It was cold outside, but inside, it was HOT!  The Greater Hartford Church of Christ was packed from loft to basement with over 300 disciples and friends from many New England churches coming together in appreciation of a diverse array of music styles all with one theme: praise and worship of our God.  Mostly singles, but some music-loving families, these sisters and brothers were ready to encourage one another and have a great time.

The desire to praise God through music in a more passionate and deep, vertically minded way has been on the hearts of the disciples in the Hartford church music ministry for some time.  This event was designed to pull together Christians to spend an extended amount of time in fellowship and song. The Hartford Church of Christ band was the foundation act for the event, kicking it off with a very upbeat version of the popular song, "We Worship You."  The band has worked long and hard to bring new life to songs that many of our congregations have been singing for over twenty years.

A singles' mixer was held prior to the event, so by the time everyone came upstairs to start praising God, their hearts were soft and ready to give back.  But, in general, it would be hard to describe the mood of the room because each person who attended responded in such a personal way. 

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12th - 15th of February there was European Conference held in Tallinn, Estonia. It was an awesome unifying time for disciples from all over the Europe.
It started with Leadership Conference on Thursday evening and Friday morning and continued with spiritual feast for the rest of the weekend. Mature leaders from Europe and United States were preaching and teaching classes about Church building, unity, mission, parenting and caring for each other on both conferences. It was a blessing to learn from classes and living examples of well-known teachers and preachers, like Gordon & Theresa Ferguson, Wyndham Shaw, Reese & Mary Kay Neyland, Valdur & Irene Koha, Andy & Tammy Fleming, Shawn & Elena Wooten, Tomm Wilson, Chris Reed, Thierry Fender, Ronny Yttrehus, Alexey Donskoy, Sergei Kononenko, Taras Medvedev, Peti Szabad, Sebastian Maass and Kaido Leesmann.
There was a special women’s program during the conference, also an encouraging evening with heart to heart fellowship, food and dancing for over 100 singles and special event for teens.
The possibility for 100 disciples to live by disciples’ places was also very bonding: to eat and pray together and to have kitchen-table talks for long hours!
It was a time, full of solid spiritual food and great fellowship. 39 Churches from 26 countries were represented and over 550 people attended on Sunday service!

We can say in full confidence that the common time in Tallinn was building the unity between Churches in Europe as well as between disciples and has strengthened the walls of Europe!
Nehemiah 4:2b "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?"
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6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. 8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. 9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
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13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."
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 21 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, "Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day." 23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.“
The fight for unity is not over. The building of our Churches is not over. So let’s be on guard of Devil’s schemes and let’s keep building all together!
The next all-European Conference will take place in 2011 in Budapest.
We felt really blessed and honored to host this conference. With Love,
Tallinn Church of Christ             www.krist.ee , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sAOanefiHc

Plans continue to be made for the exciting New England Christian Conference (NECC) set for August 28-30, 2009.  With the hand off in leadership this year, from New Hampshire’s Mike Fix to Mark Buchholz from Boston – new director of the conference, a team has been formed to pray, invite and schedule one of the pinnacle events of each year in our area.

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On a snowy Tuesday in February, over sixty staff disciples from New England and beyond gathered for inspiration, information and the consummation of food.  Though most arrived at the Crowne Plaza Hotel without much challenge, the trips back home were snarled in slow-moving traffic through the 3-4 inches of snow that fell.  But those efforts were more than worth it - as we got great fellowship, new ideas and a renewed sense of going after it together. (Click here to go to a slideshow of the event)

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