A packed house of youth and adults at the 9th Annual Youth Revival were urged to use whatever gifts they have to spread the good news of God's love.

"It doesn’t take a Seminary degree, you don’t need the affirmation of your friends, you don’t need to be a certain age—you have a story to tell the world and God has called you to go forth and tell it," said Rev. Trayce Potter, UCC Minister for Youth and Young Adult Engagement.

Read More

Read Testimony of Skylar Haines

See a photo album

   Watch Video Highlights

WOODSTOCK, CT -- There was warmth and humor in shared worship, fellowship and discernment as the members of the Together, As One (TA1) Board of Directors and members of the Boards of Directors from the historic Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island conferences gathered on May 4 to celebrate their work and hear updates on the progress that has been made in the formation of a new conference in southern New England. 

Read the full article here

Several board members wrote reflections:

A Both/ And Moment - The Rev. Lauren Lorincz
"We are waiting for God and running the race.  We are in the already and not yet.  So it’s not either we celebrate what will be, or we grieve what has been.  We can do both, acknowledging that we are all bringing a complexity of thoughts and feelings to these gatherings."
Read Lauren's full post

A Bittersweet Day - The Rev. Timoth Sylvia
"in the midst of it all, I felt the all-too-familiar blend of joy and sorrow, excitement and grief experienced as we birth something new together. The day, surrounded by those whom we have grown to know and admire over these many years, was bittersweet."
Read Timoth's full post

For the Healing of Our World - The Rev. Kari Nicewander
"We live in a world that is in desperate need of healing, of redemption, of repentance, of change ...  And we can only do this work together. We can only become more just, more compassionate, more peaceful, if we support one another on this journey. Because it is not easy, and it is not meant to be easy."
Read Kari's full post

We've Arrived - The Rev. Maxwell Grant
"This has asked each conference to travel through some unfamiliar country, to be sure.  In its own way, it’s asked us to imagine some major re-routing.  But over the years of these gatherings, both here and in so many other places, I don’t think any of us have heard that dispiriting “clunk” warning us that we have truly lost our way, or the voice urging us to turn back and retrace our steps."
Read Max's full post

It’s a New Thing! - The Rev. Cleo Graham
"We waited for the Lord who renewed our strength and kept us dancing with the holy breath that propelled us forward, back and in the middle of our community building exercises. We are more than acquaintances we are spiritual siblings.:
Read Cleo's full post

By Grace O’Connor, a now UConn graduate who just finished an internship with the Connecticut Conference through the Urban Semester program 

It seems hard to believe that a whole semester has already passed.  On one hand, it feels as though I am still just beginning, but on the other, I know I have gained a huge amount of valuable experiences and knowledge during my relatively short time here at CTUCC ... 

My internship experience has taught me how to be involved in justice work and has allowed me to become a part of the CTUCC community.  With faith at its center, UCC brings the message of Christianity and applies it to the injustices in today’s world.  

Read the full post

By The Rev. Candace Whitman, Pastor of Union Chapel on Fishers Island, off the coast of Connecticut

Lauren Winner in Wearing God relates a practice of African-Americans during the days of the Jim Crow south.  When family members traveled a distance, they couldn’t be sure they would be able to get food along the way.  They weren’t welcome at roadside restaurants. So they would need to take quite a bit of food with them, and some have shared fond memories of how when they were young girls, they would stay up late with their mother the night before a trip, packing sustenance in shoe boxes – “fried chicken, peanut butter and jelly, deviled eggs, chocolate layer cake, nuts, raisins and cheese.”  All this with a thermos of lemonade.  People without a lot to eat themselves provided for those who would otherwise have nothing. Lovingly.

Read the full reflection