Church News
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.
Read MoreBodhi (She in the Spring, He in the Fall) is a UNM student studying anthropology with a deep curiosity about the world and the people in it. Quiet by nature, she often prefers to listen, gathering wisdom from the stories of others.
Before coming to The Open Table, Bodhi carried complicated experiences with faith communities. “I had a very negative view of Christianity,” she admitted, shaped by past hurt and painful encounters connected to Christianity. Those experiences left her cautious, unsure of what to expect from religious spaces.
When invited to the Ramadan dinner through The Open Table Connection, Bodhi came with openness and curiosity, even though she is a practicing Buddhist.
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Read MoreFirst Congregational Prescott’s youth shared their itinerary from their June trip. They stayed at The Good Shepherd UCC and their host was Rev. Randy Mayer. They visited La Casa Misericordia Migrant Shelter in Nogales, Mexico; accompanied Humane Borders to put out water in the desert; traveled to Sasabe, Mexico to see the Library project and take donations to the community; then traveled back home to Prescott to share about their experience during and after the worship service.
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Read MoreWhat’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.
Read MoreWhat’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.
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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.
Read MoreWhat’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.
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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.
Read MoreEmpathy in Action
Anessa (She/They) is a student at UNM pursuing an English degree, hoping one day to become a professor. She identifies as a Christian and carries a deep desire to understand others and build meaningful connections across differences.
What drew Anessa to The Open Table Connection was a longing to live out empathy in a real, tangible way. Anessa first joined The Open Table on an outing to share in an Ramadan dinner at the Raindrop Foundation. “The best way to gain empathy,” she shared, “is to get to know people and participate in their cultures,” she said, emphasizing the importance of presence over assumptions. Attending the Ramadan dinner became a powerful moment of that lived empathy. “I thought it was really nice,” she said, “and very informative,” adding thoughtfully.
What impacted her most was the sense of connection created through something simple yet profound. “Being able to eat with people,” she said, “really kind of set in that family feeling,” explaining that sharing a meal made the experience “more intimate than just sitting down and talking.” That table became more than food, it became a larger community.
After the Ramadan dinner experience with The Open Table, Anessa found herself deeply affirmed. “My opinion of the Muslim community didn’t change that much, because it was already positive,” she reflected, “but it definitely gave me an inside view of their community,” she said, recognizing how firsthand experience replaces assumptions. Her connection to The Open Table continued to grow as she attended Thursday meals at Luther House. In smaller, more intentional spaces, Anessa discovered something she had been missing. “It’s so easy to get forgotten,” she said of larger groups, but at Luther House, that wasn’t her experience. Instead, she found a place where community felt personal, where people were seen, and where empathy wasn’t just an idea, it was practiced around the table and in the community.
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During the summer months at First Church Phoenix, the Unhoused Pantry closes, and First Church opens a heat respite cooling center in the Fellowship Hall, providing a cool and safe space where guests receive snacks, water, and relief from the daytime heat.
First Church, partnered with Grace Lutheran, is 1 out of 21 Respite Centers, and one of the very few that are open on Sundays, and allow pets and belongings. Respite means that community members are able to get some rest and fall asleep. Stop by, it's like nap time at preschool.
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Read MoreWhat’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.
Read MoreWhat’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.
Read MoreWhat’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.
Read MoreWhat’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.
Read MoreFrom Luther House:
One of the profound truths of ministry is that the most meaningful moments are often unplanned. While careful preparation is essential, there are times when our plans must give way so that the Holy Spirit may move more freely among us. This semester, we experienced one such evening, an evening that was both deeply sorrowful and profoundly sacred. As we gathered around the table, sharing a meal and checking in with one another, it quickly became clear that the liturgy I had prepared would not be sufficient for what was unfolding among us.
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Read MoreWhat’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.
Read MoreWhat’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.
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Bird City Bike Coop ministry draws its power from the hope of the gospel – a stretching out toward justice. This gospel fights for the mobility and dignity of our neighbors and friends, providing them with a vital service that has the potential to change lives. The Bird City Bike Coop is God’s love on wheels. Roll on. (Christopher Schouten, March 15, 2026)
Word has spread about the Coop. Most of our neighbors receiving bicycles filled out a request for a bike as they pick up lunch bags at the church food pantry.
Click through to read all about it.
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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.
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Since the early days of the pandemic in 2020, Daily Morning Prayer has been a steady and faithful practice at Shepherd of the Hills UCC. What began as a way to stay connected during a time of isolation has grown into a meaningful rhythm of prayer, scripture, and community that continues to nourish many each day.
We gather every weekday morning, Monday through Friday, via Zoom for a brief and grounding time of prayer. Pr. Rock leads prayer three days a week, with two other UCC pastors leading on the remaining days. Over time this circle has grown to include people from across the country, with participants now joining from every U.S. time zone.
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