Conference News

“God gave us one day of rest; unions gave us two – and Labor Day weekend gives us three!”

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“God gave us one day of rest; unions gave us two – and Labor Day weekend gives us three!”

Would your church be interested in having an area labor leader for a 5-minute ‘minute for mission’ as part of the AFL-CIO’s ‘Labor in the Pulpit’ program?

There are openings in the Phoenix area during Labor Day weekend (or the weekends before and after). Please reach out to UCC Minister for Economic Justice Rev. Seth Wispelwey at wispelweys@ucc.org to schedule the visit.

Not in the Phoenix area but want to pursue this for next year? Reach out to Seth about 2025!

(If your congregation wants more than five minutes, Seth can also arrange a longer message.)

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Is Your Church Required to File the New IRS BOI?

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Is Your Church Required to File the New IRS BOI?

We want to bring to your attention an important new IRS filing requirement for churches and non-profits: the FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI).

Here are the key points:

  • 1. Churches and nonprofits are NOT automatically exempt from BOI reporting.

  • 2. If your church or nonprofit has a valid 501(c)(3) determination letter from the IRS, you are NOT required to report BOI.

  • 3. However, churches that are automatically considered 501(c)(3) organizations for certain purposes without an IRS determination letter fall under a different requirement:

    • Those churches operating as 501(c)(3) organizations under the presumption of tax exemption, without obtaining a 501(c)(3) determination letter, ARE required to file their BOI information and any future updates.

The crucial factor is whether you have an IRS determination letter stating your church has valid 501(c)(3) status. If not, your church or non-profit must comply with the BOI federal reporting requirement. We strongly advise consulting your accountant for clarification.

We hope this information will be helpful to our SWC congregations.

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SWC's Resilience and Revitalization Grant

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SWC's Resilience and Revitalization Grant

The Southwest Conference's Resilience and Revitalization Grant is intended to aid congregations within the Conference in doing the work of ministry and mission. If your congregation has faced obstacles and overcome challenges (resilience),  and is looking to fund a project or initiative focused on making a lasting impact and bringing about growth (revitalization) , we encourage you to apply.

In this first round of applications, we will only receive 20 applications.

Click here to access the application. Please submit no later than September 15.

**Please note: this grant is not intended to fund capital campaigns, or repairs to facilities. Also, those who are granted funding are only permitted to submit an application once within a 12 month period. The amount that can be applied for ranges from $500 - $3,000.

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Faith Formation Practitioner certificate for lay and authorized congregational leaders

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Faith Formation Practitioner certificate for lay and authorized congregational leaders

The lay and authorized congregational leaders can now obtain the Faith Formation Practitioner certificate through this new program. This initiative aims to assist the conferences and committees on ministry by providing a comprehensive course of study for lay ministry that is progressive, theologically sound, and based on the Marks of Faithful and Effective Authorized Ministers.

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Free Dosia Carlson hymnals

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Free Dosia Carlson hymnals

From Janelle Tapphorn, the Marketing and Outreach Manager at Duet: Partners In Health & Aging:

We have a small supply of "UCC-friendly" hymnals "God's Glory II" written exclusively by the late Rev. Dr. Dosia Carlson that we are giving away to any church interested in new songs for worship. There are 50 hymns composed by the late Rev. Dosia within this collection and offer progressive and thought-provoking lyrics for inspiration and worship.

There are 650 free copies available at our office; interested parties can contact me at (602) 274-5022, ext. 142.

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Join a Community of Practice!

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Join a Community of Practice!

A Community of Practice (COP) is a great way for clergy to connect and offer support to one another. It is dedicated to strengthening and sustaining excellent pastoral leaders for a lifetime of creative, effective service and has proven to be very effective in doing so. Being a minister in any setting is often a lonely job and the COPs encourage lifetime friendships, support and nurture as well as spiritual growth among the other 4 or 5 participants in each group.

We currently have three COPs in the SWC, accepting new members.

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