Welcome to the Western North Carolina Association — one of three Associations of the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ. Comprising 65 churches in four program districts, WNCA is led by professional staff working with specialized commissions and committees — all working together to strengthen the spiritual and community life of people and congregations across the Association.
WNCA 2021 Spring Educational Forum: “Emotional Sustainability”
March 6, 2021, 9 AM – 12 PM, on Zoom
Tickets $10, Free for Youth (Under 18)
Join us for the annual WNCA Spring Educational Forum as we focus on “Emotional Sustainability” as part of our WISE initiative.
The Spring Educational Forum is for congregation members, youth (middle school to age 18), authorized ministers, and anyone else who might be interested. Spread the word!
Click to find more information about:
Register for the 2020 Annual Meetings!
Due to Covid-19 precautions our 2020 Annual Meeting will be held virtually in conjunction with the Southern Conference, from October 16-17, 2020. Join the WNCA on October 16 as we vote to become a WISE association and review our WNCA Constitution & Bylaws.
Education Day 2020: Becoming WISE
Register today for WNCA’s annual Education Day on Saturday, March 7 from 8:30am–3:00pm! This year, we’ll focus on becoming a WISE Association and WISE churches — Welcoming, Inclusive, Supportive, and Engaged for Mental Health. Early bird discount ends February 23!
Ecclesiastical Councils Policy Clarified
In the UCC, each Association maintains the authority to ordain ministers and grant ministerial standing for their region. When an individual seeks to be ordained to ministry in the UCC, the candidate engages in a lengthy period of discernment that includes their local sponsoring church, the Committee on Ministry (COM), mentors and advisors, seminaries and peers. The candidate’s last discernment partner is the Association itself, when Association delegates gather in an Ecclesiastical Council. The process works as follows —
- The COM holds the responsibility of shepherding a candidate through their discernment process and ensuring all requirements for ordination have been met, including but not limited to assessments, polity requirements and pastoral ethics, and boundary training.
- When the committee is satisfied that a candidate has a call to an authorized ministry and is qualified based on the Marks of Ministry, the COM will recommend the candidate to the Association for their approval.
- At that time, an Ecclesiastical Council will be announced no less than 45 days in advance of the called meeting. Each church of the WNCA will be invited to send voting delegates to the Ecclesiastical Council based on the number of delegates allotted at the annual WNCA meeting.
- At the called Ecclesiastical Council, the COM will present a motion that the Member in Discernment (MID) be approved for ordination pending a call. The committee will then present the candidate to the voting delegates, sharing relevant materials and articulating their thinking as to why the candidate should be ordained. Delegates then will be invited to engage the candidate in a theological conversation regarding their discernment journey as well as the Marks of Ministry by which the UCC discerns competencies and call. All delegates will need to be familiar with the Marks of Ministry before the Ecclesiastical Council commences.
- After this conversation has come to a close, the question will be called and the delegates will be asked to vote on the COM’s motion that the candidate be approved for ordination pending a call. If the outcome of the vote is No, the candidate’s MID status is terminated, either with or without bias. If the vote is Yes, the MID is Approved for ordination pending call and may begin to circulate a UCC Ministerial Profile.
The WNCA COM is currently walking through the discernment process with a number of candidates, several of whom are ready to move toward an Ecclesiastical Council in the coming months. If you have any questions about the process, feel free to reach out to COM Co-Chairs The Rev. Jim Luck and The Rev. Tamara Franks, or to WNCA ACM The Rev. Colleen Samson.
AM2018 Highlights
Over 140 attendees representing two-thirds of WNCA churches gathered at Abernethy Laurels for the WNCA Annual Meeting. With worship interwoven throughout the day, the morning offered educational presentations and music from Mt. Hope UCC’s choir and musicians, while the afternoon included the annual business meeting and election of new leaders. A few highlights —
- Those present gave $1,503.65 in offering to Florence recovery efforts — twice the usual offering collected at previous meetings — and churches brought 182 Clean-Up Buckets for the Southern Conference Florence Clean-Up campaign
- WNCA launched an ongoing Disaster Response Task Force — and you can participate
- We celebrated that 36 of our 65 churches have paid 100% or more their 2018 dues — click here to see where your church stands — and the seven churches that have so far contributed $1,400 toward the 2018 salary supplement for our Minister of Church Affairs voted at the 2017 annual meeting
- Presenters addressed three important topics: sustainability, doing new things in worship, and serving the community. The Rev. Dr. Nancy Ellett Allison has shared her Sustainability slide deck, and recommends the book Faithful Metrics: a field guide to measuring ministry without missing the moments by Peggy Hahn (published by waytolead.org).
- We welcomed ReNewal Fellowship, led by The Rev. Roger Billingsley-Hayes, as a member congregation.
- The Association passed the 2019 budget, and applauded The Rev. Dr. Edward Davis for finding a way to restore the salaries of Ministers for Church Affairs to their previous levels.
- The body also passed a modest bylaws change, and elected a slate of new leaders.
- Participants received info to take back to their churches — and the PDF version is here
Visit the Annual Meeting page to view meeting documents — including the budget and elected nominations slate. And mark your calendar now for two 2019 events: the March 2 WNCA Education Day and the October 5 Annual Meeting — both of which will be held at Abernethy Laurels.
Sign up to join WNCA Disaster Response
The Western NC Association is building a Disaster Response & Recovery Team — people and churches who want to participate in or support direct work on-the ground, helping people recover from disaster and restore some normalcy to their homes and their lives. Even if you can’t travel, you can support this work in a range of ways. Complete the form you’ll find here bit.ly/DisasterTeam to share your interests and your skills!
Help Carolinians clean up!
In response to the impact of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Florence, the Southern Conference is sponsoring a Clean-Up Campaign — a drive to supply 500 Clean-Up Buckets to people seeking to recover. Click the button to learn how you and your church can help!
2nd Monday Webinars begin in October
On October 8, the first in an ongoing series of free, monthly webinars begins! Each month, WNCA subject experts will offer programs on topics ranging from church budgets to mental health to end-of-life planning. You’ll need to register in advance to receive the webinar link — then you can join the program from any web browser or smartphone.All one-hour webinars begin at 6:00pm. Have a topic you’d like to see covered? Drop an email to webinars@wnca-soc.org.All one-hour webinars begin at 6:00pm.
Love Your Neighbor — here’s how!
On March 3, over 80 members of churches across the WNCA met at Abernethy Laurels to explore what it means to Love Your Neighbor. Using a World Cafe discussion style led by The Rev. Tamara Franks of High Country UCC, the gathered body developed a great list of ways to love our neighbors. Check out the results of their discussions — just click the PDF link to the right.
Celebrate Jerry & Love Your Neighbor — March 3
Saturday, March 3, 2018
9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
$10 including lunch & refreshments
Learn more about putting your faith in action — both as an individual and as a church! Join us for the annual WNCA Education Gathering featuring one of the UCC’s Three Great Loves: Love of Neighbor!
All are welcome to this gathering, which will include lunch, worship, and a celebration of the ministry of The Rev. Jerry Rhyne, our retiring WNCA Minister for Church Affairs.
- We’ll start at 9:00am with coffee, pastries and fruit
- We’ll learn from short presentations & engage in roundtable discussions
- We’ll share a deli sandwich lunch (vegetarian & gluten-free options available)
- You’ll come away with stronger skills and better answers to questions like —
- How do I relate to my neighbor in divisive times?
- How does my faith call me to love my neighbor?
- What practices can I engage in to show my love of neighbor in my wider community, the WNCA, the world?
And we’ll imagine the practices we can explore for loving our neighbor our ourselves — right in our own neighborhoods.
