SHARON – Registration for the 2019 Summer Camp Session at Silver Lake Conference Center opens Jan. 15, and those registering by Jan. 31st can receive a $50 discount on their registration.

Summer enrollment at Silver Lake has increased by 130 campers over the last two years, following an increased outreach effort by Silver Lake and Conference staff.  The staff is working to continue that upward trend this season.

The summer theme this year is Peace Works: Empowering the Next Generation of Peacemakers. All conferences will offer some programming that promotes peacemaking in everyday life, and some conferences will go deeper in exploring how to create peace in the world.

By The Rev. Mary Nelson, South Central Regional Minister for the CT Conference, UCC

Silver Lake Conference Center is famous all over the United Church of Christ. It truly is a remarkable ministry, and I often feel like a broken record on the topic – I’ve probably written about SLCC before, I’ll probably write about it again. It’s great. Send your kids. Send yourself. Registration for summer opens on January 15; Clergy Camp is June 26-29.
 
BUT! I don’t want to write about the ministry that happens at Silver Lake this week. Instead, I want to write about a Silver Lake ministry that happens outside of the camp: the actual, genuine friendships that form and continue beyond one week in the summer, or one weekend-long retreat.

On the morning I was all set to write my blog reflection (about something else entirely, I swear!), I pulled my car into the parking lot of the CTUCC office in Hartford just as my phone buzzed: it was a text from a woman I’d gotten to know through SLCC events like Spring Action and the Fancy Camp fundraisers. She asked me to pray for her mom, who was right-now undergoing a risky surgery at Hartford Hospital.

Read the full post

By The Rev. Deborah Rundlet, pastor of Ridgebury Congregational Church

Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose to enter the mess?  He didn’t have to.  He could have kept his distance, looking down from afar upon the crowd who had flocked out to John seeking forgiveness for their sins.  He who was without sin could have stood at a distance, not getting caught up in the chaos.  Yet on that riverbank, he makes the conscious choice to enter the fullness of our condition.
 
It is in that precise moment that God’s pleasure can no longer be contained: “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 2:22).  Take note of the Creator’s joy as the Son throws away his separateness to enter into our brokenness.

Read the full post