Many churches provide a variety of community connections like this. I’m happy to collect and publish a list. (–Holly)
Al-Anon Support Group Meetings at Desert Palm
There is no magic formula that enables you to help someone stop—or cut back—on his or her drinking. Alcoholism is a complex problem, with many related issues. But Al‑Anon can help you learn how to cope with the challenges of someone else’s drinking.
7 PM Mondays Al-Anon Meeting – Mission Hall – Family & Friends of Alcoholics.
7 PM Tuesdays Al-Anon Meeting – Mission Hall – Spanish Speaking – Family & Friends of Alcoholics.
10AM Saturdays Al-Anon Meeting – Mission – Focus on Parents of Family & Friends of Alcoholics.
Beginning a new term at First Congregational in Prescott:
Tiny Tots and Their Grownups for Toddlers and Preschoolers!
Doing Grief Community Healing Project at Desert Palm UCC
with Shea Darian, Spiritual Care Provider & Director of Doing Grief
Monthly Story Circles. Sept. 25th from 6-7:30pm
A different kind of grief support to find hope, healing and a sense of belonging
“It's said that the shortest distance between two people is a story.”
At the Healing Project, a Story Circle Small Group is a community-building experience to share personal stories on themes of life, death, grief, healing, loss, and change. In turn, each person shares a brief personal story on a common theme as others listen attentively in engaged silence. The Circle concludes with a conversation of common threads that emerge between stories and connections made between tellers. Come to learn more about the story circle tradition and process, open your heart, and make deep connections with others.
Click here for more information and RSVP FORM or RSVP at 602-419-4043 or Connect@DoingGrief.org
An Independent Study/Self-Paced 6-Week Online Course Based on the Marks of Faithful & Effective Authorized Ministers Including the Afro Christian Convention - The 5th Stream
Instructor: Rev. Dr. Toni Hawkins - Conference Minister, Southwest Conference of the United Church of Christ
Discover the rich identity, covenantal life, and theological foundations of the United Church of Christ. In this course, you’ll explore our founding traditions — including the Afro-Christian Convention as the Fifth Stream — and reflect on how UCC polity, history, and the Marks of Faithful and Effective Ministers shape our call to ministry today.
This independent study is designed for flexibility: you can progress at your own pace while engaging with key readings, videos, and reflection prompts. Whether you’re preparing for authorization, deepening your ministry, or simply seeking a better understanding of the UCC, this journey will equip and inspire you. Click HERE for the online course
Six new editions of banned books will be available on the banned book carousel at Rincon this fall. Add to your own reading lists!
Two dystopian themed novels-
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, a companion to Oryx and Crake, is set in post-apocalyptic Earth after a “waterless” flood has obliterated most human life.
The Kaleidoscope The Gift of Madness by Adrian Mendoza The setting is a futuristic human society where intelligent androids exist and struggle for equal rights.
Two modern day works of fiction-
Shop Girl, a novel, a social-commentary of love, loneliness and the search for connection in modern Los Angeles. Written by Steve Martin
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is historical fiction based on the lives of the Mirabal sisters who opposed the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic.
Two memoirs complete the September additions-
My First Thirty Years is a memoir by feminist and socialist Edna Gertrude Bealey chronicling growing up poor in rural Texas at the turn of the 20th century. It was originally published in 1925 in Paris. Most recently republished in the US in 2021, this is a story of survival and a cry for the right of women’s voices to be heard.
12 Years A Slave is an 1853 memoir and slave narrative by Solomon Northup, told to and edited by David Wilson. Rediscovered in the 1960s, ti gained renewed fame with the award winning 2013 film adaptation.
A call to action’ from the United Church of Christ (All Church Read)
The book Building Up a New World contains a collection of essays that span a wide range of topics — from practicing mutual aid, to creating community safety and joining the sanctuary movement. It holds stories, practical wisdom, and diverse perspectives from individuals across many spaces of the church. Chapters include topics such as “From Potluck to Policy Reform,” “Antifascism in the Way of Jesus,” and “Building a Just Economy.” Each chapter is written by one or two individuals who include local pastors, lay leaders, lyricists, musicians, and poets.
Pilgrim Press, the book’s publisher, is currently offering 10% off the cost of purchasing Building Up a New World with the discount code “AllChurchRead.”
“For those who want to better understand their role in creating a just world for all, this is a resource that will strengthen your journey towards becoming a well-trained community organizer,” Love wrote in the book’s introduction. “This collection of writings is a call to action and an offering of applicable tools for the journey. Upon completing the book, you will no longer sit on the sidelines, watching and listening to rhetoric tearing our nation apart by those who prioritize profits over people. The call is to lean into the lives and learnings, and then implement the community organizing tools and resources necessary for the liberation of humanity.” People across the UCC are invited to engage with these topics that “offer so many openings for you and your community to begin or deepen your journey of doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God.” “No matter how dire the moment may be, we can, like generations before us, make a way out of no way in the face of powers and principalities,” they said. “Join us as we discover new pathways and practices for Building Up a New World.” To join the All Church Read:
Find the book from Pilgrim Press here. [It is also available on Amazon.]
Read and download the All Church Read curriculum here.
Access the Building Up a New World worship resources here.
For the next 5 weeks. First Congregational in Albuquerque will be celebrating Earth Month! Their Green Justice Team will be uplifting different elements of our created world: deserts, trees, insects, oceans, and birds. They chose these themes in a spirit of celebrating our kinship and interconnectedness with each facet of creation, great and small, while simultaneously drawing attention to the profound threats human overconsumption and extractivism are rendering upon the entire earth community. Some fun elements will be added to enhance folks’ experience: a presentation from Tree New Mexico, a documentary from David Attenborough called “Oceans,” a beekeeper show and tell, and live interactions with birds from a wildlife rescue organization. That Sunday, they will use QR codes and the amazing Merlin app to bring the voices of birds migrating through NM right into the sanctuary.
