The UCC Mental Health Network has been working diligently to bring attention to mental health in our congregations. The program is for congregations to become WISE (Welcoming, Inclusive, Supportive and Engaged) about mental health. These days, given that there is global anxiety about this new COVID-19, one of the fallouts could be the lessening of community connections leading to growing isolation. The phrase “social distancing” has a chilling edge to it as well as a reality so as to prevent spreading the virus. Paying attention to the downsides of this pandemic can lead to some creative ways to sustain the connections even when the physical connections are not recommended. Being attentive to any who are disconnecting due to this virus, whether or not there is a mental health challenge, the well being of everyone can be enhanced. 

From Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival:

We support the call to pass House Coronavirus Bill - HR6201 - Families First Coronavirus Response Act because it provides critical resources for food assistance, testing, unemployment insurance, immediate paid sick days, and protection for health care workers. Importantly, this bill also includes things the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has been demanding for a long time — a suspension of work requirements for SNAP, worker protections in the form of paid sick leave, increased resources for Medicaid and free testing for all, including the uninsured.  

Right now, Members of Congress are considering an immoral “merit” or points-based immigration system. As people of faith, we recognize the inherent dignity of all people and families - and reject any proposal that commodifies individuals or denies protection to people based on arbitrary evaluations. Any proposal should strengthen family unity, modernize the family immigration system, and remove barriers to immigrants seeking to adjust their status.

We are asking faith leaders to sign on to this important letter by COB Friday, March 20th in support of our current family-based immigration system and diversity immigrant visa program which have helped to create the rich, vibrant, and multicultural U.S. communities of today.

Conference Minister Rev. Bill Lyons received an email last week, naming Rincon Congregational and First Congregational Flagstaff as recipients of the Neighbors in Need grants. We’re so very appreciative of the close communication we have had here about the ministry that these two churches are doing and our effort to support them in it. Keep telling the story!

March 19 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm at Temple Chai, 4645 E Marilyn Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85032

With Joy Ladin, the author of eleven books, including 2018’s The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective (Brandeis UP), a finalist for both a Lambda Literary Award and Triangle Award that received a starred review in Publishers Weekly.

Suggested Donation: $18

Register here

From First Church Phoenix:

This Lent we invite you to choose a spiritual discipline that provides an opportunity to put your alms together with others at First Church in partnership with RIP Medical Debt to buy and abolish medical debt, thus manifesting the great commandments: to love God and love your neighbor, and to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God.

Read the March-April 2020, Vol. 5 Issue 2.

Getting to the Root of It

March is Women's History Month. In honor of this month, we asked Brenda Joyner and Loey Powell, both called by the Rev.Traci Blackmon to act as consultants to a Women's Table, to connect this month to our faith and to the UCC's history of advocacy for women.

Because all Americans have the right to breathe clean air, the United Church of Christ has just released a new report that identifies the 100 industrial facilities spewing the most toxic air pollution in heavily populated areas across the United States.

“Breath to the People: Sacred Air and Toxic Pollution” pinpoints the locations of the U.S. “Toxic 100 super polluters” in 28 states and documents the hazardous chemicals being released into the air. The report includes a detailed demographic breakdown of people living within three miles of these toxic facilities. Notable in the demographic details are the number of children under age 5 living near the Toxic 100 — the most vulnerable members of the population because of their developing bodies and brains.

Leaders of the church, known for its environmental justice work, unveiled the study at an Ash Wednesday news conference Feb. 26 in Washington D.C., joined by a representative of the Environmental Integrity Project. The research firm, enlisted by the UCC to compile the report, based its research on self-reported data from the 15,500 facilities included in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxic Release Inventory.

Friday, March 13, 6:30-8:30, 2020 and Saturday, March 14, 9-12 noon

First Congregational Church UCC, 2801 Lomas Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico

How Do We Live Religious/Spiritual Lives of Integrity in a Time of Climate Systems Change?

A Special Retreat With Dr. Larry Rasmussen

What needed gifts do faith communities bring to climate action?

written by Rev. Karen MacDonald

While Rincon UCC – Tucson is in an interim pastor season, things are growing. Our Creation Care Ministry, begun about a year and a half ago, received a generous grant this year from the UCC’s Neighbors in Need offering to nurture the expansion of our ministry.

The heart of our work this year and next is to re-wild significantly neglected portions of our campus as native habitat. This picture shows how it looks now. We’re imagining a vibrant desert landscape to come!