The
203rd Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference will give churches
an opportunity to learn from each other some innovative ways to reach
out.
The meeting, titled One Common Cloth…Evangelism, Mission and Justice,
will be held June 7–8 at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley.
“Meetings in the recent past have featured outside speakers who have
been experts in their fields. This year, we’re going to focus on the
expertise found in our own local churches,” said Joanna Bickford, Associate
for Administration. “The Meeting will highlight some of the ways churches
in the Massachusetts Conference are re-integrating their evangelism,
mission and justice ministries.”
Plans for the Meeting include multi-media plenary presentations that
will highlight programs at several churches. A request for snapshots
and descriptions will be sent out to churches prior to the Meeting.
“By celebrating the seeds of what we’re already doing, we can all learn
how to grow new innovative ways of reaching out,” Bickford said.
Author and scholar Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock, one of two theological
reflectors at the United Church of Christ General Synod last summer,
will serve as the reflector at the Meeting.
Nakashima Brock, Research Associate at the Harvard Divinity School,
is the former chair of the Board of Directors of the Common Global Ministries
of the UCC and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
This will be the second year that the Annual Meeting will follow a shorter,
two-day format. A large majority of delegates last year said they preferred
the two-day format to the former, three-day format.
Also in response to comments from delegates, workshops will be held
at a separate time from hearings: hearings will be held Friday afternoon,
and workshops Saturday morning.
Annual
Meeting resolutions are due by February 8th.
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