General Synod: The national meeting of our church is in Indianapolis this year! Y’all come!
The event’s keynote speaker will be: The Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, Lutheran minister, best-selling author and the founding pastor of Denver’s House for All Sinners & Saints, will deliver the keynote address at Synod on Saturday, July 1.
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Rev. Mulberry wants to encourage everyone to go to the national meeting of the United Church of Christ, General Synod 34, in Indianapolis this summer from June 30 to July 4. Planning on going to General Synod in Indianapolis this summer? Registration is open! (https://www.ucc.org/general-synod-2023-online-registration-opens-jan-23/) Rev. Mulberry recommends the Single Day, for Synod in the City which usually happens on Saturday, or the Three Day to give one a feel of the scope of General Synod with great worship, music, workshops, entertainment, community, and spiritual learning and growth.
Youth (12-18 yrs old) $150.00
Youth (6-12 yrs old) $50.00
Volunteers $65.00
Single day $95.00
Three day $175.00
There is much to consider this year. We will be electing a new General Minister and President, voting on the reelection of Associate General Minister Karen Georgia Thompson and considering amendments to the UCC Bylaws that would change the frequency of General Synod from two years to three years. In addition, there are potentially 19 resolutions that will be up for review.
The event’s keynote speaker will be: The Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, Lutheran minister, best-selling author and the founding pastor of Denver’s House for All Sinners & Saints, will deliver the keynote address at Synod on Saturday, July 1.
Plus, among other presenters will be nationally known: Ibram X. Kendi and Bryan Stevenson, best-selling authors, speakers, and thinkers around racial justice.
Please let Rev. Mulberry know if you are interested! He would love a whole busload of Pilgrims to go.
We continue our Meditation Service on the second Sunday of each month with Encircling Prayer. Encircling Prayer is a form of meditation that knows we have all kinds of negative messages, stories, and forces at work against us. Encircling Prayer calls all of the good in our world to us, to be mindful of them, to gather the good ancestors who are in the room with us so we know we are encircled and held.
Encircling Prayer comes from an ancient Celtic tradition of Caim Prayer. This is a simple Caim Prayer: Circle me Spirit. Keep protection near, and danger afar. Circle me Spirit. Keep light near, and the shadows afar. Circle me Spirit. Keep peace within. Keep evil out.
We will be naming with much more intention the circles of care and love that surround us every day so that we might walk knowing that we are held in love and compassion. Come join us. These services last anywhere between 30 and 40 minutes.
