Read the full newsletter here.
Highlights in this issue:
The ADA and The Church....It’s Complicated!
Building up a New World
How Many Postcards Can Your Congregation Collect?
Resources Available from Reproductive Justice Town Hall at Synod
Faith In Action
AFN heat relief bag packing event drew over 100 volunteers
Over 1,500 bags filled with a wide variety of health-oriented supplies were assembled for handing out by community members and at cooling and respite centers. AFN thanks everyone who participated and supported the event through donations of supplies and funds.
The AZFamily interview with AFN Executive Director Rev. Katie Sexton-Wood covers a little more about the Heat Relief Initiative.
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Defend the rights of our transgender siblings
As our UCC General Synod has affirmed, transgender and nonbinary people are beloved by God. We are called not just to affirm and stand in solidarity with our trans siblings, but to actively work toward equitable access to the full sphere of public life for trans folks.
We as people of faith either work to combat this wave of hate, or are complicit in its perpetuation. We have a call to uphold the dignity and value of each person, knowing all of us bear the Imago Dei.
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JPANet: One year after Dobbs, the fight for reproductive justice continues
We must remain committed to preserving and protecting access to the full range of reproductive health care – including legal abortion – as an imperative rooted in our deeply-held faith beliefs in social justice, moral agency, and religious liberty for all. Please contact your elected leaders to ask them to introduce and support legislation protecting an individual’s right to access abortion and the full range of reproductive healthcare access.
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UCC Webinar— Seeing through the Smoke: Wildfires, Climate, and a Path Forward
How can we find a path forward in addressing the wildfires that have created a landscape of crisis in our climate changed world? This webinar will feature leading thinkers and practitioners in answering this question.
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JPANet: Take Action this Gun Violence Awareness Month
Our faith compels is to declare that a culture of violence and death is not inevitable. We are not powerless in making these changes; we can take steps to end gun violence. Tell your elected leaders to summon the moral courage and take immediate action.
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JPANet: End the Torture of Solitary
We must call on Congress to end the use of torture in the form of solitary confinement in our federal prisons and jails. As people of faith who follow Christ that proclaimed release to the captive, let us act as Christ’s body to proclaim the release of those tortured in our name to create a truly just system of restoration, not retribution.
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UCC Webinar—Seizing an Opportunity: Strengthening EPA Protections in 2023
The coming months at the EPA present a significant opportunity to save thousands of lives, address societal inequalities, and put the United States on a path to achieve 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035. The next Creation Justice Webinar will discuss this opportunity and how communities of faith can make the most of it. Even if you cannot make the webinar at its scheduled time on June 14th at 1 pm ET, still sign-up, and we will send you a link to a recording of it.
PS: This webinar provides helpful background for churches that are engaged in the the UCC's Climate Hope Cards campaign. Churches from across the country are gathering signed petition postcards to deliver to the EPA. Download cards, get a toolkit, and register your congregation to get updates.
Read MoreJPANet: June Newsletter
In this month’s newsletter:
A Moral Call to End Solitary Confinement, Torture in Our Name
Reproductive Justice Working Group of the UCC
Be an Advocate for the Right to Read
How Many Postcards Can Your Congregation Collect?
Train to be a UCC Climate Ambassador
June 20 is World Refugee Day
UCC Webinar—Seizing an Opportunity: Strengthening EPA Protections in 2023
Faith for Pride!
Immigrant Welcoming Congregations Toolkit
A Catholic and Reformed Understanding of Justice
Justice Resources
Packing Heat Relief Bags: An Interfaith Community Service Event
Heat Relief Bags
Interfaith Service Event
Central United Methodist Church
1875 N Central Ave, Phoenix AZ 85004
Join Arizona Faith Network for an afternoon of community service. Together we will pack heat relief bags for community members and cooling centers to hand out to those in need of heat relief.
Call for permanent protection of the Grand Canyon
Join Tribal and Faith Leaders across Arizona to call for permanent protection of the Grand Canyon by asking President Biden to create Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument by signing this letter today!
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Feed All Who Hunger: Repeal Drug Felony Ban on SNAP
Denying access to a vital program like SNAP because of past or current involvement with the drug trade does not promote public safety or deter crime. Rather, it adds another cruel and needless barrier to successful re-entry and rebuilding of lives. As people of faith seeking to love mercy and do justice, we must lift our collective voices and tell our leaders that hunger should not be a reality for anyone. Urge your elected leaders to support the RESTORE Act.
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Support Palestinian Refugees
The total number of Palestinian refugees is over 7 million. Many of these refugees still live in overcrowded semi-permanent refugee “camps” in the Middle East with no clear future, despite UN resolutions affirming their rights to return to their homes and compensation for their losses.
To help meet the needs of Palestinian refugees, Congress should support UNRWA robustly – at least at pre-2016 levels ($390 million) – and to ensure the continuation of that funding for 2023 and beyond.
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UCC Global H.O.P.E. E-News
In this month's issue:
Connecting UCC churches who participated in the phenomenal mass sponsorship of Afghan evacuees in 2021-2022
Partners in Service 2023
Global H.O.P.E. Position Opening: Minister for Disaster Response and Recovery
Disaster Ministries Invites all Conferences and Congregations to join the Willing to Respond Network
Inclusivity in Disaster
Congratulations to Disaster Ministries for receiving the WISE Certification!
Appeals to Support Neighbors
JPANet: May Newsletter
In this month's issue:
The Nakba, Then and Now
Justice in Action in D.C.
Swords into Plowshares
Apartheid-Free Communities - Take the Pledge!
The UCC’s Climate Hope Cards Campaign Kicks Off!
UCC Webinar: Stop Cop City—A Moral Call
Protecting Pregnant & Postpartum Workers: Parent Town Hall
No Faith in Fossil Fuels: A Climate Finance Summit
Webinar: How to Get Energy Efficiency Grants for Congregations
On Mother’s Day: Faith Leaders Call to End Gun Violence
...and more.
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UCC Webinar on Police Violence and Environmental Justice
In Atlanta, faith leaders have been involved in a struggle to confront violence in multiple forms as they seek to prevent the destruction of the Weelaunee Forest for the building of a police training facility in a predominantly Black community. Through their actions for a just world, these faith leaders have additionally sought to honor Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán who was killed by the Georgia State Police while protecting the forest.
This webinar will feature faith leaders from Atlanta as they share with us about this cause of justice.
Even if you cannot make the webinar at its scheduled time, still sign-up, and we will send you a link to a recording of it. Register now!
Read MoreSun Lakes UCC's Lenten Giving Project supports Justa Center
The second part of the Lenten Giving Project by the members of Sun Lakes United Church of Christ, helped to support Justa Center. The church collected the following types of items from March 18th through April 1st for Justa Center: personal care items, paper goods and bottled water and other items to help in the hot Arizona weather. This picture shows the van load of items that were taken to Justa Center on April 18th by Frank and Pat Naive, members of The Mission Team. Along with the items collected, a check for $400.00 was also sent to Justa Center.
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Be a leader for environmental justice
We stand on the shoulders of those who have struggled for justice before us and gotten us this far. It is now on us as people of faith to continue the work toward caring for creation and fulfilling a just world for all. Contact your elected leaders to see that the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act (H.R. 1705/S. 919), named in honor of the “climate warrior” and bill champion, becomes law.
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Period Packs (Menstrual Hygiene Kits) Service Project at General Synod
In the United States, some people cannot afford menstrual hygiene products such as pads, tampons, and other items that promote healthy practices. This inability to purchase hygiene products is known as period poverty, affecting over 22 million individuals. Church World Service (CWS), a UCC global partner, introduced a Period Pack (Menstrual Hygiene Kit) to help individuals living in period poverty. The kit provides several products that promote cleanliness and health during a menstrual cycle.
Delegates and guests to General Synod are invited to participate in assembling 1,000 CWS Period Packs (Menstrual Hygiene Kits) as a service project.
If you are not attending General Synod, you may participate by assembling kits at your church using these easy instructions.
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JPANet: We must do more to end gun violence
Our faith gives us rituals and voice to grieve with those who are mourning. But it also instructs us to let our prayers become actions. To not just lament but work to build a world restored. Our faith compels is to declare that a culture of violence and death is not inevitable. We are not powerless in making these changes; we can take steps to end gun violence. Tell your elected leaders to summon the moral courage and take immediate action.
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