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- Lunch & Learn for Leaders | The Benefits of Coaching: October 20th from 12:00-1:00 PM (REGISTER)
- Resiliency Time Capsule Documentary Virtual Premiere: November 2nd from 6:00-8:00 PM (REGISTER)
- Small Church Roundtable: Tuesday, November 8th from 10:00-11:15 AM for clergy and from 7:15-8:30 PM for clergy and laity. (REGISTER)
- Lunch & Learn for Leaders | Introduction to Christian Contemplative Practices: Thursday, November 17th from 12:00-1:00 PM (REGISTER)
- Financial Literacy & Budgeting: Tuesday, November 29th at 7:00 PM (REGISTER)
- Engaging Christian Contemplative Practices: Series starts Wednesday, January 18th from 7:00-8:30 PM (REGISTER)
- Writing Pastors, Writing Faith; Creativity as Spiritual Practice - An Affinity Group for Clergy: Series sta rts Thursday, January 26th, 2023 (REGISTER)
- Noteworthy Offerings:
- Stewardship, An Epiphany, Part 1: Oct. 27 (Part I) and Nov. 10 (Part II) from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm via zoom. (REGISTER)
- Hone for the Holidays, an Author Talk with Jake Morrill: Tuesday, November 15 at 1:00 PM (REGISTER)
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Featured Resiliency Time Capsule Story: Agape Spiritual Community
During 2020, our nation faced two pandemics - the health pandemic of COVID 19 and the pandemic of continuous Racial Injustice. As you think about these two pandemics:
How did/(are) they impact your mission and ministry activities?
Both impacted our mission, though the effects of COVID were more acute, rather than the chronic pandemic of racial injustice. Racial injustice has been more chronic and of course didn't start in 2020. We’ve been intentional about engaging with T J Harper, who served as the Associate for Racial Justice for the Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ. The town of Waltham struggles with its diversity in that ethnic groups are siloed, so, we’re trying to work better together. The events of 2020 have prompted us to ask the important questions of how we can better engage with the LGBT community and POC communities. One thing we have done is partner with Chaplains on the Way, including... (CONTINUE READING) (2 Minute Read)
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BUILDING A LEGACY:
Learning, Discerning, and Leaning In
Fifth in a Series of Blogs Focused on Church Legacy by Charles Kuchenbrod
We are resurrection people. Some important resurrection concepts:
- Resurrection is not resuscitation.
- Resurrection is a radical transformation, not a series of incremental changes.
- Resurrection has parabolic power. It is more than factually true.
The risen Christ is not the same as Jesus, who was fully human as well as God incarnated, God in flesh. While the post-crucifixion appearances indicate some human characteristics, the resurrected Jesus is also more than human. The resurrected Jesus is no longer with us, present in the ways humans are present to each other, but the risen Christ is present always and ... (CONTINUE READING) (2 Minute Read).
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Churches Gather for Resiliency Time Capsule Documentary Premiere at Edwards House
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 the premiere showing of the long-anticipated Resiliency Time Capsule Documentary.
Funded by a 2021 Louisville Institute Pastoral Study Project Grant, the Resiliency Time Capsule Project was a collaborative cross-conference project that sought to capture the stories of churches during the dual pandemics of 2020 -COVID-19 and Racial Injustice. Twenty-four churches participated throughout the course of the project, contributing pictures, videos, written reflections, and video interviews to demonstrate the specific challenges, innovations, and growth each experienced throughout the pandemic.
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In describing the project, Rev. Dr. Audrey Price said, “Future generations will
look back in wonder and study how the church journeyed through these pandemics and in some ways thrived. It is important to capture and chronicle now the church’s witness. In capturing the witness, we explore how the church interpreted and responded to the still speaking God in this generation.”
The documentary premiere event in October was a culmination of this work. The resulting nearly 60-minute documentary...(Continue Reading) (3 Minute Read)
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So, Your Church Wants More Young Families?
The prevailing answer in the minds of those seeking to vitalize a congregation begins with the lament, “If only we had more young families”.
While noticing and naming the missing generational cohort(s) in a congregation is valuable to considering how a church’s mission and ministry might be re-imagined, ‘more young families’ is not the singular answer. Read what Rev. Dr. Annie Hall suggests HERE. (4 Minute Read)
Fall 2022 Lunch & Learn Schedule
The Center for Transformational Leadership's signature Lunch & Learn series is in full swing this fall season! Join us on Zoom the third Thursday of each month for an hour-long session of learning facilitated by experts in various areas of church practice. These "snapshot" sessions pack important information into an introductory presentation, followed by Q&As.
Our Fall 2022 schedule includes the following sessions:
Lunch and Learn sessions are offered at no cost through your proportional giving!
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Resiliency Time Capsule Virtual Premiere
We are pleased to welcome you to the Resiliency Time Capsule Documentary's virtual premiere session, to be held on Wednesday, November 2nd, from 6:00-8:00 PM via Zoom.
Gather your church members for a watch session to reflect on church experiences during the 2020 COVID and Racial Justice pandemics. Resources will be provided to prompt conversations about innovations and the carryover of "lessons learned" into the modern church. Registration is free and available to all SNE UCC churches!
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Small congregations have a unique character and nature. You’re invited to celebrate the joys, hopes, and challenges of small congregations at our first of a series of seasonal Small Church Roundtable Discussions. This year, Small Church Round Table discussions will be held in November 2022, and March and June 2023. The first of these sessions will be held Tuesday, 11/8/22 from 10-11:15 AM for clergy and from 7:15-8:30 PM for clergy and laity.
Collin’s dictionary defines round table meetings as a group gathered for an informal discussion or conference as if at a circular table. While our circle will be a virtual one, we have a few simple goals for these opportunities.
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To gather folks with like interests and love of small churches for discussion.
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To meet others with a passion for small churches.
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To bring diversity as well as affinity to the discussion circle.
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To share practices, strategies, resources and more without whine or brag.
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To connect and network and to create community and comradery with others who love small churches.
The host for this first pair of Small Church Round Table discussions will be Karen Ziel, Assistant Director, The Center for Transformational Leadership. Join us for a lively gathering and discussion!
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Writing Pastors, Writing Faith:
Creativity as Spiritual Practice
An Affinity Group for Clergy
The craft of writing is a powerful tool to understand ourselves, the world we inhabit, the faith we live, and the God we hope to know. Writing creative non-fiction (memoir, essays, personal reflections) will form the heart of this group. We’ll work on a writing prompt in preparation for each gathering. (i.e., What scares you? Describe a childhood encounter with God. Who was your first spiritual mentor?). Each meeting will include craft discussions, sharing our written pieces, and playing with the art of language and rhetoric. It will be fun! This is for writers at any level of proficiency. The main thing is to have a love for words and the power these bring to our lives.
This affinity group for writers will meet for 6 monthly zoom sessions, beginning January 2023, from 9:00-11:15 AM. Dates for this series are: 1/27/2023, 2/24/2023, 3/24/2023, 4/28/2023, 5/26/2023, and 6/23/2023. The series will culminate in a day-long retreat September, 2023.
The cost for this program is $300 per participant. Space is limited, so register soon to secure your seat!
Facilitator: Leading the workshop is the Reverend John Hudson, a longtime syndicated online and print newspaper opinion columnist, blogger, and Collegeville Institute alum and resident scholar. Hudson has served churches throughout New England for thirty years as a United Church of Christ pastor. His work has also appeared in The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, USA Magazine and Bearings Online.
Christian Contemplative Practices
A 6-Part Zoom Series Facilitated by Rev. Matt Carriker
What does “contemplation” mean? When we “contemplate” an idea, contemplation implies something deeper than thinking only. In contemplation, we start from a place of mystery and an acceptance of not knowing. This is often called the “mystical” dimension of faith, which shares a root with the word “mystery”. Spiritual truths often begin as a mystery because there is much we must spiritually unlearn, including many beliefs that no longer serve us. As we release fear’s grip and open our minds and hearts, new revelations are revealed to us. We shall talk more about these foundations over the course of our “Christian Contemplative Practices” gatherings.
This group will meet via zoom beginning January 2023. Sessions will be held from 7:00-8:30 PM on 1/18/2023, 2/1/2023, 2/15/2023, 3/1/2023, 3/15/2023, and 3/29/2023.
The cost for this program is $200 per participant for attendance in all 6 sessions. Space is limited, so register soon to secure your seat!
Facilitator: Rev. Matt Carriker is an ordained Christian minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC), and an author, spiritual coach, and retreat leader. Matt has a passion for altering Christianity today into a spiritual tradition that models the unconditional love of God and the life and teachings of Jesus. Matt is currently finalizing a book entitled “Giving Christianity back to Agape Love.”
Financial Literacy & Budgeting
Nimi Wariboko, former faculty member at Andover Newton Seminary, famously proclaimed "Budget is theology!" A good budget provides the crosswalk between a church's mission and its plan to realize its mission. Like it or not, a budget provides tangible evidence as to whether a congregation is actually committed to its vision.
This seminar explores some of the opportunities embedded in budget and the budgeting process. Rather than viewing budgets and the budgeting process as simply a requirement of good governance, we will examine how budgets and budgeting can be used to build community and attract new members.
The session will be held Tuesday, November 29th at 7:00 PM. Registration is now open through November 11th.
NOTEWORTHY OFFERINGS
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