“We are extravagantly welcoming and affirming follower of Jesus called to embody God’s unconditional justice and love in the world.” For more than ten months the Southwest Conference (SWC) Executive Board and our standing committees have been discerning how best to use SWC resources to live more fully into our mission. This discernment work came in response to the conference-wide SOAR visioning summit held just before the COVID19 unleashed its devastation in the U.S. While we have been responding to the pandemic, we’ve also been anticipating its impact, asking God’s Spirit to show us the way forward in a world and a Church we know will be radically different than anything we’ve experienced.

In response to the Spirit’s leading two church buildings owned by the SWC have been sold, one in El Paso and one in Phoenix. A SWC-owned church building in Albuquerque will be sold soon. And the SWC office building, or the 917 as we have affectionately referred to her, was listed for sale last week.

These decisions were not easy for local churches or for SWC leaders to make. They are accompanied by deep grief. Iglesia Congregacional La Trinidad had to say goodbye to the building they called home for some four decades. Iglesia Congregacional Unida ended their public ministry last fall. West Congregational United Church of Christ ended their public ministry this spring. We are letting go of a vision for the conference’s ministry that yielded good fruit in its day. When one member of the Body hurts, we all hurt. And in our pain, we are bearing witness that, as Christians, we do not grieve as people without hope.

The SWC is not converting real estate into cash because we need the money to survive. SWC leaders took these steps so we can thrive! Our mission is unchanged. We continue to be “extravagantly welcoming and affirming follower of Jesus called to embody God’s unconditional justice and love in the world.” SWC leaders are using SWC resources in new ways so we can implement new missional strategies that will bear good fruit in these days.

Here a few details about those strategies:

A $75,000 Racial Justice Ministry Fund has been created to support the decentering whiteness work begun at our 2020 annual meeting.
$125K has been designated for a new Solidarity Grant program. Beginning in October nonprofit ministries launched by our congregations can apply for up to $25K to support their programs and operations.
Future financial support is assured for university ministries like UCC@ASU.
Future financial support for the ministry of La Casa de Misericordia. La Casa is a residential shelter in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico that we support in cooperation with the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, the Grand Canyon Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Anglican Diocese of Western Mexico.
A $160K designated fund to support UCC ministry in El Paso has been established.
We are providing the Clergy Retreat to currently employed SWC local church pastors and chaplains this year at no cost. It is the SWC’s way of saying, “Your individual and collective wellbeing are important to all of us.” This subsidy also provides a financial benefit to our ministry settings who often cover part or all these expenses for their clergy.
Additional funding has been tagged to maintain the mental wellbeing program we began with grant funding from United Church Funds’ Brown Endowment.
And we are exploring new ways to support clergy in retirement.

The remainder of money already received from real estate transactions, and the future proceeds from the sale of the 917, will be invested in ways reflecting our endowment strategy without the restrictions of the Endowment Fund. We anticipate this parallel fund to grow while leaders continue to discern what identity God is calling us to manifest as the Southwest Conference and what God is calling us to do in shared mission and ministry. Real Estate proceeds will also provide for future program and office needs of the SWC.

One of our endowment fund members and a member of the Executive Board, Rev. Dr. George Ault, said recently, “Ministry is fun when you have money!” That is true. While the decisions that have built our capacity for such significant investments in our local churches and our clergy have been painful and difficult, deep, and lasting joy is taking root throughout the SWC as we begin to experience the fruits of these decisions. Beloved, the future of the Southwest Conference is incredibly bright! Thanks be to God!

Rev. Dr. Bill Lyons
Conference Minister