Rev. Linda Hirst Acting Associate Conference Minister We are being bombarded with political attack ads in the state of Maine as voting day, Nov. 3, approaches. We have been for months. I imagine you have been, too. We have started to mute them or even turn off the TV even when the ones supporting our candidate are on. It’s gotten to be too much. I can feel my soul being squashed (or sucked out of my body) with each passing day. After months of being told the world is going to hell in a...

Conference Minister Rev. Gordon Rankin 10.7.26 Two weekends ago, I was privileged to attend the Southern New England Conference Meeting at the DCU Center in Worchester. While there I got to hear the Georgia Senator, the Reverend Dr. Rafeal Warnock, deliver the keynote address. He also offered the Sunday morning sermon. His opening story from that sermon is one that I’ve not been able to shake since. Dr. Warnock talked about the traditional greeting of the Maasai Warriors of Kenya and...

Conference Minister Rev. Gordon Rankin 9.9.26 “Sculpting every move you compose a symphony. You plead to everyone, ‘see the art in me’”. These are lyrics from the chorus of the song Art in Me by the Christian Contemporary Musicians, Jars of Clay. For eleven years now, I have been part of a Community of Practice with other Conference Minister colleagues. It has been the same Community of Practice though some folks have gone and others have come. There are so many things this Community of...