Honoring the 80th Anniversary of the 6 Million Jewish Lives Lost in the Holocaust

Sunday, April 27, 5:00 pm
Phoenix Symphony Hall
75 N 2nd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Join the Phoenix Holocaust Association in collaboration with the Phoenix
Symphony for a powerful community-wide Commemoration featuring:

• Local Holocaust Survivors

• Candle Lighting Ceremony

• Keynote Address

• Survivor Remarks 

• Annual Shofar Zachor Award

• Symphony Quartet Performance

• Music and Prayers

Information and registration here

If you would like to attend the Phoenix Symphony concert preceding the Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration, you can purchase tickets HERE.

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
Sunday, April 27, 2:00 PM | Symphony Hall

Those attending the Commemoration can receive 20% OFF concert tickets. The PROMO Code for discounted concert tickets will be sent by email after you register for the Commemoration. *Discount does not apply to previously purchased tickets.

Beginning May 7, PATHWAYS offers The Bible as Guide: Going Green, a 6-week course in the Environmental Justice program. Using The Green Bible: New Revised Standard Version, your faith community’s hymnal, online discussions, a daily journal, and more, this course will explore how creation is at the heart of the Bible. What are the ways humans, as part of the web of life, impact all of creation negatively or positively? How does the Bible guide us as stewards of creation? How does the Bible’s story of creation intersect with concerns about climate change?

Go to the PATHWAYS website (pathwaystheological.org) to learn more and to apply for this and other courses.

Now that Jesus has entered the city, we are walking with him into the most sacred days of our shared faith. Palm branches have been laid down, cloaks spread out, and hosannas shouted—but now, the road turns. Holy Week calls us not just to remember but to recommit.

As clergy, we are entrusted with leading communities through this week's mystery and meaning: from the intimacy of the upper room to the agony of the garden, to the final breath on the cross, and finally to the quiet, trembling hope of dawn at the tomb. This is no small calling, and we do not carry it alone.

Click through to keep reading.

Friday's opening worship at our Annual Meeting will include the installation of our Associate Conference Ministers, Rev. Dr. Gloria Smith and Rev. Dr. Derrick Elliott!

ALL ARE WELCOME—if you're in Albuquerque you are welcome to attend the worship service whether you're attending the Annual Meeting or not.

Insurance Board Presents: How to Plan for Emergencies in Your Church

Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 11:00 am AZ / 12:00 pm NM & El Paso via Zoom

Register to attend this webinar by visiting the link below. The Zoom has a limited number of live participants, and the recording will be posted on the Insurance Board's Online Learning page.

Equip your ministry for effective response and recovery during any emergency. Enhance your knowledge and boost confidence in planning efforts to safeguard your community.

Register here

By completing the four theological courses below and a project (which you design with the approval and oversight of a facilitator/supervisor), you will earn this certificate and be eligible for continuing education credits.

• Ecological Theology

• Contextual Theology

• Practicing Our Faith in the Public Square

• Theology of Gender and Sexuality

• Approved Contemporary Theological Perspectives Project

The project could be a curriculum design for your faith community, a sermon, a discussion group or another way in which you can share what you learned with your faith community.

 Go to the PATHWAYS website (pathwaystheological.org) to learn more and to apply for this certificate or other offerings.

Every two years, General Synod brings together faithful members of the United Church of Christ for inspirational worship, fellowship with friends (old and new), and public witness including through engagement with the business of the church. In July 2025, we are excited to welcome thousands from across the country for General Synod 35 in Kansas City, Missouri – and Nurture the Soul is helping to get you there by introducing a 4-part series that goes deep into General Synod and why we hope to see you all there.

Part 1 – General Synod 101 will help us better understand what Synod is and why it is so important that you show up! We’ll have a time for Q&A so you can ask the questions that’ll help you better prepare for our time together this summer.

Register here.

Positions in the SWC that are open as of March 23rd

• Secretary for the Executive Board and Annual Meetings

• COM A – 4 positions, preferably 3 of these be lay persons, but not necessary

• Finance and Endowment Committee – 1 position to fill a vacancy for 1 year

• Nominating Committee – 1 position

Needless to say, for all committees, preferably persons of color and those under 40 yrs. old

For more information, contact Rich Doerrer-Peacock at rdoerrerpeacock@cox.ne soon. Or fill out the form indicating your interest. The form can be found HERE.

We’re getting our ducks in order.

Thanks much for your careful and prayerful consideration,

Rich

By Rev. Dr. Derrick Elliott

Last week, I was honored to officiate two memorial services here in Arizona. Shortly after, I traveled to Louisiana to attend my aunt's funeral—not as a pastor, but as a nephew, son, brother, and cousin. It reminded me that while we as clergy wear many hats—pastor, counselor, officiant, and comforter—the roles we hold within our own families can be the most difficult to navigate. In times of grief, we are called to lead and sit quietly with our sorrow, love, and loss.

Funerals and memorials are full of sadness, but they also bring moments of joy. We tell stories, laugh through tears, and remember what mattered most. In the South, we often say someone has "gone on to glory"—a phrase filled with sorrow and hope.

Prestemon Affirmed to Serve as AGM, Co-Executive, Global Ministries

Rev. Shari Prestemon heads to General Synod 35 to be elected as the next AGM for UCC’s Love of Neighbor Ministries.

The Board voted unanimously on March 7 to nominate Prestemon, who has been leading the Love of Neighbor Ministries, a ministry she’s guided for the last 13 months as its interim executive. The final step is confirmation of her candidacy by the 35th General Synod, July 11-15 in Kansas City, where she’ll need a 60% majority of the more than 700 voting delegates.

AGM for LoC Ministries Search to Begin Again After Synod

The search committee for the role of Associate General Minister for Love of Church did not identify a candidate to recommend to the United Church of Christ Board during their March 6-8 meeting.

“Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to say, ‘No, we have not yet found the right nominee for this time and this place,’” said Julia Gaughan, UCCB chair. “I commend the Search Committee for their diligent and thorough work, and I trust that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide this Board, this Church, and the future Search Committee in the process of discernment for the next Associate General Minister for Love of Church.”