PO Box 888345, Grand Rapids MI 49588

NEW PHONE NUMBER 517-258-0038 | To care for UCC clergy and churches in Michigan.

Mission Area Teams

Mission Area Teams

The Compassionate Generosity Mission Area Team works with local churches and clergy regarding matters of stewardship and benevolences, as well as securing the financial resources necessary to underwrite the ministry of the Conference and to support the wider church.

Vital Tools That You Can Use Right Now are available at www.ucc.org/vitality

 

“Because of You, Our Church Changes Lives” UCC Stewardship Materials for 2023 can be found at UCC Resources

 

The Big Secret of Giving: Hidden Treasures in Life and Church is a devotional resource written by the Rev. William C. Green, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC) and formerly a pastor in Michigan.  Rev. Green was the Team Leader for Stewardship and Church Finances Ministry Team, Local Church Ministries, UCC.

Other Helpful Links:
Church World Service (CWS)
CWS Buckets and Kits
Ways to Give
UCC Colleges and Seminaries
Council for Health and Human Service Ministries

The Faith Formation Mission Area Team seeks to empower local churches and clergy in facilitating their worship, education and call.

To achieve this vision we participate in leadership in the following conference wide work and encourage churches to engage in the following:

  • Support wider church youth events
  • Follow the Michigan Conference Facebook Page
  • Share your experiences and best practices with FFMAT and other congregations.
  • Promote Immanuel Scholarship, and other opportunities for Members-in-Discernment
  • Encourage Clergy retreat, respite, and renewal
  • Seek new approaches to faith formation for all ages, including cross and inter-generational practices


Facilitator: Ruth Moerdyk
Staff: Jenn Ringgold

The Prophetic Integrity Mission Area Team will focus on educating local churches and clergy with respect to matters calling for the public voice of the church. The Prophetic Integrity Mission Area Team will assume the role of Resolutions Committee.

 

2024 Solar Faithful Webinar

Recording from May 23, 2024 7:00pm ET

The Prophetic Integrity Mission Area Team invites you into learning and conversation about Solar Energy for local churches.  This webinar was recorded from a live event on May 23, 2024

Michigan Conference UCC churches with Solar Panel experience include:

  • Plymouth UCC, Grand Rapids
  • Edgewood UCC, East Lansing
  • Haslett Community Church, Haslett
  • Congregational Church of Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills

The fastest path to get a proposal from Solar Faithful is: Complete the Interest Form

 

Information and Application for 2023 Program Grant

Criteria:
The Michigan Conference, through the Prophetic Integrity Mission Area Team, will use the following basic criteria when deciding all other grant requests:
1.  All ministries and grants should be consistent with the biblical and theological mandate and vision of the Michigan Conference and the national UCC programs
2.  All grant requests for service ministries should be linked with advocacy, education, and opportunities to make changes in inadequate and unjust systems.
3.  When grants are awarded, grantees are expected to report back to the Mission Area Team (MAT) through written reports and, when requested, a personal presentation about the project results including successes and failures.
4.  Grant application deadline for the current year 2023 is July 31 with allocation being made at the Michigan Conference Annual Meeting on October 28, 2023

Facilitator: Rev. Jay Cummings
Contact Info:  JHcummings109@gmail.com

Conference Staff person:

Prophetic Integrity Facebook Page

 

Justice and Witness Ministries: Resources

Resolutions:

 

Resources

Act Now to End Racism – is an ecumenical effort to repent of the sin of racism and a rallying of people who want to end racism. There are events in Washington, D.C. in the days after Easter to witness to this long overdue need. Read more at: http://www.rally2endracism.org/

New Poor Peoples Campaign – The Michigan Conference has endorsed this campaign, and UCC church members are invited to learn more.

In October of 2017, delegates to the Annual Meeting of the Michigan Conference adopted a resolution in support of the New Poor Peoples Campaign. This campaign is designed to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Poor Peoples Campaign. 

Our mission is to work alongside you, encouraging awareness, supporting crucial and innovative change towards achieving your goals.

Our vision is to empower thoughtful, creative people and systems towards sustainable change, making a difference in the world for the good of the whole.

 

Facilitator:  Rev. Mike Cooper
Conference Staff person: Rev. Lawrence Richardson
Purpose:  Making Space for the Transforming Love of God

The Michigan Conference’s Vital Growth Mission Area Team supports the growth of faithful vitality in your congregation and spurs the growth of new churches in our midst. Here are a number of resources available to your existing congregation or new church start vision:

 

New Churches

Church Development Start Up Kit.

Please contact Lisa Soulliere for your own free kit.

 

Vitality Tool Box created by Associate Conference Minister Rev. Cheryl Burke

 

Convergence, formerly The Center for Progressive Renewal, supports the reshaping of organizations, congregations and leaders engaged in an age of movement from “organized religion” to “organizing religion” driven by the values of an inclusive, progressive theological vision for a more just world for all.  

The Michigan Conference UCC has purchased a Lifetime Access; please use the link below to host your own virtual gathering using these resources.
https://faithlead.org/p/courageousfaith/?product_id=1439364&coupon_code=2020SUMMIT4EVER

Important Instructions:

  • Follow the link above
  • Scroll to the bottom of the page
  • Click “Enroll in Course for $249 FREE”
  • Fill out Form
  • Enter Code: 2020SUMMIT4EVER

 

Potentials (Rev. Dr. Claire Bamberg)

 

The Center for Parish Development provides resources and consulting to transform churches for the sake of God’s mission.

 

Clergy Leadership Institute and Voyle and Voyle Consulting provide coaching, training and resources for church transformation.

 

GraceNet provides research, coaching and consulting in the effective spiritual leadership of new and revitalizing congregations.

 

The United Church of Christ’s Congregational Vitality Team offers a wealth of free, downloadable resources.

 

Michigan Conference and National Setting Programs & Grants

UCC National Setting New Beginnings

 

Grants from the Bertha C. Dayton Fund are awarded annually for assisting rural, small town or village churches in Michigan and supporting their pastors and families.

 

Teachers & Thinkers

  • Author Anthony Robinson serves as speaker, teacher and coach in the area of church renewal and vitality.
  • Author, speaker and teacher Diana Butler Bass provides insight about the larger cultural trends affecting the church.

 

Facing the Future Faithfully

Additional resources and good practices around merger, closure, and legacy.

  • A story of creating a Legacy of Caring 
    A church in Wisconsin as part of their larger distribution of legacy assets set up a fund through the Conference Foundation to ‘provide for the on-going pastoral care needs of members who do not join other congregations.  Care includes regular visits, as-needed visits (i.e. hospitalization), and a funeral service’.   This legacy helps to ease and answer the often-asked questions about care for older, homebound members, or members in nursing homes.  A retired pastor has been hired for this ministry.  The church created a very complete legacy proposal document that uplifted the church’s mission to the UCC, the local community and spiritual/medical care of UCC members.  Contact Rev. Andrew Warner in WI conference for more information.

 

  • Closure and Legacy Coaching:
    Indiana-Kentucky Conference trained a group of coaches to work with churches in transition, including closure and legacy.  Contact Rev. Monica Ouellette for more information.  Several other conferences have coaching or closure/legacy support groups.

 


Facing Your Church’s Uncertain Future: Helpful Practices for Courageous Conversations & Faithful Decisions has been updated and now is available in a spiral edition.

 

 

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