National and regional leaders of the United Church of Christ issued a pastoral letter June 8, calling on churches to publicly resist a wave of “attacks on people of transgender or nonbinary experience.” Its signers are the UCC’s national officers and Conference ministers and the leader of its Open and Affirming Coalition. The full text of the letter appears as a web page here, and as a PDF document here. The UCC also has a new toolkit of worship, social media and other resources to help local churches welcome and speak out for trans and nonbinary people. The toolkit can be found here.

From First Congregational in Albuquerque as a celebration of Juneteenth. Treat yourself and take a moment to listen to this amazing duet, A Beautiful Noise, from Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlisle, written in 2020 after George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter protests that flooded our country with conviction in its wake.

The Prison Art Show at Scottsdale UCC was a big success. Rev. Kim Crecca came and took down the exhibit last week and the church was able to give her a check for $1,052. In addition to the financial success, members felt that they were able to spread the word to many people about the good work of the prison ministry programs that Kim manages. In fact, she had just come from Prescott after finishing a week of camp with kids whose parents are incarcerated. In appreciation, the wonderful “Panels of Light” art piece was donated to SCUCC from the exhibit.