This year, during the Season of Creation, First Congregational United Church of Christ in Albuquerque, NM dedicated an entire month of Sundays to exploring the sacred relationship between faith and the environment. Guided by the Green Justice Team, our congregation entered into a time of reflection, reverence, and renewal, celebrating the beauty of God’s creation while acknowledging the urgent call to care for it and the extinction crisis.
Throughout the month, our worship services focused on different aspects of the natural world, each one revealing new layers of spiritual meaning and ecological awareness. We began by meditating on the desert, a landscape that holds both scarcity and promise. In the dry and rugged places, we were reminded of God’s power to bring renewal, just as rain revives the parched earth. From there, we turned our attention to the trees, ancient and steadfast witnesses to God’s creation. As some of the oldest and most significant of Earth’s companions, trees invited us to consider our own rootedness in God’s love and our responsibility to nurture life wherever we are planted.
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Read MoreFirst Congregational Albuquerque celebrated Juneteenth with a display of advertisements placed in newspapers by former enslaved individuals in search of loved ones torn away from them during slavery. There was also a display of the photograph and a biographical sketch of Opal Lee, the ninety-seven-year-old grandmother of Juneteenth and the three other Black recipients of the 2024 Medal of Freedom.
Read MoreRyan was ordained in the African American Spiritualist tradition. He preached a powerful sermon and sang a song he wrote. He is at First Congregational Albuquerque as their director of Children, Youth, and Family Ministries.
Read More“I hoped our shared faith would provide enough common ground. I was a bit naive.
“As our last meeting of an inter-congregational experiment in dialogue was drawing to a close, I felt pleased. The atmosphere was warm and congenial. We’d talked about important subjects and about our most deeply held values in a way that seemed promising for further conversation. The experiment had been conceived as an exercise in listening between members of my very liberal congregation, First Congregational United Church of Christ in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and those of an evangelical congregation in the same town, and we had done just what we hoped.
“Then came the written evaluations and several private follow-up conversations. The experiment was not as rosy as I had perceived it.”
Read this Christian Century article about an experiment involving First Congregational United Church of Christ in Albuquerque.
Read MoreOn Sunday, June 18th, First Congregational Church in Albuquerque celebrated Juneteenth in worship with a powerful sermon, music, and quotes.
Read MoreGordon Street, SWC Commissioned Minister, will deliver the message, “Living Water—What Does It Really Mean?” at this Sunday’s service.
His talk will be followed after worship with a forum on “Spirituality From a Recovery Perspective” which will consist of a 15-minute talk followed by questions and comments from the group.
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