It is our great honor and pleasure to share that ellie hutchison, one of the MIDs in the Southwest Conference was unanimously approved for ordination pending a call. Congratulations ellie, the best is yet to come!
In what was an emotional week, ellie also revealed that she was just hired as the Tucson Associate Site Director for Be The Neighbor organization which is a justice-based service-learning trip ministry that equips youth and adults to live lives of love, service, and justice and we'll be focusing on immigration here in Arizona. She will be moving to Tucson starting June 1st and will continue to work with her favorite organization, AZ Faith Network, and will also be teaching Adult Education with Pima Community College.
Desert Garden’s own Bob S. started his journey this week on "Honor Flight" -- A national organization that transports American Veterans to Washington DC to honor and celebrate them for their service and sacrifices.
Bradley Ellingboe’s new dramatic cantata, A Place Called Home, will have its world-premiere in Carnegie Hall on Saturday night, April 29th. Ellingboe is the Music Director at United Church of Santa Fe. Written for mixed chorus, a quartet of soloists, and an instrumental quintet, the piece is a call to action for care for the environment. Besides several members of Coro Lux, three members of United’s Sanctuary Choir (Jody and Peter Spalding and Larry Rasmussen) will be singing in the festival chorus at the premiere.
Shepherd of the Hills was excited to host the Celebration of Rev. Doug Bland’s 14 years of leadership with Arizona Interfaith Power & Light. Congratulations, Doug. We can’t wait to see what’s next for you during your “Rewirement.” LOL
Shepherd of the Hills also wishes to extend its congratulations and support to Melanie Beikman, who will serve as AZIPL’s next Executive Director. The future is bright! 😎
The Council at Encanto Community Church approved sending $500.00 from their Deacons Fund to a UCC Church in Northern California to aid in their disaster relief efforts caused by the wildfires and flooding in the area.
United Church of Sun City will gather with others at the Sun Bowl for the Easter Sunrise Service. What a magnificent setting this is for Easter morning. The United choir will perform, Pastor Brady will preach, and Communion will be served. The service starts at 7:00 am with gathering music at 6:45. Veterans Furniture Center (VFC) will be the recipient of the Sun Bowl Easter Sunrise Service donations.
VFC is a volunteer veteran-run 501(c)3 non-profit organization that plays a unique role in coordinating the move of homeless veterans into permanent housing.
On Saturday, March 4, a group of First Church Phoenix members and friends visited the Casa de la misericordia y de todas las naciones [House of Mercy and All Nations], a shelter and safe space for asylum-seekers located in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. The Casa is governed by a board of directors and administered by Sister Alma Angélica Macías Mejía, known to all as Sister Lika. It is supported by the Southwest Conference. At present, 120 men, women, and children live on the spacious, hillside campus. They come from Mexico, Central America, South America, The Caribbean, and Africa. These families are waiting for their asylum hearing in Arizona, after which they will travel to their waiting sponsors in the United States. Residents do all of the meal preparation, cleaning, and maintenance for this small community.
Sister Lika, a trained artist, has decorated the walls of the four dormitories, school rooms, and dining room with beautiful murals such as this touching portrait of a migrant mother and child. Many of the women create hand-made bordados [decorative embroideries with crocheted borders] to earn income for their families. A new tortilla factory on site is waiting for final inspection by the Nogales government. After producing the quantity needed by the residents, extra tortillas will be sold at the market. According to Sister Lika, the cost of running the Casa is around $500 per day. Sister Lika left us with the following thought: “Who of us in is our birthplace? No one is. We are all pilgrims.” Many thanks to Pastor Randy Mayer of Good Shepherd UCC, Sahuarita, Arizona for helping organize this inspiring visit.
United Church of Sun City's organist/pianist, Beverly Fletcher, was featured on Arizona Family's Surprise Squad segment last week! Rev. Brady Abel was interviewed, as well. You can watch a recording of it here.
And in National UCC news, a UCC minister has won her lawsuit against the U.S. government for interference and harassment in her border ministry. The Rev. Kaji Douša, senior pastor of Park Avenue Christian Church in New York City, sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for retaliating against her for her ministry at the southern border. On Tuesday, March 21, a federal judge in California ruled in her favor. Read more
One of the most fun weeks for the Shadow Rock Preschool is Community Week. The young students experience life in a positive, inclusive community... including shopping in the grocery store. What may seem like a chore for us is joyous fun for the little ones. The preschool was in need of LOTS of items for their grocery store so folks sent in empty, recyclable and clean food containers such as cereal boxes, cake mix boxes, macaroni and cheese boxes, berry containers, beverage jugs, and other similar containers so the students could “shop”.
Earlier this week, Church of the Good Shepherd’s Council held an emergency meeting to vote on allowing a family going through the asylum-seeking process in Albuquerque to stay at the church. Individuals sponsoring the family through Albuquerque Faithworks, knew of the church’s work with Family Promise and contacted Pastor Sarah regarding this family that was living in a trailer in a junkyard. The family includes a mom, dad, and 3 year-old child. Pastor Sarah shared what she knew about the family and their housing situation. The Council discussed the possibility of the family using one of the classrooms as their living quarters for a period of time while they await their asylum hearings in June and September. The group discussed the logistics of the situation as well as safeguards for the family, congregation and employees of the church. It was determined that this situation was a perfect match for the church’s Mission Statement - We create brave and safe spaces where people can experience the Divine and participate in the healing of the world.
First Congregational UCC in Albuquerque first became involved with Luther House and campus ministry when church member Rhonda Newby-Torres became its Lay Pastor in 2021. First Congregational and Luther House built a grass-roots partnership over the last two years by co-sponsoring youth events for the church’s UCC confirmands, for Young Adult Perspectives monthly meet- ups, for Racial and Climate Justice events, and the Queer Theology series on the University of New Mexico campus. In addition, First hosts Luther House to preach and lead worship on a quarterly basis. On February 15th, First’s Martha Phillips joined the Board of Directors of Luther House UNM/Lutheran Campus Ministries of NM, Inc. as a representative of First Congregational UCC (as approved by MLT). Martha was joined by Brother Angel Roque of the Rio Grande Episcopal Diocese, who was also added to the Board. Luther House is now officially an ecumenical campus ministry supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, First Congregational United Church of Christ ABQ, and the Rio Grande Episcopal Diocese.
For the month of April, the Missions Team at Scottsdale UCC is asking for donations of backpacks of any size and type to be given to Iglesia Christiana El Buen Pastor, a small Hispanic church in west Mesa, for use in their programs serving asylum seekers and refugees. Many of these people have arrived with only the clothes on their back, and after they receive some new clothes and other personal items from El Buen Pastor to help them on their journey, they need something to carry these items.
CORRECTED LINK AND EXTRA INFO:
First Congregational in Albuquerque is thrilled to be hosting the folk music, social justice duo Emma’s Revolution in concert, in their sanctuary, on Friday, April 21 at 7:00 PM! If you’ve never heard of these wonderful women, please click here to learn more. The concert will be a benefit for First’s Immigration Justice efforts, supporting Bryan and David (asylum seekers housed at First), and also Frank Rodgers’ work with several families seeking asylum. You can purchase tickets here. Tickets also available for purchase at church.
Also, the concert will be livestreamed on Zoom, which is a nice option for people who don’t live in Albuquerque.
Lastly, the band will also be performing at the Unitarian church is Las Cruces at 7 PM on April 19, and the information for that is at the same link as for this event.