"Well done, good and faithful servant." Southwest Conference Minister, Rev. Dr. Bill Lyons, expressed his gratitude to United Church of Sun City Assistant Pastor Susan Aurich who will retire on December 31.
Members and guests of Oro Valley UCC were invited to pick up their Christmas Eve Worship Service package at a parking lot drive-through event or by contacting the office to arrange a pick-up. The package contains a candle to light during the Service, Communion elements-juice and 'bread', and Sheet music to sing along.
First Congregational UCC in Albuquerque is putting together a montage of dreams for the coming year that will be shown on January 3rd. Members are asked to submit a brief video with their thoughts. in addition, the Epiphany Project will take place that afternoon in the church parking lot. On Epiphany we celebrate the Magis’ arrival with gifts for the Christ child. members are invited to bring gifts of food for the hungry and for the birds. The Sunday School children are making bird-friendly ornaments for the outdoor live tree and others may also create and bring ornaments to feed our winged friends.
The Sahuarita Food Bank and Community Resource Center, a mission of The Good Shepherd UCC, provided more than one million pounds of food to a consistently increasing volume of clients because of the pandemic—in many weeks the number doubled over the same week from the previous year. 878 donors contributed directly to the operations (food, vehicles, rent, insurance, etc.). The food bank expresses heartfelt gratitude for financial gifts, as well as the 130 volunteers who helped tackle challenges and meet our goals.
On December 11, 2020, Humane Borders received the Alfonso García Robles Humanitarian Award from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), a large public research university in Mexico (350,000 students). Alfonso Garci Robles was a co-winner of the 1982 Novel Peace Prize for his authorship of the 1967 Treaty of Tlatelolco, which established a nuclear-free zone in Latin America. UNAM recognizes Humane Borders “because it has excelled in the realization of work in defense, advocacy, protection or guarantee of the human rights of migrants with vulnerability.”
Jill Pawlowski is a Member in Discernment (UCC speak for candidate for ordained ministry) and a member of Good Shepherd UCC in Sahuarita. She has a Masters in Divinity from the St. John’s School of Theology in Collegeville, Minnesota and has served as a Licensed Local Pastor in the United Methodist Church. Jill now feels a call to ordained ministry and senses that call to be in the United Church of Christ. Jill’s Local Church Discernment Committee (LCDC) at Good Shepherd feels it would benefit Jill to experience the ministry of the church in another UCC setting, invited Church of the Painted Hills to be that setting and they look forward to Jill being with them for the next several months.
Members are invited to visit the sanctuary at First Congregational UCC in Prescott on Christmas Eve from 5-8. This is not a service. It is a chance for folks to pray and reflect. There will be no singing or spoken prayers. Self serve Communion will be available. Music will be recorded seasonal hymns. Perhaps a guest musician will be there.
Readers: I will be taking a couple weeks off, but Jottings will return on January 11th. –Holly