2026 Keystone Budget Meeting – November 22, 2025
The four Pennsylvania conferences, soon to be known as the Keystone Conference, will meet online on November 22, 2025, to approve the 2026 budget and committee appointments. This brief meeting is necessary to ensure that the Keystone Conference is fully prepared to begin its work on January 1, 2026.
To move forward, we must make a quorum of 150 delegates. Delegate representation is as follows:
- Churches with up to 100 members: 2 lay delegates
- Churches with 101–300 members: 3 lay delegates
- Churches with 301–500 members: 4 lay delegates
- Churches with over 500 members: 5 lay delegates
- All authorized clergy will also have a vote.
Registration to open soon.
Documents which will be voted upon will be posted here no later than October 22nd.
Keystone Budget
This Budget draft was approved by the Keystone Transition Board at their first meeting on August 1, 2025, for the consideration of Conference members in advance of the 2026 Keystone Conference Budget Adoption Meeting Saturday, November 22, 2025.
Members of the Keystone Budget & Finance team are offering four Town Hall opportunities, via zoom, to ask questions on the
budget, prior to November 22nd.
These sessions are a great opportunity to ask questions, gain clarity, and better understand the budget ahead of our online meeting on
November 22, when we will vote on the budget’s approval.
There are four opportunities to participate:
Sept. 8 – Monday 1:30 – 2:30 pm
For free registration, click here.
Sept. 17 – Wednesday 10:00 – 11:00 am
For free registration, click here.
Sept. 22 – Monday 6:30 -7:30 pm
For free registration, click here.
Oct. 14 – Tuesday 6:30 – 7:30 pm
For free registration, click here.
Resources:
Update on Keystone work from the PSEC Moderator, as presented at the PSEC Spring Meeting on Saturday, May 31: PSEC Moderator Keystone Updates
Proposed Constitution & ByLaws for the Keystone Conference
Keystone Constit. & By-Laws Cover Letter
Constitution and Bylaws – Keystone Conference draft – 3-10-2025
Keystone Transition Timeline – updated 11-14-24
Town Halls for Continued Discussions- The Keystone Study Group will be hosting Town Halls between Sept. 14 and Oct. 24th to discuss the three following topics:
1. Timeline, staffing and finance – Documents for Townhall Meetings 1
2. Timeline and PA UCC Mission Focus – Documents for Townhall Meetings 2
3. Timeline and Associations – Document for Townhall Meetings 3
The following is the schedule and registration links for these Town Hall Discussions. Town Hall Schedule for Keystone Study Group
4 Bulletin Inserts:
Keystone Bulletin Insert – 1
Keystone Bulletin Insert – 2
Keystone Bulletin Insert – 3
Keystone Bulletin Insert – 4
Mission Focus: People of the Table
The Basis of the Union for the Keystone Conference of the United Church of Christ
Keystone Case Statement – That They May All Be One: An Invitation to Conference Unity
FAQs for Keystone (January 2024)
PowerPoint Slides from PSEC Town Hall Meetings April and May 2024
At the beginning of September 2023, this letter was mailed via USPS to all authorized ministers in PSEC and all consistory presidents. The text of the letter was also placed in the September 10 Communitas bulletin insert, with a notice in the previous week’s eNews email asking churches to include this special Communitas in their weekly bulletin.
Keystone Letter to Pastors-Consistory Pres. Sept. 2023
Summary from March 21, 2025 gathering
Summary from January 17, 2025 gathering
Summary from November 15, 2024 gathering
Summary from September 20, 2024 gathering
Summary from May 17, 2024 gathering
Summary from April 19 and April 24, 2024 gatherings
Summary from February 16, 2024 gathering
Summary from January 19, 2024 gathering
Summary from October 13 and November 17, 2023 gatherings
Summary from September 22, 2023 gathering
Summary from August 25, 2023 gathering
Summary from July 14, 2023 gathering
Summary from June 16, 2023 gathering
Summary from May 12, 2023 gathering
Summary from April 14, 2023 gathering
Summary from February 3, 2023 gathering
Summary from January 20, 2023 gathering
Summary from November 11, 2022 gathering
The History of our Beginning
In January 2022, the Conference Ministers of the four Pennsylvania Conferences gathered to discuss the urgency of issues confronting all settings of the UCC. We met with an eye toward confronting the divisions and hostilities of our world, and listening with a deep sense of our responsibility to answer Jesus’ prayer, ‘that they may all be one. We identified the spiritual hunger of our church people and pastors and the call to support and develop the local church. We dreamed about new ways to serve Jesus and our churches by drawing on the strength and giftedness of our clergy, congregations, leaders, and Conference staff.
We are not the church that we were when the denomination was formed in 1957 and our current contexts of ministry are different. The pandemic exacerbated the challenges we face. We acknowledge our responsibility to provide support and nourishment to the local church. We recognize our duty to find and develop the leadership needs of our congregations. We own the very real financial challenges that impact the future of our ministries.
Our four conferences share these challenges. Our response to them is strongest when we respond in partnership with each other. The “Keystone Study Group,” a group of representatives from all four PA Conferences, was created to explore the possibilities of responding as one.
The first Keystone Study meeting took place October 15, 2022. The Group engaged in community building, learned of some of the statistical results of a February 2022 clergy survey, formed a group covenant, and designed expectations and possible next steps. At the November 2022 meeting, the Study Group named hopes, dreams and blocking forces to the possibility of a merged Conference, created a plan of action for future meetings, and began thinking about the form and function of a new Conference. The Study Group will meet every other month through 2023 with an eye toward crafting discussion and information sharing opportunities around our Conferences as soon as practical.
The PSEC representatives of the Keystone Study Group are Mr. Charles Kuthuru (Moderator), Rev. Melissa Burkhart (Vice-Moderator), Ms. Caroline Bashore (Consistory Secretary), Rev. Robert Fogal (Consistory Treasurer) and staff members Revs. Bill Worley, Kevin McLemore and Cean James.
You are invited to connect with us by email, at Keystone.Conference.Project@gmail.com. You may also use the postal service and direct mailing the Keystone Working Group through your own area Conference Office.
