Congregational Church of the Valley UCC shared the love of Jesus by donating 250 lbs of food to Vista del Camino Community Center for the needy families who line up each day!
From The Church of the Palms (and so many of our churches): We will not make decisions based on economics. We will make our decisions based on love. Because we love you, we will remain on a healthy hiatus from our in-person meetings and worship throughout the month of May. Be safe and know that we love you!
Desert Garden is hosting a project called “plarning,” which allows people to stay in the protection of their own homes but still be involved in care of the homeless population. “Plarning is making useful objects out of yarn made from plastic bags,” Desert Garden Church business manager Annette Strangman stated in an email. “Utilizing plarning, people can make soft, water-proof mats for the homeless. The project offers a number of ways to be involved: collect and save used plastic bags; flatten smooth and cut bags into strips; loop strips together to form plarn; and knit or crochet the plarn into mats.”
Desert Palm and Scottsdale UCC, both members of a loose network of churches in the East Valley that assist refugees, are collecting groceries and food gift cards for a small Hispanic congregation (also in the Network) where many members are out of work. (If anyone else wants to help, contact Holly Herman)
Oro Valley UCC suggests: If you are cleaning out closets, drawers, or the garage, think about future mission projects such as Soles 4 Souls and Pennies for Heaven. Please save the loose change you may find for our “Pennies for Heaven” project, and save your unwanted shoes for the "Soles 4 Souls” project.
In that same vein, First Congregational in Albuquerque says Save it for the Garage Sale! It will happen some day!
(Note from Holly- are people REALLY deep cleaning?!?)
Church of the Good Shepherd in Albuquerque is embarking on a new project to help COGS Members and Associate Members who own local businesses, or who have services for hire connect with the community. The Directory will be showcased on their website and will be searchable by Category i.e. types of business or services offered.
Casas Adobes teams continue to lend a hand with providing food for families at Keeling Elementary School. The once-a-month food pantry they operate in conjunction with the Community Food Bank has been converted into a pre-bagged distribution. The team, led by Dennis Thomas and Wendy Gilman, prepares bags of groceries for 100 families. The “backpack” team, led by Judy Keagy, continues to pack, now once a month, a weekend nutrition supplement for 100 kids. School cafeteria workers distribute the bags as parents come in to pick up that day’s breakfast and lunch for their children.
Congratulations to Deborah Hill who was unanimously approved for Ordained Ministerial Standing in the UCC! Deborah is a member of First Congregational UCC in Albuquerque.
From Taos UCC- for those of you in New Mexico;
ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION FOR JUNE PRIMARY ELECTION 2020
Voting by absentee ballot this year can help keep voters and poll workers safe. Here’s a link to the application. Please share this link with your friends and family. Help keep New Mexicans safe.
This year, Beatitudes will recognize that source of nurture and support -mothers- by planning a special photo tribute during their May 10th online worship service. Folks are invited to submit a photo of their mother figure and themselves that capture a memorable "moment" and then to choose one word to describe their mother figure.
Rev. Bethany Meier has arrived at First Christian Church in Las Cruces as their new settled Pastor! Welcome! And thank you to Rev. Donna Cavadon, who has concluded her Interim ministry there.
Final thoughts-
From Jacquelyn Helin, musician at United Church of Santa Fe:
“When I was a child, my favorite part of our worship services was certainly the musical part—the choir, the organ, the congregational singing; music in service to the liturgy, our shared worship experience. After a lifetime spent making and studying music, I now feel that ALL great music is sacred, not just that which has a liturgical message. Great music has the capacity to reach down and speak to our souls, sometimes to voice emotions we didn’t even know we had. Philip Yancey, in First Things, writes that “the father of cellist Yo-Yo Ma spent World War II in Paris, where he lived alone in a garret throughout the German occupation. In order to restore sanity to his world, he would memorize violin pieces by Bach during the day and then at night, during blackout, he would play them alone in the dark. The sounds made by the reverberating strings held out the promise of order and hope and beauty. Later his son, Yo-Yo, took up the father’s advice to play a Bach suite from memory every night before going to bed. Yo-Yo Ma says, 'This isn’t practicing, it's contemplating. You’re alone with your soul.’”