Friday, June 10

9:00 am – 5:00 pm      Registration Open

11:00 am – 9:30 pm    Exhibit Hall Open

11:30 am – 1:00 pm    Lunch

11:30 am – 1:00 pm    New Delegate & Visitor Orientation Lunch

                                        Go through lunch line at 11:30 am

1:00 pm – 1:15 pm      Opening Litany

1:15 pm – 2:15 pm      Business Meeting

2:15 pm – 2:30 pm      Special Musical Interlude – Jacob Nault

2:30 pm – 3:00 pm     Cultivating a Healthy Ecosystem in the Wisconsin Conference UCC – Rev. Franz Rigert

Conference Minister Franz Rigert will offer a state of the conference presentation using the metaphor of an ecosystem, reflecting on the many ways we collectively build up the beloved community through our various Conference programs, staffing, and resourcing. Despite enduring some very challenging years, the presentation points to the collective strengths, hopes and resilience of our common life in the United Church of Christ.  

Rev. Franz Rigert has deep roots in Wisconsin having been raised in Delavan where his father served the Congregational United Church of Christ for over 30 years. In the fall of 2014 Franz was called to serve as the Wisconsin Conference Minister for the United Church of Christ. Prior to joining the Wisconsin Conference staff, he served at Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Grafton, Wisconsin for almost 20 years.

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm      Break in Exhibit Hall

Coffee & Snacks sponsored by:

3:30 pm – 4:30 pm      Keynote Address – Rev. Tara Barber

Beginning with Beloved: Before the wilderness, Jesus was claimed as God’s beloved. And everything that followed was shaped by that all-encompassing love. We, too, have been called through this wilderness time into an unwritten chapter. As individuals and faith communities, what is our claim, our commitment, our legacy?  

Rev. Tara Barber was born into the UCC and grew up in the Pacific Northwest in a large and diverse family.  She has a deep love of the church and great hope about how God is calling us into the future.  Her ministry has engaged with folks across the age spectrum – as a youth minister, an advocate and companion to older adults, and as a minister in congregations in Northern California and suburban Seattle.  Her ministry then shifted to the conference and denomination, working as a consultant before being called to the Ministerial Excellence, Support, and Authorization team in the National Setting.  Here she continues her work with Committees on Ministry and Pastoral Relations Committees, teaching Boundary Awareness, supporting Communities of Practice, and the Antoinette Brown Society.  She offers workshops, webinars, retreats, and conversations to strengthen clergy support and oversight.   Intrigued by the in-between times and community-building, she is enjoying soup season and looking forward to re-gathering with family and friends around the dinner table.

5:00 pm – 6:00 pm     Dinner

6:45 pm – 7:45 pm      Celebrations

Adjusting to Challenges: Wisconsin CHHSM Agencies Pivoting to Meet Needs – Kyle Zanker 
An Ecumenical Imagination: Wisconsin Council of Churches – Rev. Kerri Parker
Celebrating the Lay Academy – Embracing the Damascus Project – Rev. Dr. Tisha Brown
UCCI – Rev. James Schleif
Presentation by Hocak UCC Congregational Leaders

7:45 pm – 9:30 pm      Reception in Exhibit Hall
                                        Book signing by Rev. Sarah Lund. Books will be available for purchase.