A VERY exciting day at Desert Garden UCC—-the NEW ORGAN ARRIVED! The removal of the current organ and installation will begin this week.
"The dream is becoming a reality." Hope House of Sedona, a ministry of Church of the Red Rocks,has found a new house manager, and interviewed families that are ready to move in. “My name is Regina Rose Bengson-Alonzo, and …I couldn't be more excited for this amazing opportunity to help families reach their full potential, that they would otherwise not be able to achieve on their own."
On August 18, at 7 p.m. the inaugural Spanish-English / English-Spanish class will begin at Encanto Community Church. The goal is to help non-English speakers learn some basic conversational English while teaching non-Spanish speakers a bit of conversational Spanish. They will also hold Youth Tutoring Night at the same time. Interested students should bring their textbooks or computer and homework assignments and be ready to work.
Last week, First Christian Church in Las Cruces had to cancel its worship service! Earlier in the week, a member found a bees nest outside near the front of the sanctuary. A bee keeper came and removed about 30-40,000 bees. However some could not be immediately removed. Bees had penetrated the dry wall and were inside the sanctuary kitchen. More than a few unwelcome visitors……. The beekeeper came back to finish the job and all is well this week.
The Sahuarita Food Bank and Community Resource Center started its dream in a tiny food pantry in The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, and some of those volunteers are still there! SFB-CRC is proud of its 160+ volunteer force, ranging from teens to folks in their 90s, covering roughly 60 different volunteer jobs. Because of current inflation rates, the numbers seeking assistance from food banks like SFB are rapidly increasing. In the last month,they added 60 households to their client database, and since January, the number of seniors needing help with food has increased by 25 percent.
Quilts of Honor is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing healing, loving quilts to those who have served in harms way in our active military and to veterans in appreciation of their sacrifice and service. “Quilted Hugs of Gratitude” are made with the hope that these quilts will provide comfort, love and healing to those who have given so much. Last week, two members of Casas Adobes were honored with quilts: Faye And Tom Goslin. Faye retired from the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander and Tom retried as an Air Force 3-Star General.
After a hiatus of two years the Read to Me program at UMOM is back! Some members of Black Mountain UCC were there to share in the fun. Read to Me is a program where volunteers spend time reading with children ages 4-12 at UMOM's family shelter. These sessions help promote literacy through positive, one-on-one experiences,
Ho-ho-ho Encanto! With no chill in the air and beads of sweat on faces instead of snowflakes, Encanto once again will celebrate the most joyous of holidays, Christmas in August! On Sunday, August 14th there will be a Christmas Supper Potluck following church. The main dishes will be provided and congregants are invited to bring scrumptious side dishes and deserts. Surely, all will leave with bellies that look like bowls full of jelly. Merry (almost) Christmas!
Sacred Grounds is a jazz music coffeehouse meeting at Scottsdale UCC every Thursday evening at 7:30. The income generated has allowed SCUCC to give an eye popping $56,000 in mission giving. Pretty good stuff to be sure but sacred? Some of the Sacred Grounds volunteers would say their partnership with the Bob Ravenscroft and the Jazz Bird foundation is sacred. Member Patti S. sees sacredness in the reactions of the audience at the end of a performance and feels the sacredness in the work itself and in relationships with the other volunteers, the musicians, and the audience over the years. See the upcoming Sacred Grounds schedule HERE.
(This is really fascinating and I had to share. Thank you Scottsdale UCC for highlighting it. -Holly)
This article is a transcript of the closing message that Diana Butler-Bass gave at this year's Wild Goose Festival. Don’t miss the new information that has been found through some new research about how the original manuscripts were altered.
Rincon collected 841 jars of peanut butter for ICS and 81 water bottles for Sister Jose Women's Center during July. I didn’t see the numbers from other Tucson churches. But as I said last week, ICS and the people in Tucson are the real winners here. Thank you, Tucson UCCs!
The DACA Fund at First Congregational in Prescott has been assisting a local family—Francisco, Franceny, and Fernando—for the past several years, providing support for their educational expenses and tuition at Arizona postsecondary schools including ASU, Prescott College, and Yavapai College. The hope is to continue to aid them in achieving their academic goals and life’s dreams. Both Francisco and Fernando have completed their studies and are now working. Franceny is still pursuing her studies at Prescott College and hopes to earn her Master's degree in December.
The Church of the Beatitudes is excited to unveil its new Communion table in their worship space. The simplified design of the table is the collaborative work of several local artists and accentuates the colors and shapes of our 2019 renovated Worship Center. The table top is a mosaic of inlaid wood and compliments the metal Chi Rho symbol on the front. Chi Rho, pronounced as “KEE-roe,” is an old Christian symbol—a Christian monogram used by early Christians to acknowledge Christ and Christianity. LEARN MORE HERE»
On August 28, Conference Minister Rev. Dr. Bill Lyons will visit Shepherd of the Hills to preach and offer Pastor Rock and Ernie a Blessing as they travel to the Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Karlsruhe, Germany, as a Voting Delegate, and as Representatives of the Shepherd Community.