 Greetings, friends! Welcome to CTUCC Conference Cast for May 3, 2012, 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. Conference Cast comes to you from Chicago, Illinois this week, where I've been attending the Associated Church Press Convention here, Monday through Wednesday. We begin this week's conference cast with this meditation from the Reverend Dr. Tom Clough, Interim Eastern Regional Minister. The eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles brings us to a strange encounter between the Apostle Philip and a traveling senior official of the Ethiopian government. They have a conversation about interpreting the Bible, specifically passages in Isaiah, and by the end of it, the Ethiopian wants to be baptized into the good news of Jesus. And so he is. When I am asked where I grew up, I respond that I chose not to. You've heard it said that our children are the future of the Church, but I say unto you that adolescence is our best and brightest hope, especially when it's found to be alive and well in those over the age of 60. If I were to start a new church, I would call it our Lady of Perpetual Immaturity. My guide in this refusal to enter adulthood has been my father. Throughout my life, he has modeled the way of utterly naive pacifism, unrealistic concern for the marginalized, inappropriate amusement at religious pretension, and an allergic reaction to taking himself too seriously. Having reached the age of 92, the odds are good that he will never grow up. Like many clergy who could use a better therapist, I often find myself confusing our father with my father. This has led me to wonder at times if it might be more pleasing to God if we were to read the Holy Scriptures with a bit more irreverence. The story of Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian Finance Minister is a case in point. Philip's earnest question, do you understand what you're reading? Deserves a response dripping with sarcasm that only an adolescent might muster? How can I understand unless someone guides me? As we do our prophetic best to critique those in authority for their lack of ethics, compassion, integrity, and wisdom, we might do well to wonder if we who call ourselves Christians are getting the joke here. How can we expect anyone to know the right way unless someone offers guidance? Perhaps there is a role for the church in the 21st century after all. Here is a prayer for this week. Holy God, may we remain in touch with the self-doubt, the outrage at injustice, and the hungry desire for love that is our inner adolescent so that we might be open to the adventure of living that you have set before us. In the news this week, last Friday, Interim Conference Minister, the Reverend Charles L. Wildman, announced that at the beginning of June, we will go from five to four regional ministers in the state. Continued financial concerns, particularly a long-term decline in our church's wider mission basic support contributions factored significantly into the decision. Regional ministers help search committees in their quest to find new clergy. They offer pastoral care and support to clergy in place, and provide support to local church leadership and membership. The occasion for this staff reduction came with the departure of the Reverend Sarah Verasco for a new ministry here in Guilford, Connecticut. On May 1st, researchers presented the 2010 U.S. Religious Census Summary Report to the Associated Church Press Convention here in Chicago. According to data provided by denominational bodies and generated by the research team, 49% of Americans, 150 million people, participate in some way in communities of faith. Protestants, including Mainline, Conservative Evangelical and Charismatic, account for over half of those worshipers, though Roman Catholics are frequently the most numerous denomination in any given area, including much of New England. It was a sad day at the Shelton Congregational Church UCC last Sunday when they held their last worship service. Declining membership and financial resources prompted them first to sell their building and with the sale they decided to disband the church. Every Sunday for 120 years we've walked out those doors into a future, said the Reverend Shepard Parsons in his sermon. Today is no different, and so they closed amidst words of hope. Healthcare advocates returned to the state Capitol last Wednesday to meet with legislators and to protest a $3.8 million increase in compensation for Cygnus Chief Executive Officer David Cordani. South Britain pastor the Reverend Shannon Rye-Wall was among the demonstrators. Early in the afternoon organizers learned that the state House of Representatives had passed a bill to add additional seats for consumers and small business representatives to the Health Insurance Exchange Board, which had been sought by those concerned with the high proportion of members related to the insurance industry in place. Advocates continue to encourage passage of a state basic health care plan to take advantage of funding available through the Federal Affordable Care Act. Last weekend 70 volunteers spent their time working hard at Silver Lake Conference Center, preparing the facility for the 1,200 young people we hope to host there this summer. Group leader Brian Lapis, a longtime spring action presence, said that the Ministry of Silver Lake is very important to him. He continued, I hope that leading these small groups give some sort of work ethic to the young people that are here to help out and creates a sense of investment in this place. The workers had plenty to do, clearing tree limbs down by last fall storms, breaking leaves, standing siding for the newly renovated retreat center, and getting those picnic tables in place. Their work will be further this coming weekend by an adult action weekend Friday and Saturday. And there are in fact two other Silver Lake events coming right up, the men's retreat on the edge of fire, and Silver Lake's open house on Sunday. Learn more and sign up at SilverLakeCT.org. As the sun finally shines a little longer this spring, imagine your bare feet greeting the warm sand between your toes. Imagine the fireflies sparkling along the treeline above the campfire. Here you're the singing floating over the hill from the waterfall chapel. Revel in the delight of discovering a new best friend in the bunk above you. In your imagination, you're at Silver Lake already for a week-long outdoor ministry experience that changes lives and makes friend-making easy. Greet God in God's backyard at Silver Lake this summer. Learn more and register at www.silverlakect.org. There's still room to register, but hurry we're filling up. We look forward to welcoming you to Silver Lake, your conference center. If you haven't registered for annual meeting coming up on May 12th, you want to do that today. As of May 5th, meal reservations will not be available and the registration fee goes up too. So get your registration in by the end of May 4th. Learn more and register online at ctucc.org slash annual meeting. The Church Historian's Workshop is in Avon on May 5th. Still speaking ministry coordinator Felix Carrion will be in Milford also on the 5th. The New England Association of United Church Educators holds their annual event welcoming the Living Stone May 8th through 10th in Craigville, Massachusetts. The second annual youth revival will be held May 11th at Liberty Christian Center in Hartford. Lillian Daniel and Martin Copenhaver, authors of this odd and wondrous calling, will be available for conversation in Southington also on the evening of May 11th and the spring meeting of the Connecticut Conference featuring Lillian Daniel as keynote speaker is in Suffield on May 12th. Sign up now for the national youth event. This great gathering of youth ages 13 through 18 will be held July 10th through 14th at Purdue University. Sign up by this Monday May 7th to be on board one of the two bus trips to get young people to these five days of dynamic workshops, inspiring worship, hands-on service projects and rockin recreation and music. The service bus includes a stop in Cleveland, Ohio for a mission project and to tour the UCC's national offices. The express bus will leave a little later and go straight to Purdue. You'll find more information at ctucc.org slash ny e and you can always learn more about what's coming up in the conference at ctucc.org slash events and that brings this conference cast to a close. Thanks to Tom Kloff for his reflection and to GarageBand for our music. Primary funding for conference cast comes from your congregation's gifts to our church use wider mission basic support changing lives through 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.