From First Church Phoenix:

Thanks to everyone who has donated. Despite the global pandemic we have been able to raise nearly $6000.00. This is short of our goal of $15,000. If you have been waiting to donate, NOW is the time!

Join people of faith for a live discussion regarding the impacts of mass incarceration and COVID-19 in Arizona. Join us to learn more about the crisis of mass incarceration driven by systemic racism. Hear from previously incarcerated people directly impacted by this crisis and healthcare and community leaders who are trying to help prevent COVID-19 from spreading.

Urging the United States to oppose “Israeli annexation of occupied Palestinian lands,” leaders of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are encouraging church members to study and act on a new ecumenical call “to end the oppression of the Palestinian people.”

As people of faith we are called not just to envision a more just world, but are called to create it. Contact your member of Congress today to express your support for the “No Ban Act” or H.R. 2214, the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act, and ask them to urge leadership to bring it to the House floor for a vote.

June 26, 2020

Today, Bishop Reddall, on behalf of the Arizona leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), The United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Grand Canyon and de Cristo Presbyteries, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, and the African American Christian Clergy Coalition sent the following letter to Carol Ditmore, Director of the Arizona Department of Housing

The United Church of Christ invites you to an on demand showing of a new film on the life and work of congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis. Buy a $12 ticket to stream John Lewis: Good Trouble and $5 goes to support UCC justice ministries.

“We’ve asked UCC advocates to help us unpack the complex justice issues that we’re working on. This month, Rev. Michael Malcom, Executive Director of Interfaith Power and Light, ordained UCC minister, and advocate for environmental justice, looks at the connection between industrial pollution and racism, and offers powerful testimony to the Black experience.”

Mind, Body, Spirit: Linking Lives for Health and Wholeness
The Wellness Ministries of the UCC Newsletter
(formerly The Faith Community Nurse Health Ministry Newsletter)

As this newsletter is being written, many states are experiencing recent increases in the incidence of Covid-19 cases and hospitals in some states are nearing capacity for available ICU beds.

As the COVID-19 pandemic cuts in-person voter activism, UCC ‘Our Faith, Our Vote’ goes digital.

Catch the replay of this very important evening to honor so many women and men of African descent who recently lost their lives to acts of violence as a result of racism.

Beginning with "ONA 101" with Coalition Executive Director Andy Lang this Thursday, June 25, our webinars are the perfect stay-at-home activity for ONA and not-yet ONA churches alike! Learn how to lead your church through an ONA process in ways that build consensus and reduce the risk of conflict. And existing ONA churches can learn new ways to strengthen your ONA covenant.

Our Faith Our Vote is the UCC’s campaign to encourage faithful action during the election season. Focused on civic engagement, voter registration information, issue education, and voter mobilization, OFOV offers resources for congregations to engage in faithful non-partisan registration. The DC Office has asked us to share their slides, which can be shared with congregations for use in their worship services as Mission Moments. Please share broadly.

Congress has starved state and local communities of the resources they need to run free, fair and accessible elections. We have seen widespread polling place closures, long lines with hours-long waits, a backlog of absentee ballot requests and machine breakdowns in several state primaries. This is a wake-up call for the November elections. Congress must pass the HEROES Act now to provide state and local officials the critical resources to ensure we have safe, fair, and accessible elections in November.

Urge your senators to pass the HEROES Act now to make sure every voter in every community can be heard.

First responders should not cause the deaths of people suffering from addiction and/or mental illness.

Four panelists (a spiritual leader, an environmentalist, a scholar, and a student activist) will tell the story of how they each became eco-advocates and how 'Laudato si’ inspires and informs their life and work (the “story of me”).  Together they will discuss what difference Pope Francis’ encyclical makes for our lives and culture  (the “story of us”), and how listening to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor is relevant to us today as our cities and our planet burn (the “story of now”).