Dear Siblings in Faith and Call,
We give thanks to God for you continually. This is not just a paraphrase of many of the Epistle greetings. It is our--the entire SNEUCC staff and board--heartfelt prayer of gratitude for you--pastors and teachers, prophets and priests, preachers and spiritual guides, administrators and organizers, creators of sacred space and liturgy, beloved Authorized Ministers. We give thanks for your yes to ministry. We give thanks for the ways that yes is unfolding among and with us. We give thanks for all God is and will do with your yes.
In recognition of Clergy Appreciation Month, Executive Conference Minister Rev. Darrell Goodwin posted this video last week, which concludes with a prayer for clergy. We so often pray for others and so rarely are prayed for. So, if you haven’t yet watched it, I hope you will. If you have, watch it again! You are a blessing and are blessed.
In faith,
Rev. Liz Garrigan-Byerly
Executive Minister for Area Conference Ministry
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Search & Call Orientation for Clergy
- Tuesday, October 31, 2-4pm, online
In the United Church of Christ, Search & Call is how authorized ministers and local churches discern mutual ministry. We’ll discuss the overall Search & Call process, preparing your UCC Profile, interviewing skills, discernment best practices and more. Whether you need to update your profile as recommended by your COM, are ready to search for your next call, want to explore vocation or simply curious, this workshop is for you. This will be a confidential space. This workshop is free to all SNEUCC Authorized Ministers, made possible by Proportional Giving. Please register here by 10/25.
Boundary Awareness Training: Through the Lens of Clergy Wellness
- November 12, 9:30am-2:30pm, online
Good professional boundaries allow ministry and those who do it to thrive with health and wholeness. Through the lens of clergy wellness, authorized ministers will renew their understanding of and develop skills for maintaining boundaries in an ever-shifting ministry landscape. Register here.
Clergy Wellness Retreat
- November 15, 2023, 10am-3pm in Stockbridge, MA
The Southern New England Conference is excited to once again partner with the UCC Pension Boards to offer a series of Clergy Wellness Retreats during the 2023-24 program year.
The first retreat will be held in the Northwest Region. Registration is now open for clergy in that region and will open to everyone next week; see your regional newsletter for the registration.
There will be time for worship, contemplation, lunch and other opportunities to connect with each other. Due to space availability, we are limiting registration to 40 people and are offering clergy in the Northwest Region the first opportunity to register for the retreat.
Keeping Our Sacred Spaces Open & Safe
- Saturday, November 18, 2-5pm
- 19 Church Street, Shrewsbury, MA (no online option)
We call our worship spaces sanctuaries; and they are. They are places of respite and solace from the world. We also proclaim the church to be radically open to all; and we are. How do we balance our values of openness with safety? This workshop will give local churches tools for doing just that.
Topics will include active intruder preparation, security assessments, abuse prevention and 3rd party usage. This workshop is for church trustees, property committees, deacons, greeter teams, staff and whoever in your church will benefit from gaining this knowledge. We encourage churches to send at least 2 representatives (or more), so that you can maximize your learning. We will be offering more resources like this in spring 2024 and in other locations around the conference. Please register here by 11/13.
Minister’s Financial Vitality Initiative Accepting Next Cohorts
At a time when so many of our church leaders experience anxiety about their financial security, the Minister’s Financial Vitality Initiative (MFVI) of the UCC Pension Boards continues to impact an ever-growing number of UCC authorized ministers, providing the basics of personal finance, guidance from experts, direct financial support, and a supportive community to break the silence around money. To date, nine cohorts of thirty pastors each have benefited from the content and community of this program, and testify to the positive impact on themselves, their families, and their ministries. The 10th and 11th cohorts of MFVI will begin in January 2024 and the application period opens on October 1. If you are a pastor who has concerns about your finances, or are serving in situations where you know financial issues are challenging, reach out to the Director of MFVI, Joaquin Labour-Acosta at ministerialassistance@pbucc.org.
National UCC 2030 Clergy Network
The 2030 Network (an organization of, by, and for UCC clergy and authorized ministers ages 20-39) are gathering for an annual meeting on Tuesday, October 24. Join us on Zoom from 3:30pm - 5pm EST (12:30pm Pacific)! We’ll pray together, listen to how we can best support each other, and hear a message specifically for us from our new General Minister and President, Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson. Check out our new website to register for the meeting, provide us some feedback of what's important to you, and register our email list. And, if you are not part of our Facebook group, please join!
With peace,
Your 20-30s Clergy Network National Planning Team (Kelsey Beebe, Colie Bettivia, Shane Montoya, Matthew Redrich, and Cydney Van Dyk)
Mandatory Reporting
One of the questions we hear frequently is “Are clergy mandated reporters?” The ethical and moral answer is “yes.” Care for the most vulnerable among us is woven through both the Marks of Faithful & Effective Authorized Ministers and the UCC Ministerial Code. That includes utilizing all possible professional and legal resources. There is also a legal answer, which is a nuanced “yes.” All three states in which SNEUCC exists have mandatory reporting laws. Rhode Island’s laws apply to “any person;” Connecticut and Massachusetts explicitly list “clergy” as mandatory reporters. CT & MA also have separate laws that protect “privileged communication” between clergy and their congregants. However, in the United Church of Christ, we understand confidentiality to be “telling only those who need to know, what they need to know, when they need to know it” (UCC Ministerial Code). That includes mandatory reporting of potential abuse.
We strongly encourage you to take the online Mandated Reporter training offered by the state in which you serve. We also encourage you to work with your ministry setting to make sure your policies and practices are up to date. You can find information on all those things on our website.
Clergy Portal
SNEUCC has a Clergy Portal on our website, which connects with your Conference database record. We’d love for you to create your account and use this to update your information. It also gives you access to the Clergy Directory.
Ongoing Supports & Resources
We all have need of support from time to time. We are deeply grateful to our covenantal partners (Board of Ministerial Aid, MA; The Trustees of the Fund for Ministers, CT; Rhode Island Association, UCC Pension Boards) and the generosity of our church’s support of proportional giving, which make these services available to all Authorized Ministers with standing in the SNEUCC.
This is an October Clergy Appreciation Month newsletter for Authorized Ministers in SNEUCC.
