Desert Garden United Church of Christ has recently responded to two requests for backpacks. HART Pantry received 24 new backpacks for its Back-to-School Drive. The backpacks will be distributed to at-risk teens identified by school counselors and other staff. The Mission Outreach Team was also able to provide 72 new backpacks to Lutheran Social Services. These will be distributed at the LSS Pop-up Shelter for Refugee Resettlement. The Pop-up Shelter is ICE’s drop-off site for refugees en route to their new destinations. The church will also be conducting an appeal for bedding and linens for the shelter.
It's been 2 years since Church of the Beatitudes has had the opportunity to help Justa Center with it's annual Labor Day Luncheon. But this Labor Day weekend, they will assemble and serve meals to the elderly of the community that are currently experiencing homelessness. It's a beautiful and meaningful way to end the summer holiday.
The General Synod of the United Church of Christ engages in advocacy through the filing of amicus, or friend of the court, briefs in certain lawsuits. An amicus brief is filed by a person or organization that is not a party to the lawsuit, but has an interest in the case, and can assist the court by offering particular information or a unique viewpoint on the issues and outcome that may not be offered by the parties to the case. The United States Supreme Court’s 2021-2022 term ended on June 30, 2022. During this term, the General Synod participated as an amicus in three cases, the decisions in two of which represented significant changes in religious liberty law. Read more
Rev Tom Martinez of Desert Palm shared the joyful news that as of this week, his wife Catalina and children Emilio and Antonia are now U.S. citizens. Catalina and the kids arrived in the US roughly six years ago.
Two members of First Congregational of Albuquerque are now hosting a young adult group called Y.A.P. (Young Adult Perspectives).They meet at a local coffee shop and are comprised of a community of friends that centers on the perspective of young adults from both First Congregational and the larger community.
Rev Drew from Oro Valley UCC had an unfortunate ending to his vacation. Toddler son George fell out of his crib, broke his arm and needed surgery. The good news is everything went as well or better than expected. He is healing and laughing. Mother Jade is providing minute by minute care and love as he recovers, but prayers for George are welcome.
The newest exhibition of the Beatitudes Arts Council is by Photographer, David Pool, "Hummingbirds of Phoenix." Testing his wife's patience, David spent much of 2018–2020 photographing hummingbirds in his backyard in north central Phoenix. “I just wanted to see if I could photograph a hummingbird at all.” says David. “I thought it would be a good photo skills exercise. I had no idea that an obsession would develop and that the project would evolve into two books and an art show.”
The National UCC has an interesting article about a congregation in Florida. The space is shared by a UCC Church and a Jewish Synagogue. First Congregational of Albuquerque former member Danny Eitingon, who has recently moved to Florida, is active in this community. Click HERE to read the article.