Rev Patrick Crocker was installed at First Christian Church in Las Cruces. The covenant of Installation was performed by Rev. Dr. Kim Fields-Haley, Regional Connection Minister of the Christian Church of the Southwest, Disciples of Christ, and Rev. Dr. Toni Hawkins, Conference Minister of the United Church of Christ Southwest Conference.
With sweat on their faces instead of snowflakes, Encanto Community Church once again will celebrate the most joyous of holidays, Christmas in August! On August 11th a Christmas Supper Potluck will follow a Christmas-themed church service. The main dishes will be provided and congregants will bring scrumptious side dishes and deserts so everyone can all leave with bellies that look like bowls full of jelly. And, in the spirit of giving, they will hold a supply drive for all the animal residents at the Animal Welfare League!
With the start of the school year at Arizona School for the Arts, the Heat Respite Cooling Center at First Church Phoenix will close on Sunday, Aug. 11 and their Pantry for the Unhoused will open again on Monday, Aug. 12. First Church volunteers will answer the office door from 9:30-12:30 Monday - Friday and offer a sack lunch to anyone who knocks. Generally, the lunch includes a sandwich, fruit, a granola bar, CHEEZ-ITs and water. Last Spring volunteers were seeing between 50 and 65 people each morning, almost double the number they used to serve. Last April, they gave out a total of 1,165 lunches. First Church is grateful for the support of the Pantry by the LDS church. A grant from the Bishop Storehouse gives them access each week to sandwich supplies and fruit.
As part of their Pets of the Palms Ministry, Church of the Palms is putting together a pet-sitting directory of church members who are willing and able to pet-sit for members who find themselves unable to care for their pet(s) due to unforeseen circumstances. They also collect for their pet medical fund to ensure access to care for those in need, and they celebrate pets’ lives with their Rainbow Bridge Pet Memorial.
ICS is flipping their lids over the huge amount of peanut butter donated during its Peanut Butter Party food drive. ICS set a goal to collect 10,000 jars in July, and generous faith community partners and supporters blew past that number and kept on going. The month-long event brought in more than 14,000 jars. These donations—a 5-month supply—will free up about $20,000 in Food Bank funds to purchase other food essentials for thousands of Tucson families.
What I gathered from newsletters:
Church of the Painted Hills collected 71 jars.
Casas Adobes collected 147 jars.
Rincon (with help from the Voyager RV Resort) collected 1049 jars.
The winner? Hungry Tucson families!!!
Church of Beatitudes worked with Duet’s Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Program this year. Our generous donations helped get the kiddos prepared for their first day of school. The church donated 31 backpacks, $225 in store gift cards, $300 in monetary donations and lots of school supplies such as pencils, pens and notebooks.
The Church of the Red Rocks hosted The Valley Bible Church Mission Team from Pleasanton, CA, on Friday night, July 26, as they were on their way home following a week of service in a remote community on the Navajo Reservation in 90+ degree temperatures. They traveled in 11 minivans and two pickup trucks. There were approximately 65 individuals, including four families with children. Everyone exclaimed, "The church is so beautiful! Thank you for allowing us to stay here! We feel so welcome!" The young adults expressed appreciation and were incredibly respectful. Everyone really appreciated the air conditioning! The group brought their own musical team and the sanctuary was used for vespers and morning worship, and the experiences were awe-inspiring.
The City of Tempe has awarded Desert Palm a $3,000.00 grant to enhance their landscaping by creating four new raised garden beds. Master Gardner and new Desert Palm member Dr. Susan Keen will be guiding the planting, along with help from new Facilities Ministry Chair, Calyx Harrell (who happens to be an engineer!).
Partnering with AZ StRUT and Lutheran Social Services, Desert Garden sponsored a Techie Camp on Wednesday July 10th. A total of twenty refugees from Lutheran Social Services program participated. The course involved the participants learning the components of a computer; tearing down and removing the components from a desktop computer; putting them back in the computer; starting the computer again and getting it to work. At the end of the class, each person was given a refurbished laptop to take home and use. The Techie Camp was funded by a Sow the Seed grant from the Southwest Conference of the United Church of Christ.
With support from a grant from Salt River Project, Scottsdale UCC will be replacing the inefficient (and hot) PAR56 incandescent bulbs in the ceiling with new dimmable LED light fixtures. Instead of the round built-in "car headlights" we have, the new ones will be 14" round with frosted globes. The SRP grant is $2,660, which will cover most of the project since volunteers will be installing the units ourselves. Currently the total power used by the bulbs being replaced is 11,688 watts of electricity. Together, the new LED light fixtures and bulbs only draw 984 watts, which is a huge drop in power consumption, which also means air conditioners can work less during the summer. Also, with the longer lifetime of LED fixtures, they won't have to be replaced as often.
Two events for your consideration:
Democracy, Faith, and Peace-Building in 2024
Thursday, September 12, 7:00 pm MST
Trinity Cathedral
110 W Roosevelt St, Phoenix, AZ 85003
Join best-selling author and pastor, the Rev. Jim Wallis, in reflections on the current state of our democracy and his most most recent book, "The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy."
This event is being co-sponsored by AFN, The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, the African American Christian Clergy Coalition, and Arizona Democracy Resiliency Network. Please RSVP using this link: RSVP
United Church of Christ Creation Justice webinar on Oak Flat
Wednesday, August 14, 10:00 am MST via Zoom
United Church of Christ National Ministries is hosting a Creation Justice Webinar "Defending the Sacred: Oak Flat - An Apache Sacred Site Under Threat" on Wednesday, August 14 at 10:00am Arizona/Pacific Time, 11:00am Mountain Time, 1:00pm Eastern Time. The speakers will be Dr. Wendsler Nosie, leader of Apache Stronghold, Sarah Augustine, Executive Director of the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery, and Rev. Carol Rose, co-pastor of Shalom Mennonite Fellowship in Tucson, AZ. Apache Stronghold's legal case, seeking to prevent the transfer of sacred land at Oak Flat from the Tonto National Forest to Resolution Copper Company (a subsidiary of multinational mining corporations Rio Tinto and BHP), is being appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Resolution Copper is planning to dig a copper mine that would destroy Oak Flat forever, violating Apache religious freedom. The mine would also require 250 billion gallons of water in drought-stricken Arizona and create 1.4 billion tons of toxic mine tailings. Register for the webinar using the link below.
For further information about Apache Stronghold's struggle to protect Oak Flat, please see http://www.apache-stronghold.com.
Encourage Others to #VoteWithLove! New Yard Signs Available for Purchase
Election Day is just around the corner and so much is at stake! Remind your neighbors, friends, and colleagues of the importance of exercising our right to vote using this "Our Faith Our Vote" yard sign with the call to "Vote with Love". These yard signs are available for purchase through UCC Resources.