Wider Church Roundup: SNEC Annual Meeting and Worship

IMPORTANT UPDATE: After the post was published, out of an abundance of caution due to the storm this weekend, we decided to cancel in-person worship this Sunday. However, the conference livestream will still be available, and you can find that link later in the post. Original post continues as follows:

This weekend is the 7^th Annual Meeting of the Southern New England Conference, the collection of United Church of Christ churches in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut (plus a few in New York).  We’ll be meeting at the DCU Center in Worcester starting on Friday and concluding after worship on Sunday.  I’ll be in attendance all weekend, including for worship on Sunday morning.  Read on to learn a little bit about the annual meeting, as well as for worship plans at First Parish this Sunday.

What is the Annual Meeting of the Conference?  It’s an event in which we embody our covenant together by engaging in business, education, worship, and social connection with our fellow churches and church members from across the conference.  Because the Southern New England Conference is one of the largest expressions of the UCC in our country, the Annual Meeting in form looks a lot like General Synod, our national church meeting that now occurs every three years, with business gatherings in large ballrooms, workshops for attendees, mission opportunities, a marketplace of vendors for commerce and education, and after-hours social gatherings.  But in function, it looks a lot like our own annual church meetings: we gather to talk about and vote on budget, leadership, programming, and vision, all as we discern God’s presence and guidance in the midst of our conversations.

This year’s annual meeting will feature a significant vote.  The Southern New England Conference was formed out of the historic Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island conferences as a result of a meeting of the conferences nine years ago.  Through the hard work of the three conferences, the Southern New England Conference officially became an entity on January 1, 2020.  However, there were many more legal steps to take to complete the process of the merger of the three conferences, and that vote will come before the church body at this annual meeting.

In addition to each historic conference voting on this final step, as well as votes on a budget and on a nomination slate for the upcoming year, we’ll hear a report for our Executive Conference Minister, Rev. Darrell Goodwin, a report on a strategic vision plan for the conference, and a keynote address from Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, Senior Pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, spiritual home of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Rev. Warnock will also be preaching at the annual meeting worship service on Sunday morning.  The conference has encouraged us to share this moment together in a unique opportunity to celebrate in worship with our friends and neighbors at churches across the conference.  For our worship service this Sunday at First Parish, we will be livestreaming the worship service from the conference annual meeting.

What does this mean for our church this Sunday?  The livestream will be projected onto the screen in our sanctuary, utilizing our new equipment to broadcast the sound through our regular sound system.  Doug Hyde will be leading the use of technology for the service, and will have a few notes to share before worship starts, similar to what you will find here.  Worship will begin at 10 am as usual.  We’ll have printouts available of a bulletin provided by the conference, including music for many of the songs we’ll sing together.  We’ll also have Sunday School available for any of our kids attending, which will begin at the start of worship.  They’ll come back later in the service for a children’s moment, a blessing, and to witness the baptism of Kyrie, daughter of Rev. Goodwin and his husband, Kentavis.  Worship will then conclude with more music and a blessing.

Please note: this service will be longer than our usual worship services.  The conference suggests we plan for a two-hour worship service.  Because of this, my hope is that you can join at the church for what time you are able to do so, whether that’s for the full service or just for part of the service and leaving when you need to do so.  Alternatively, you can participate by watching the service from home using this link (https://vimeo.com/event/6181947) to the livestream or by watching the worship recording later.

However you are able, I encourage you to join in this unique worship service.  It’s a rare opportunity for us to be in covenant and community with the rest of our conference.  Then, I’m looking forward to sharing my reflections with you after the meeting, while also turning toward the rest of our fall plans, including our community celebration on World Communion Sunday, Oct. 4^th.  Don’t forget to bring a friend!  I’ll see you then.

Pastor JT