Desert Heritage Church just hosted a movie night featuring JESUS: A Deaf Missions Film at the request of a church member whose son is deaf. This unique portrayal of the life of Christ, presented entirely in American Sign Language (ASL), offered an immersive and accessible way for the Deaf community to experience the Gospel. The request was the first step to determine how their child could be more fully included in the church community. This film was a powerful first step toward creating a Deaf ministry at Desert Heritage. Blessings on the journey toward creating a church where everyone feels a deep sense of belonging!
On Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 10AM, the Women’s Study Group from United Church of Santa Fe will welcome renowned author and mystery writer Anne Hillerman. A former journalist, Anne has continued and expanded her father Tony Hillerman’s award-winning mysteries featuring Navajo/Diné police officers Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee, and now Bernadette Manuelito. The wider community is welcome to join the presentation.
Checks from the mission component of Desert Garden’s recent Capital Campaign were sent out this past week. They included: $949 to the National UCC ONA Coalition; $1,150 to New Leaf's West Valley Housing Assistance Center; $625 to Church of the Palms for their work with the I-Help Program that serves homeless adults; $1,149 to Native American Connections that operates the Home Base Shelter for homeless young adults; $625 to Scottsdale Congregation UCC for their Family Promise Program; $1,250 to Shadow Rock UCC for their refugee work; and $1,150 to the Surprise Resource Center. Desert Garden’s Outreach program continues to reach into the community in so many ways. Throughout the summer Desert Garden has also delivered food to the Valley View Food Bank and provided water to both the Salvation Army and the West Side Housing Assistance Center. WOW!
The grant proposal that Casas Adobes UCC members and friends of all ages helped create earlier this year, shepherded by the Ministerial Relations Team in collaboration with Pastor Michael, has been approved for funding by the Lilly Endowment!
For the next three months, the Campus Lobo Food Pantry at UNM will be the recipient of the First Congregational in Albuquerque Cash for Change Collection. In addition to putting change (coins) the Cash for Change jar, can also hold bills or checks. Many students are struggling financially to get through college, and food from the Campus Lobo Food Pantry is an important source of support for a significant number of students.
Folks are invited to attend a public lecture on Thursday, September 12 by Professor Kimberly Gauderman of UNM’s Department of History titled “Practicing Asylum: Scholars as Expert Witnesses in Latin American Asylum Cases.” In recent years Professor Gauderman has served as an expert witness in U.S. courts in over 200 asylum cases, testifying in support of people seeking asylum because of domestic, sexual, gang, and political violence, or threats to their racial and gender identity in their countries of origin. She will be an expert witness in support of the asylum cases of two men from Honduras, who until recently lived in First Congregational’s church apartment. The lecture will be given in person at 4:30 p.m. in George Pearl Hall on the UNM campus and will also be broadcast via Zoom. Anyone interested can get the Zoom link by contacting Professor Elizabeth Hutchinson, also of the UNM History Department, at ehutch@unm.edu.
On Sunday September 15, St Paul’s UCC in Rio Rancho, NM will officially celebrate their founding. The guest preacher will be Rev. Roberto Ochoa, Minister for Ethnic Inclusion & Congregational Support for Rural & Small Churches.
Members and friends will come together from 9-10:30AM on the 23rd anniversary of 9/11 for a special time of prayer and remembrance at Church of the Good Shepherd in Albuquerque where they will honor the lives forever touched by this day—lifting prayers for the families, first responders, police officers, firefighters, and everyone affected by the tragedy. Prayers for comfort, strength, and peace will ask that Christ’s light bring healing to hearts everywhere.
At Apache Stronghold’s request, a prayer gathering will be held to undergird their appeal to the Supreme Court with spiritual strength on Wednesday, September 11, 2024 from 5:30 – 6:15 p.m. at Rincon United Church of Christ, in the Fellowship Hall
Helping With All My Heart (HWAMH) is a local nonprofit that supports asylum seekers in Phoenix. Most days between 2-5 buses of asylum seekers arrive at the church- mostly single moms with children. They have come from a detention center or directly released from Border Patrol. HWAMH uses one small wing of the church, the Fellowship Hall and kitchen of the church. Storage has always been an issue and in January of 2024 Shepherd of the Hills used Outreach funds to rent a 40' container for them to store items in. It has been life-changing for them as now they can collect items like clothing and shoes, diapers, toilet paper and have a place to store them.
Each month the UCC Justice and Peace Action Network unpacks the complex justice issues that they're working on. This month, the National Staff of the United Church of Christ reflects on Project 2025. This document outlines an extreme set of policies that, if implemented, would threaten basic freedoms, punish the most vulnerable, and dismantle not only the structure of our federal government but attack deeply held values of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. Most importantly, Project 2025 stands in direct opposition to the United Church of Christ’s values and work. In this new resource titled "Countering Project 2025 With Love: A UCC Response" they dive deeper and break down how the UCC’s closely held values of extravagant welcome, abundance, and justice for all compare with the values of Project 2025.
