Protecting God’s Gift of Creation – Psalm 24:1

Minnesota Conference 61st Annual Meeting
June 9-10, 2023
College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, MN, with an online option

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We acknowledge the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University occupies the original homelands of the Dakhóta and Anishinaabe peoples. We honor, respect, and acknowledge the Indigenous peoples forcibly removed from this territory, whose connection remains today.

The Minnesota Conference will gather in June, building on the hybrid model we inaugurated last year of virtual and in-person workshops, meetings, and worship. We seek to engage our youth and young families, our local congregations, our state, and the Spirit to participate in protecting and renewing the Earth, which is God’s and the fullness thereof.

The sacred gift of creation entrusted to us by God is being destroyed. As we imagine and live into the church of the 21st century, let us remember, “The earth is God’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1) Let us come, as children of this sacred creation and the enduring body of Christ, as we are being called forward with the charge of protecting God’s gift of creation.

We know that the work of conservation and eco-justice is a familiar one to many of us, while others have struggled to find traction or see any other way forward. Our keynote speaker will be the Rev. Michael Malcom, ordained in the United Church of Christ and founder and executive director of the People’s Justice Council in Birmingham, Alabama. He will share how he created an unparalleled opportunity for faith communities throughout Alabama to unite and raise their voice against environmental racism, economic oppression, environmental injustice, and climate change.

Register for Trainings by June 1

Registration for Power and Boundary Training and Anti-Racism Training will close at 11 am on Thursday, June 1.

• Register for Power and Boundary training
• Register for Anti-Racism training

Please contact See Chang (COMadmin@uccmn.org) or Kelly Gallagher (kellyg@uccmn.org) with any questions.

Workshops (held in person on Saturday and Hearings & Forum (held via Zoom Sunday – Wednesday, June 4 – 7 )

Download the full details about each workshop.

• We have made progress: The Minnesota Northstar Act is a reality!
• Creating Gender Inclusive Ministries
• The Cosmology of Surfing
• Subdue It Not! Environmental Racism and the Biblical Creation Stories
• Justice Story Quilts
• A Playbook for Political Action in the Progressive Church
• Let’s Drum
• Sponsoring a Ukrainian Refugee Family
• Tai Chi: Moving Meditation
• Sacred Reckonings: White Settler – Colonizer Churches Doing the Work of Reparation
• So, You Think Your Church is at Risk?
• The “How Did We Get…?” Video Series
• Climate Hope: From Coping to Leading on Climate
• Foundational Theological Claims of the United Church of Christ
• Green Team Forum (Zoom only, Sunday, June 4 and open to everyone whether you are registered for Annual Meeting or not.  Use this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2126827931)
• 2024 Compensation Guidelines Hearing (Zoom only, Monday, June 5)
• Resolution Hearing (Zoom only, Tuesday, June 6)
• 2024 Budget Hearing (Zoom only, Wednesday, June 7)