Join us for the SW Conference’s regional StoryCafés

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Join us for the SW Conference’s regional StoryCafé.  We’ve scheduled regional sessions (one in the morning and one at night for folks who can’t participate during the workday) on most upcoming Mondays and Thursdays (and on Good Friday during Holy Week).  The morning sessions will take place at 9 am in the AZ time zone, or 10 am if you’re in either New Mexico or El Paso, TX. Evening sessions will be held at 7 pm Arizona time (8 pm in New Mexico/El Paso).  

Our Annual Meeting theme is “Stories that Transform.” During major crises, church folk find strength and comfort in gathering together to share stories.  But that’s hard to do in this time of social distancing. So we’ve created this virtual space for folks to gather, bring a cup of coffee/tea, check in and share some stories with each other.  The SWC clergy have been finding tremendous value in various connections through Zoom for support and sharing ideas in the last week, so we wanted to create a virtual space for our church members to connect as well across congregational lines.

In order to keep the groups small enough to share, we’ve divided them into 3 major regional areas of our Conference (1. New Mexico/El Paso, 2. Central AZ, and 3. Northern and Southern AZ). Certainly, if the time your region is scheduled is not good for you and you’d like to join another group, you are welcome.  The themes/story prompts provided are suggestions. We want to listen to whatever you want to share. We will ask that story sharing be kept to 3-5 min, in order to allow others to share who want to. The host for the meeting will guide the time and participation. You certainly can just come to listen as well!

Regional StoryCafé Schedule

(Times are listed 1. AZ &  2. Texas/New Mexico)

Monday, March 30th 9:00 AM (AZ), 10AM (TX/NM)

Region: El Paso & New Mexico 

Theme or Prompt: what stories are not being told?

Host(s):  Rev. Dr. Barbara Doerrer-Peacock & Rev. Tom Martinez

ZOOM link: https://zoom.us/j/625572184


Monday Night, March 30th 7:00 PM (AZ), 8PM (TX/NM)

Region: El Paso & New Mexico

Theme or Prompt: what stories are not being told?

Host(s): Rev. Tom Martinez

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/187629529


Thursday, April 2nd 9:00am (AZ), 10am (TX/NM)   

Region: Northern/Southern AZ

Host: Rev. Tom Martinez (Desert Palm UCC)

Theme or Prompt: what potent symbol, metaphor or public story serves a touchstone for you in times of trouble?

Zoom link https://zoom.us/j/575601400


Thursday Evening Session, April 2nd 7:00 PM

Region: Northern/Southern AZ

Host(s): Rev. Tom Martinez

Theme or Prompt: what potent symbol or metaphor or story serves as a touchstone for you in times of trouble?

Zoom link https://zoom.us/j/811666379


Monday, April 6th 9:00 AM

Region: Central AZ 

Host: Rev. Dr. Barbara Doerrer-Peacock

Theme or Prompt: what potent symbol, metaphor or public story serves a touchstone for you in times of trouble?

 https://zoom.us/j/739814413


Monday, April 6th   7:00pm (AZ)

Region: Central AZ 

Host: Rev. Michael-Ann Veziroglu

Theme or Prompt: what potent symbol, metaphor or public story serves a touchstone for you in times of trouble?

Join URL: https://zoom.us/j/651483800


Good Friday, April 10th  9:00AM (AZ) 10 AM (TX/NM)

Region: Entire SW Conference 

Hosts: Rev. Dr. Barbara Doerrer-Peacock

Theme or Prompt: When I think about suffering amidst this global pandemic, a story the comes to mind is…

Join URL: https://zoom.us/j/454229155


Good Friday Evening, April 10th (7:00 PM)

Region: Entire SW Conference 

Theme or Prompt: when I think about suffering amidst this global pandemic, a story the comes to mind is…

Hosts: Rev. Tom Martinez

Join URL: https://zoom.us/j/540737476