Green Lake Conference Center

Shattered and Mended

In creating the logo for this year’s Annual Meeting, Calligrapher Linda Hancock presents us with two doves, common symbols of peace. Shattered at their edges as conflict suggests, the doves are mended and made whole as they come together. The visionary message of Paul from First Corinthians 12:31 streams between them, offering a greater understanding.

Official Call and Welcome

March 15, 2008

To members of the Wisconsin Conference:

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with us all!

In accordance with the provisions of our Constitution requiring an Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin Conference, and in compliance with the laws of the State of Wisconsin with regard to nonstock corporations, we hereby give official notice of the FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING of the WISCONSIN CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST. This meeting will be held at the Green Lake Conference Center in Green Lake, Wisconsin commencing at 1:00 p.m, Friday June 6; concluding at 12:00 p.m.on Sunday June 8, 2008.

All ordained ministers holding full standing in their Associations are voting members of the Conference. Member congregations shall send lay delegates as their official representatives. Also considered as voting members are: officers of the Conference, lay members of the Board of Directors, lay chairs of councils, committees, and commissions, all commissioned or licensed workers or ministers and all Directors of Christian Education engaged in full-time church service and certified by the UCC and an Association of the Conference.

Our theme this year is: Transforming Conflict in the Church with its biblical reflection from 1 Corinthians 12:31: “I will show you a still more excellent way.” There is nothing so common in our churches --or so painful and destructive—as conflict. Whether due to personality conflicts, disagreements over spending priorities, disputes over building projects, or fights over keeping or dismissing a pastor, conflict zaps the energy of congregations and distracts them from their real ministry and mission. Churches need help in working through conflict in creative ways so that they can get back to the business of being the church!

Rev. Bob Williamson who serves as Adjunct Faculty for the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center in Lombard, Illinois, will help us to understand conflict, and provide us with resources to handle conflict creatively while treating each other with respect and love. We will spend time with Bob in plenary session and in smaller groups where we will learn and practice ways to resolve conflict.

During the three days we will be together, there will also be times of worship, fellowship, a performance by the Conference’s 2008 German Exchange Choir, time to visit the exhibits and bookstore, opportunity to attend faith formation sessions of interest, and occasions to enjoy the Center’s beautiful natural setting on the shores of Green Lake.

Registrations packets will be mailed the first week in April.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Rev. Jim Iliff, Moderator and Chair of the 2008 Annual Meeting Planning Committee

Rev. David Moyer, Conference Minister

Rev. Wanda Veldman, Conference Secretary

About the Meeting:

A Healthy Congregation is Not an Oxymoron!

Yes, conflict happens -- but it doesn’t need to be destructive. There are tools to help us resolve conflict in a peaceable and respectful manner. The Wisconsin Conference has worked with the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center in Illinois to design a special program for our meeting around the subject of “conflict in the church.” Beginning on Friday, the Rev. Bob Williamson, will present several scenarios depicting typical kinds of conflict one might encounter in a congregation. He will then address the plenary discussing the kinds of tools and practices we need to help get through these times of discomfort and crisis. We will be dismissed into small groups following Saturday’s plenary sessions and given the opportunity to role-play and really learn how to use these tools ourselves.

Small Group Role-play

On Saturday morning, Rev. Williamson will first present the use of the "agreement on procedures" in plenary. Participants will then be dismissed to assigned small groups. During this session the groups engage in a role-play to practice developing an "agreement on procedures." All the groups will be given the same scenario of a decision that needs to be made by some group. It will be their job to role-play being a committee assigned -- not to make the decision -- but to develop a proposed procedure that the entire imagined group will follow to make a decision in the future. An LMPC trained facilitator will be present with each role-play group.

On Saturday afternoon, Rev. Williamson will present the use of “structured dialogue” and the “review of documenting of interests” in plenary. Participants will then be dismissed to assigned small groups. Small groups will engage in role-play to practice one approach to structured dialogue around an assigned issue, and to observe the documentation of interests. Two LMPC trained facilitators will be present with each group.

Meet our Special Guests

Rev. Bob Williamson, our program leader for the weekend, serves as Adjunct Faculty for the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center (LMPC) in Lombard , Illinois . He graduated with a BA from Concordia Senior College , Fort Wayne , Indiana in 1972. He received his Masters of Divinity degree in 1976 from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago .

Bob has been trained in Bowen Family Systems Theory, having studied briefly under Dr. Edwin Friedman prior to his death. He has also participated in Dr. Peter Steinke's "Bridgebuilder" and "Healthy Congregations" training. Bob participated in the special post-graduate program in Bowen Family Systems Theory and its Applications at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family in Washington , D.C.

Rev. Williamson began his ministry as a pastor in the Lutheran Church . Since joining the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center staff in 1992, he has led numerous workshops and judicatory training events. In addition, Bob has conducted a number of congregational consultations and interventions.

Rev. Sara Morse is our guest preacher on Sunday. She is currently serving Bethel United Church of Christ in rural Elkhart Lake since October 2003. She attended the University of Wisconsin Marathon County for two years and then transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she received a Bachelors of Science in Medical Microbiology and Immunology. During her senior year in college, Sara finally figured out that God was calling and went on to attend United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities where she received her Masters in Divinity. Sara was ordained in her home congregation, Christ United Church of Athens, Wisconsin in 2003.

In addition to serving her local congregation, Sara is the chair of the Division on Local Church Ministries of the Northeast Association and the Wisconsin Conference Representative on the Executive Council of the United Church of Christ. She has also been a part of the Governance Follow-up Team of the United Church of Christ, which has been addressing how the UCC is structured as a denomination.

When Sara is not doing church-related work, she and her fiancé, Tim, are planning their wedding. In her free time, Sara enjoys reading, traveling, and gardening.

Wisconsin Conference UCC 4459 Gray Rd. De Forest WI 53532 608-846-7880
Webmaster: thauge@wcucc.org