 Greetings, friends. Welcome to CTUCC Conference Cast for October 31, 2013, the regular podcast of the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ. Whoever you are and wherever you may be on life's journey at this very moment, you are welcome here. We begin this week's conference cast with this meditation from the Reverend Davida McAllister, Associate Conference Minister for Youth and Young Adult Ministries. In the 11th chapter of Hebrews, the author surveys the long history of people who stayed faithful despite hardship and oppression. Those stories lead up to these famous words that begin chapter 12. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12, verse 1, is often used as a scriptural reference for the way Christians should approach their faith journey. According to this text, the journey is ultimately a race, and we should run it with the intent to complete it regardless of the obstacles. I am moved today by the first section of this text, quote, so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, unquote. Throughout my life, I have been comforted by this notion that my ancestors are surrounding me and witnessing my life. This is both a grounding and a sobering thought for me. It is a grounding thought because it helps me to remember that I am part of something much bigger. I stand as a link between my ancestors and my progeny. My job is to pass on what the ancestors gave to me and to add whatever good I have gained in my life. Yet it is a sobering thought because the idea of my ancestors watching over me reminds me of all they invested in me. As an African-American woman, I am acutely aware that my ancestors suffered, sacrificed, and held on to life in the worst of circumstances based on the hope that I would have a better life. They could have surrendered under the torture of chattel slavery in this country, but instead they chose to live their lives with purpose and a large dose of faith. Part of that faith was in Jesus and part of their faith was in me, but not just me. My mother and my father, my aunts and uncles, my brothers and sisters, my cousins, my nieces and nephews, my family. They had no way of knowing that I specifically would be born or what I would face, but they were certain that if they gave up, I would never have a chance. This is true for all of us. Whether your ancestors left their homeland and traveled to the United States in the hope of a better life centuries ago or just a few years ago, their persistence and tenacity are your heritage. Or maybe your ancestors were born here and had to struggle to survive while immigrants attempted to annihilate their way of being. Or perhaps, you don't know the story of your ancestors. No matter your ethnic heritage, we all share in the family of faith. Our ancestors in the Missionary Society of Connecticut sacrificed and shared their gifts so that we would have the resources to preach and teach the gospel. They too surround us and watch over our labor today. May we live a life of faith that brings honor to their sacrifice and glory to God. Here is a prayer for this week. Divine Spirit, we give you thanks for the joy of the journey. Thank you for our ancestors and for their sacrifices. May we never forget the great deposit that they have made in each of us. May we share and sacrifice for those who will come after us and never forget our place in the past, present and future of the faith. As the ancestors surround us today, may they see the fruit of their labor and take joy in us. Amen. We wish you a safe and happy Halloween celebration this evening, and on this holy occasion of all souls, we remember those who have gone before us with prayers of love, gratitude, and confidence of God's extravagant grace. In the news this week, during the annual meeting members of last June's delegation to Columbia reported on their visit with our ecumenical partners there, which include the Mennonite Church in Columbia and the Peace Commission of the Evangelical Council of Columbia and Ecumenical Agency. Delegation members Charlie Pillsbury and Michele Renard Georgievich described the work of accompaniment, which is the word used by the Colombians themselves rather than partnership or helper. During the trip our delegates visited a farming village called El Garzal. Now as in other areas of Columbia, arable land there is so valuable that sitting on a family farm is almost as dangerous as sitting on a gold mine if you've got the wrong neighbors. In this region a lot of people have the wrong kind of neighbors, and that includes El Garzal. These remote communities are located far beyond the reach of the Colombian state, so that creates a vacuum. Now illegal armed actors have stepped in, and many church leaders we found have stepped in to meet them. An estimated 20 to 30 pastors are killed every year. Many of them are advocating for community land rights. And so Saturday, so we drive into the village and then we get to this community meeting that they had set up for us. So Pastor Salvador he comes out and he introduces us to the community and we hear through a translator that he says to them, they all bring different resources in accompaniment. And then he turns to us and says, your presence has allowed us to be here and to be alive. We discovered that while we were worshiping, celebrating that there was the drama going on and that in the end Jose had told the pastor that he had to leave the community that the death threats in CET were such that it was wise for us to take him out from El Garzal, take him back to Boronca Bermeja. So we took him with us and we took him to to Boronca and here we are at Christian Peacemaker teams with him along with our Colombian partners who had gone into El Garzal with us. His wife and family members joined him later. Pastor Salvador has since returned to his home, his parish and his people in El Garzal. The story demonstrates one kind of accompaniment. The side by side walk together in difficult situations. But our Columbia partners need institutional accompaniment as well. Advocacy to people in power here and in Columbia to prevent such blatant attempts to deprive people of their land and their homes. Ms. Georgievich has a longer essay about accompaniment which you'll find on our website, which includes the video of the partnership presentation to our annual meeting in full. Last week, Connecticut conference minister, the Reverend Kent J. Salati began his series of conversations with the conference minister. The group he met with in Marlboro on October 22nd, learned about his background and formation in the faith, and they joined together in considering the ways in which the life of the church in Connecticut can be deepened and its ministry extended. We've promised video from our annual meeting and we've been steadily adding to it this past week. We now have eight separate videos available on our YouTube channel nearly three hours worth of material, including the keynote address of Michael Piazza, the conference ministers addressed by Kent Salati, the recognitions of Kim Harrison, Nancy Carrington, the Colombian partnership and the Korean partnership. Kent Salati's sermon on Saturday and the commissioning of the Give Square Youth on Saturday morning. You'll find these videos at youtube.com slash ctucc or you can also find them on our website. Visit us for all the current headlines at ctucc.org slash news. The season's first confirmation retreat is this weekend at Silver Lake. Youth in grades 8 through 12 can learn more about major issues they confront each day at the Move conference this Saturday in Newtown. The next Stepping Stones workshop curriculum selection and implementation will be November 5th in Southington or spend some time in conversation with our new conference minister that same evening in Old Lime. On November 7th, the interreligious eco justice network hosts a climate stewardship summit in Hartford. Authorized ministers boundary training will be held that day in Southbury. And if you didn't have enough choices to make that day, there is a panel discussion on the civil rights movement that evening in Woodbury, which features two of our UCC pastors, or you can sign on to a Give Square informational webinar. The Connecticut Association of United Church Educators offers a workshop titled Refuel for Relationship Enhance your faith formation ministry seven times during November in December. The first one is November 12th in Goshen. The Saints group of retired clergy will have their fall gathering on November 19th in Cheshire. Learn about sacred dance at a Stepping Stones workshop on December 3rd in Southington. Registration is open for the Christmas at Silver Lake retreats, which will be held at Silver Lake December 6th through 8th. There are two retreats that weekend, one for 5th and 6th graders, the other for 7th and 8th graders. Learn more and sign up now at silverlakect.org. You can always learn about what's coming up in the Connecticut conference by visiting us at ctucc.org slash events. And that brings this conference cast to a close. Thanks to Day McAllister for her reflection and to Garage Band for our music. Primary funding for conference cast comes from your congregation's gifts to our church's wider mission, basic support, changing lives to the United Church of Christ. This is Eric Anderson, the Minister of Communications and Technology for the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ, praying that your days this week may be filled with the presence, the guidance, and the grace of God. Oh, and by the way, congratulations to the Boston Red Sox on their World Series victory last night. Way to go Sox. Looking forward to next season.