Church of the Good Shepherd in Albuquerque launched The Circuit this week! The Circuit is a multi-platform online community of faith for folks 18-30. They will have ongoing events and opportunities to connect, ask questions and explore faith in action! If you know folks interested in joining the conversation, they can find it at The Circuit on Facebook, @therevs.thecircuit on TikTok or online at https://www.thecircuitonline.org.
Yesterday was Homecoming Sunday at Taos UCC, when all those who felt ready and safe met in person in their new church at 209F Camino de la Merced, Taos. Their guidelines for keeping everybody safe could be useful to others:
Only those who are vaccinated may come in person.
All must wear a mask and keep socially distanced.
Everyone signs in at the door with their phone # so that there is a contact tracing list if needed.
To celebrate their Homecoming, Taos UCC kicked off their fundraising for the Taos Medical Debt Relief Project. Last year, working with eleven other spiritual communities in Taos, they were able to purchase and forgive over 1.8 million dollars of medical debt. The Taos UCC Leadership Council designated $2,000 from their Mission Budget to start the campaign.
To celebrate World Communion yesterday, Casas Adobes UCC asked for pictures of members/partners/family members taken in another country. The pictures were assembled into a bulletin photo collage. In this time of many cancelled travel plans, these photos were a good reminder that it is "a small world after all."
Desert Garden UCC is offering a Free Webinar Program on October 9, 2021, from 10:00am to 12:00pm. The Rev. Dr. Joretta Marshall, author of How Can I Forgive and co-editor with Maria Fortune of Forgiveness and Abuse: Christian and Jewish Reflections, will examine life incidents in which we are called upon to forgive or be forgiven. She will explore the theological context and spiritual demands of being forgiving and forgiven. A Q&A segment will follow her presentation. Registration for the webinar can be made at www.desertgardenucc.org .
To hug or not to hug- often an awkward moment. First Congregational in Albuquerque let folks answer that question by looking at a person’s name tag. A green dot on a person’s name tag lets you know that hugs are welcomed. A red dot on a name tag lets you know that person is not comfortable hugging. Red and green adhesive dots are available where name tags are distributed.
Things are moving forward at Shadow Rock! In the coming weeks, they hope to share more about an Afghan family sponsored by Shadow Rock. Some information is being held closely, for the family's safety. This is natural work for the congregation, building on their work in immigration justice and on their well-practiced gifts of hospitality and welcome. Sharon H. is coordinating household preparation and is ready to share this list of items still needed to welcome this family of 4. If you have item(s) from the list to donate, please do two things: email Sharon so the list can be updated and call Lois in the church office (602-993-0050) to schedule a time for drop off.
Late last week the U.S. House took a key step forward in ensuring the Grand Canyon region will be permanently protected from new harmful uranium mining. An amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act will protect approximately 1 million acres of lands and waters for future generations. The Arizona Faith Network urges the Senate to follow suit and vote to #KeepItGrand! and asks folks to sign the letter below.
Working with Valley Interfaith Project (VIP), Scottsdale Congregational UCC volunteers collected more than 700 signatures during the 90-day citizens’ veto campaign to send 3 budget bills to the November, 2022 ballot. TWO of those measures obtained enough signatures to be turned in to the Secretary of State for verification: the flat-tax bill, and the bill that creates a special income tax shelter for the wealthy.
Scottsdale UCC Youth assembled almost 100 first aid kits for the homeless last week. The Missions & Justice Team donated $150 for cost of the materials. The first aid kits were taken to Arizona Friends of Homeless (AFOH) to combat rising rates of Staph infections. The kits are meant to clean and care for wounds, from those blisters on feet to cuts and abrasions. Clean is the key here. Included are:
-Alcohol prep pads individual packets (6)
-Antibacterial alcohol-free wipes single packets (3)
-Triple Antibiotic individual packets (3)
-sterile gauze pads 3x3 or 4x4 individual packets (2-3) -
-elastic gauze roll pack (1)
-variety of bandaids sizes (6)
-acetaminophen individual packs (1)
AFOH is an entirely volunteer run organization. Here's a link to their website but also check out their Facebook page for the stories and reports of their efforts.: https://azfriendsofhomeless.blogspot.com/p/outreach.html
After a 3-year engagement, Kelsee and Rev. Bethany, pastor at First Christian Church in Las Cruces, are finally having their wedding ceremony! They will be getting married at a small, outdoor wedding venue in Kansas with their families and closest friends in attendance. Due to COVID, they have also made the decision to Zoom the service. The wedding will be on Sunday, October 10th at 4 PM MST. You can find the Zoom link on their wedding website: https://www.zola.com/wedding/kelseeandbethany