When: Sun Jun 6, 2010 12pm to 1pm  EDT

Event Status: confirmed

When: Sun Jun 13, 2010 5pm to 6pm  EDT

Event Status: confirmed

When: Sat Jun 12, 2010

Event Status: confirmed

When: Sat Jun 12, 2010

Event Status: confirmed

When: Sat Jun 5, 2010

Event Status: confirmed

When: Sat Jun 5, 2010 11am to 12pm  EDT

Event Status: confirmed

Receiving affirmation that the crucial contributions of their day-to-day administrative work comprise "more than just office work," 43 members of the UCC Office Support Staff Network (UCCOSSN) gathered last month for the group's 23rd annual meeting at the UCC's Church House in Cleveland.

A new church start in a coffee shop… that was Kirkwood United Church of Christ in 2007. The Gathering Grounds was a natural setting for creating community connections. The church began to grow and thrive through service, worship and mission. Seeking adequate, affordable space, they’ve just made their fourth move since the coffee shop. But the Rev. Susannah Davis affirms, “We are committed to be in this community.” Kirkwood UCC offers radical hospitality in strongly evangelical southeast Georgia. Happily, they now have space for worship, child care, pastoral care and hosting community groups. To nurture its diverse community, the church is praying about adding a contemplative Sunday morning service with communion as a compliment to the lively family-oriented 5 p.m. service. Many have had little or no church experience in years. “For many the Story is a brand new story and community living is brand new. Not a soul knew the UCC before.” But they do now. By God’s grace, their faithfulness, and a little help from Strengthen the Church, they are the UCC in the Kirkwood neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia.

Secondly, the group points out the failure of the international community to address the problems of CBD, most recently turning a deaf ear to Dalit activists’ cries at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban. Thirdly, the group is aware of the sensitivities inherent in this issue between Christians and Hindus and welcomes interfaith dialogue to confront casteism and uphold human dignity. Calling upon churches, governments, and the international community, the Dalit Conference invited all to join them in “actions of solidarity to render human dignity and justice to all Dalits.” Their prayer: “May the God in whose image we all are created, guide us. May the Jesus who ate with the impure, who touched the untouchable and who knew no caste, encourage us. May the Holy Spirit whose power blew through the people of many nations so that they all understood in their own language and others asked “Are they all Dalits?”, inspire us. May we all walk in the light, bound together in love and proclaiming those words written in the soot – Jesus is alive!”

An unprecedented 17 workshops, two prominent keynote speakers and the first-ever staging of the event west of the Mississippi River will trumpet the 2010 UCC Musicians National Network event June 28 – July 1 in suburban Denver.