a pandemic, racial injustice, hurricanes, and the divisive political climate? Even ...
Before quarantine I found my days were full of school, sports, and homework. I barely had time to hangout with friends, let alone a minute for myself.
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When the pandemic first began your Bridge Conference ministers recommended the suspension of In Person inside worship for two weeks. As the COVID-19 pandemic spread, ...
I was raised on the butterfly metaphor. From kids’ books to Easter symbols. I’ve preached it. I watched it unfold in grade school terrariums. And I’ve used it as ...
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In the winter of 2020, the Southern New England Conference of the UCC was just beginning as a new legal and ecclesial entity. It was in this moment that news of a new ...
I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you ...
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I don’t want to do this anymore!? In the last several weeks I’ve heard this phrase several times. Sometimes it comes directly from individual clergy. More often is ...
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Author’s note: All God’s Children will be a regular feature as congregations navigate moving forward with new challenges. The purpose will be to address the issues of ...
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Photo by Angela Menke Ballou. A few weeks ago, my colleague, Don Remick wrote about Resurrection and in his blog, he referred to the metamorphosis that takes ...
Many faith formation and youth ministry leaders are wondering just how safe it will be to gather the children and youth in person.
As a faith community nurse I can relate to pastoral concerns around providing spiritual care during the pandemic. We are used to being with a person or family during ...
I hope I’m not alone when I describe the sinking feeling in your chest after another bad day, wondering if God is really listening, and wondering if it’s okay to really ...
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We are over 8 weeks into our pandemic requirements to Stay Home and Stay Safe. There is an often-used phrase: this is a marathon not a sprint. However, you have been ...
As we all focus on trying to prevent the spread of COVID 19, caring for our general health and well-being is sometimes neglected. Mental health concerns, chronic disease ...
Experts are learning more every day about the novel coronavirus. There are two issues to be aware of that impact parents and children in particular. While it was once ...
King Street UCC in Danbury, CT, this weekend seemed to have done everything right. Someone still got in.
Just about a year ago, I wrote about the Riverside Church making God’s love and justice real with the creation of their Lighthouse Shops. I wondered what the pandemic had...
by Wendy Parker As the world and this country struggle to cope with the upsetting and ...
Last weekend, I discovered two writings that intrigued and excited me. They did so because they reveal generosity as a point where our scientific and religious worlds ...
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Have you noticed neighbors and strangers requesting prayers on social media?
Last week, the Bridge Conference Ministers extended their recommendation to suspend in person worship through the month of May. By now, after being safe at home for ...
Hour, by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month… how long will it take for life to return to some kind of normal or new normal? The federal, regional, and local ...
This period of no public worship has forced a great many of our churches to dip their toe in the water of online digital worship, and their experiences have ranged from ...
It is that midpoint in the week when folks are…let’s just say it…crabby.
Advocates for people experiencing and surviving domestic violence agree that abuse related to physical distancing is on the rise. Calls to domestic violence hotlines have...
Everyone in the world is experiencing the COVID 19 pandemic to varying degrees depending on your geography, but we all are undeniably experiencing change, uncertainty, ...
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This is not a dress rehearsal. The entire world is immersed in unrelenting, ...
Dear Partners in Ministry, As you have probably heard, the federal government started distributing CARES Act stimulus checks of $1,200 per adult and $500 per dependent ...
I have found that my greatest spiritual growth has often occurred during dark nights of the spirit, brought about by personal and professional crises. In such times, I ...
A note from your SNEUCC Bridge Conference Ministers: This year marks the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. And for the first time since that date we have seen evidence of ...
For many of us the Coronavirus pandemic has meant preparation, hand washing, covering your cough, social distancing, changes in daily routines of life. For some it has ...
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The first surveys that came out to pastors asking “how are you doing” in this Coronavirus age asked about what help we needed with worship. And during Lent, to not have ...
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On this past Thursday, we had Rev. Matt Crebbin, Pastor of the Newtown Congregational Church as a guest on our weekly COVID-19 Webinar (recording is here). Matt brought ...
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HOLY WEEK It will be the same. It will be different. This week in our sacred story we encounter the whole range of human emotion. The events of Holy Week are powerful ...
Jesus gives us instruction for anxious times in the comforting words found in Matthew 6:25-34, reminding us to let go of worries about the future and suggesting instead ...
Experts are speaking out in favor of a public advisory to wear protective face coverings when in public. They emphasize maintaining physical distancing, keeping our hands...
It is a remarkable time. Compassion and generosity are bubbling up nearly everywhere we turn. I keep picturing the Holy Spirit as kind of like my small children, years ...
I was on a webinar last week hosted by ACLU Connecticut and the Smart Justice Team, and since then there has been the first positive COVID-19 test of an adult ...
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Given this pandemic, there is much about which I am sad. I miss my dog park friends, as the park was closed when too many younger people were found to be congregating. I ...
As I sit reading the Sunday paper’s special sections on the third Saturday of the coronavirus shelter-in-place order, I can’t help but think about discipleship in this ...
Grief is complicated enough. It is even more difficult during this pandemic when we can’t say goodbye.
In this moment, we will either confirm that we are irrelevant or we will demonstrate that we are essential.
I frequently hear people express their strong desire for us to transition out of this pandemic and return to basically what life was before it struck. They just want to ...
by Margaret Bullitt-Jonas and Leah D. Schade, co-editors of the book Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis Earth Day 2020 comes at a ...
This isn't the first time humans have faced a pandemic. After studying previous outbreaks like SARS and Avian Flu, the World Health Organization put together a thick ...
As we are Staying Home and Staying Safe we are discovering new ways of being church. And we are discovering again the most essential elements of being the Body of ...
Are you feeling scared, sad, disappointed, concerned you may become ill with COVID-19? Are you watching the news or scouring websites to find out how many new cases have...
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Churches are invited to copy this post, add their own information, and disseminate it in their congregations. As the Coronavirus spreads from town to town and schools ...
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Churches are quickly adapting to online and electronic forms of giving, moving pastoral care to phone and Zoom, and making food collections available via drive-through.
Essentials. In this time of a global pandemic we are using terms that attempt to characterize where we find ourselves in this challenging time. “Social or physical ...
As the Coronavirus and its effects on people’s livelihoods has become more severe, I have been struggling with the question of how we can talk about giving to the One ...
As of this morning, four states have issued a Stay Safe, Stay Home instruction. Some call it Shelter In Place. It is the more stringent guidelines to reduce the spread ...
A brief guide to improving sound in your online videos.
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What do I do about pastoral care during a time of pandemic? What do I do about wedding and funerals? These are challenging questions in a challenging time. One of ...
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In the Bible, Angels, God’s messengers, often arrive saying, “Be not afraid!” Some people may be anxious about the financial viability of their church as economic ...
Beloved Colleagues in Ministry, This is a message I wish I didn’t have to write. I do not want to know what I know. Because I learned my lessons about disaster ministry ...
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and ...
Let me just start by saying: I know this is hard. And frustrating. And exhausting. For the vast majority of our churches, providing worship or otherwise "being the ...
With the prospect of shutting down churches the obvious question arises: how do we worship now? Below are some helpful guidelines for creating video that may be put ...
1 Corinthians 1:4-9 Revised Standard Version (RSV) 4 I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every ...
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Friends, Are you wondering what to do for church? This week the Governors of all three Southern New England states have declared a state of emergency related to the ...
It's been a busy week since we sent out a blog (below) on the Coronavirus (COVID-19). In that time we have received a lot of resources and guidance. We’ve seen the impact...
News reports are filled with reports about the spread of illness and death due to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-n CoV). As I listen, I cannot help but see the ...