Southern New England Conference, United Church of Christ

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The Southern New England Conference is one of 37 regional conferences in the 1.5 million-member United Church of Christ, a "united and uniting" Protestant denomination in the United States of America. Our membership descends from the earliest days of our country in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The UCC now includes the Congregational, Christian, Evangelical, and Reformed traditions, and dates its founding to June 25, 1957, the day the four denominations merged into one fellowship.

In our "ground-up" polity, the Conference is the regional representative for UCC churches, and Associations of those churches, in Connecticut. It provides pastoral support, placement, and other support services to the local churches, and acts as a liaison between the churches and the national denomination.

The historical Connecticut Conference is a direct descendant of the Congregational Christian Conference of Connecticut, which held its first Annual Meeting in 1867. The Conference includes two additional legal entities with a distinguished history of mission and ministry: the Missionary Society of Connecticut was founded in 1798 to bring the Christian gospel to the "heathen lands" of Vermont and Ohio. The Trustees of the Fund for Ministers oversee supplements to the retirement income of Connecticut's Clergy as well as emergency aid grants to clergy.


Beginning on January 1, 2020, the Historic Connecticut Conference merged with the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Conferences to form the new Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ. Their website is: sneucc.org

 

Following Jesus’ call to discipleship, and bound by the covenant we share as siblings in Christ, we – the members of the United Church of Christ in Southern New England – declare these values essential to our shared ministry together:

  • We understand the local church exists to make disciples of Jesus and we welcome all people unconditionally to share in this calling.
  • We commit to making God’s love and justice real by loving our neighbors, children, and all of creation through our collective work, such as seeking racial, economic, environmental, and LGBTQ justice.
  • We believe God calls us to bring new life as agents of change and so we embrace and encourage adaptive and transformative leadership wherever the Body of Christ is gathered.
  • We encourage local congregations and varied ministry settings, inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, to form covenant partnerships with all who work for the common good in their local communities and throughout the world.

In union with the entire United Church of Christ, we respond to Jesus' call and strive to live our faith by:

God’s Vision: 
United in Christ's love, a just world for all.

The Church’s Mission:
United in Spirit and inspired by God's grace, we welcome all, love all, and seek justice for all.

Our Purpose
To love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves.

Our United Covenant
Living the Love and Justice of Jesus

Speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into the one who is the head – into Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love. ~ Ephesians 4:15-16 


 

The Southern New England Conference is the body in which the churches and authorized ministers hold membership. It is that body that meets to deliberate on the budget for the Conference and to adopt resolutions and other business. When the authorized delegates of the Annual Meeting or the Conference’s Board of Directors pass a motion or resolution, its implementation is conducted through the staff and budgetary allocations of the Conference.


Our Executive Conference Minister is the Rev. Darrell Goodwin, who began his ministry on January 1, 2021. He most recently served the Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota Conferences as an Associate Conference Minister. He has founded a church, directed a UCC Pension Board vitality initiative, and has served in a variety of roles in higher education settings.


The Conference Offices are at 125 Sherman Street in Hartford, CT 06105. 860-233-5564 as well as in Framingham, MA.


Our Regional Conference Minister, the Rev. Margret Hofmeister serves churches and leaders in the Southwest Region in the Litchfield South, Fairfield East & West, Naugatuck Valley, and New Haven Associations She can be reached at hofmeisterm@sneucc.org

 


For more information, go to their website: www.sneucc.org

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