New Advent traditions...
A longstanding tradition of Christmas Eve worship at Church of the Painted Hills is sharing the light from the Christ Candle in the center of the Advent Wreath as we sing Silent Night. As much as everyone would like to continue that tradition this year, concern for everyone’s health and safety make it seem unlikely to occur. So they got creative. Rather than sharing the light in the Sanctuary, the light can be brought into everyone's home and folks can record greetings to each other as they hold the light. The recordings will be compiled into a video that will be played during the virtual service.
The Christmas Card Project partners US churches with churches in Japan. This project was started in 2013 in response to the terrible devastation that our partners experienced after the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster of 2011. This year there are 44 US churches and one association writing to 80 churches and Two relief centers in Japan. Desert Palm is the only AZ UCC church participating, marking the eighth year of joint efforts to lift in prayer, all of the churches in the Northeastern Conference of the Kyodan – (another name for the interdenominational United Church of Christ in Japan).
Many use the Advent wreath, Christmas tree, crèche, or manger scene, in their homes to celebrate the Christmas season. This year, when folks are physically apart from one another, The Good Shepherd UCC invites people to share pictures of their Advent and Christmas symbols by taking a picture with their phone and emailing it in. The pictures will be compiled into a video Christmas card that will be placed on the church's web page and Facebook page.
For the Pastor’s Study in December at Casas Adobes, Pastor John presents Scriptural Wisdom in 4 Christmas Classic. He will look at four Christmas favorites to find the origins of their holiday messages. Miracle on 34th Street, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Carol
On December 17 Desert Palm will hold a socially distanced holiday tea party. Everyone is encouraged to wear a holiday sweater/shirt or holiday colors. This might be the only chance to show off those holiday earrings this year!! Enjoy a festive beverage. Perhaps pick a holiday tea to sip from a special teacup. Folks are asked to prepare something meaningful to show or tell about their holiday traditions- perhaps share a special ornament from childhood or a favorite Christmas Eve memory.
From 4:00 to 6:00pm on Christmas Eve in the parking lot at The Good Shepherd UCC in Sahuarita, there will be a Drive Through Nativity Event that will include a live Nativity, music and the story of Jesus birth will come alive in the desert.
In other news....
Seventy-six members of Rincon voted to support the motion sponsored by Church Council that space be leased to Interfaith Community Services (ICS) to enable them to provide employment, housing and food assistance to those in need. The agreement between ICS and Rincon extends the services they provide into the eastern part of Tucson at a rental cost to them of $1 per month. And Rincon will have the opportunity to help their neighbors by working with ICS in many ways in the coming months and years. Congratulations, Rincon, for your vision and enthusiasm!
W. Mark Clark, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pima Council on Aging, and member of Rincon, is the recipient of the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from the State Chapter of the National Association of Social Work. In his 40 years of executive experience Mark has addressed housing and behavioral health issues. A long time Arizona resident, he has been active in community and professional organizations- too many to list. From 1999 to 2011 Mark served as Associate General Minister at our UCC national offices in Cleveland.
Pastor Jane Jones (previously Jane Cheek) has started as the Bridge Pastor at First Congregational UCC in a Flagstaff. Her focus will be on worship leadership and congregational relationships and support.
The Service Project Craft Group at Church of the Palms has recently delivered 125 hats and 140 soap holders filled with bars of soap to HART for their holiday giving. They also provided 30 sewn and crocheted lap robes, throws, and afghans for homebound and care center residents. Before Christmas, they will deliver around 100 hats and scarves for Justa Center, which serves homeless people age 55+.
A member of Casas Adobes has foreseen the pervasive threat of homelessness in the community as a result of this pandemic. The moratorium on evictions runs out on December 31st at the same time the funding from the City of Tucson to prevent homelessness runs out. This member made an extraordinary gift to the church, the bulk of which the donor has earmarked for the program at Our Family Services (OFS) to prevent families from becoming homeless. Ministry of Mission and Outreach (MMO) invites others to join in this effort. So far they have raised over $75,000!
Rev. James Pennington of First Church Phoenix has accepted the position of Executive Director of Back Bay Mission, a Mission of the national UCC, in Biloxi, Mississippi. Congratulation, James! You will be missed terribly here in the SWC.
In case you missed it.... The Southwest Conference has made the video available from their "Decolonize Thanksgiving" webinar. You can find it here.
UCC@ASU student Hailey Lyons is producing an incredible podcast that we are delighted to share with students at ASU, our Desert Palm church family, and all the UCC congregations in the SWC. Nearly all our UCC@ASU students are participating in interviews with Andrew in our past and upcoming episodes. We are delighted to offer this as a way to share about our ministry but also to have an intergenerational connection.
Click on the link to listen
S1E5 - Coming Out and Faith (pinecast.co)
S1E6 - What We're Offering (pinecast.co)
Catholic Services of Southern Arizona brings your attention to two projects.
The Artisans Beyond Borders project, which works with asylum-seekers who have been stranded in Nogales, has a new etsy shop where they sell the beautiful embroidery work of their group. Proceeds go to the women who created the pieces. You can visit the shop here.
Don’t forget to shop at The Sidewalk School Etsy Shop! Everything you see here was made by an Asylum Seeker that lives inside the Matamoros Encampment (the woods) and from each sell the Artist gets the majority of the money.