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Star Gathering Conferences

About Star Gathering Conferences

For over 50 years, people have been coming to attend UCC Star Gathering Conferences. The Family Conferences are open to all – singles with or without children, couples with or without children – all ages are invited and included! Each year there is a Guest Speaker and a Minister of the Week who guide reflections on the week’s theme and lead chapel services. Children’s programming for infants through 8th graders is always available in the mornings and there are plenty of activities accessible to all ages in the afternoons and evenings. Your time on Star Island can be as busy as you would like it to be or it can be completely unscheduled.

The Youth Conferences run separately, but simultaneously, to the Family Conferences, and are open to 9th graders through graduating high school seniors. On Star, we celebrate and honor decades-old conference traditions – candlelit chapel services, softball games, and more – but we also love to add new and engaging practices to our week’s experience! 

 

Star Island United Church of Christ Inc.

Star Island United Church of Christ, Inc. is a New Hampshire nonprofit corporation qualified as an exempt organization under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. We are managed by a board of directors who are elected at an annual meeting of members of the corporation in November each year. There are currently thirteen members on the board.

Information, Star Gathering Conferences

2023 Conference Information

Star Gathering 1 Family & Youth Conference: July 30th- August 6th 2023

Star Gathering 2 Family Conference: August 6th- 13th 2023

Star Gathering Family Weekend Conference: September 1st-4th 2023

 

Star Gathering 1 Family Conference 

July 30th- August 6th 2023

To Be Loved, We Must Be Known

Feeling burnt-out on the world lately?  Sometimes the media’s rhetoric of fear, distrust, and divisiveness can leave us feeling weary, overwhelmed, or underwhelmed, and very much alone.

Relationships, even with those we care deeply about, may feel the strain of passionately and wildly different held beliefs on important issues. We tend to disassociate with, run away from, or simplify those who hold disparate opinions.

The truth is, in a divisive world, building community offers solace and hope. Acting collaboratively and collectively means that we build strong and authentic relationships that enable us to act in concert with each other from a place of wisdom, respect, and LOVE. And to be loved, we need to be known.

Looking for an opportunity to connect to beauty and inspiration?  Join us for a special Star Island week focused on celebrating and nurturing the vision of Beloved Community.

Through art, music, conversation, reflection, and fun we will create a more inclusive and intentional community, to help spread more empathy and understanding in the world.

During chapel, we will explore various stories in the gospels where Jesus encounters people in ways that were unexpected or where the script gets flipped.

Programming for Children

Kids from birth to entering 8th grade enjoy games, crafts, learning, and exploration of Star Island with their friends in teacher-led groups for 3 hours every morning. Fun activities for all ages are scheduled throughout the afternoon and evening — examples include slip-n-slide on lawn, field games, kickball, tie-dye, softball, swimming, crafts, board games, trivia, and bonfire marshmallow roasts!

The 2023 Minister and Speaker of the Week

Minister of the Week: Rev. Anna Flowers, current UCC pastor at UCC Walpole, MA

Speaker of the Week: Rev. JaQuan Beachem – Director of Community Development & Spiritual Formation at Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School

        Past themes have included:

  • Making, Baking, and Sharing: Nourishing Creativity and Community (2022)
  • Storytelling (2021)
  • Bodies Are Beautiful (2019)
  • Live Green, Love Green: Ecology, Faith & Justice (2018)

Star Gathering 1 Youth Conference 2023

 July 30th- August 6th 2023

This week we will look at relationships, self-acceptance, acceptance of others, and ways to show our love. We will discuss the love languages – words of affirmation, acts of service, gifts, quality time, and physical touch. How do we show our love language to others? How do we receive love from others? How do we express our love if we disagree? We will explore all of this – from peers, to siblings, to parents, to romantic love, to God, to the world at large. Come join us and share your views, learn something new, and enjoy the beautiful and emotionally accepting Beloved Star Island community.

The Youth Conference welcomes everyone entering 9th grade through newly graduated high school seniors for fun, relaxation, bonfires, lime rickeys, games, softball, swimming, and life-long friends!

This week we will look at relationships, self-acceptance, acceptance of others, and ways to show our love. We will discuss the love languages – words of affirmation, acts of service, gifts, quality time, and physical touch. How do we show our love language to others? How do we receive love from others? How do we express our love if we disagree?

     Past themes have included:

  • Feeding Body, Mind, and Spirit (2022)
  • Tell me a Story! (2021)
  • Bodies Are Beautiful (2019)
  • Live Green, Love Green: Ecology, Faith & Justice (2018)

 

Star Gathering 2 Family Conference

August 6th- 13th 2023

Joy on the Rocks:

Resilience, Resistance and Beauty on Star Island and In Our Lives

Let the energy of community present echo and grow into the amplified Joy of being, and being HERE.

With rituals of awakening each morning, calling us to be present to the ways in which the spirituality of Creation moves within us and within the world we build together, you will be invited to connect to yourself and your community and witness the awe of beauty between us. And in teaching of practices of rituals, presence and care, Rev. Darrell and Rev. Dr. Chris will help tend to our souls: in our bodies, in our spirits, and in our beloved Beings. Together, we will create the kind of Community in resilience that cares for each of our wondrous, imperfect, salty Spirits.

Programming for Children and for Youth/Teens

We have programming for kids 0-8th grade from 9-noon each day. Depending on the age of the group, they have unique traditions. For example, our 3-5 grade group usually ends the week with a pirate scavenger hunt!

The 2023 Minister and Speaker of the Week

Speaker of the Week: Rev. Darrell L. Goodwin

Minister of the Week:  Rev. Chris Davies

        Past SGII themes have included:

  • Nourishing a Community: Exploring Pathways to Racial Equity (2022)
  • Storytelling (2021)
  • The Body: A Vehicle of Justice, Advocacy & Peace (2019)

  • Live Green, Love Green: Ecology, Faith & Justice (2018)

Star Gathering Family Weekend Conference

September 1st-4th 2023

 

Finding Your Authentic Voice

 Our voice is a barometer of truth, an audible expression of who we are. When we deepen our relationship with our voice, we deepen our relationship with ourselves. As we explore the three spheres of the voice – public, private, and inner voice, we discover our soul voice at the core. Reclaiming the wildness of our soul voice frees our personal power for authentic self-expression.

Workshops during Star Gathering Family Weekend will explore the voice in experiential ways, including writing, drawing, speaking, toning, and singing.

The 2023 Minister and Speaker of the Week

Speaker of the Week: Peggo Horstmann Hodes

Minister of the Week: Rev. Deborah Roof

 

Past themes have included:

  • Feed Your Body, Nourish Your Soul (2022)
  • The Spiritual Connection: Body, Mind & Spirit (2021)
  • Live Green, Love Green: Ecology, Faith & Justice (2019)
About the Island

A Typical Day On Star

 

What is a typical day like on Star Island?

7:00 AM Polar Bear Dip 
7:30 AM Wake Up 
8:00 AM Breakfast 
9:00 AM Children’s Program 
9:15 AM Chapel Service 
10:30 AM Adult Program 
12:30 PM Lunch 
1:30 PM Naptime for Tots 
2:00 PM Crafts, Art, Tennis, Reading, Rocking 
3:30 PM Bell Choir, Softball, Tea
5:30 PM Adult Fellowship Hour 
6:30 PM Dinner 
7:30 PM Sunset 
8:00 PM Talent Show, Pel Show, Auction 
9:15 PM Adult Candlelight Chapel 
10:00 PM Youth Chapel 
11:00 PM Quiet Time

About the Island, Information

Sustainability on Star

The Green Gosport Initiative

Drawing on a long tradition of creative resource use and conservation at the Isles of Shoals, the Green Gosport Initiative is Star Island’s sustainability program. Named for the original fishing village on the island, this is a reference to the endurance, resilience, and creative spirit of the island communities that have called Star Island home.

As an island with limited resources, Star has long understood how to live within its means. This need for self-reliance has shaped the character of the island’s communities over time and fostered on Star a creative, can-do spirit. Rather than accept paucity at face-value, Shoalers have risen to the challenge, building dynamic and enduring communities over several eras.