Church News & Events
Share your news!
Pending review, we’ll publish it on the website and our weekly newsletter, In the Loop.
What’s happening at YOUR church? Tell us about it! Just write up an article and submit it to Wende by THURSDAY AT NOON to have it included in the following Monday’s Loop.
Wende reads your church newsletters and other materials and compiles the highlights to keep us up-to-date on the amazing work happening at the Southwest Conference churches and beyond.
Tag SWC and Wende on Facebook and Instagram to get our attention so we can share your posts! We’re @swcucc and Wende is @yeswende.
From First Church Phoenix:
Did you know that Powered By Love serves over 200 unsheltered neighbors every week right here on our church campus? In addition to our daily meal outreach, we also support local individuals/families with emergency food boxes—distributing over 500 lbs of food already this year!
Thanks to your donations, volunteer efforts, and ongoing support, our Unhoused Pantry is on track to distribute over 10,000 lunches this year—our highest volume to date—as we continue seeing steady year-over-year growth in community need.
Click through to read more.
What’s happening at YOUR church? Tell us about it! Just write up an article and submit it to Wende by THURSDAY AT NOON to have it included in the following Monday’s Loop.
Wende reads your church newsletters and other materials and compiles the highlights to keep us up-to-date on the amazing work happening at the Southwest Conference churches and beyond.
Tag SWC and Wende on Facebook and Instagram to get our attention so we can share your posts! We’re @swcucc and Wende is @yeswende.
First Congregational Albuquerque screened the documentary on October 11. Next up: Desert Garden UCC in Phoenix and Oro Valley UCC.
What’s happening at YOUR church? Tell us about it! Just write up an article and submit it to Wende by THURSDAY AT NOON to have it included in the following Monday’s Loop.
Wende reads your church newsletters and other materials and compiles the highlights to keep us up-to-date on the amazing work happening at the Southwest Conference churches and beyond.
Tag SWC and Wende on Facebook and Instagram to get our attention so we can share your posts! We’re @swcucc and Wende is @yeswende.
From Rev. William G. Utke, Pastor and Teacher at Desert Garden United Church of Christ, Sun City West, AZ:
Our congregation has recently received a very generous gift through the estate of a longtime member, Inez Smith. A substantial portion of that gift has been set aside to support enhancement and continuing education opportunities for clients, staff, and volunteers involved in nonprofit, educational, and service work. Nearly all of you represent organizations with which our congregation has partnered in the past, and we wanted to share this opportunity with you.
Inez (known as Iny to us) and her partner, Sue, were important and much-loved members of our congregation. Following Inez’s death, Sue moved to Denver to be closer to family. In Inez’s memory, Desert Garden UCC has established the Igniting New Yearnings (INY) Fund—a way of extending Inez’s generosity by supporting people who are learning, growing, and serving others.
We hope this fund can help provide meaningful opportunity to encourage continued learning, growth, and service. Please feel free to share this information with appropriate members of your staff, volunteers, or clients. It may be posted on social media and/or websites, bulletin boards, in newsletters or whatever way you provide information.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at pastorbill@desertgardenchurch.org.
The Voice of Hope with Charity Lockhart
October 12, 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM (Doors open at 7:00 PM)
First Church UCC sanctuary, 1407 N. 2nd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004
1 ticket for $30 | 2 for $50 | children 12 & under $15
Join Powered By Love at First Church UCC for the Voice of Hope Benefit Concert featuring powerhouse vocalist and America’s Got Talent Golden Buzzer winner Charity Lockhart! Experience an extraordinary night of soul, inspiration, and live music that directly transforms lives across our community. Every ticket sold helps to fund Powered By Love’s local food pantry—providing over 10,000 lunches a year to unhoused neighbors in Phoenix—and supports Charity’s foundation for women's housing and stability.
Congratulations to Rev. Susan Valiquette on being named a 2026 Peacemaker in Action by the Arizona Faith Network! Susan is being recognized for her commitment to interfaith understanding, community care, and faithful service, including her leadership in helping establish and grow AFN's Heat Relief ministry.
The Southwest Conference joins in celebrating Susan and giving thanks for the ministry of First Church UCC Phoenix, whose members continue to open their doors, share their gifts, and care for neighbors in need. We are also grateful for the partnership and witness of the Arizona Faith Network, whose work helps build bridges across communities and put faith into action throughout Arizona.
Thank you, Pastor Susan, for showing what it means to love your neighbor and serve with compassion, courage, and hope.
AFN will celebrate Susan and their other Peacemaker in Action honorees at their Annual Gathering on October 20. Learn more and register at arizonafaithnetwork.org/gather.
Emmy is a member of First Congregational UCC, where she is working toward ordination. She has become an active leader and beloved partner at The Open Table Connection. She has helped lead prayer nights, table at campus events, participate in Ashes on the Go and the Pride Parade, and co-leads our queer theology conversations.
Emmy’s connection to campus ministry began long before The Open Table, but her early experiences were very different from what she encounters at The Open Table.
Click through to keep reading.