The Fruit of the Spirit Tree is bearing results at Church of the Palms. The artist is Nicole Lindsay.
Desert Palm is calling all people in their 90s or 90th year (89) to join the monthly 90’s lunch group. They will meet on a Friday once a month for food and conversation.
Marc Gaston, the Artistic Director of the Phoenix Gay Men’s Chorus & Minister of Music & The Arts at Desert Palm UCC, Tempe, will be one of the facilitators at two upcoming events. On Monday, June 24th, experience Music’s Impact on Society, (5:00pm, 1n10 Downtown Youth Center). On Thursday, July 18th – Trans Voices (5:00pm, Downtown 1n10 Youth Center, Trans & Nonbinary Identity Night) Experience a workshop on vocal challenges and Trans Voices for social justice to include vocal exercises for singing and speaking.
Shepherd of the Hills Pastor Rock won the best recipe contest at the monthly Potluck Sunday event. Rock made a traditional Hoosier Pie or Sugar Cream Pie. The Hoosier Pie originated in the early 1800's, and is still enjoyed throughout the Midwest. In fact, today it's the official state pie of Indiana! Just for fun, here is the recipe!
1 Start by placing your fully-baked pie crust in a 9.5 - 10 inch pie pan.
2 Then, combine 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 1 tsp. salt and 3 cups of heavy cream in a medium-size saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat and whisk until the filling thickens into the consistency of pudding.
3 Fold in 5 Tbsp butter (cut into squares) and 1 tsp. vanilla. Stir until completely mixed.
4 Add this filling to the pie shell. Lastly, top the pie with 2 Tbsp melted butter before broiling. Also, you may want to add a few sprinkles of cinnamon on top (optional).
5 Broil pie on top shelf of oven (with door open) 'til it starts bubbling.
6 Chill for at least an hour up to overnight before ENJOYING your yummy, American pie
Prescott’s First Congregational Church member Ann Solt’s daughter Karen will be holding her book launch at Peregrine Books on Cortez on June 8th at 2pm. The information on Karen’s book, Hiding for My Life, Being Gay in the Navy can be found on her website. Karen will also be speaking at First Congregational’s annual ONA Sunday worship service on June 30th.
On display on the Banned Book Shelf in the narthex at Rincon UCC:
• Heavy - Kiese Laymon’s book explores what it’s like to inherit a black male body in American.
• Stamped from the Beginning- The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America - Ibram X. Kendi From Dallas Morning News- “racist ideas…spring from racist policies and self-preservation of the ruling class.”
And mirroring current events-
• Picture book by Hannah Moushabek- Homeland- My Father Dreams of Palestine- reflections on the lives of immigrants and refugees.
• Melissa (previously published as George)-written and lived by Alex Gino- a young reader level book about being a transgender girl in elementary school.
• And the story of Guy Montag who challenges the directive to burn books and the houses that contain them- Ray Bradbury’s classic Fahrenheit 451
And speaking of banned books, the Banned Book Group at Scottsdale UCC is now reading Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett, and will meet in the church Conference Room on Monday, June 10th at 5:30pm for discussion of the book. All are welcome! The book is the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award, Winner of the Orange Prize, and is a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. Ann Patchett’s spellbinding novel is about love and opera, and the unifying ways people learn to communicate across cultural barriers in times of crisis.
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a simple thing. But for our unhoused neighbors, a sandwich perhaps brings some daily comfort to life on the street, even during the dangerous heat of summer. This year, First Church Phoenix is partnering with Grace Lutheran to not only offer daily lunch food but a Heat Respite Cooling Center in their part of the city seven days a week: First Church will be open from 11am-7 pm on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays; Grace Lutheran will be open on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays with slightly different hours. The need for food has grown; currently, First is seeing 50-65 people at the office door each weekday, almost double the number they used to serve. In April, they offered a total of 1,650 lunches. Donations of water and snack food are always appreciated.
We extend our prayers for healing to Pastor Michael Bush at Casas Adobes. He will be undergoing some surgery and treatment over the next several months. He wrote about it in this article in the Arizona Daily Star.
As Church of the Good Shepherd’s (ABQ) Sustainable Committee was considering the pledge drive for new solar panels, they were drawing a blank for a catchy slogan. So, they decided to ask some of the most creative folks in the church, the youth, for help. And did they come though! With no advanced preparation they were able to come up a fantastic slogan: Harvest Light to Keep Our Future Bright. They not only came up with the slogan but also created posters. Here are two of them. Good Job!
Rev George Ault, Transitional Pastor at Black Mountain UCC, shared the following in their newsletter this week. I thought it was a thought-provoking story to conclude with this week.
Charles Plumb and his wife were eating in a restaurant in Kansas City,
when a man at another table came up and said, "You're CPT Charles Plumb!
You flew fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were
shot down."
"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.
I packed your parachute," the man replied.
As Plumb rose and began to thank the man, the man began to pump
Charlie's hand and interrupted, saying, "I guess it worked."
Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't
be here today."
Here is a question for each of us: "Who's packing your parachute?"
And furthermore, whose parachute are you packing?