Central Atlantic Conference Increases Giving to OCWM in 2007
The Central Atlantic Conference staff has tallied its congregations' gifts to Our Church’s Wider Mission (OCWM) for the 2007 calendar year and is very pleased to report that overall, CAC churches contributed more than $1.213 million, which represented an increase of 1.12 percent over 2006.
This continues our congregations’ trend of increased giving to OCWM, for which both the Conference leadership and the wider United Church of Christ are very grateful.
Thirty-five percent of OCWM gifts are sent on to support the global and national ministries of the United Church of Christ, in accordance with the budget that was approved at the last CAC annual meeting. In a recent letter to the president of the CAC board, Rev. John Thomas, president and general minister of the UCC, thanked the conference for its generosity. “The gifts from your churches enable significant mission—mission that belongs to God and that all of us do together. I believe and know that only together—as congregations, Conferences, and National setting—can we be the United Church of Christ that the future will demand.”
Rev. Thomas also recognized the CAC’s participation in the Covenant Keeper program, through which congregations are recognized for intentional growth or outstanding giving to OCWM. Last year, 51 CAC congregations were recognized as Covenant Keepers. For a brochure (in pdf format) explaining how the Central Atlantic Conference uses Our Church's Wider Mission gifts, click here. For additional information about OCWM and how it supports national and global ministries, click here.
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(Posted 3/2/0/08) CNN has a story on the Amistad - click here
The United Church News has an article about Paul Bryant-Smith. Click on the link below to read it. (posted 03/17/08)
Blogs from the ship Amistad
(posted 01/08//08)
Paul Bryant-Smith, Pastor of First Congregational Church, UCC, River Edge, NJ is spending his sabbatical crewing on the ship Amistad:
December 25
I will leave tomorrow to join the ship in Sierra Leone and will sail with her to Senegal, the Cape Verde Islands and Barbados before returning home on March 19. During that time, I will be working as an historical educator and deckhand, doing everything from helping to teach a college course for the students who are sailing with us to working aloft in the rigging.
Blessings,
Paul Bryant-Smith
Click here to visit the blogs of his journey and adventures.
More blogs will be added as we receive them.
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Immanuel UCC Dedicates New Building in Cambridge, MD
Clergy and friends from around the Central Atlantic Conference gathered in Cambridge, MD, October 6 to join the congregation of Immanuel United Church of Christ in dedicating their new church building. 
A special guest was Rev. John Thomas, president and general minister of the United Church of Christ, who delivered the sermon at the service, led by the congregation’s pastor, Rev. Joan Evans.
As the result of a long-term planning process, the congregation decided to move to a more visible location on U.S. Route 50, a major artery to Maryland’s ocean beaches. The new building includes a sanctuary and social hall, all on one level, with church offices and classrooms in between the two wings. The conference and national offices provided staff support 
and financial assistance as the congregation carried out its vision for the future.
The dedication service began with a walk around the building, beginning under a sycamore tree where the congregation had prayed together at the start of the project. As participants progressed around the new structure, prayers were recited for the work and mission embodied by each section of the building. The service then continued in the sanctuary, where several features of the congregation’s former building have been incorporated or reflected. The celebration weekend concluded on Sunday with the welcoming of new confirmands into the church, and an afternoon performance by the Chorus of 
Dorchester.
Photos: Clergy from the Central Atlantic Conference and Cambridge churches lead prayers in procession around the new building (top right); Procession pauses to offer prayers by courtyard behind the steeple (left). Rev. Joan Evans, CAC Conference Minister Rev. John Deckenback and Rev. John Thomas, president and general minister of the United Church of Christ, lead procession out of the sanctuary at the close of the service of dedication. (right)