For this 50th Earth Day, Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) had "Love Made Visible” as the theme for their Faith Climate Action Week (April 17-23). IPL is encouraging faith communities to plant trees as a way to make love for God’s Earth visible. The United Church of Christ (UCC) is partnering with IPL to expand the number of trees planted, with a goal of planting 50,000 trees worldwide. And Rincon UCC will be planting trees as part of their re-wilding project this year. Here’s the UCC link if you’d like to donate to help plant a tree in a U.S. national park or elsewhere in the world—including in Zambia, where Rincon's own Kathe Padilla lived for many years starting and running an orphanage that’s still going strong under the local leadership she nurtured.

On April 3, Black Mountain UCC applied for a CARES Act SBA loan and were approved a few days later! This is a loan (1% rate; interest only payments until balloon payment due in 2 years), but the church will get that portion of the loan that is used to pay compensation, utilities, and interest forgiven. Congratulations!

On Wednesday, April 15th, Il Vicino Nob Hill delivered a variety of 25 pizzas and 4 medium trays of salad to the University of New Mexico Hospital on FIrst Congregational Church's behalf. The church asked to feed those Units who had not yet/recently been supported by a community in Albuquerque. The Units chosen by UNMH were: Cardiology, General Surgery, South Neurology, and Oncology.

Immediately following worship yesterday, there was a special ceremony to recognize Rev. Dr. Donna Cavedon’s 2 years of service to First Christian Church of Las Cruces as their intentional interim minister. Donna will be leaving on April 30, and FCC is most grateful for her presence among them.

Masks

-Members of Church of the Good Shepherd in Albuquerque have made and given out over 80 washable masks to members and others. The church has also distributed $1200 in groceries along with care boxes of paper and cleaning products.

-Thank you Anne Walker from Oro Valley UCC. Anne has been busy making cloth face masks to wear when folks go out. She placed them at the entrance to the OVUCC Prayer Garden for anyone to take.

-Shepherd of the Hills will be making face masks to protect the 600 residents at the Beatitudes Campus.

Pastor Nathan Watts from First Congregational Church in Flagstaff alerted several clergy to the high demand for the funds they’ve raised for immigrant families during all of this. The highest demand is food and other essentials. They were hoping to provide families with $500 each, but the applications came flooding in so they’re hoping to raise some more funds for Arizona families in desperate need. Several AZ UCC pastors are committed to spreading the word on this life-giving fund, so here is another way to be the church and do something truly valuable for our neighbors during this time. That link is HERE.

The planned celebration of United Church of Santa Fe's 40th Anniversary this May has been postponed for an indefinite time. This is a great disappointment to its members and community. We hope the celebration will be rescheduled soon.

As “shelter in place” directives developed in mid-March, United Church also increased their commitment to Santa Fe’s Shelters for persons who are homeless. They have contracted with “Felipe’s Tacos” to provide twice-weekly lunches for 100+ Interfaith Shelter guests. We are also continuing their monthly dinners for St. Elizabeth and Casa Familia (30+ guests for each).

First Congregational Church in Albuquerque requested pictures and reflections about trees in preparation for their Earth Day service yesterday focusing on trees. Scottsdale UCC requested pictures of nature to include in their service.

Google "Conversations with John United Church of Christ" and listen especially to the interviews with Rev Karen Thompson and with our own SWC Rev Dr Tina Campbell. Both deal with the Covid crisis in very personal ways.

While self-isolating—a checklist.

Today I will:

Get a Shower!
Eat Well! … Did you have fresh veggies and fruit, protein, and fiber today? Have you limited your sugar and sodium intake?
Drink Well! … Did you have 8 tall glasses of water today…. Not soda, not tea, not juice…WATER!!!!
Move! … walk, bike, run in place, work in your garden, stretch
Rest Well! …Did you get enough sleep last night? If not, take a nap to refresh yourself!
Laugh out loud!!
Be mindful of something usually in the background: birds, your thoughts, smells, the sky…
Consider these stress reduction ideas:

Take three slow breaths
A quiet prayer
A relaxing bath
Mindful walking
Your ideas: ______________________

Reach out to a friend via call, text, or video conferencing.
Reach out for help if you urgently need someone to listen with you and help you through the hard times:

Scottsdale UCC sends out a poem every day for reflection. Here's one:

When this is over, may we never again take for granted

A handshake with a stranger

Full shelves at the store

Conversations with neighbors

A crowded theater

Friday night out

The taste of communion

A routine checkup

The school rush each morning

Coffee with a friend

The stadium roaring

Each deep breath

A boring Tuesday

Life itself.

When this ends

may we find

that we have become

more like the people

we wanted to be

we were called to be

we hoped to be

and may we stay

that way — better

for each other

because of the worst.

--Laura Kelly Fanucci is a writer and director of the Communities of Calling Initiative at the Collegeville Institute at St. John's University.