The Tucson UCC churches and the Southwest Conference are coordinating a relief response for those affected by the Bighorn Fire in the Catalina foothills. There are many resources available including storage space at Church of the Painted Hills, UCCers with available guest rooms, and animal care facilities for anyone who might have large animals such as a horse.
Desert Garden, in anticipation of future needs, will be purchasing the equipment needed for live-streaming its services. A proposed idea turned into a reality with donations collected over a few short weeks!
In response to recent national events:
First Christian Church in Las Cruces will start a reading group to educate themselves. The first book they will read and then discuss together is So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Ulou.
Scottsdale UCC also holds a weekly Anti-Racism Book Study Group.
Rincon is starting a discussion group based on the book “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” by Robin DiAngelo , a white anti-racist educator.
First Congregational UCC in Albuquerque will begin a new curriculum for Sunday School using This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work, by Tiffany Jewell.
This is the link to the recording of the CNN/Sesame Street town hall about racism. Joanna from Church of the Good Shepherd in Albuquerque recommended it as appropriate through the preteen years.
Scottsdale UCC has an unusual monthly mission project called "Jesus Beyond." One member a month is selected to receive $100 to use in spreading the love of Christ beyond the church walls. Katie M. describes her Jesus Beyond experience:
"...Our neighbor's family is comprised of several children, their disabled mother and two or three of her elderly uncles...I used the money to buy as many groceries as I could at Costco and the family was so happy....Of course I told them the groceries were purchased through a church donation but that didn't stop them from showering me with gratitude. I am pretty sure the whole experience was more rewarding for me than it was for them. I have felt so inadequate, not knowing how to be effective in helping people of color right now, not knowing what I can do to have an impact. The Jesus Beyond fund gave me a very tangible way to help and drew me closer to my neighbors."
Church of the Red Rocks received the call this week that HUD had released the funds for Hope House, $336,000! The next step will be to purchase the property from the City. They had been kind enough to purchase the property and hold onto it until the HUD funds arrived. Once the deed transfer is complete, Requests for Proposal will be sent to three bidders for the first factory-built home.
"Shadow Rock Shares" is a way to share those little details of our lives that make a church a family. They are looking for photos, videos, or written submissions answering the question "what have you been up to?" Pastor Ken and Peg have been re-watching Star Trek. Karen brewed homemade kombucha with her son. Heidi is conquering some dastardly difficult jigsaw puzzles. Abeth and her girls have been making cards.... Responses will be shared on Sunday mornings.
Miss the music? First Church Phoenix is holding a Virtual Hymn Sing at 3pm on June 28th via Zoom! RSVP to: associate pastor@phoenixucc.org.
Desert Palm, First Church Phoenix, and Scottsdale UCC all currently have special drives going on to support the Navajo Nation with food and supplies.
Church of the Beatitudes is supporting the Beatitudes Campus by asking its members to pick up and display free yard signs. The purpose is to change the narrative that senior living centers are not "warehouses", but vibrant communities.
And finally:
Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.
We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies beyond us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.
Arundhati Roy, From Azadi: Freedom, Facism, Fiction