 Greetings, friends! Welcome to CTUCC Conference Cast for April 12th, 2012, the regular podcast of the Connecticut Conference of the Ignited 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 Patricia Bjorling, Associate Conference Minister for Generosity Ministries. Read this week by your podcast host. Luke tells us, in the Acts of the Apostles, that the gathering community of Jesus' followers after his resurrection lived a communal life, pooling their resources and for swearing personal possessions. They laid it at the Apostles' feet, it says in chapter 4, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Navigating life as a disciple of Jesus the Christ in 21st century America is not a simple proposition. We live in a society where most of the messages seem to be about personal power and independence, creating one's own security, and acquiring stuff to make our journeys comfortable. We are living in a time when a lot of folks seem remarkably untroubled by the deep disparities between those who have much and those who have little. If you have managed to amass wealth and great possessions, evidently that means you are smart and clever and clearly deserve what you have. But if you are living on the financial edge, barely paying the bills or falling behind, then you are a blockhead. If you now are a tough love America, then that's no doubt what you deserve. Get smarter, be more clever, and you'd have more. Right? I heard a small business owner commenting in a radio interview about why she hoped the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would be declared unconstitutional. Under the legislation, businesses with more than fifty employees would need to provide health insurance for their employees, and she didn't want to pay for this for her fifty-four workers, though she claimed to value them. When asked if she herself had health insurance, she said, Yes, I pay for an insurance plan for myself. The reporter asked, What about your employees then? They can buy their own insurance, she replied. But her employees didn't get paid enough to be able to afford the cost of the premiums that she herself paid. The Book of Acts contains many accounts of how the first Christians behaved towards each other as followers of Christ and as people learning how to live as true disciples. Today's text describes a community of believers that sounds pretty radical compared to American life today. In fact, if you left out the name of Jesus and published these verses as a contemporary news story, people might think you were reporting about some sort of wacko cult or commune. No private ownership of possessions, sharing everything they have in common, selling all they have and sharing the proceeds. What kind of weird utopian community is this? Send for the Deep Programmer. But we modern Christians would do well to spend a little time pondering these words. How can we live more justly in a society that tells us that we should only worry about ourselves and tough luck for those who don't have enough? How can we Christians set an example in our own faith communities by acting more generously toward one another in all things? How might we rethink our understandings of ownership and possessions so that we are guided more closely by God's values rather than the world's? Here's a prayer for this week. Gracious God, we are so used to seeing ourselves as individuals with personal destinies. Remind us that we are made in your image, the image of community. Help us to love each other and be made one as you are one. Whisper your love to us and let us whisper your love to the world today. Amen. Please remember in your prayers the friends and family of Ann Clampett Rush, whose husband the Reverend Richard Rush served the First Church Congregational UCC in Fairfield for over 30 years. She died on March 24th at the age of 77. In the news this week, just before 11 o'clock last night after nearly 10 hours of debate, Connecticut's House of Representatives approved the bill passed by the state senate last week that will end the death penalty in this state for crimes committed after it goes into effect. Governor Malloy promptly issued a statement which said, I'm pleased the house passed the bill and when it gets to my desk, I will sign it. Here in the day, Connecticut conference interim minister, the Reverend Charles L. Wildman addressed reporters in Hartford saying, no matter how appalling the crime, the taking of the life of an accused perpetrator only adds tragedy to tragedy, does nothing to deter capital crimes, and permanently eliminates any opportunity of reversing a wrongful conviction. Exeggusion cannot atone for the damage done to victims of heinous crimes. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life only leaves all of us diminished, maimed, or dead. Dawn Mancarella, whose mother was murdered in 1996, spoke on behalf of a group of victims' family members. The death penalty does not help us. We stand here, united, to call for repeal. Guided by resolutions of its delegates, the Connecticut conference has advocated for the end of capital punishment since 1973. Reached by phone this morning, Reverend Wildman said, it's an exciting day for Connecticut and for the Connecticut conference. Connecticut has taken a step to foster a more humane environment for all its citizens. A long sought goal has been accomplished. We give thanks to God. On Tuesday, health care advocates prayed as the Sustenance Health Care Cabinet met at the State Capitol in Hartford. Bishop Joel Cruz Sr., who serves the House of Praise and Worship in the capital city, urged the cabinet during a public comment period to remember those in the community with limited means. So please, please, he said, when you are considering all these things, think about the community that are suffering. Cruz's own spouse has no health insurance, one of over 300,000 in the state, and like many in that situation, has put off trips to the doctor because of the cost. Other stories on our website today include a confusing day on the New Haven Green, when an after-the-last-minute federal court order stopped the city's efforts to evict Occupy New Haven protesters an eviction which was already underway. Also yesterday, Special Prosecutor Angela Chlory announced murder charges against George Simmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. You'll find all the current headlines at ctucc.org slash news. The Spring Women's Yoga and Music Retreat runs this weekend at Silver Lake, and email websites and social networks, oh my, offers a day on media use for churches in the Britain this Saturday. Registration is open for some of the conferences at Silver Lake, as well as for three retreat and work opportunities this spring. Spring Action Weekend starting April 27th, a new men's retreat called On the Edge of Fire the weekend of May 4th, and just added a new adult action weekend also on May 4th. Learn more and register for these at silverlakect.org. Green Teams Unite gives local church environmental ministry leaders an opportunity to share their stories and ideas in Middletown on April 21st. Thomas Long speaks on the changing landscape of worship in Hartford on April 22nd. Marcus Borg addresses the 2012 Awakening Conference in Hollywood, Massachusetts, April 26th through 29th. CT women of the UCC hold their annual meeting in Orange on April 28th. In May, we have boundary training for authorized ministers on the 3rd, the church historians workshop on the 5th, a still speaking presentation also on the 5th and the New England Association of United Church Educators event Welcoming the Living Stone runs May 8th through 10th in Craigville, Massachusetts. The 2nd annual Youth Revival is on May 11th, and the spring meeting of the Connecticut Conference featuring keynote speaker Lillian Daniel is May 12th in the Suffield. Daniel and her co-author of this odd and wondrous calling, Martin Copenhaver, will be available for conversation in Southington, proceeding night May 11th. 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. We have over 60 registered already. Sign up by 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. A service bus includes a stop in Cleveland, Ohio for a mission project and to tour the UCC's national offices. And the express bus leaves a little later and goes straight to Purdue. You'll find more information online at ctucc.org slash n-y-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 Patsy Bueling 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 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.