Shepherd of the Hills has taken a big step as a congregation to helping asylum seekers at the border. Last week, they sent a $4,200 donation to Cruzando Fronteras, a shelter in Nogales. The efforts at Cruzando are made possible by an Ecumenical partnership with Southwest Conference of the United Church of Christ, Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, Grand Canyon Synod (ELCA) and their newest partner, The Anglican / Episcopal Diocese of Western Mexico. Cruzando provides shelter, safety, and food security to many families, and because of its precautions around the virus, it has been able to remain open during the pandemic without any outbreaks.
Desert Palm Youth continue to meet every week on Zoom and this week invite the whole congregation to a special Youth Talent Showcase. All the youth are preparing to share something meaningful and they want to include all the generations of the congregation for this special time together.
Each month, United Church of Santa Fe sends both a financial donation and face masks to Good Shepherd Church in Navajoland. This Ft. Defiance congregation is in the heart of the Diné /Navajo reservation.
First Congregational UCC in Flagstaff has had conversations with students and others at NAU interested in creating an official NAU organization that serves as a network of student leaders from activist organizations and as a community liaison/bridge/gateway to the rest of the Flagstaff community in terms of activism. Being an official NAU organization would provide them with a small budget and additional avenues for publicity. The group would like to remain connected to FCCF as they feel this will give them added support as a faith driven organization. They would like this organization to continue to be an inclusive space for people from all walks of life and leadership would be of a collaborative nature. This organization would also build power by fostering relationships with other community and NAU organizations. Melanie Hildebrandt, a Lecturer in Sociology, has agreed to be the Faculty Sponsor.
On November 1, Church of the Red Rocks will begin in-person worship services limited to 70 folks in the sanctuary with provisions for overflow seating the fellowship hall. Service will be live broadcast.
- Everyone in Masks, no shaking hands, no hugs.
-No coffee hour
-The pews will be empty of bibles and other printed material.
-Every other aisle will be blocked off to provide for social distancing.
-No choir or sung hymns.
Black Mountain UCC and First Church Phoenix started Courtyard Worship this week with similar safety measures as well as continued online worship.
Shadow Rock UCC offered a parking lot service yesterday via an FM radio transmission. Folks came to the church parking lot, brought their coffee, stayed in their cars and watched and listened to the Shadow Rock Spirit Radio Hour. Station frequency was announced upon arrival. The service was also streamed on Zoom.
The Church of the Painted Hills CROP WALK team is up to $1000 in pledges and still going! Do you want to pitch in? Here's the link.
https://www.crophungerwalk.org/tucsonaz/Team/View/135234/Church-of-the-Painted-Hills
Oro Valley UCC is collecting spare change for their mission project, ‘Pennies for Heaven,’ from now until November 1. This mission project collection will be used to lay wreaths on veteran’s graves at the local Veteran’s cemetery in Marana as part of the ‘Wreath’s Across America’ program.
United Church of Sun City will hold a “drive through” Pet Blessing this Saturday from 10:00-11:00am. All furry friends can receive a blessing from the Pastors. Folks are asked to bring a donation of pet food, a pet toy, or pet bedding that will be donated to the Humane Society of Arizona.
Rincon is encouraging everyone in the congregation to vote with at least one member offering to drive people to an early voting site, to the polls on Election Day, or to deliver their ballot to a drop center.
And speaking of voting, The Good Shepherd in Sahuarita is a one-stop spot for (Pima County) voting needs:
-Curbside ballot drop off.
-Early voting site
-EMERGENCY VOTING site on October 31 and November 2
-Polling site on Election Day
Shadow Rock UCC is also an early voting site, ballot drop off location, and Election Day voting site.
Neighborhood Belonging Libraries: Building bridges to belonging, one book at a time is a project of Scottsdale Congregational UCC’s Missions Team. They have three more little libraries that are built and ready to get out into the community and placed with a Library Steward. Neighborhood Belonging Libraries is a grassroots effort to share children's literature, featuring characters from diverse backgrounds, through little free libraries. The libraries come with a small collection of diverse children’s literature, kindly donated by Kiwanis Scottsdale McCormick. The request is that stewards commit to keeping the diversity-themed libraries stocked and available to the children in their neighborhoods for five years. Stewards are responsible for installation and upkeep of their library.
This year, with everyone's health and safety in mind, there will be no traditional Trick-or-Treating at the Congregational Church of the Valley campus. But, they are still sharing Halloween Happiness by filling Family Goodie Bags for families and kids at UMOM. Each bag will contain candy, a small craft and a Halloween or Fall decoration.
UCC at ASU, presents its second podcast (S1E2) - Voting Part 1: Voting as Civil Disobedience and Defiance. Click on the link to listen: https://ucc-asu.pinecast.co/episode/a2823582cd79481f/voting-part-1-voting-as-civil-disobedience-and-defiance