In a world where darkness seems to be encroaching on all fronts, it is refreshing to see that cooperation is possible. The Peace Light of Bethlehem brings that hope each year.  The light itself comes from the grotto in Bethlehem where tradition says that Jesus was born. It is flown throughout the world to be distributed through Girl and Boy Guides and locally Girl and Boy Scouts to local group, organizations, churches, and individuals so that the light of peace can be seen across the world.

On December 1st of this year, it arrived at JFK where Rev. Jennie Valentine retrieved it for congregations in MA. On December 2nd, a local Southampton Boy Scout Troop held a distribution event at the First Congregational Church of Southampton, UCC. This is where the First Congregational Church of Brimfield received the light.

By Debbie Gline Allen, Christian Education & Youth Ministry Consultant 

It is difficult to separate the Christian traditions of Christmas these days from the secular ones. Frosty and Rudolph follow Silent Night on Christmas music playlists. The Hallmark Channel warms our hearts with romantic love stories while Linus quotes from the Gospel of Luke. Santas and Nutcrackers decorate the malls, but one must make an effort to notice where crèches are displayed.

Please understand that I am not against secular expressions of Christmas. However, it is my hope that our children will grow up knowing the true reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place. And for this to happen, we need to be intentional when we talk about Christmas and celebrate our seasonal Christian traditions with our children.

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JOMO - The Joy of Missing Out

By The Rev. Sarah Buteux, Co-Pastor of First Churches in Northampton, MA and the founding pastor of Common Ground Maybe you've heard of FOMO: the Fear of Missing Out? It's the fear that somewhere someone is watching, reading, tweeting, or experiencing something better than what you are experiencing right now. It's the low level of anxiety so many of us feel that keeps us tethered to our devices, constantly texting and scrolling to see what we might be missing. Newsflash: what we're missing – more often than not – is life, which continues to go on all around us while we have our eyeballs glued to a screen.

Read more, including information on a weekend retreat for youth around JOMO

By Rev. Ryan Gackenheimer is the Executive Director of Silver Lake Conference Center

I have the very unique gift of living my summers in Intentional Christian Community at Silver Lake Conference Center. I live on site with our Silver Lake Summer Staff, who live together in two different housing units.  We work side by side. We eat all of our meals together with our campers and volunteers in the Social Hall.  We laugh and play together.  We worship and sing together.  We also make mistakes, both big and small, together.  When you live in community like this there are expectations of how we will live.  We live in Covenant with one another. 
 
In the midst of all of this joy there are also moments of sadness and disappointment when people choose to break covenant. 

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Many Voices, One Mission is a regular series highlighting the ministries of the CT, MA, and RI Conference of the United Church of Christ.