Faith In Action
Many of you were first introduced to the Decentering Whiteness Taskforce during our Annual Meeting. The Decentering Whiteness Taskforce hosted the panel discussion “Decentering Whiteness 101.” We were thrilled with the amount of interest that we received after the panel discussion AND we learned that many folks were confused about who and what we are. Read this article by Rev. Rhonda Newby-Torres (chair) to learn more.
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From Bishop William J. Barber, II, DMin and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis:
In less than a month, thousands of impacted people, poor & low wage workers, and allies will join us in the nation’s capital for the June 29th “Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly & Moral March on Washington D.C. & to the Polls” to demand that those running for elected office this year embrace a moral public policy agenda.
This Monday, June 17, please join us for a National Virtual Rally from anywhere in the United States by watching a livestream we will be posting on our website.
During the National Virtual Rally, we’ll be taking a moment to celebrate the powerful work of hundreds of impacted people and organizers who’ve helped build this movement and who are making the upcoming assembly in Washington DC a reality.
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The United Church of Christ’s Our Faith Our Vote Campaign is our ongoing commitment to equip you with the tools for nonpartisan faithful engagement in our democratic process. The campaign is made up of three main components; voter registration, issue education, and voter empowerment. The 2024 Our Faith Our Vote campaign asks the church to answer the call of 1 John 3:18 to “let us not love with words or speech, but in action and in truth,” by “voting with love.” Vote with love for creation, for our neighbors both here and abroad, for a just peace, for repair and reconciliation of the brokenness of our nation. And encourage your family, friends, and community to do the same. The 2024 election season is well underway, so please check this page for updates to learn how you can “vote with love” this year.
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The next UCC Climate Action Assembly will feature Cora Wynet, who is the Senior Director of Research at Rewiring America, the nation's leading electrification nonprofit, focused on electrifying our homes and communities. She will help us further the UCC's commitment to electrifying our churches and the homes of our members.
Every two months the UCC Council for Climate Justice hosts a Climate Action Assembly to further collective efforts on three endeavors launched this year: the Freedom from Plastics Campaign, the Electrification Checklist Initiative, and the Vote for Climate Hope Campaign. Each of these programs is rooted in recent General Synod resolutions. Climate Action Assemblies are open to all members of the UCC. Register to join us!
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Juneteenth 2024 - Racial Justice Ministries and Join the Movement invite you to be on a journey of engagement during the week of June 17th by remembering and discovering the healing practices that sustained freedom in the bones of our ancestors, before and after emancipation. Through music and prayer, poetry and art, reflection, and ritual, may we find a medicine bundle, a libation, a Brush Harbor and a clearing, a poultice that teaches us the sound of freedom, echoing from legacies of healing and singing futures of wholeness.
Click here to learn more, and here to register for a webinar on June 20th.
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UCC Women's and Gender Justice Ministries Launches Menstrual Justice Toolkit
Riding on the enthusiasm stirred up at General Synod in 2023, National Ministries Women's and Gender Justice has released a new toolkit to help congregations host their own period pack events to assemble menstrual hygiene kits for our partner Church World Service. Learn more by visiting the Encounters at the Well page.
Read MoreThe new UCC Economic Justice Ministries’ landing page is now live – www.ucc.org/fillthejar! We are called to “Fill the JAR” of God’s economic justice. Going forward, this site and phrase will be the central hub and framework for equipping churches and people with opportunities and resources for measurably manifesting economic justice. “JAR” is an acronym for Jubilee, Abundance, and Reparations – the three overlapping fountains our Still-Speaking God pours out for collective thriving. In the coming weeks and months, “Fill the JAR” content will expand broadly. Visit and bookmark this page to learn more!
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The United Church of Christ gathered this past weekend to celebrate the start of Pride month as part of the Love is Louder campaign, with 16 Ohio UCC churches participating and walking in the Pride parade on Saturday, chanting “Love is louder.” …This election year has triggered higher amounts of harmful anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation, so we must continue to believe in the work of honoring our bodies with soft space and mirroring our kin-ship to one another. Read More and keep an eye out for updates to the Our Faith Our Vote page.
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On June 18th, the UCC will launch its second Climate Hope card collection campaign that will build upon the success of the more than 8,000 postcards we delivered to the senior officials of the EPA last year. This year the art of 12-year-old Charlotte from Glenside, Pennsylvania will be on the cover of our Vote for Climate Hope Pledge Cards. Between now and November 1st, UCC churches from across the country will be collecting the pledges of those committed to voting their values in November. We know people are more likely to vote when (a) it is connected to a cause they care about, (b) they make a commitment to others vote, and (c) they get a reminder to vote near the time of the election.
Learn more at our online kickoff event on June 18th at 3 pm ET!
Read MoreAre you in the Phoenix area? Come watch this film!
Bad Faith Watch Party
Friday June 7th 7:00-9:30 PM
First Church UCC, 1407 N 2nd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004
The Arizona Poor People’s Campaign and First Church UCC, Foothills Christian Church, and the Arizona Faith Network are cohosting a film screening in collaboration with the Repairers of the Breach and the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. We invite you to attend this special screening of the new movie, "BAD FAITH - Christian Nationalism’s Unholy War on Democracy."
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As the attention of the world focuses on the 2024 elections, what will be the role of churches that embody the prophetic tradition of the Christian faith? What will preachers say from the pulpit? How will justice-centered ministries be called to act? These can be difficult questions to answer in the context of church cultures in which there is a fear of political conflict and polarization.
In this webinar, we will address these critical issues and questions with the help of our featured panelists. Dr. Obery Hendricks has authored both "The Politics of Jesus" and "Christians against Christianity," while the Rev. Dr. Leah Schade has authored both “Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide" and “Creation-Crisis Preaching.”
Even if you cannot make the webinar at its scheduled time on June 12th at 10 am AZ / 11 am NM&EP, still sign-up, and we will send you a link to a recording of it. Register now!
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Sunday, June 23, 4:00 - 6:00 pm
First Church UCC Phoenix
1407 N 2nd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004
Join AFN for an afternoon of community service! Together we will pack heat relief bags for community members and cooling centers to hand out to those in need of heat relief.
Purchase heat relief items listed on the RSVP form linked below and bring them to our packing night.
RSVP FORM (includes additional details)
Not in the Phoenix area? You can donate funds for AFN to purchase items
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Join this webinar on Thursday April 18 at 11 am AZ time / 12 pm NM & EP time.
The reparatory justice movement is gaining momentum in communities across the country. During this election year, it is vital that impassioned activists inject the need to create a culture repair into the ongoing political debates defining elections at the local, state, and federal levels. To help us with practical ways we can do this, we will be joined by Rev. Robert Turner, author of the new book Creating a Culture of Repair: Taking Action on the Road to Reparations. In his book, Rev. Turner provides an accessible guide for individuals and groups wanting to influence significant institutional action while also acting on their own to repair the effects of racial injustice in our communities, churches, and spheres of influence.
Following our conversation with Rev. Turner, we will provide essential points to emphasize at candidate town halls, rallies, community forums, and other campaign events in your community. Register here.
From Rev. Talitha Arnold, Senior Pastor of The United Church of Santa Fe:
I’m writing to share an invitation from Sr. Joan Brown of New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light to a special program (and breakfast) on "Faith, Climate, and Creation Care" next Tuesday, April 10, 8-10 am at First Presbyterian, ABQ. (If coming in person isn't an option, you can tune for the presentation piece at the link below).
Bishop Michael Hunn from the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande and I will share our reflections and invite conversation on questions around religion, climate, and religious leadership in our challenging times.
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In recent months, we have seen international news coverage focus on what is happening in Gaza and Ukraine. While these crises are important to highlight and do need to be kept at the forefront of the news coverage, other conflicts in other parts of the world get less news coverage and are less well known. Our global partners are responding to various conflicts by meeting the needs of their communities in many ways including refugee response, emergency food and sanitation supplies, and cash assistance. Our partners are speaking, and we must listen. Read more here.
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On April 17th at 3:30pm ET, join Gender & Sexuality Justice Ministries for the beginning of their new series featuring Advocacy 101 topics throughout the remainder of the year! For the month of April, they will move through the Love is Louder Tool Kit featuring Communal Care for Trans & Non-Binary Siblings. In this webinar, you'll be introduced to gender & sexuality terms, the issues in front of us today, and ways to cultivate communal care in your context. Register here.
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Everywhere we look in our culture you will find plastic. One place where you will not find plastic, however, is in the Bible.
This resource is designed to help congregations think more deeply about the ways that plastics impact our lives and God's creation. It is also intended to equip people of faith to take actions to address this epidemic in faithful and practical ways.
Download this resource to find stories of individuals and communities making a positive impact, sermon starters to spark meaningful discussions in your church, worship resources to unite in prayer and reflection, and actionable steps to address the plastic crisis in your life, community and, our world.
In preparation for Earth Sunday, a new resource has been produced to help congregations think more deeply about the ways that plastics impact our lives and God's creation. The title of this new resource is "Plastic Jesus: Real Faith in a Synthetic World." Join us for a webinar on Wednesday, April 10th at 1 pm ET as we hear from Derrick Weston, the lead author of the resource. Register now!
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Join us on April 11th to learn more about how congregations can build an ecology of community safety that is rooted in care, investing in each other, believing in each other, and trusting each other and the rhythms and cycles around/within us. With our guest thought leaders and faith practitioners, we explore a “Ecology of Community Safety” guide to offer practical skills, psycho-social care practices, planning tools, and analysis of current conditions, all towards practicing new ways of creating safety within our own congregational contexts. Register here to watch the program live.
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From AZ Poor People’s Campaign newsletter:
Earlier this month, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) released a Public Notice that it intends to issue an Individual Industrial Recycled Water Permit to Resolution Copper Mining. The permit would allow Resolution Copper to deliver water obtained from the dewatering of their mine facilities at Oak Flat and near Superior to the New Magma Irrigation and Drainage District (NMIDD) where it would be mixed with water coming from the Colorado River via the CAP canal and used for irrigation.
A 30-day public comment period is open, ending on April 7, 2024. No public hearing is currently scheduled.
Please write a letter to ADEQ to extend the comment period and to ask for a public hearing.
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