Illinois South Conference
The Illinois South Conference, UCC, recently completed a 5-year evaluation of their partnerships with agencies in Ecuador.

Pacific Northwest Conference
The Pacific Northwest Conference, UCC, experiences a wonderful partnership with the East Seoul Synod of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea.

Wisconsin Conference
The Wisconsin Conference UCC juggles 10 Global Partnerships.

New Hampshire Conference
The New Hampshire Conference continues to discover new ways to live out their 9-year old Global Church Partnership with the United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe.

Working together in Paraguay
When Friendship Mission director, Ines Sarli, (a south-to-south missionary from Argentina serving through Global Ministries) met members of the UCC church in Big Timber, Montana, a relationship was born! The Montana folk had been on a work trip to Camp Jack Norment where they varnished buildings, cleared trails, planted la pacha trees with the neighborhood children, and learned Paraguayan dances. When asked if the children of Friendship Mission ever attended the camp (a project long supported by Global Ministries), Ines responded, “No. They’d like to, but they simply lack funds.” The church responded and enlisted others—from Ohio, Wyoming, and Montana—so that this year children are reaping the benefits of this connection. Rev. Larry Pray, pastor of First Congregational Church in Big Timber, Montana, writes, “In short, we feel blessed..” If you would like to participate in a special international project of Global Ministries, please contact us.

EKU network in the making
Numerous UCC conferences are partnered with judicatories of the Evangelical Church of the Union in Germany. Global Ministries staff is working to compile a list of all congregation-to-congregation partnerships that have developed and make this accessible on the web. Please check the following list and let us know whom to contact about this project. Contact Global Ministries now.

Contacts for EKU Partnerships

Northern California Nevada Conference (Berlin-Brandenburg) – none
Central Atlantic Conference (Saxony) – Rev. Fred Wenner, Chair
Central Pacific Conference – none
Indiana-Kentucky Conference (Westphalia) – MaryAnna Speller
Michigan Conference, United North Assocociation – none
New York Conference – none
Ohio Conference (Westphalia) – none
Penn Central Conference(Berlin-Brandenburg and Rhineland) – none
Penn Southeast Conference- none
Penn West Conference (Pomerania) – Rev. Richard Siegfried
Southeast Conference – Rev. John Sumner
Southern Conference (Rhineland) – none
Wisconsin Confrence (Gorlitz) – none
Northwest Association (Prenzlau) – none
Southwest Association (Moers) – none

Germany comes to the Indiana-Kentucky Conference UCC!

Two exciting programs are underway to live out the Global Church Partnership between the Evangelical Church of Westphalia in Germany and the Indiana-Kentucky Conference.

Two exciting programs are underway to live out the Global Church Partnership between the Evangelical Church of Westphalia in Germany and the Indiana-Kentucky Conference.

Pastor Wilfried Oertel from the Evangelical Church of Westphalia will be the first “Exchange Pastor” in the new 3-month program between the EKW and the Indiana-Kentucky Conference. The Young Ambassadors program brings German youth to the USA!

In 2001 the Indiana-Kentucky UCC Conference sent a group of 16 people to visit their Global Church Partner, the Church in Westphalia, the Evangelical Church of the Union, Germany. They found themselves together on September 11, 2001, discussing the World Council of Churches theme, “Overcoming Violence.” The German hosts cared for and comforted their visiting partners. “Money was sent fromthe Church of Westphalia to the IKC Conference immediately and many emails were exchanged,” writes Mary Anna Speller, Chair of the Indiana-Kentucky Conference/ Evangelical Church of the Union Working Group. “In the following weeks, several hundred postcards were sent to schools in teh IKC from students in the Church of Westphalia who wanted to express their concern for Americans!”

Partnership leads to advocacy
A letter of support for Haiti was written to President Bush by the Greater Kansas City Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) which has been Global Mission Partners with missionaries, Ruth and Charles Wallace.

The Sri Lanka Task Force of the Indiana-Kentucky Conference
The Sri Lanka Task Force of the Indiana-Kentucky Conference has been working behind the scenes both in Washington and in Paris to facilitate peace talks in Sri Lanka. The  Senate is intended to push the process along in Congress. The UCC is the only denomination to be present and active in the Sri Lanka peace negotiations.

Iowa traveler reflects on experience in Dominican Republic
“He was intent on spreading what looked like jam on a piece of bread with his fingers. He looked up, I smiled, and we became potential partners.” Susan Ingham, Iowa Conference Minister, reflects on “Sharing the Bread and Jam.” Ingham describes the richness of the Global Church Partnership between the Iowa Conference UCC and Iglesia Evangelica Dominicana, in the Dominican Republic.

New York Conference reaches out to Honduras
Seven people from across New York state spent two weeks walking with the people of the small Indian community of La Laguna, in the Yoro mountains of Honduras. NY/HELP Honduras is a program supported by churches of the New York Conference, United Church of Christ, and the Northeast Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Colombia Global Church Partnership established
The Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ, the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ and Justapaz, the Mennonite Churches in Colombia, covenanted as Global Church Partners.

The South Idaho Region
The South Idaho Region, a large cattle-farming area, worked with Global Ministries to send $12,000 for the purchase of cattle in Nicaragua. This year’s project involves the purchase of 40 Bible Dictionaries and 800 Bibles for distribution to the 40 churches in The Christian Mission. Two trips to Minagua are planned for 2003, where folks will assist at the conference center and camp. The Christian Church of South Idaho commenced a partnership with the Convention of Christian Churches of Nicaragua, known as The Christian Mission, in 1997. If you’d like to develop a project for your partnership, click here to contact Global Ministries Resource Development Officer.

Missouri Mid-South Conference walks with Jamaican partner
Over 75 youth and adults from eight MMS-UCC congregations put their faith into action this year as as they lived out the partnership between the Missouri Mid-South Conference and the North Middlesex Council of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

The Nebraska UCC Conference
The Nebraska UCC Conference recently hosted a church leader from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, for three months and has designated music as the focus of their next pilgrimage.

Nebraska UCC Conference and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana

The Honduras Partnership Committee of the Maine Conference
The Honduras Partnership Committee of the Maine Conference in conjunction with the “Comite de Enlace del Sinodo de la Iglesia Evangelica y Reformada” is sponsored an international event in Maine in October, 2002. Approximately 40 pastors from the Evangelical and Reformed Church of Honduras, their Global Church Partner, joined the same number of UCC pastors from Maine churches for a 5-day retreat. It was followed by homestays in Maine communities and participation in local churches. 

The Partnership Task Force of the Minnesota Conference
The Partnership Task Force of the Minnesota Conference UCC reports on their activites past and future. Delegates visited their Global Church Partner, the South East Mindanao Jurisdiction, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, in October 2002.