Massachusetts Conference Edition

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This issue marks the last Massachusetts  Conference edition of the UCC News

by Tiffany Vail, Associate for Communication

September/October 2009

Editor’s Note: The United Church of Christ Board of Directors voted in March to cease publishing a printed version of the United Church News due to skyrocketing costs that could not be met by advertising revenue and donations. 

It is difficult to commit to paper the fact that this is the last edition of the Massachusetts Conference section of the United Church News.  This newspaper has been printed in conjunction with the national setting newspaper since 1988. Prior to that and dating back to at least 1931, the Conference and its predecessor bodies published the Pilgrim State News.

But at the same time, it is heartening to look around and see how many more avenues of communication are open within the Conference now – avenues that simply did not exist a few short years ago.  This final issue of the newspaper is designed to showcase those other vehicles, so that our 12,000 readers will know what is available to them.

Those vehicles include: 

• Email newsletters dedicated to stewardship, mission & justice, evangelism & new church starts, and Christian education & youth ministry;

• The Spotlight newsletter, which focuses on the work and ministry of local churches;

• The “mailing” and “e-mailing,” a monthly publication highlighting events and resources offered by the Conference and our partners, a printed version of which is sent to every church office.

• Various occasional publications – including Annual Meeting materials and the Conference Annual Report – and periodic emails from the Minister and President and others;

• The Massachusetts Conference website, www.macucc.org, which provides a wealth of information and resources, including the new MAC’S LIST, a venue for churches to communicate with one another about job postings, events, swap, buy & sell ads, requests for vendor recommendations, and more.

In addition, the Conference is beginning to explore and use social media networks for opening up new lines of communication.  You can be a part of this by finding the Conference on Facebook.

You will notice that the predominant mode of communication currently available in the Conference is electronic.  That is why I am making an urgent request of everyone reading this newspaper: 

PLEASE, PLEASE, give the Conference your email address, and keep us up to date when you change it.  The Conference will respect your privacy – we do not give personal email addresses to outside organizations and we try hard not to overwhelm folks on our email lists. 

Please, send your email address to Jane Clarke at clarkej@macucc.org. Or, visit our e-newsletter subscription page at www.macucc.org/subscribe and select which communications you would like to receive from us.

This does not mean that Conference communications will be limited to electronic means – that is an issue that is currently being explored.  We have put together a small group of some of the best communicators, lay and clergy, from across the Conference to brainstorm about the future path of our communication.

But even before this group talks about how we communicate as a Conference, it will discuss what

it is that we are attempting to communicate.

At the Massachusetts Conference Annual Meeting, being held October 16th and 17th at the DCU Center in Worcester, the Board of Directors is inviting church members to reflect on the question: What is the StillSpeaking God calling the UCC in Massachusetts to be in the next few years?

Whatever is gleaned from that listening session will be considered by this small group of communicators as they brainstorm about the Conference’s communication strategy as we move forward from here.

In the meantime, if you have suggestions for either the what or the how of the way the Conference communicates, I invite you to email me at vailt@macucc.org or call me at 508-875-5233, ext. 229.