
07/11/2023 - #UCCSynod: The Spirit Moved Us
By: Meredith Mase Megan Scarborough - General SynodOne in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ.
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ.
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Synod has officially adjourned! We finished...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. An Interview with an SNEUCC young adult ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. One vote. One. One vote determined the ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Well, dear friends and family of God, the ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. First, let me say that I love the way we ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Yesterday I happened on the most amazing ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. I have to say that Monday was a very ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. In trains, cars, and airplanes, across ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Monday’s plenary sessions were filled with ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. The other day I saw a video of a snorkeler ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. I am not a morning person, though I play ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. I was thrilled that Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. I heard something shocking as I was ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Day #2. Another amazing day at Synod which...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. I love this picture. Not like I love my ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Greetings friends, followers, and siblings ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Standing behind a lectern takes courage, ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. I finally arrived in Indianapolis for the ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. As I reflect on the first day at General ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Exploring the Indiana State Capitol ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. I saw “it” today. “What is IT”, you might ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. I know when I am really tired. It’s not ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. From the halls of the Indiana Convention ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. We started singing, "Sing a new world into ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Fair warning: I teach UCC History and ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Norm! I just got back to my room from the...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Hey all, first day of Synod is complete ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. So we made it! Our plane from Boston landed...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. For being in a relatively outward facing ...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Until 1969, I was David, my mother's fourth...
One in series of posts by Southern New England Conference delegates to the 34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ. I thought the first inspiration to post ...
In June 2019, basing itself on Jesus' Golden Rule, the 32nd General Synod of the United Church of Christ overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for the abolition of ...
This General Synod is spread out across more days than in-person Synod editions generally have been. Much of this is due to the many time zones in which Synod has to ...
July 13th On Sunday the 11th, the delegates had a long day! Our first plenary was exciting, a bit boring, funny at times, and well put together for us to be together ...
I urge all of us to be builders. To develop, organize, and implement ideas, practices, people, and resources in service of a collective vision.
I'm waiting for the SNEUCC to begin our first caucus and I am ready and excited to be energized to work with fellow delegates and to do God's work. I hope today to be ...
This is a confession to cover me for the whole week: I am a UCC Twitter nerd. I will be live-tweeting almost every Synod event (#UCCSynod) I attend, except the Committee ...
Photo Credit - Peter Sylvia Table The word itself, spoken without context, allows those who hear it to see with their mind’s eye that with which the mind ...
Today I spoke in front of the entire gathered body of General Synod 32, a body of about 700 delegates and a few hundred more gathered onlookers. I spoke in favor of ...
Some 750 or so General Synod delegates are gathered in the “well of the House” at the Wisconsin Center. And, being the United Church of Christ, that means 751 different ...
There have been many references to fire during Synod. Pentecost. The burning bush. Challenges to light a fire for this cause or that cause - all deserving our serious ...
I was so excited for today. I was excited because it was Traci Blackmon day! She was coming to speak with us, the Together As, One group, over our breakfast caucus AND ...
Greetings from Milwaukee! My General Synod experience begins a few days before Synod ...
I’m not a breakfast person. (Yes, there are tribes that revolve around which meals are “us.”) So the prospect of hauling my tired, talked-out bones out of bed at O’Dark ...
Today started early with our first Tri-Conference Caucus at 6:30 in the morning. We are off to a great running start though, despite the sleepy eyes and coffee groans, ...
Busy day, workshops just wrapped up…three plenaries into Synod 32…leaves many ‘lookin’ for the heart of Saturday night’. Today we heard from Matthew Desmond, personally ...
It’s travel day…or yesterday was for me. Long, long…long, long…long, long… story short; ask some of the CT delegation how their connection in Chicago went. Two of us ...
The morning brought a buzz that resounded from the lobby of the hotel. I didn’t have anything scheduled for my time this morning but there was still so much to do. It was...
My taxi driver and I made a surprising connection this morning en route from the airport. His name was Mustafa and he talked while driving and smiling about all of the ...
The 8 o’clock hour here in Milwaukee offers a quiet excitement as I sneak by the check-in tables and make my way to the counter for my room key. It’s easy to avert ...
This year I attended my second General Synod or National meeting of the United Church of Christ delegates, visitors and guests from throughout the church. Synod is held ...
WOW! Imagine worshiping with 2,700 hundred people. Quite an image for me coming from a small congregation with a membership of 42 and average Sunday attendance of about...
This being my first General Synod, I wasn’t sure what to expect. From my “pre-Synod” preparation I did know that my time in Baltimore would be filled with worship ...
My name is Xavier Blyden and my church home is with the congregation at the United Congregational Church of Bridgeport. This fall I will start my Junior Year at Defiance ...
An Open Letter written to Mt. Carmel Congregational Church in Hamden by Young Adult General Synod Delegate Carly Chervenak To All of my congregation, Times, hearts, and ...
An Open Letter written to the First Congregational Church of Woodstock by Young Adult General Synod Delegate Brittany LaFleur Dear Church Family, It’s me, Brittany, I...
W.P.W. is my sermon title for my first Sunday back in the pulpit following General Synod 2017, the biennial meeting of the entire United Church of Christ (UCC). Can you ...
It was a big claim: “Imperatives for a New Moral Era.” It was a big ask: to “resist all expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure and demand new sources of renewable ...
Over the course of the past week I have fallen in love with the United Church of Christ all over again. Watching the church, in all our multiple, beautiful, sometimes ...
I don't often write blog posts about my personal experiences. In the 20 years I've been doing Conference communication work, I've put most of my energy into telling the ...
I grew up in the United Church of Christ (UCC), and was confirmed as a UCC youth in the First Congregational Church of Natick, MA. One might find it surprising then that ...
As I arrived here at the Baltimore Convention Center on June 30th, I realized I’d started breathing more deeply. I was more relaxed. I felt like myself in a deeper way. ...
Here’s my confession: the impressive lineup of Synod speakers inspired me much more than the resolutions. Yet most of the duties of a General Synod delegate include ...
"And then we go forth. The heavens are telling of the glory of God in our midst." — Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager
Every once in a while, there are precious moments, extraordinary and oh, so holy, when God breaks in to our hearts so fully that we can hold nothing else at all.
To me, the best part of any worship service is the singing of the hymns, especially those familiar ones of long ago. They bring back nostalgic memories of incidents, ...
Thank God that the United Church of Christ is a progressive church with ears tuned, hearts aligned, and feet marching in today’s social justice movements. It’s the reason...
We are quickly coming up on the United Church of Christ’s Synod in Baltimore, Md. which begins this Friday, June 30th and runs through July 4th. Thousands from across the...
The U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming marriage equality came down on June 26, 2015. It was approaching twelve years since the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling of ‘...
For me, the use of electronic clickers has always been problematic and this request to target certain votes for private contemplation even more so.
One of the many reasons I love the UCC is our consistent prophetic witness, our "bold public voice" as our church calls it. The resolution my committee was discussing ...
General Synod 30 is exhausting both physically and mentally. But my heart and soul have been filled! The last two days have started with breakfast with other conference ...
Some have told me that they love Synod because it is the United Church of Christ at it’s best and I must say even at our best we are still flawed human beings.
Sunday we had community worship led by Rev. Dwayne Royster of Living Water UCC of Philadelphia, who blended an ONA, Still Speaking God, UCC presence with fiery ...
Worship here at Synod has truly lit a flame and fanned it in me!
So far, there have been so many high points and I can't wait to see what happens today, and to join in the huge community-wide worship this afternoon!
Every morning we begin with breakfast and worship with the MACUCC delegation. Don Remick asked us to reflect on how we know when we experience God, and someone mentioned ...
Day Two Synod is demanding! After finishing worship at 10 PM on Friday night, breakfast with the Massachusetts delegation began at 6:30 this morning! I woke up and ...
Over the last couple of weeks, two issues related to General Synod have been simmering on the stove of UCC social media and getting hotter and hotter. One is the issue of...
Whirlwind is the word to open my first entry – I have truly not stopped moving since getting on my plane Friday morning at 7 AM to fly here to Cleveland. But right now, I...
Day 3 and everything is becoming a blurrrrrr. Synod is crazy busy and unfortunately today the Pride Parade in Cleveland was rained out; what an exciting and memorial ...
Suzan Young is writing on her experience with one of the General Synod exhibit hall features, a structure made to match a typical American solitary confinement cell in ...
The theme for General Synod 30 is "Unexpected Places"...which encourages us to notice God in the unexpected. I love this. In my experience, church and God and Spirit and...
The first day of General Synod was a bit hazy for me, having driven straight from Boston with my husband and two children and arrived in Cleveland at 2 AM. Despite the ...
How appropriate that this year's theme at General Synod 30 is Unexpected Places and that today the Supreme Court solidified marriage equality through out the United ...
Today, I woke up at an unspeakable hour and made my way to my second General Synod. I am happy to be back at Synod and in Cleveland for the first time. General Synod is ...
My two worlds are colliding, ministry and pop culture. I am continually amazed at God’s work. This month was the release of the third season of Orange is the New Black, a...
July 2, 2015, Update: General Synod Passes Resolution Calling For Socially Responsible Investment Practices (A news story on the updated version of this amendment) ...
Patrick Cage is the climate justice intern for the Massachusetts Conference, UCC. For a related blog post by Conference Minister Jim Antal click here. In the United ...
Report and reflections on Lynne's experiences as a Synod delegate.
A call to truly utilize technology to connect and to reduce our carbon footprint.
A waterfall moment...
Don Remick shares his reflections on the actions, sights and sounds of General Synod.
And you know how, right?...by our love. We have seen love in abundance around and among us at General Synod.
Jim speaks from Long Beach about yesterday's historic resolution on divestment from fossil fuels.
Will resolutions regarding our relationship to Creation reflect the way we treat Whippets or Black Oystercatchers?
As we traveled across the country we hear again and again about concerns around climate change. Here at General Synod the resolution to support divestment from fossil ...
My travels so far have shown me the good, the bad and the ugly in our churches.
Dawn Hammond shares thoughts on the first half of Synod, including four things she has learned from being a General Synod delegate.
General Synod Delegate Ivy Tillman shares her first impression in a visual way.
Throughout the next week I will be posting images of the 29th General Synod of The United Church of Christ. Follow the link in this post.