Annual Meeting is time for connections, reflection, new directions

Gathering Friday and Saturday, April 29 to 30 at University Congregational UCC in Seattle, delegates, visitors and participants in the 2011 Conference Annual Meeting will consider the theme “Connections – Reflections – Directions.”

Held for the first time in years in a church rather than a hotel-convention-center, the PNC Annual Meeting should save funds.

The strong emphasis on youth and young adults is already evident in the promotion through “Come to Annual Meeting” videos online at the conference website, pncucc.org, and spread online.

Margaret Irribarra and Kimbris Bond of the Youth and Young Adult Task Force of Education Ministries prepared the video clips.

Da Vita McCallister

The featured speaker will be the Rev. Da Vita McCallister, the Connecticut UCC Conference’s associate minister for youth and young adult ministries.  She will spend some special time in workshops just for youth, in addition to preaching at the 7:30 p.m. worship on Friday, and giving the keynote address at 8:30 a.m., Saturday.

A mother, ordained minister, entrepreneur, philanthropist, writer and advocate for youth and young adults, she invites people to explore their call to ministry and to share in transforming the world.  In the Connecticut Conference, she equips youth workers to build multicultural, multiracial youth leadership.

There are options to stay in hotels and also money-saving options for those who prefer to connect with the church family in the Seattle area and stay in the home of a church member.  The conference is seeking people to offer their homes.  Youth in grades nine through 12 and their leaders will be housed together in Seattle area UCC churches.

In addition to worship on Friday and Saturday evenings, delegates will visit churches throughout the Seattle area on Sunday. The Friday worship, which will explore diversity, will include music by the Total Experience Gospel Choir.  Conference Minister Mike Denton will preach at the Saturday evening worship with music including massed choirs, a brass quintet and renowned organist Douglas Cleveland.

Evening worship services will be at University Presbyterian Church.  There will be a Saturday morning devotion at University Congregational.

Workshop sessions will be held on Friday afternoon.

The first session includes workshops with the keynote speaker and on the Moses Project, a partnership of Vancouver UCC and the Children’s Alliance; on multifaith living with campus minister Matt Smith; on art quilts illustrating stories of world travel by retired oncology nurse Mary Maxwell; on the “Our Whole Lives” curricula on sexuality and faith by Amy Johnson; on Interplay as a life and spirit practice by Deanna Murray of Prospect in Seattle; on “Closet Activism” with Jeaneane Hill of University Congregational UCC; for church treasurers with PNC treasurer Martha Baldwin and PNC accounting manager Michelle Johanson, and on “Food Faith and Justice” by the Christian Life and Service in Action Committee (CLSA).

In the second session, workshops are on “Around the World in 80 Minutes” with Ed Evans and Peter Lin of PNC’s Global Ministries Committee; “Faith, Climate and Coal” by Brooks Berndt with LeeAnne Beres and Jessie Dye of Earth Ministry; on “Death Penalty: Who Would Jesus Execute?” by Yvonne Wilhelmsen of the CLSA Committee and Stefanie Anderson of the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty; on “Generational Conflice and New Technologies” with journalist David Domke of the University of Washington Communication Department; on conflict resolution in ministry with Sophie Morse of Keystone in Seattle; on science and faith with Kendal Bond a Seattle high school teacher, and on “Justice LED (Leaders Engaging and Developing) with members of CLSA.

PNC churches are invited to use the comma graphic for the UCC Still Speaking campaign and fill it with images, text and other content to express what inspires the churches connections, reflections and directions.  These visual pieces will be used as signs and symbols of the richness of the conference. They are to be mailed by April 25 to Heidi Blythe at University Congregational UCC, 4515 16th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98105.

Annual Meeting will officially close on Saturday.

For information, call 206-725-8383.

Copyright Pacific Northwest Conference News © April 2011