 Can't make it without you. That's the theme for our annual meeting next month as we gather at Cheshire High School Reverend Matthew Krebben, our annual meeting planning chair, and the entire planning team is excited about this meeting. So what's an annual meeting? Anyways, what happens at these gatherings? For some an annual meeting is a reunion as people reconnect with friends from other churches that they see every year. An annual meeting is a time to conduct some of our important business to act upon the budget to consider two resolutions, ending mass incarceration for nonviolent offenders and a resolution regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We'll also hold elections for our new conference leadership. We are most pleased to have Dr. Mary Ludi, who is Interim Senior Minister at Wellesley Village Church in Massachusetts, serving as our theological reflector. She'll give us insights and impressions and thoughts about our gathering as it unfolds. Annual meetings are time for worship and we'll worship three times during this gathering. Steve Kemp, the pastor of Faith Congregational Church in Hartford, will be preaching at our closing worship. Annual meetings, of course, are a time to eat and break bread around the table. Annual meetings are a time to learn from others and to find resources for local church ministries. At this upcoming meeting, there'll be two important times of recognition. This is the 20th year of our Korean partnership with the PROK of South Korea, so we'll hear from those partners and celebrate this relationship. Our Living Waters Award will be presented to Ann Kirkpatrick and Joanne Hornyak of Summers and Dr. Gordon and Nancy Crouch of Simsbury. This award is presented to laypeople whose activity in the workplace has made a difference in the lives of others. Annual meetings are also a time to celebrate the DNA of the conference and towards that end, we will be invited to hear more about our vision for the conference of the future. The scripture passage that has been chosen to give shape and form to our meeting this year is 1 Corinthians chapter 12. We want to encourage all of you who will be attending the meeting to read this chapter in advance. It is our hope that this image of the church as the body of Christ will resonate through our time together. Your body has many parts, Paul writes, limbs, organs and cells, but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one spirit, we all said goodbye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized. Each of us is now part of his resurrection body refreshed and sustained at one fountain, his spirit where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive. The vision for our life together is shaped by the notion of interdependence, the motto of the United Church of Christ that they may all be one was the founding vision of our denomination and a vision which reminds us of our need to continue to strive towards unity but not uniformity. We live in a time and in a world where division is apparent, where taking sides seems paramount and where we focus solely on those things that divide us. What might it look like if we claim that we're part of the body of Christ and that finding ways of strengthening our common witness is the direction in which all of us are called to in these days? So come to the annual meeting to hear this vision and give your own responses to the vision and where you enter into the vision. There'll be lots of time devoted for small group conversation. Can't make it without you. You won't want to miss this meeting. You don't have to be a delegate to attend. Bring a group from your church and meet your sisters and brothers from across this conference. You can register online at our conference website. Can't make it without you. I'm looking forward to this gathering of the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ. I'll see you in Cheshire.