The Massachusetts Conference 2017 Annual Report is now available. Printed copies were given to all Annual Meeting attendees, and multiple printed copies will be sent to church leaders later this summer. They can also be requested by contacting Karen Methot at methotk@macucc.org.

Or, download a copy here:

2017 Annual Report (PDF)
Size: 5.8 MB
 

The introduction:

“We Covenant with the Lord and one with another; and doe bynd our selves in the presence of God, to walke together in all his waies, according as he is pleased to reveale himselfe unto us in his Blessed word of truth.”
-– Salem Church Covenant of 1629 -–

June 2017
Dear friends of the Massachusetts Conference, UCC,

Covenant... Relationship... Connection... Interdependence... call it what you will – it matters.

Among our 360+ UCC churches in Massachusetts, I celebrate the countless variations of the 1629 Salem Church Covenant, recognizing that they all testify to the same thing. We live out our faithfulness in relationship to God and one another. We affirm the journey and the changes it brings. We acknowledge truth, and attend to the many ways God reveals truth in our day.

Covenant provides a platform for the kind of courageous witness you will find in these pages. And in these perilous times, when our Still Speaking God is calling us to testify to God’s Blessed word of truth, it is time for us to “take courage.” (John 16:33)

Covenant provides a foundation upon which new relationships can be built – with people of other faith perspectives, across the barriers of race, class and ideology, with immigrants and with God’s great gift of creation. Because covenant is rooted in relationship, it leads to love – and again, as we see throughout this report, love is the basis of all justice.

I commend these stories to you and your congregation. Allow these stories to expand your imagination of how God may be calling you and your congregation to make God’s love and justice real. Take courage from these testimonies and join forces – recognizing that we are stronger together. And take in the wisdom of the African proverb:

If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.

Sharing the yoke of defiant hope,
Jim Antal
Minister and President