Last week, Scottsdale UCC members did a drive-by presentation of bibles to all their kids from infants to 16-year olds. The original idea of a parade turned out to be impractical due to the high heat and mileage involved. But the drive-by was fun and a joy to see people in person for the first time in 6-ish months and to meet the youngest (4 months old) for the very first time!
As the weather cools in Albuquerque and until they can work out a viable indoor solution, Church of the Good Shepherd decided to host some outdoor get-togethers! The first: a Wednesday night prayer service! Folks bring a lawn chair to sit in and watch the sunset together!
Rincon members took on a challenge during August of finding ways to stay away as much as possible from using plastics. It admittedly is a challenging adventure—plastics are literally everywhere. The positive side to that endless plastic presence is that there are any number of avenues to eliminate plastic use. Our personal and household reduction of plastic is one important part of cleaning out plastics in our world. Another important way is for corporations to drastically reduce their use of plastics and for scientists to develop non-plastic materials instead. And we also have a part to play in this wider picture, by advocating with corporations and governments.
In mid-2019, as Church of the Palms members planned for hosting the homeless at the church as part of the NW Valley I-HELP program, they realized that personal hygiene was a big need of the guests. Two things came together at this time that were more than just coincidence: a vision on the part of those ministering to the homeless to provide a shower trailer and a bequest given to the church designated for social ministries. In addition to servicing I-HELP host churches without showers, they plan to contract with communities in the NW Valley to provide showers to the homeless.
Several members of Casas Adobes UCC are volunteering to help increase voter turnout in a nearby low income neighborhood this November. Pima County Interfaith (PCI) is organizing this effort in one small precinct in the Amphitheater School District, targeting already registered voters who don't regularly vote.
Katherine Williams from Church of the Good Shepherd in Albuquerque, taught participants at a Zoom retreat day how to make Soul Collage Cards. They are both an act of artistic creativity and a meditative listening to one's inner voice/eye for images that inspire and speak at a deeper level? People find an image that calls to them and match it with others. Then let it set. After a day or two (and sometimes adding or subtracting) the card feels finished and the images are glued onto a 5x8 card. The surprise in this is that the card then takes on a life of its own. There are a series of questions that one can ask the card ( I am one who….etc) and ultimately a name for the card feels right. Most of the time, the name and the information is not exactly what one thought it would be as they created the card, but it is right on. Katherine says she now has a deck of these and daily draws a couple to sit with as teaching, inspiration or just the pleasure that the images give her
Members of First Congregational UCC in Albuquerque are being asked to contribute an essay, devotion, or poem for an Advent Meditation Book. Lynne Hinton will write and collect meditations about "those who dream." Topics include: (1) Write about the dream you have for our country. (2) We read of dream stories in the Bible that included messages from God and that served as guidance for our faith leaders. Write about a dream that gave you guidance or clarity. (3) Write about a visionary or dreamer whom you admire. (4) Write about someone who has supported one of your dreams.
How To Live When Things Fall Apart will be the topic of the Rev. Anthony Robinson in a webinar lecture on October 10. The Rev. Robinson will speak from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., take a short break to compile questions from viewers, and then host a Q and A session until noon. This is the inaugural lecture in the Rev. Dr. Samuel Sawitski Lecture Series established by Desert Garden UCC in recognition of his passion for teaching. Pastor Sam served the church for a decade prior to his death in July 2019. To register for this free webinar, go to their website -- www.desertgardenchurch.org.
An exciting event sponsored by ASU's Center for Religion and Conflict: Thursday, September 10th at 10 am (zoom)
Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times, a Conversation with Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (September 10th at 10 am via zoom). For more information and to register for this free event click on this link.
From Andrew Ponder Williams, SWC Campus Minister for ASU: Thanks to the efforts of many we have rolled out a full online campus ministry for this Fall. We already has six active students involved in our ministry and the majority of them are interested in offering leadership as we grow. We are also delighted to have students from both the Tempe and West Valley campuses involved. Special thanks to Hailey Lyons for working me on both creating a podcast for our ministry (stay tuned!) and on filling out all the paperwork for us to have official status with the campus organizations office at the Tempe campus. Special thanks to Cindy Jewett and Jim Ewing for contacting every church in our conference with our invitation to their ASU affiliated students-one of our newest members is the result of this incredible outreach!
We are meeting entirely on Zoom for this Fall. Here is what we are offering. All ASU students (graduate and undergraduate) are welcome.
-Weekly Small Group-Every Thursday at 6:30pm
-Monthly Worship-This month on Friday, September 25 at 6:30pm
-Open One-on-One Office Hours on Zoom with Andrew-Every Other Tuesday from 2:00pm to 4:00pm, this month on September 8 and 22.
Contact Andrew at andrew@desertpalmucc.org.