Marshall Shore, the Arizona Hip Historian, is the special guest speaker for the Homecoming Dinner at Shepherd of the Hills on Oct 12th. Marshall steeps himself in the history of Arizona and Phoenix in particularly what others might overlook: the cultural anomalies, the fads, the dreamers, the artists and the eccentrics that provide a unique window into the past. He will delight with highlights spanning the 6 decades Shepherd of the Hills has been a viable part of such history!
Reverend Ken Buckwald, former associate minister of Church of the Beatitudes and president emeritus and CEO of The Beatitudes Campus of Care, passed away peacefully on Sunday, September 22, 2019. Rev. Buckwald joined Church of the Beatitudes in 1967 as associate minister serving as parish pastor for seven years. In 1974, he became president and CEO of The Beatitudes Campus serving for 25 years before retiring in 1999. He served both communities faithfully for many years, remaining active throughout retirement along with his wife, Norma who continues to serve. A memorial service for Rev. Buckwald will be held Sunday, October 13, 2019, at 12 noon at the Beatitudes Campus in the Life Center.
The 50th Anniversary celebration at Church of the Palms will kick off with the Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. That’s a free carnival-like event with food and prizes for the community and a dunk-the-pastors dunk tank.
United Church of Sun City is collecting new or gently used blankets for the Salvation Army to distribute to needy folks in Sun City.
You may not know it, but there is a fitness class at First Congregational of Albuquerque every Monday and Wednesday at 6 PM in the church basement! The class is open to anyone with moderate to extensive exercise experience. It is not for brand-new exercisers, nor is it limited to hard-core athletes. Enjoy (?!?) a total-body, intense workout with great music, fun company, and professional instruction.
The great Latin American band called Che Apalache, is coming to Arizona to spend time with the Green Valley/Sahuarita Samaritans and will be performing a free concert at the Good Shepherd on Sunday, Oct 6th at 5 pm. They are doing some very interesting music and activism work---and they just made it into the 25 Best Things We Saw list by Rolling Stone! They are selling out concerts all over the country and they want to play this concert for free for the Samaritans and guests.
Our Whole Lives classes at Shadow Rock UCC for Jr/Sr High are in full swing. This values-based human sexuality curriculum empowers students to make informed decisions about their bodies and their relationships. Southwest Conference Minister, Rev. Dr. Bill Lyons, wrote an opinion piece for the Arizona Daily Star that mentions O.W.L. that you can read here. We're glad the conversation is continuing about sexuality education in Arizona.
Thea Crockett, a math teacher at North High School and adviser to the Math Club is beginning a coding project (programming) project with students. They are in need of “no longer in use” laptops. Chris Wickersham from First Church Phoenix has agreed to wipe off all personal information from all donated laptops. Do you have a “no longer used laptop” that you would donate to the project? Please bring them to the church and we will have them “cleaned” and given to Thea’s project.
Faith and Advocacy Program-Friday, October 11 at 10:00am. Desert Palm youth are having four special days this school year in which they will advocate on topics they care about and share how their faith informs their views. The City of Tempe has prepared an incredible day for the first session of the program. Multiple leaders from the city government are going to share about their work and engage on topics the youth are passionate about.
The annual chili cook-off to benefit the Guatemala homebuilding mission will be on October 11th from 4 to 6 PM at Church of the Red Rocks. WHO will be the winner of this year’s covetedGolden Spoon Award!
First Congregational of Prescott had a large show of support for holding a class on Judaism for non-Jews! So, on October 3rd at 11:00 a.m. in Perkins Hall, there will be a time to discover and understand the discipline and traditions of Judaism.
It's official! Rev. Tyler Connoley, former beloved member and pastor in the SWC, has been elected as the Conference Minister in the Central Pacific Conference of the United Church of Christ! "I look forward to growing together with these wonderful folk from southern Idaho and Oregon." Tyler, congratulations! Well deserved. They will love you as we have.