Aerojet is a non-profit organization that empowers women and families impacted by the justice system. It helps participants prepare for re-entry into society and assists women with gaining meaningful employment and life skills following release from incarceration. At Church of The Palms, through the efforts of the Social Justice Action Team’s Prison Ministry, they are helping by providing “starter kits” for women that are being released from Perryville Prison, as they are typically released with very little and often have no family in the area to support them. Backpacks or large tote bags, full-size hygiene items, blank journals with pens and Walmart gift cards (which allow them to purchase food, clothing and cell phones) are critical to making a fresh start.
Sometimes what goes around, comes around. Here is a tale of such unsolicited generosity from First Church Phoenix:
“Last week, I went to a group renting space on our campus to greet them. It was their first day back after COVID. On behalf of First Church, I shared how delighted we were to have them meeting again after such a long time.
As I exited, a man from the group leaped out of his chair, made his way to me and asked, "Hi, I'm Jimmy, your church works with the homeless, don't they?"
I affirmed that we provide lunches and hygiene kits Mon - Thurs and that we are currently a Cooling Center. Jimmy shared how he had been homeless at one point in his life, and he has since joined with Midwest Food Bank to make 'Hope Packs' for those experiencing homelessness.
"Would you like some? They contain cereal, milk, juice, protein, candy, chips, nuts/seeds. Those experiencing homelessness helped choose the items that would be most helpful for them. Could you use 2 pallets? How about 2 pallets of flavored electrolyte water, too?" On Monday morning, 4 pallets were delivered to First Church for distribution.”
Martha Houldsworth died on Saturday, July 3, in Chillicothe, Ohio. She was the wife of Howard Houldsworth, pastor emeritus, who served Church of the Good Shepherd in Albuquerque in the ‘80s and ‘90s. She was a dearly loved member of the congregation while she and Howard served there.
Taos UCC is one of the signers of a coalition letter from the National Immigrant Justice Center requesting that the Biden administration move away from ICE’s reliance on hotels and invest in the creation of NGO-run post-release Border Reception and Welcome Centers. The letter expresses concerns regarding ICE’s custody operations involving the non-profit division of the company Family Endeavors and the military contractor MVM, and calls for a shift towards trusted local NGOs that can assist with supporting those released from the border instead of hoteling them.
The letter emphasizes that border reception and welcoming centers should be funded and operated outside of ICE and CBP, with trusted community-based nonprofit organizations providing contracted services.
Here is a link to the letter:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1utZeWCV4uBAg3uQ_ep6CxhSoSLAHa7_k/edit?ts=60c28df2
(The SW Conference and several UCC churches have signed on to the letter. See if your church wants to be added!)
Have you ever wondered how the peoples of the pueblo nations understand their own history? The Racial Justice Team at First Congregational UCC in Albuquerque is offering a three-to-four week book group on the book "Pueblo Nations: Eight Centuries of Pueblo Indian History". Joe S. Sando, an historian, an educator, and a member of the Pueblo of Jemez, wrote this book as his people's response to the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Columbus in the Indigenous islands of the Caribbean, and subsequent Spanish colonization of New Mexico. Jon Ghahate, museum educator at Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, recently recommended "Pueblo Nations" as still one of the best books on Pueblo history, especially from the perspective of the pueblo peoples themselves. This book is available from your favorite online new/used book dealer. If you are interested in joining the discussion in August, please contact Martha Phillips at martha.phillips55@gmail.com.
And speaking of books- Since arriving in Tucson, one of the people Rev Mike Lonergan at Church of the Painted Hills had the pleasure to get to know was Rev. Owen Chandler. They met when Rev. Chandler was serving as Senior Pastor at Saguaro Christian Church and as a Chaplain in the Army Reserve. In conversation, Rev Mike learned that Rev. Chandler was deployed to Iraq in 2016, and that he was writing a book on that experience. In January 2021, Rev. Chandler resigned from Saguaro and transitioned from the Reserves into the Regular Army in anticipation of another deployment to the Middle East. His book gives a fuller picture of the human costs of our perpetual state of war. “A Bridge in Babylon: Stories of a Military Chaplain in Iraq,” is Rev. Chandler’s account of his experience in Iraq in 2016.
And speaking of books- Rincon is holding a Plastic-Free July, and recommends a good book to read about stuff in general and plastic in particular: “The Story of Stuff: The Impact of Overconsumption on the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health—And How We Can Make It Better” by Annie Leonard.
Several folks from Congregational Church of the Valley enjoyed a special fellowship time together one evening recently in a local Italian restaurant’s private dining room. It was wonderful to enjoy good food and wine together after over a year of not meeting in person due to COVID-19! In excellent company, they shared recent joys, sorrows, and told and listened to a lot of stories. They plan more of these dining out adventures now that all are vaccinated.
The Good Shepherd UCC in Sahuarita has had, and will have two special guest preachers this summer. Rev. Tina Squire stepped into the pulpit one Sunday this summer. She is a UCC pastor living in Sierra Vista, where she serves as a hospice chaplain, a pastor of a small UCC gathering called “Journey,” and as pastor of The Sky Island Unitarian Church. In early August, Rev. Pedro Goycolea will preach one Sunday. Pedro is well known at the Good Shepherd, where he is the husband to Alejandra Rosas the director of Faith Formation for Children and Youth. Pedro is the pastor and organizer of a new Disciple of Christ project called, Comunidad Limen Christian Church. It is a progressive Open and Affirming, Latinx movement that lives both in real life and online, doing ministry with the LGBTQ community along the US/Mexico borderlands. Pedro will talk about his work and how, “Transformation is happening in liminal spaces.”
Church of the Palms is one of several SWC churches that received a grant of $5,000 from the UCC’s Southwest Conference to expand their hybrid church capabilities. With their grant, COTP will purchase a stand-alone laptop computer dedicated to facilitating classes, board, committee, team meetings, and various other small group gatherings. In addition to the stand-alone laptop, they will be purchasing several Chromebook tablets to be preloaded with the applications and links needed to participate in the gatherings listed above. This will provide opportunities for members of their church family who have been unable to participate in programs because of technological disadvantages to become more fully engaged.
Desert Garden’s Richard Einerson is a retired pastor who served churches in Minnesota, Rhode Island, California and Colorado. He wrote a book of prayers, "Prayers of the People" as a response to popular demand by Plymouth Congregational UCC in Fort Collins, CO when he served there. Available as an ebook as well as a hard copy, it's based on the 3 year common lectionary and has a prayer with the Scriptures listed at the top for each Sunday in the 3 year cycle.