CONFERENCE BOARD ACTS TO CREATE PARTNERSHIP WITH NEW ORLEANS CHURCH

A letter from our Conference Minister--

September 8, 2005
Colleagues:

We had an exciting, albeit sobering, meeting last night with about 200 people present from all across the Conference. People came from Greenwich and from Putnam, from Mystic and from Norfolk, from small churches and large. We decided on several focal points for our work, and we will be posting updates periodically to our www.ctucc.org website as we are able to move forward organizationally.

For now, let me tell you that I have reached the Rev. Wilmer Brown, pastor of Central Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in New Orleans, who is temporarily living with his sister in Texas, along with his wife, Hulen. Central Congregational Church was founded in 1872 by the American Missionary Association that grew out of the Amistad Committee with its roots right here in Connecticut. I have also talked with Rev. Bill Royster, Conference Minister for the South Central Conference.

Tonight our Board of Directors has voted to approve our together, as the Connecticut Conference, entering into a partnership with Central Congregational Church to:
* hold the church, its pastor and members in prayer;
* assist the church with its rebuilding;
* support the pastor who is currently without income and benefits as a result of the flood;
* help the members of the church rebuild their lives and homes;
* and continue in a longterm partnership that we trust will be mutually enriching and deeply shared.

Our Board also voted tonight to recommend to the Conference the inclusion of a goal of $1,000,000 for Back Bay Mission in Biloxi and its rebuilding as a part of our proposed capital campaign that will come to the Annual Meeting for a vote in October. The campaign had been planned to focus solely on Silver Lake and its updating and renovation, but in light of the disastrous effects of the hurricane, it was unanimously agreed that we must move with urgency to help BBM rebuild. We will work out a means of both speeding the dollars to BBM and also encouraging all donors to contribute to all aspects of the campaign so that we all share in the responsibilities for both.

More later, but I wanted you to know about these as soon as possible.

Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree
Conference Minister
Connecticut Conference, United Church of Christ