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Congregational Support & Development |
| Church Council Business... Spirit of Peace Banner Ad Campaign | Thanks to the generosity of the UCC South Central Conference Church Development Committee, who funded our grant request, we are currently running a banner ad on http://www.mysa.com. Look for it playing randomly throughout the site. Also we have a highlighted listing in the Yellow Pages section under "churches." Shop Online & Support Spirit of Peace Church...You can support Spirit of Peace by shopping at igive, an E-philanthropy web site. Just go online to http://www.igive.com, register, select Spirit of Peace United Church of Christ as your charity and then choose the merchant with whom you wish to shop. One to four percent of your purchases will be donated to our church. Denominational Considerations What
happened at Annual Meeting? What a fun and interesting time Rita, John and I had at the Annual Meeting of the South Central Conference of the UCC at the Wyndham Hotel Greenspointe in Houston. After checking in on Friday evening we joined the representatives from Rita's other church at a big sit-down dinner. It was so fine to finally put faces on our fellow Community UCCers from South San Antonio. The rest of the weekend was one hectic run from worship services to general meetings to workshops. Two definite highlights were Ron Buford's speeches and Rita's workshop on the UCC "Church Vitality" initiative. The "God is still speaking..." campaign was and still is Ron's amazing brainchild, and everyone agreed that his "comma," and striking "red & black" posters, and wonderful TV ads have helped many of us UCCers regain a sense of identity and pride. At Rita's workshop we broke into groups and went through brief Bible studies aimed at the "Church Vitality" slogan, "Ready, set, grow." The participants busily wrote down notes as Rita rattled off idea after idea. More information is available at http://www.uccvitality.org/index.html. Three major issues were addressed at the general meetings: (1) the Rev. Ron Trimmer of Friedens Church in Washington, TX brought forward a potential resolution to take to General Synod next summer in which he suggests a new way of naming conference delegates, i.e. at least one representative for each church rather than the individual conferences choosing representatives. His resolution is still at the formative phase, and many, including Rita, asked that such a major change not be rushed. More information about the progress and status of the proposed resolution will be released from the Conference offices as they become available. (2) The offices of the South Central Conference will be moved to Houston some time after the New Year, as their lease in Austin is up at the end of the year. The delegates approved of this move as the rent is cheaper in Houston, and it is much easier for the New Orleans' delegations and others that fly in for the meetings to reach. And, (3) the UCC General Synod next summer will be held in Hartford, Connecticut, serving in part as the culminating party of a year-long celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the UCC. Finally,
look at that great photo of our intrepid pastor as she left the
conference for a well-deserved vacation in Eastern Europe. Everything
she needs for the trip is on her back. Can you believe it?!!
Also
at Annual Meeting... Grace
Mission United Church of Christ May 25, 2006 TO
OUR SISTER CHURCHES Dear Pastors: We are beginning a new thing here in Luling, Texas. Luling is a small, economically depressed town just off Interstate 10, 139 miles from Houston and 55 miles from San Antonio. We are starting a mission church in Luling supported in part by a $15,000 grant from the Conference and by the proceeds of a thrift store which will be open for business June 22, 2006. We are asking you to pray for us; especially that what we are beginning here will touch the lives of people who are struggling to make it without jobs and without hope. We are also asking that you let your congregations know about us by putting the enclosed bulletin inserts into your bulletin on a Sunday prior to our Grand Opening June 22. We believe God is moving with us in this effort; bold to say, I know. But, doors have opened just in time; funds have come just in time; approvals have come just in time and donations are pouring in. If you have folks in the congregation that would like to volunteer, please let me know. If you have stuff to donate like those old heavy tables that take three strong men to set up, we can use them. I’ll bet the Women’s Guild has been after the Council to buy some of those light weight plastic tables. Now might be the right time. I’ll be at the annual meeting in Houston and look forward to seeing you all there. We will have an exhibit, come by and see what we are up to. Peace, Matthew 22:36-38 -The greatest commandment and John 21:15-18 – Feed my sheep For more information, please continue reading: Grace Mission United Church of Christ is a “mission” church; an outpost and refuge. We will minister to the community in a number of ways, but our first effort will be to open a thrift store. The Grand Opening of Thy Neighbor’s Closet thrift store is on June 22, 2006, and coincides with Luling’s annual Watermelon Thump. This first ministry will provide a much needed service to the community and funds to support the church as we grow the congregation. Our sanctuary is in the show room of the car dealership we have leased for the church and thrift store. The windows open out to the community we serve. The thrift store proceeds will allow our start up congregation to support a wide variety of ministries. We will give equal weight to worship and service. The primary activities outside of worship and Christian education will be ministering to the needs of the poor particularly for women and children. Our first priority is to meet budget and put some money aside to purchase our building at the end of our lease. After these basic needs are met we will distribute excess funds to support ministries in the Luling community and to regional and global ministries. Can we help you with programs your church has in place that support the needs of women and children? Let us know about it. We need a number of things to get our church and store up and running. We need money or gift cards to Home Depot, Lowes or Wal-Mart. We need your gently used clothing, furniture and household goods. And, we need you. Our store will run primarily on volunteers. Donations are pouring in and we need folks to help us put together clothing racks, label and price goods for sale and build shelving. If you can help, call Pastor Judy Clements at (512) 585-1220. Please join us for Grace Mission UCC’s first worship service June 25, 2006, at 3:00 p.m., and come to our grand opening June 22, 23 and 24th. Come and celebrate with us as we lift our voices in praise and thanksgiving. Come and help us express our gratitude for the presence of the Holy Spirit that has guided us in the establishment of this new congregation of believers.
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