A Letter from the Conference Ministers of Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut

We write in the midst of this complicated Advent season. It is easy to get overwhelmed and overloaded by the volume of bad news and fear that pervades our country and our world in many different forms this year. These are difficult times. There are no easy answers. The grief and sorrow and yes, even anger, are palpable for all of us. By faith we trust that God weeps over our country and the world as it moves through these dark days. In this Advent season we are called to wait and to watch and to prepare. And this waiting is sometimes very difficult. 

Tony Robinson once commented “The Bible ends by not ending. It ends in anticipating. It ends with the faithful still waiting… this is what it means to be people of faith – to be still waiting, still watching, still hoping, still listening… for God.  Fiercely waiting.”

Waiting that is fierce cannot be passive. Called as we are to make God’s love and justice real, it is up to each of us to make real the Advent virtues of hope, peace, joy and love. We invite you and your congregations to prepare for the birth of the Holy child in a way that nurtures and amplifies these virtues. This is one way we can live out our call to be disciples of the One whose coming we await.

Read the full letter 

Conference Announces Several Clergy Transitions

The Rhode Island Conference is seeing a number of clergy transitions take place this season.

1. Licensed Pastor Warren Marble has come out of a brief time of retirement to resume his ministry at the First Congregational Church of Warwick UCC by congregational vote in November, 2017.
2. Rev. Yong Hwan Noh became the Interim pastor of the First Korean Church in Cranston, RI in early November, 2017.
3. Rev. John Eklund was called to become the full time pastor of the congregation of Chepachet Union Church on November 19, 2017 after serving as Interim pastor for the past few years.
4. Rev. Paul Bizer departs from Peace Dale Congregational Church after 15 years of service as Pastor after services on Dec. 31^st.  He and his wife are moving to Florida, where she has a new position.
5. Rev. Gary Bagley departs from Edgewood Congregational Church in Cranston, RI after 5 years of service as Pastor after services on Dec. 24^th. 
6. Rev. Gary Bagley will become the Bridge Interim at the Peace Dale Congregational Church as of Jan. 2, 2018.
7. Rev. Sharon Key, Bridge Interim at First Congregational Church UCC in Bristol, will complete her Bridge Interim ministry after services on Dec. 31^st. 
8. Rev. Burton Bagby-Grose will begin his ministry as the Pastor at First Congregational Church UCC in Bristol on Jan. 2, 2018.
9. Word was received of the recent December death of the Rev. John Avedis Zarifian in Montreal, Canada.