The festive folks at United Church of Sun City celebrated Christmas in July on the last Sunday of the month. (This theme surely helped to usher in that day’s lower temperatures.) Regardless of the temperature, or calendar, it's always uplifting to celebrate good news of great joy!
August is a month of transition for Karen Richter from Shadow Rock. Her new position begins on September 10th as pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Surprise. Although it is hard to disconnect from the place and the people who have been her spiritual community for 12+ years, Karen is excited for what is to come.
Chaplain Toben Squires of Desert Heritage was recently promoted to Navy Lieutenant! He also reports that COCAM completed its work and he received Privilege of Call from the UCC to be recognized as a UCC minister. There is an involved process with the Navy to change his denominational affiliation, but he hopes to be fully switched over by the fall.
Marc Gaston, Desert Palm’s Minister of Music and the Arts, has been rehearsing for a dance competition that will support Arizona LGBTQ youth. Desert Palm UCC, thanks to the generosity of members, is a $5,000 event Gold Sponsor. OneN10 is a non-profit that empowers LGBTQ ages 14-24 to make healthy choices and become community leaders. Marc is representing the Phoenix Gay Men’s Chorus in the competition and writes on his donation page that “supporting LGBTQ+ youth is a community job, so please cheer me on by donating to my individual goal today.”
WHAT: Dancing for OneNTen
WHEN: Doors open at 12:30 p.m. Show starts at 2. Sunday, Aug. 13
WHERE: Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe, Arizona 85281
TICKETS/INFO: onenten.org/dancing or Buy tix here
First Congregational of Prescott celebrated Camp Song Sunday with musical guests Joyful Noise playing camp songs. Folks were encouraged to wear their camp clothes. The service focused on the familiar children's story of Noah and the Ark, but from a scholarly, adult perspective: a story actually about God, and how the view of God differs from today's traditional view.
Date circa 1278-1324 Source: North French Hebrew Miscellany, British Library; Author Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil)
Many thanks to the cooperative spirit of the SNAP (Scottsdale Neighborhood Arts Place) leadership team as recent HVAC issues on Scottsdale Congregational UCC's campus impacted the rooms which are currently designated for SNAP program space. A mutual agreement was reached with SCUCC, and SNAP is funding a new air-conditioning unit when it was discovered that repair of the old system was not cost effective. The congregation extends its heartfelt gratitude for this generosity and willingness for all parties to "make it work!" For those who may be unaware, SNAP's mission is to explore, express, and experience creativity in all its forms through stimulating learning opportunities within a transforming community. As a nonprofit arts entity with roots that go back to 2007, SNAP offers both adult and youth individual instruction and classes in the arts, music lessons, instrumental or vocal, dance/movement instruction in numerous professional styles and theater/acting and coaching. SNAP WEBSITE
Do you know someone who is passionate about the environment and helping others to become better stewards of creation? Arizona Interfaith Power & Light is hiring a new Program and Outreach Coordinator. The details and job description are linked here.
Kris Purtle, a member of United Church of Sun City and a fraud investigator for DISCOVER, provided valuable information to 43 attendees about credit card fraud.
A recap of some of her suggestions to protect yourself from fraud:
Always get a receipt from a sale, this closes out the purchase
Freeze and unfreeze your accounts right from your Smartphone
Turn on notifications for every penny spent
Never give out your SSN
Purchase a RFID Wallet (Radio-frequency Identification Wallet)
Be careful of online relationships
Check gas pump credit card slots for tampering
Never share passwords
Never purchase gift cards upon request for anyone. Ever.
Watch a recording of Kris' presentation.
Desert Garden UCC might not be in the epicenter of the refugee crisis, but that hasn’t stopped the Sun City West, Arizona, congregation from doing its part to help its neighbors. They are aware of the importance of refugees having access to computers for education, thus, their request for a $2,000 grant from Global H.O.P.E. to partner with AZStRUT, Arizona Students Recycling Used Technology. AZStRUT is a nonprofit seeking to keep old computers from being tossed into landfills. Among the many programs is what is called “techie camps,” where middle and high school students get to deconstruct and reconstruct a computer. At the end of camp, each student goes home with a refurbished computer. Desert Garden UCC church has expanded their techie camps to include adults in addition to teens, as having a computer is vital to help these families in job searching as well as education. Desert Garden UCC hosted 27 participants at its most recent techie camp.
During August, United Church of Santa Fe’s kids (and grandkids) will explore one of the best stories of all time—Noah’s Ark and All the Animals! They will learn the story and some songs—and meet all kinds of people who care for all kinds of animals— and how they can care, too. This month they will learn about the Navajo Nation Biological Park and Zoo, where they can “adopt” and care for an animal, whether a golden eagle, a black bear, or a wily coyote. It promises to be a ‘howling” good summer!
