Church News & Events
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Pending review, we’ll publish it on the website and our weekly newsletter, In the Loop.
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Pending review, we’ll publish it on the website and our weekly newsletter, In the Loop.
St Mary’s Food Bank wastes none of the produce it collects. It goes first to food banks in AZ, extra goes to food banks in other states, if it is not edible for humans, it goes to livestock, and if not ok for livestock it goes to Compost. For years, Desert Garden UCC has spent 10 weeks or more gleaning for St. Mary’s with homes around Sun City West, Arizona. We are thankful to help reduce the amount of food insecurity and our neighbors in SCW are very thankful for the knowledge it isn’t being wasted.
Desert Garden UCC's 2025 Electronic Recycling Event just concluded and it was a successful four days of collecting broken and used electronic devices and cables of all types. We collected 10,064 pounds of electronics that will not end up in a landfill. This was the fourth year for the recycling and over the course of those four years we have collected 53,685 pounds of electronics.
We are grateful to AZ StRUT who has partnered with us in this program and receives all donated items. We want to express our appreciation to Rich and Sheryl Hoyt, Doug and Patty Nordahl, Tim Anderson and Tab Bomhard for being there on days of recycling to help unload donated items. A big thanks to John Houlette for making posters and flyers for the event. All of you made this the success that it was.
What’s happening at YOUR church? Tell us about it! Just write up an article and submit it to Wende by Thursday at noon to have it included in the following Monday’s Loop.
Holly Herman reads your church newsletters and other materials and compiles the highlights to keep us up-to-date on the amazing work happening at the Southwest Conference churches and beyond. (Thanks, Holly!)
Tag SWC and Wende on Facebook and Instagram to get our attention so we can share your posts! We’re @swcucc and Wende is @yeswende.
Attention SWC churches, moderators, and treasurers:
The deadline to submit your information for the UCC Yearbook has been extended to April 11th for those who have not yet completed their reporting. There are also important updates/changes to the process for reporting.
What’s happening at YOUR church? Tell us about it! Just write up an article and submit it to Wende by Thursday at noon to have it included in the following Monday’s Loop.
Holly Herman reads your church newsletters and other materials and compiles the highlights to keep us up-to-date on the amazing work happening at the Southwest Conference churches and beyond. (Thanks, Holly!)
Tag SWC and Wende on Facebook and Instagram to get our attention so we can share your posts! We’re @swcucc and Wende is @yeswende.
What’s happening at YOUR church? Tell us about it! Just write up an article and submit it to Wendeby Thursday at noon to have it included in the following Monday’s Loop.
Holly Herman reads your church newsletters and other materials and compiles the highlights to keep us up-to-date on the amazing work happening at the Southwest Conference churches and beyond. (Thanks, Holly!)
Tag SWC and Wende on Facebook and Instagram to get our attention so we can share your posts! We’re @swcucc and Wende is @yeswende.
Through the efforts of the church community, RE- volv, who assisted with project development, and Capital Energy who installed the solar panels, Desert Garden UCC in Sun City West has gone solar. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held after the Worship Service on February 23, to celebrate the installation of a 47 kW solar array. They are now fully solar and offsetting 100% of their energy use with a total of 114 solar panels. This solar system will save the church over $700K on energy bills over time that they will invest toward their mission to “Love, Care, Share and Serve”.
During his comments to the attendees, Pastor Bill said, “Our decision to go solar represents our commitment to preserving and protecting God’s beautiful creation through being good stewards of our environment and our community”.
In a story from Solar Power World, Sen. Lauren Kuby remarked “With its year-round abundance of sun, Arizona could be the solar capital of the country. This investment at Desert Garden United Church of Christ represents proactive movement toward a clean energy future. And they are not alone. Places of worship across the State are modeling how solar is good for our communities and our wallets.”
What’s happening at YOUR church? Tell us about it! Just write up an article and submit it to Wende by Thursday at noon to have it included in the following Monday’s Loop.
Holly Herman reads your church newsletters and other materials and compiles the highlights to keep us up-to-date on the amazing work happening at the Southwest Conference churches and beyond. (Thanks, Holly!)
Tag SWC and Wende on Facebook and Instagram to get our attention so we can share your posts! We’re @swcucc and Wende is @yeswende.
What’s happening at YOUR church? Tell us about it! Just write up an article and submit it to Wende by Thursday at noon to have it included in the following Monday’s Loop.
Holly Herman reads your church newsletters and other materials and compiles the highlights to keep us up-to-date on the amazing work happening at the Southwest Conference churches and beyond. (Thanks, Holly!)
Tag SWC and Wende on Facebook and Instagram to get our attention so we can share your posts! We’re @swcucc and Wende is @yeswende.