 Welcome to this edition of Vantage Point. One of the realities of life is that people come and people go. So we are in the midst of a transition here at the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ. Our associate conference minister for proclamation identity and communication, the Reverend Eric Anderson, is leaving our conference after 17 years of service to the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ. A lot of what happens here on this video production happens because of Eric's diligence, Eric's care and concern for the communication ministries of the Connecticut conference. So before he departs, I wanted to have an opportunity to be have a little conversation with Eric. This Sunday at First Church of Christ Congregational in Glassenberry at 3 p.m. there will be a time of farewell for Eric and we hope you'll come and join us. Eric, welcome to this edition of Vantage Point. Thank you, Ken. Eric, you've been part of Vantage Point from its inception and so we wanted to have an opportunity to talk with you about your ministry here in the Connecticut Conference. Can you just share with us your time here for 17 years, the kinds of things you've been asked to do, the kinds of things that you had no idea you'd be asked to do. Give our viewers a little bit of insight into your work in ministry here in the Connecticut Conference. Well, it really was a fascinating time to be joining the communications ministry of the church. It was a time in which there was an enormous amount of change, not just in the techniques that we used and the media that we used, but also in the direction in which we were taking it. We started really in a place where we were talking about things that were coming and we had an established community of churches that we're all interested in participating in things. That was what we were doing. The situation we're in now is that we are no longer an established church and so our outreach as much as anything needs to be inspiration to our congregations, but increasingly to that great mass of folks who are connected to no particular religious tradition, but are still hungry for the things of the spirit, things that we really are rich in if we only knew it. So as you and your mind survey these past 17 years of work in ministry here, with more job titles I think than anyone else that's worked in the Connecticut Conference before. Possibly Ken Taylor might have had one or two more than I did. What have been as you think back over those years, what have been the high moments of your work with us and what have been the greatest challenges that you think you faced? The high moments were those times when when the ministry and the medium came together. A story I've told for a number of years about the power of social media comes from the day that a young man died in Tripoli. He had been one of these citizen reporters that emerged in social media and particularly emerged around the Arab Spring movement. He went out to cover a protest march and sniper shot him, left him with a young widow and a baby on the way. He was a source for a man by the name of Andy Carvin who worked for National Public Radio at the time and Andy did what people do on social media. He began to grieve in public. Well when people grieve you get the sensitive responses and you get the insensitive responses. That's humanity. I watched this and realized this was all happening on Twitter, 140 characters at a time. Humanity being itself 140 characters at a time. I wasn't sure that was possible and there it was. So I wrote an essay and I did something I rarely did at the time. I tweeted it and tagged Andy Carvin. Well he did something that was routine for him. He retweeted it and the next thing I knew my phone was blowing up because because all these folks are either retweeting it or they're responding to it in a very positive manner. One of those tweets read the UCC are good people. Now I saw this as I was sitting at a stop light on my way to the office. There are plenty of days when I get to the end of the day and I shouldn't tell you this. There are plenty of days I get to the end of the day. I'm not sure I've accomplished anything. On that day before I ever arrived at the office I knew I'd done my job. So what have been the challenges in this work? Where have the frustrations been? Where have the bumps in the road been? What would you name as the biggest challenges of your work here in the conference? Well honestly the biggest challenge is that my position has this split personality nature. I'm the IT manager on the one side and I'm the communications director on the other. Communications is very much a deadline driven discipline. Things have to be done, presented, produced and distributed on a schedule or that's the difference between a publication and some sort of random communication that may or may not get attention. IT, although there's definitely a planning element to it, computers break. They do. And they do so without any planning whatsoever. With no planning, yes. Everybody calls Eric when there is a problem. Everybody calls Eric and it's got to generally be addressed as quickly as possible because these are the tools that we're using to accomplish our work. So the conflict between those two realities has been a juggling act and a frequent frustration many times over the years. Yes, of course. So you're headed to a new call. I am headed to a new call. We are excited for you and about this new call for a variety of reasons. Would you give voice to what's coming next for you? Well, I'm on my way to become the pastor of a church of the Holy Cross, United Church of Christ in Hilo, Hawaii. So in some ways, I'm sort of following in the footsteps of our missionary ancestors, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, founded the first churches in the Hawaiian Islands. The very first church in Hawaii will be about 100 miles away from where I'll be living. This, however, is sort of an ABCFM grandchild church. It was not founded by a missionary from New England. It was founded by a missionary from Japan. Interesting. 125 years ago to serve the immigrant population of the time. A huge number of Japanese immigrants were coming to Hawaii to work in the sugar cane fields. So these are their grandchildren, great grandchildren. And of course, it's a very, very diverse community in Hilo. The majority of the population is either native Hawaiian or of Japanese ancestry. Not nearly so many pale faces. I'll be kind of a rarity with my complexion. So there's huge amount to learn, a huge amount to grow into. I'll certainly be taking along these social media skills that I've been developing over the last few years. Of course. But it will be a real learning curve to figure out how does this work in this setting, in this culture or in this intersection of cultures. And there'll be a new deadline every week. I seem to remember this thing on Sunday morning that happens. It's around 10 o'clock usually. And so I get this 12 to 15 minute spoken piece that I need to be getting. So I wonder if you'd be able to make a promise as you depart from the Connecticut Conference and move to Hawaii that in January and February, you will not post on Facebook the temperature of where you are. I think I can do that. I have been I've been promising myself at least not to gloat when confronted with the snowstorm pictures from my friends back east. However, I can't promise not to share the beauty of the islands. Good. And I I also promise to share the beauty of the faith and the spirit that that I've already found here in the conversations with this church, and that I look to learning much more about over the coming years. So any last thoughts for this edition of Vantage Point as you prepare to answer God's call to you to serve in the local church. And for the time that you spend here, 17 years of ministry and service to the Connecticut Commerce. Do you have any any last parting thoughts? Of course I do. Whether they'll be whether they'll be coherent is another question. I I leave with with just such incredibly mixed emotions. The the prospect and the promise of this new call are simultaneously enormously energizing and completely terrifying. The idea of leaving this ministry that I've known so well for so long, and the people with whom I've worked for so long. I that's enormously sad for me. And, you know, arrogant fellow that I am, there's also a part of me that sort of worries that the entire operation will completely collapse. But I know it's in good hands with Tiffany Vale and Drew Page, working as a team here in Connecticut and with Tiffany working throughout Southern England. This has been a place of great blessing for me. And it is a it is a not just a place, not just United Church Center here or the leadership studio here in Hartford. But this this gathered community that comes together in such a very odd way. It's not a regular local church. We're not getting together every week as a conference. But we really have in these 17 years, fostered, nurtured, extended, deepened and shared a profound spirit amongst each other. And that I know has been passed on to folks in the pews on Sunday, and folks who've been seeing Facebook posts on Monday or Tuesday. So I guess all I can say is, keep that up. Keep inspiring. Keep leading. Keep making a difference. Because we need that. Thank you, Eric. We want to wish you Godspeed. As you prepare to answer God's call on your life, we are so grateful for your work, your ministry, your compassion and your passion for the United Church of Christ. We look forward to hearing more about when your installation is going to be so we all can charter planes to get there for this that event. But we are really thankful and grateful to you, Eric, for your ministry. I'd like to remind our viewers that there will be a fair time of farewell with Eric on February 21st, this coming Sunday at 3pm at the First Church of Christ in Glastonbury. Godspeed to you, Eric. Thanks, kid. What Saturday, March 12, all day, Super Saturday, I wonder what that's about. Ladies, you heard about Super Saturday. Yeah, we're really excited about it. Why are you excited? I'm really excited to meet some new friends and meet some new people. I'm excited to hear Tracy Blackman speak. I saw her speak last year and she just gave me chills. Are you excited about Super Saturday? You bet. I'm going to be leading a workshop for folks who are chaperones at the National Youth Event. Hi, Emily. Did you hear that Tracy Blackman is coming? She's amazing. And the facility at Killingly High School is really nice. You should definitely go. So what do you like best about Super Saturday? Oh, worship and the workshops. Hear a prophetic word from our speakers. And I'm actually really excited about workshops. So much is super about Super Saturday. Super speaker number one, Tracy Blackman, who is the new executive for Justice and Witness Ministries is going to be our keynoter. I'm also excited about the location of Super Saturday. First time Connecticut is hosted this event. We're going to be at Killingly High School. Saturday, March 12th, Killingly High School, Tracy Blackman workshops, meeting new people, making new friends, be there.