Last week marked the end of Rev. Len Silvester’s 3 month "bridge" ministry at Church of the Red Rocks in Sedona, Az. The church presented Pastor Len & his wife, Liz, with an original Sedona Red Rock painting, done by Michael Redhawk. Their interim pastor, the Rev. Dr. Marvin Morgan arrived and he and Len shared a transitional service. Learn more about him here.
This month's mission outreach project at First Congregational in Prescott is the Prescott Area Shelter Services (PASS). PASS began as an emergency shelter in 2007, providing shelter during inclement weather for women and women with children. It's doors are now open year round. Guests (usually a maximum of 30) may stay for up to 90 days. During this time, various resource programs assist our guests to evaluate their goals and how they might achieve them. With the assistance of PASS staff, almost 90% of have found permanent housing. The Prescott church PASS team provides a monthly hot meal and other sundries/supplies.
The Weaving for Justice group are new tenants at First Christian Church in Las Cruces. Weaving for Justice is an all-volunteer, non-profit group which finds fair-trade markets for Maya weaving cooperatives, so that the weavers can maintain their cultural traditions and stay on their ancestral lands. All proceeds from the sales go directly to the Maya weaving cooperatives in Chiapas, comprising more than 150 weavers.
First Church Phoenix will be present for the street festivals for both the Willo (Feb 20) and Encanto (March 20) neighborhood home show tours so they can get to know their neighbors better and introduce the church to anyone looking for a spiritual community. First Church provides a spiritual community to connect with others, (re) discover faith, and engage in social action and volunteer service.
With a $33 million purchase in Ohio, the United Church of Christ’s campaign to relieve medical debt has just exceeded $104 million — and is now winding down.
Showing some Valentine’s Day love for its headquarters state, the UCC announced Feb. 14 that 10,757 households in 70 Ohio counties had received letters telling them their medical debt had been abolished. The debt buy was the latest in an effort the UCC has been waging for more than two years with the help of New York-based RIP Medical Debt. This one used $200,000 from a UCC Giving Tuesday campaign. As with all buys in the series, the UCC sent the money to RIP, which bought the debt for pennies on the dollar.
From the Arizona Faith Network: There's an urgent need for volunteers on Saturdays at the Welcome Center operated by the International Rescue Committee of Phoenix. They are currently receiving at least 250 people every day and currently have about 30 people on their list of volunteers and need at least 16 to help out on any given Saturday. Donations to cover the cost of meals are also needed. If you or others in your faith community could help, please contact Jane McNamara at janehmcnamara@gmail.com. All volunteers must be vaccinated.
The settling-in process continues for young Honduran guests, David and Brayan, at First Congregational in Albuquerque. In late January they both started classes at Central New Mexico Community College: in-person ESL classes four days a week, and an online high-school-equivalency class presented in Spanish. The classes seem to be going well. The guys continue volunteering two days a week at HopeWorks, and Brayan, who has basic barbering skills, has begun offering free haircuts to HopeWorks clients, using barbering tools that generous members of the church have provided. Brayan has also been working on acquiring a driver’s license, anticipating the day (hopefully soon) when the two of them will have work permits and can begin looking for part-time employment.
Over twenty bags of clothing, hygiene supplies, file folders, and miscellaneous items were dropped off last Saturday at Desert Palm, with numerous bags of additional clothing brought over the past 4 weeks. The donations have been taken to the Phoenix Welcome Center for distribution to those who will be grateful for the warm jacket, file folder to hold their papers, and warm sox and shoes to wear to their new “home.”
The Congregational Life Ministry at Rincon is holding a Fat Tuesday celebration and Jambalaya Cook-Off. Folks will have the opportunity to taste and vote for five jambalayas from five cooks from the Rincon family. Attendees will vote with their money for their favorite and all proceeds will benefit the Dunham feeding fund. They will also have a mask making table for all ages. Volunteers working on the Proud Project (total clean-out/up and review of closets, storage rooms, etc) discovered some Rincon Memorabilia that will be on a table for people to take home for free! Jazz will be playing. Sounds like a grand day.