Northwest Word April 2019
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Buses to General Synod
Sunday, June 25, 2019
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General Synod
Volunteers needed
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Have you thought about volunteering at General Synod. Many spots still available. By volunteering for 6 or more hours your registration fee plummets to $60.
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Ho-Chunk Immersion Experience June 7-8, 2019
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The Ho-Chunk Church and the Northwest Association of the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ invite you for an immersion experience to learn more about tribal history, church history, and who the church and its people are today.
All ages and invited. Children and youth must be accompanied by an adult.
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Chris Duda, Wisconsin Conference Board of Directors
At the April 6 Annual Meeting, Christ Duda was elected to represent the Northwest Association on the Wisconsin Conference UCC’s Board of Directors. A lifelong member of the UCC, Chris is active in her church, First Congregational UCC of Wisconsin Rapids, she served as the church’s moderator twice, including a year when the church was searching for a new pastor. She sings in its choir and served on several of its boards, and, at her mother’s insistence, attended a Quilting retreat at Moon Beach. (She reports having fun at the event.) She cherishes the sense of community and possibilities for good things in the future that come with immersion in the life of a church. Chris has worked for Wal-Mart for 18 years, and was recently promoted to a teaching role at the firm’s Academy in Plover. She and her husband Dennis, a self-employed home improvement contractor, are the parents of two twenty-something young adults making a success of themselves in the working world. They live on a hobby farm near Wisconsin Rapids with a few chickens and a Nigerian Dwarf goat named Bob, and spend many evenings outside admiring all the trouble that Bob can get into.
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Teri Hanson, Moderator
Teri Hanson, the NWWA’s Vice-Moderator for the past year, was elected Moderator of the Association on April 6. Since 2012, Teri has served as the Licensed Pastor of Christ UCC in Athens and First UCC in Colby. A 2006 graduate of the ELCA Northwest (Wisconsin) Synod’s Lay School, she is now a Member in Discernment with the Northwest Association, seeking ordination through the new multiple paths to ministry protocol. Teri has a passion for teaching, opening up the word in scripture for as many people as possible. She enjoys sewing and quilting, and playing clarinet in the Athens Old-Timers Band. For 25 years, she has been married to Kevin Hanson, a licensed funeral director. She and Kevin are the parents of Tabitha, a fourth-year student at UW—Stevens Point. Over the years, Teri, Kevin, and Tabitha have also welcome three exchange students into their home, and have maintained warm friendships with them.
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Learn the story behind the General Synod
communion chalices and patens
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Tim Perkins of the local arrangements committee for General Synod 2019 contacted potter/pastor
Colleen Kwong,
Hope United Church of Christ, Cochrane WI,
to create the chalice and paten that will be used in serving communion during Sunday's worship service.
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Did you know that 50% of the money raised by our gifts to the 5 for 5 offering, “Strengthen the Church” stays in the WI Conference? That typically amounts to $20,000 from the $40, 000 we donate. So please give to the “Strengthen the Church” offering on June 9
th. That money helps fund two programs I am so proud of the WI Conference for putting in place. It used to be that if a church hit a snag either with the pastor or because of a conflict between church members and needed to have an expert come in for conflict resolution, they’d have to pay a lot of money to get that expert and a lot of churches simply could not afford it. The result was no expert came in with the right tools to help folks talk things out and the situation would end badly. But our Conference has been training our own people to do conflict resolution so money is no longer a problem and, in addition, the trainees understand us because they usually come from the same background as we do. Our Conference is also training experienced ministers from our own people to coach pastors who would like a broader understanding of their churches and how to interact with parishioners. The Lay Academy, Outdoor Ministries, and Communities of Practice also benefit from this offering.
Now 50% of “Strengthen the Church” goes to National for grants and fellowships that encourage pastors and churches to move beyond church walls and revitalize the surrounding community or welcome people in who have been shut out or shunned. The Adese Fellowship is a 12 month program helping church leaders launch businesses or enterprises that fight systemic poverty in their communities—like the one that helps single mothers get the support they need.
The “New and Renewing Spiritual Communities” grant provides funding and coaching for church programs that better their community according to the Vision, Mission, and Purpose of the UCC. Grant application is due the first Friday of September. Find application information at
http://www.ucc.org/grow-your-church. Twelve awards totaling almost $350,000 were granted in 2017.
Finally, our support for “Strengthen the Church” in 2017 resulted in 24 new faith communities in the UCC. So let’s give to the “Strengthen the Church offering” this Pentecost Sunday, June 9.
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Mission Trips to Pine Ridge
Saint Stephens UCC
I
n 2016, 2017, and 2018, Rev. Kyle Carnes and a group of volunteers made annual trips to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to spend nearly a week working on carpentry projects building skirting for trailers, decks, bunk beds, and outhouses, and immersing themselves in learning about the Oglala Lakota Nation and its culture and history. They worked hard, learned much, did without many of the luxuries we have grown accustomed to, slowed down the pace of life tremendously, and came alongside their Oglala Lakota neighbors to more fully appreciate their rich heritage. And all came away from South Dakota deeply changed by this experience.
The Pine Ridge Reservation spans over 2.8 million acres of land and is the second-largest Native American Indian Reservation in the United States, yet it contains one of the poorest counties in our nation. Volunteers who travel here to work with the Re-Member organization ... doing such things as building bunk beds for children and wheelchair ramps for elders; repairing roofing, siding, and trailer skirting on homes; installing outhouses; getting and delivering firewood; and more ... are shocked to find the living conditions here are harsh, third-world living conditions ... right here in the middle of the United States.
"On the Rez," as they call it, extended families and friends often live together in one home and overcrowding is abundant. There is a shortage of beds and mattresses, resulting in many children sharing beds or sleeping on the floor. Many homes do not have functional bathrooms, running water, or kitchens.
In large part due to these conditions and the despair such living conditions can create, the population in this county has the second lowest life expectancy in the entire Western hemisphere and frighteningly high rates of diabetes, alcoholism, and suicide.
The
Re-Member
organization has spent nearly two decades building a relationship of trust with the Oglala Lakota Nation. Working with this organization isn't about just "helping someone else who needs help." Rather, it is about becoming a true neighbor to the residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation. It is about tearing down proverbial walls and building relationship.
Plans are already under way to gather another group of volunteers from Saint Stephens to work on the Pine Ridge Reservation in August 2019. Cost is anticipated to be $575 per person. Some volunteers are committed to going every year! Contact the
church office
or Rev. Carnes if you would like to join us!
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Each year before we go, the congregation collects all of these items ... new in the package ... and takes them along as our gift to the families who live at Pine Ridge ... new bedding to go on the bunk beds our volunteers and others help build.
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CAMP and scholarships!
NOTE - Scholarship forms have changed and are available on the Northwest Association
website.
For camping, leadership development and national and statewide youth Events, scholarships are available for 25% of the cost. Send your application by usps or email to Mary Jo Laabs, chairperson of the Division on Ministry in the Local church, 512 E Broadway Ave, Medford, WI 54451 or
believe417@gmail.com
For Faith Formation Retreats, each North West Association student and their chaperones will receive $50 "automatically" when they register.
(no scholarship application is needed.)
Have you registered yet?
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Pulpit Supply List
Churches should be fair and forthright in agreeing upon honorarium and travel expenses
for persons they invite to provide pulpit supply. The WI Conference Division of Church
and Ministry suggests a minimum of $125 plus mileage reimbursed at the IRS current rate;
for
2019: 58 cents per mile. Where a church has two points and two services,
you should consider a minimum of $175 plus mileage.
Conference staff persons serve the local congregations in a variety of ways in the normal performance of their duties. Honoraria are not accepted, and travel costs are covered
by the Conference travel budget. Except in emergencies, Conference staff cannot provide pulpit supply; however, the staff welcomes opportunities to preach for special occasions or to meet with members of the congregation.
Please note: Persons licensed to the NW Association and ordained pastors are authorized to administer the Sacraments.
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Youth Director First Congregational Church –United Church of Christ
Wisconsin Rapids
Duties:
1. Candidate will act as primary youth leader
a. Develop ideas and resources for planning events and strategies (VBS)
b. Seek to expand the scope of youth programs
c. Encourage the development of the spiritual life of the youth
d. Attend secular, local events youth are involved in
2. Attend meetings of and work with the Board of Christian Education
a. Manage Christian Ed supplies
b. Assist with Curriculum
c. Organize youth music
3. Recruits volunteers and supervisors for youth activities
4. Oversee scholarships for nursery/choir-“Public Relations”
5. Coordinate with other youth leaders in area
6. Occasional Children’s Messages on Sundays
7. Follow safe church policy of FCCUCC
Qualifications/Skills:
Candidate should have:
*a passion for youth work
*an upbeat, effervescent personality
*a flexible schedule making them available various times of the day including weekends
*a high degree of efficiency as a staff member of our church
*theology likeminded of the United Church of Christ
*the ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing
*a high degree of personal maturity and responsibility
*ability to work well in a staff relationship
*ability to maintain confidentiality
Compensation:
$15.00-$20.00 per hour (15-20 hours a week)
$500 in Book Resources
Mileage at IRS Rate
1 Week Paid Vacation (Compensated hours of a normal work week)
Please send or bring resume to:
First Congregational Church-United Church of Christ- Wisconsin Rapids
C/O: Rev. Missy Miller (Senior Minister)
311 2
nd
St. S.
Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494
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