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Youth instill vigor and music in Annual Meeting

PNC-UCC delegates gather to consider the theme “Come and See.”
Youth and adults from Samoan churches led worship songs and danced.

Youth and adults from Samoan churches led worship songs and danced. Photo courtesy of Phil Hodson

Many participants attended Annual Meeting 2026 on Zoom.

PNC Moderator Sandy Wisecarver opened Annual Meeting 2026, inviting attendees to view the many “Come and See” videos created by more than 30 PNC congregations on their ministries. They are now available on the PNC YouTube channel at @PacificNorthwestConference.

Along with the business sessions, there were four workshops. Two are reported on pages 8 to 11.

Youth from across the conference led worship, songs and dances. Many had practiced and prepared for weeks in advance.

The business included reports, and discussion and votes on the Constitution and Bylaws and on the PNC budget.

This report was compiled with the assistance of Ron Patterson, PNC scribe.

Many participants attended Annual Meeting 2026 on Zoom.

In his report to the Annual Meeting, Designated Conference Minister Phil Hodson shared about changes during 2025, beginning with closing the conference office at Broadview UCC in Seattle and shifting to a 100 percent virtual office.

That meant digitizing PNC records into a database system through Salesforce to store and update clergy, congregational and conference information.

Phil added that Conference accounting manager Andy Warren also consulted with congregations on financial matters, and Beth Astarte, the new conference registrar began assisting clergy, committees and congregations, working in partnership with Arlene Hobson, executive administrator for 27 years, through the end of 2025.

Mark Boyd and the staff and volunteers at both camps and retreat centers have worked to strengthen both sites.

Phil’s time included visiting two to three congregations in person a month on Sundays each month and assisting search committees. Five are completing church profiles for upcoming searches, and all active searches have been completed successfully.

He participated in 10 Samoan pastors receiving dual standing, along with celebrating installations and ordinations. He has also tried to consistently offer Wednesday morning Zoom “office hours” to meet with clergy and laity on their concerns about church and conference life.

Mark Boyd, executive director for Outdoor Ministries at N-Sid-Sen and Pilgrim Firs, reminded of the power of relationship. He thanked Randy and Linda Crowe for their volunteer efforts at N-Sid-Sen, shared a video of the camp’s 90th year, told of restoring partner groups and an anonymous gift of $50,000 to repair Forrester Lodge’s roof and a gift from Broadview to renovate Spirit Lodge.

Mark then introduced Zak Nornberg, the associate director at Pilgrim Firs, and presented a video on Pilgrim Firs. The ministry of Pilgrim Firs is to support congregations and their members as well as the wider community with veterans, first responders, guitarists, carvers and other groups using the site.

He noted that N-Sid-Sen is a turning corner and a special task force is evaluating its future. A search is underway for a new site director.

Board moderator Sandy Wisecarver told of the Board gathering at N-Sid-Sen and setting goals to grow relationships, build bridges, improve communication, complete rewriting the Constitution and Bylaws, call a settled Conference Minister and define next steps for N-Sid-Sen.

The improve communication with churches the PNC uses the weekly news, the quarterly newsletter, and the conference listserv, she said.

The Constitution and Bylaws was the focus of discussion during the board’s fall retreat at Pilgrim Firs/ The Board presented the 13th edition for approval of the Annual Meeting delegates. The board held six listening sessions for suggestions.

The board has opened search for a settled conference minister after Phil withdrew his candidacy. It has named a diverse search and call committee, which hopes to present a candidate at a special meeting before the end of 2026. Phil will remain with us through the end of May.

The board also heard the call for greater youth participation, which was facilitated by the Annual Planning Committee.

The theme for this year’s gathering, “Come and See,” came out of the board’s spring retreat with the goal of encouraging conversations among churches about their unique ministries.

Finally, the board worked with the Veradale UCC after the vandalism of their property and approved a $30,000 loan to help them update their safety systems. The church has a grant to complete the work, but the funds would only be released after the project was finished, so the loan allowed them to begin the work immediately.

Following Sandy’s report, Dawn Kaloi, vice moderator, invited Cameron Sharp to help her present the proposed Constitution and Bylaws. Dawn introduced Cameron. 

He said the proposed Constitution speaks of the PNC’s fundamental principles, vision and its ministry while the Bylaws are the legal documents.

In 2018 a group of board members began reviewing the Constitution and Bylaws and recommended that new documents were needed. They sought input from conference members and reviewed documents of other UCC conferences and the national UCC.

In 2024, the Board invited Cameron to research the history, context and examples. A small group and then the full board reviewed his work as he crafedt editions of the draft document. Phil gathered members of the BIPOC community for their input. The board reviewed it at retreats and meetings. Heather Kimmel, general counsel for the UCC checked if it complied with Washington State law and was in harmony with the UCC Constitution and Bylaws. In Advent 2025, with a 12th edition completed, a series of meetings for conference members were held. Three more hearings were held early in 2026 to introduce the 13th edition. More suggestions were incorporated.

Cameron said the Constitution and Bylaws are a jumping off point that need to be continually reviewed.

“We must covenant with one another to find God’s justice and revisit these documents often to ensure that they reflect our aspirations,” Cameron said.  

In open discussion, further recommendations were made and there was discussion of the standing committees and other committees that may be empowered by the Board to act.

Cameron said the proposed list of standing committees are those necessary for the PNC to function and that task forces mayl organize around specific mission goals of PNC members and congregations.

Asked about attaining the inclusive makeup of the board and committees was asked, Phil and Cameron said that the goals “are important and aspirational.” The aim is to be invitational “to increase the diversity of voices at the table,” with awareness that the lived experience needs to be welcoming.

A Youth Leadership Council was formed, and the board will include a representative from it.

Sandy called for a vote and the new Constitution and Bylaws were approved, with no negative votes and with two abstentions. The new Constitution and these new Bylaws are now the Constitution and Bylaws of the Pacific Northwest Conference of the UCC.

Sandy then gave an update on the search and call process for a settled conference minister and affirmed Phil’s positive contributions to the PNC.

The board formed a Search Committee and appointed Cameron as chair. Other committee members are May Alaelua, Tyler Torres, Lauralee Sorenson, the Rev. Bianca Davis-Lovelace, the Rev. Ann-Marie Illsley and the Rev. Dee Eisenhauer

The committee began work Feb 28, meeting with Diane Weible, conference minister search coordinator for the national UCC. The committee will hold listening sessions around the conference to receive input for preparing a profile.

Jim CastroLang then asked about the process the board had followed in reviewing the designated conference minister. Various people spoke to that.

Andy Warren, accounting manager, presented the budget, prepared with treasurer Diane Kutas and the Stewardship Committee. He reported that OCWM (Our Church’s Wider Mission) income has been slowly decreasing, down $60,000 from two years ago. The proposed conference ministry budget shows a $27,000 deficit. He thanked those who give individual gifts. The budget includes a drawdown of 4 percent from PNC endowments to support its mission.

OCWM gifts are divided between conference and national. The deficit is covered by undesignated reserve funds. Andy said Pilgrim Firs revenue will exceed expenses by $52,000, but at the time expected N-Sid-Sen to show a loss of $72,000, but it has actually ended the fiscal year in the black.

Diane shared the list of 18 churches that gave to five of the five national UCC offerings: OCWM, One Great Hour of Sharing, Strengthen the Church, Neighbors in Need and The Christmas Fund.

Sandy called for a vote and the budget was approved.

For information, call 206-725-8383.

 

Pacific Northwest Conference United Church of Christ News © April 2026

 

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