HARTFORD -- The Connecticut Conference published "2016 Ministries of the Connecticut Conference UCC" today, a two-page document designed to be inserted into local church annual reports. The report features easy-to-read statistics and colorful photos. Click on the image to download, or scroll down for the text of the report to copy and paste into other formats.

 

Download the 2-Page Document (PDF)
 

2016 Ministries of the Connecticut Conference UCC

The United Church of Christ is the church the world needs today.

Three-Legged Stool of Justice Work

“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice,
and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your
God?” Micah 6:8

Justice and ministries of compassion help to weave us together in shared purpose. We need each other to make an impact. Our churches are mindful that congregational vitality is present when our churches are working to make a difference where God has planted them.

The Connecticut Conference is currently putting particular focus on its “three-legged stool” of justice work:

Racial Justice Ministry

• Held several successful fundraisers to support Racial Justice Ministries in the Conference:
  -- CT Women of the UCC raised $13,250
  -- #GivingTuesday brought in $4,585 for CT, MA and RI Conferences
  -- Footsteps of Peace event held with the Asylum Hill Congregational Church raised $3,550
• Conducted 10 Racial Justice Trainings (Conference Wide and Staff)
• Over 40 Racial Justice Facilitators Trained across CT, MA and RI Conferences
• Held 10 local church Racial Justice Events
• First Youth Racial Justice Training offered with Minnesota Conference
• 8 youth completed the Joseph Clemmons Job Training Program

Economic Justice Ministry

• Led the launch of The Coalition Against Casino Expansion in CT with 10 Interfaith Partners
• Formed The Advocate Corps of lay and clergy leaders willing to call their legislators on economic justice and environmental issues of concern to CTUCC

Environmental Justice

• 3rd Annual Environmental Justice For All Retreat held
• 500 conferees participated in Earth Avengers sessions at Silver Lake
• 125 confirmands participated in Creation Care Workshops at Confirmation Retreats
• Conference leaders collaborated with national UCC leaders through UCC Council for Climate Justice
• Workshops were held at Super Saturday, MACUCC Youth AFIRE Conference,
• National Youth Event, and Outdoor Ministries Association Side by Side Conference with PCCCA
• $2,400 worth of wholesale organic produce was harvested from the Silver Lake Garden

Ministries at Silver Lake Conference Center

• 800 young people learned leadership through 37 summer conferences
• 71 deans, 134 counselors, and 7 chaplains led, nurtured, and inspired
• 52 dedicated summer staff sang, cleaned, ran, protected, and mentored the conferees
• 20 took a mission trip working with Simply Smiles
• 22 attended Clergy Camp
• Thousands of youth and adults enjoyed weekend retreats at Silver Lake during the spring and fall
• $65,055 in sponsorships were provided by individuals, churches and associations
• $21,405 in Silver Lake Scholarships were awarded to 75 individuals
• The Golf Tournament and Fancy Camp Gala raised over $3,000 to support the ministry of Silver Lake
• $7,300 in cash and in-kind donations were received to furnish the newly renovated Lodge

Ministries in Collaboration

Ongoing Collaboration with the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Conferences

• 274 CT Conference church leaders joined 188 people from MA and 26 from RI at Super Saturday in Killingly in March
• Tiffany Vail hired as Associate Conference Minister for Communications for the three Conferences; transitioned to shared website platform

Looking to the Future

• 555 people responding to a survey indicated support for greater partnership amongst the 3 Conferences
• Hundreds engaged in a “Season of Discernment” considering future ministry together
• 3 Conference Boards will decide in early 2017 whether to bring a proposal to the joint Annual Meeting in June, 2017
• Youth from the 3 Conferences will travel together to Youth at Synod event in 2017

Inspiring & Supporting Vital Ministry

• 390 inspired by Bishop Yvette Flunder at Annual Meeting in June
• 80 clergy and Conference staff attended a reimagined General Association for a deep discussion on race
• 236 youth and leaders from 24 congregations participated in Confirmation Retreats
• 58 leaders participated in Faith Formation Stepping Stones workshops
• More than 200 clergy and lay leaders attended workshops on stewardship, endowment and financial management
• More than 400 Giv2 youth and adults gave almost 1000 service hours to local communities
• 82 youth and leaders from 19 congregations attended National Youth Event
• Staff assisted 86 churches in some form of transition during 2016
• 50 pastors placed as leaders in installed, bridge or transitional positions; 10 ordinations

Telling the Story

• New CTUCC and Silver Lake websites launched
• CTUCC This Week modernized
• Invited guest bloggers to tell their stories
• Expanded list of writers contributed to weekly deveotionals
• CTUCC published 175 news stories and blog posts

Staff Arrivals

• Ryan Gackenheimer, Executive Director of Silver Lake
• Tiffany Vail, Associate Conference Minister for Communications

Staff Departures

• Eric Anderson
• Andy Wicks

Ministries of Congregations

• Over 12,000 weekly services of worship
• Average weekly attendance of over 21,000 people
• Thousands of volunteer service hours near and far
• Church members contributed over $41 million (2015)
• Churches contributed over $5.8 million to UCC and other ministries (2015)