 Greetings, friends. Welcome to CTUCC Conference Cast for February 13, 2015, 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 are once again producing a minimal video edition of Conference Cast this week to make time for a major communications project. Stay tuned, we hope to be able to celebrate it in next Friday's Conference Cast. We begin this week's Conference Cast with this meditation from Cecile Gilson, Executive Assistant to the Conference Minister. As we approach Lent, we hear the story of the transfiguration as told by Mark, how Jesus climbed a mountain with Peter, James and John, and began to glow so brightly they could not look at him. And from a cloud came a voice saying, this is my son the beloved. Listen to him. There's a favorite story in my family about my father that we share frequently. He wore white shirts all the time as did most men of his era. One night after dinner he was extremely proud because his shirt was still white even after eating spaghetti. While showing off the white shirt he managed to get some sauce from his fingers on the shirt. We all had a good laugh and continued to recount the story, so much so that his grandchildren, who were not even born yet, today tell the story as if they were at the table. The story of the transfiguration had to be one of those stories in the early church. It appears in Matthew, Mark and Luke with almost identical detail. John has a version of it as well. It was shared from generation to generation and everyone could recount the story as if they had been present on that mountaintop. This story celebrates in a powers Jesus as God's beloved. It defines and explains his ministry in and among the people of his time. In our churches we have our own stories that are shared from generation to generation. Our children and grandchildren know the stories. They are the stories of who we are as a church and what our impact has been in the wider world. They are stories to be celebrated as we create new stories. Are the stories we create today worthy of being shared? Do they tell of our life and ministry on the edges or margins of our churches? Will they show how the church has been extravagantly welcoming, open to new ideas, willing to be interdependent in this place we find ourselves? Are we creating stories that define who we are as God's beloved? The Church of Today has much to celebrate from the Church of Yesterday, but it is our call to become the Church of Today with an eye toward the Church of Tomorrow. Our stories will continue and we will live as God's beloved if we are open to hearing the call. Here is a prayer for this week. Holy God, you have revealed the glory of your love in Jesus Christ and have given us a share in your spirit. May we who listen to Christ follow faithfully and in the dark places where you send us reveal the light of your gospel. Amen. Please hold in prayer today the family and friends of Alan Russell Howell, spouse of the Reverend Hannah Howell. He died on January 21st at the age of 81. In the news this week, the cybersecurity breach at Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has occupied the attention of the nation these last few days, including officials of the United Church of Christ. Although Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, not Anthem, services the denomination's health care plan, it turns out that the two companies process claims cooperatively. Staff at Anthem, Highmark and the pension boards of the UCC are still working to determine how much information about health care plan members may have been compromised. They warn those covered by the plan to be very cautious about responding to communications about the situation. Anthem has announced that they will only communicate with affected individuals by postal mail. Emails or telephone calls purporting to be from them are most likely attempts to exploit the situation further. On March 7th, members and friends of the First Church of Christ Congregational UCC in Farmington, founded in 1652, will take part in Valley Volunteer Day. Participants will do chores and cleaning for elderly or disabled neighbors. Will join in sing-alongs and games at local housing units or assemble gift baskets to be distributed later. They ask people to sign up by February 22nd by calling the church office at 860-677-2601. For more on these stories and all the current headlines, visit us at ctucc.org slash news. There are still openings for the March 6th through 8th confirmation retreat at Silver Lake. Sign your group up soon while there is space for you. The next Stepping Stones event will cover church asset mapping for faith formation on February 26th in Milford. Rami Rami Shapiro will lead a two-day retreat on Perennial Wisdom, February 27th and 28th in West Hartford. Learn about radical hospitality with youth in a Stepping Stones Workshop March 9th in South Glastonbury. Learn more about all the upcoming Stepping Stones workshops at ctucc.org slash Stepping Stones. Clergy and laypeople have a unique opportunity to learn about the ethics of ministry and church life with the UCC's general counsel Don Clark. There's a workshop for Clergy the morning of the 13th in Southington and a performance of Clergy Ethics the Musical that evening in South Glastonbury. On Saturday the 14th Don Clark will lead a workshop on governing boards and safe conduct policies for church lay leaders in Middlefield. Young people have an opportunity to prepare to be a counselor in training at Silver Lake with a weekend conference March 13th through 15th. Registration is open for Super Saturday. This day of workshops features keynote speaker the Reverend Ruben Duran who works on promoting new church development for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This joint venture with the Massachusetts Conference will be held March 21st in Ludlow, Massachusetts. The women's yoga and spirit retreat is at Silver Lake March 27th through the 29th as is the maple sugaring weekend. Stepping Stones offers part one of keeping our churches safe on April 9th in Hartford. Registration is also open for stewardship in the changing church from consumerism to generosity. This year's ecumenical stewardship event which runs April 17th and 18th in Boxborough, Massachusetts. Silver Lake's spring action weekend is May 1st through 3rd at our outdoor ministry center in Sharon and the conference youth revival is May 3rd in Bloomfield. To learn more about these events or to register visit us at ctucc.org slash events. Our spirited Wednesday thought comes from the Reverend Donna Monacchio associate pastor at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church UCC in Hartford. She notes that the transfiguration event was enough to stun anyone into silence except of course for the irrepressible Simon Peter and today our world is even more filled with words than Jesus was. She writes how and when might we hear God speak if we let go of some of our words and the words of others and simply rest in the amazing and awesome divine power? What if we responded to fear and uncertainty with silence instead of a steady stream of words? We just might discover that we too will be transfigured and changed by grace and love. And that brings this conference cast to a close. Thanks to Cecile Gilson for her reflection and to GarageBand for our music. Primary funding for conference cast comes from your congregation's gifts to our church's wider mission basic support changing lives through the United Church of Christ. This is Eric Anderson the associate conference minister for proclamation identity and communication 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.