Council for Health and Human Service Ministries

From the President

Photo of Bryan Sickbert Back in biblical times, a covenant was a simple, if dramatic, matter. Noah got a rainbow set in the sky as a sign of God's covenant with humanity. God made a covenant with Abraham that his descendents would be more numerous than the stars, and Sarah laughed. Genesis does not record that God included a memo detailing the particulars of the promise.

Several millennia later, we have progressed far beyond those biblical times. At CHHSM, our covenant with the UCC comes complete with pages of documentation, which you can read in electronic form here. Although our covenant lacks the rainbows and stars of Old Testament stories, it is still fundamentally based in God's promise to humanity. As the UCC's Mission Statement on Health and Human Service says:

We rejoice in the power of God to make all things new and in the gift of the Holy Spirit through which the Church is empowered to continue Jesus' ministries of compassion, justice, and transformation, serving the well-being and wholeness of all God's people. The mission of the United Church of Christ in health and human service is rooted in the ministry of Jesus Christ and empowered by God's spirit.

But in days filled with meetings and memos, we can often lose sight of the importance of our covenant with the church and with one another. "Why does it matter?" we might ask ourselves.

At the 2008 CHHSM Annual Meeting, to be held from March 6-9, 2008 in Charlotte, North Carolina, we will explore practical, strategic and spiritual ways that our covenant with one another brings value to our organizations and our own leadership. The meeting will be titled "The Value of Covenant: CHHSM and the UCC," and our keynote speaker will be the Rev. John H. Thomas, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ. Thomas will be our guest for two days of our meeting, and on the opening evening he will speak on "CHHSM and the UCC: Why Does Our Covenant Matter?"

Even—especially—if you sometimes wonder how being a ministry of the church provides value or benefit to your organization, I encourage you to attend this annual meeting. You'll have the opportunity to learn important practical information about disaster planning, purchasing discounts, and other important topics. But perhaps most importantly, you'll experience CHHSM's most valuable asset--our members, with whom you have a covenant.

Save the dates now for the 2008 CHHSM Annual Meeting, and look for Annual Meeting registration information via email and paper mail in the fall. If you have questions, please talk with Vice President for Member Relations Bill Johnson, whose job it is to plan each annual meeting. You can reach Bill at 866-822-8224 ext. 2256 or via email.

See you in Charlotte!

Faithfully,
Bryan W. Sickbert
President/CEO

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