UPCOMING EVENTS

Save the Date! 
Regional Youth Event (RYE) 

July 21-24, 2027, St. Cloud State University

We encourage the youth of the Conference to set aside a few days and make plans to join us for the 2027 Regional Youth Event at St. Could State University July 21-24, 2027. The Campus at SCSU is ADA Accessible with air-conditioned dorms, plenty of indoor and outdoor spaces, and all events close together.
 
More details and registration information will be coming soon!

Picard Lectures in Environmental Ethics and Theology

Monday, October 26

From Rev. Frank Picard: Since I was a young child, I found spiritual connection to the divine in the natural world. It is one of the great blessings of my life. At times the separation between me and nature is very thin. I can draw close to God by simply sitting still, looking, and listening. When I was a student at United Theological Seminary, I realized not everyone saw what I saw. I felt like many of my classmates would end up serving in rural areas, but would be handicapped by a lack of connection to the natural world.
 
We are living in a slow-moving disaster when it comes to our care of God’s handiwork. It was the hottest July on record and ocean temperatures are the highest ever recorded. I believed then and now that we will not find a solution to our climate crisis in the political realm. Our only hope lies in the spiritual realm, thus I wanted to find a way of carrying that message to future spiritual leaders. Thus in 2000, I gifted United Theological Seminary sufficient funds to fund an ongoing lecture series inviting scholars in this area of study to share their expertise. The lecturer is chosen by the seminary Dean and the quality of these lectures continues to grow.
 
This year’s lecture will be given by Rev. Dr. Claudio Carvalhaes, a professor at Union Theological Seminary, on Monday, October 26. I invite you to view a bio and a narration of his at unitedseminary.edu. I am in awe of what has developed with these lectures. One never knows what will happen when you give a gift. It truly takes trust and faith.
 
Rev. Dr. Carvalhaes’s first lecture will be on Oct. 26 at 10:45am and the second at 2:15pm that same day. You can join using this link: