Spotlight Hits 100
Be part of the next 100 stories of mission, outreach, and fellowship
 This enewsletter marks the 100th issue of the Massachusetts Conference's Spotlight, a look at how God is Still Speaking in our local churches. As written in A Still More Excellent Way, by simply sharing with our friends and neighbors the core messages of the United Church of Christ, we discover our prophetic voice. Among those core messages are Jesus' inclusive love, God's revelation as ongoing ("God is still speaking") and faithfulness as a covenantal journey within community.
Thank you to the many clergy and lay people who have shared their journeys over the past four years. You told us about:
- Inviting the community into your space with: peace vigils, an outdoor fire walk and labyrinth, free Friday night movies, monthly luncheons for seniors, and special worship services -- even those for animals.
Stepping outside the church and participating in community events, like marching in a parade, selling water at a bicycle race, and even bringing postcards to the state house to help end homelessness.
- Reaching outside your local community, with mission trips to help Hurricane Katrina victims, poverty-stricken areas of Appalachia, patients in Peru, and a budding businesswoman in Honduras.
You boosted coffers, membership, and fellowship through churchwide projects and small groups. You've helped provide warmth, food, and hope to those less fortunate. And you've done it one story at a time.
As written in A Still More Excellent Way, this "shared learning and action can help catalyze, integrate and empower prophetic witness throughout our churches. Our world needs many prophets, and each of our clergy and lay members has a prophetic voice to share!"
If your church hasn't been highlighted, please consider submitting a story or idea. With nearly 400 churches in the Conference, we have a lot more tales to tell.
Share Your Still Speaking Story
 Tell us how God is speaking in and through your church. Have you reached out to the community in unique ways? Initiated a new mission project? Found a new way to minister to those within the congregation? Share your story and help us to spread the good news! Contact Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane, Editor, at cochranem@macucc.org.
You may reprint this story by including the following line in your article:
"Source: Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ, www.macucc.org/spotlight"
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