Are you looking for an open-minded, online theological course where your doubts and questions are welcome?
Do you want to know more about Jesus speaking for justice and the poor?
Are you exploring authorized ministry?
Do you want a theological education by which you can begin, finish, or supplement a suite of courses already completed?
PATHWAYS Theological Education, Inc. has a complete educational program for those seeking to be authorized ministers.
If you are theologically curious - individual courses, continuing education, and certificates are also available. Check out their offerings.
Read MoreFrom Bethany Fellows Board:
We are excited to announce the opening of the search for a new Bethany Fellows Director/Pastor to serve the Bethany Fellows ministry alongside Lead Director/Pastor, Rev. Melanie Harrell Delaney, and Bethany Congregations Director/Pastor, Rev. Scott Hardin-Nieri. The position description can be found on our website.
Read MoreRegistration is now open for YLS 2024! This six month leadership symposium will prepare youth to lead in local congregations and support them in designing and implementing their own project for their home Church. This is not a leadership team, but rather a leadership lab where High School age leaders can explore their gifts, receive wisdom from other leaders, and imagine new possibilities for their local congregation.
Register at youthleadershipsymposium.org!
Read MoreSunday, January 17 at 3 pm MST
Join us for this time of celebration to conclude Join the Movement’s All Church Read of Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be Antiracist. Come to share insights from you and your community and to hear how others are putting their racial justice dreams into practice. And hear from Join the Movement’s resident historian, Dr. Renee K. Harrison about her journey with the book, as well as insights from Join the Movement Lead, Rev. Dr. Velda Love.
We’ll also be sharing a bit about 2024’s Join the Movement All Church Read, so be sure not to miss that exciting announcement.
Register here.
Read MoreA Christmas message from Dr. Toni.
Read MoreThis Christmas season, the United Church of Christ remembers our Palestinian Christian partners and all who live amidst war and violence as they commemorate, not celebrate, Christmas amid the crisis in Gaza.
Rev. Dr. Thompson references a letter written by the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem regarding Christmas celebrations this year. That letter can be found here.
Read MoreWith the impending departure of our beloved Genevieve, we’re now searching for the right person to be her successor. The executive assistant to the conference minister (CM) plays a pivotal role in providing administrative and operational support. Embracing the vision and values of the Southwest Conference (SWC), this person is integral to the seamless functioning of the CM's daily responsibilities and smooth office operations.
To learn about the primary duties and responsibilities, qualifications, skillset, compensation, and application process for this position, please click here.
Read MoreOur gifted Executive Assistant, Genevieve Benham, has tendered her resignation, choosing to embrace a new chapter and new opportunity effective January 15, 2024.
Genevieve has diligently served with excellence, poise, grace, and professionalism; we have been so very blessed to have such an outstanding human on our team. Her unwavering commitment and contributions have been critical to our Conference and her departure will leave a void that we will feel deeply.
Please join us in extending heartfelt gratitude to Genevieve and offering our blessings for her success and well-being. We encourage you to send her an email or drop a handwritten note in the mail to our office (PO Box 44968, Phoenix AZ 85064-4968) to let her know just how much she’s made a difference to you during her time in our Conference.
Genevieve has set a very high bar for her successor. For details about the open position, read this post.
Read MoreAuthor Webinar
Join OWL Taking Flight for conversation with children’s author/illustrator Airlie Anderson on January 3. Register here.
Read MoreThe UCC Mental Health Network wishes you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year! While we hope that you all will stay safe, healthy, and joyous. We know that this year has generally been challenging for all of us, including those of us who live with mental health challenges, neurodiversity, and trauma. We have compiled a few tips and links to utilize as resources in navigating the holidays.
Read MoreSince 2018, in the Southwest Conference we have offered Boundary Awareness training in a modular format that requires taking the four modules once within a 5-year unified cycle for everyone. The first cycle ended in December 2022, and in January 2023 we began a new unified cycle began.
This is a survey to offer an opportunity for us to receive feedback on this system, and what your experience of the modules were. We obviously want them to be as useful and relevant as they can be to our clergy. This will help us know how to best improve, adapt or maintain good quality in our required boundary training experience. Thank you for giving your input!
Rev. Dr. Barb Doerrer-Peacock
Associate Conference Minister
Read MoreThe job positions have been posted online and are available on the UCC Ministry Opportunities page. Click the links below to go directly to the posting; once there, click the blue button to view the job description details.
Bridge Associate Conference Minister for Search and Call and Congregational Transitions
Bridge Associate Conference Minister (Authorization, Accountability, & Discernment)
Read MoreHave you ever attended an event and thought that it might’ve been better with YOUR special touch? Do you have gifts that you could bring to a planning team that would make a large gathering feel more polished or go more smoothly or be more organized or simply BETTER?
Or maybe you’re an event planner and already have pulled off successful gatherings!
The Southwest Conference staff is putting together a planning team for our 2024 Annual Meeting. Our theme is “Expanding the Table: Creating a Tapestry of Voices and Experiences” to be held April 26 & 27 at Shepherd of the Hills UCC in Phoenix, Arizona.
Read MoreOffering date: December 24, 2023
The Christmas Fund has been caring for active and retired clergy and lay employees of the United Church of Christ for over 100 years, providing emergency grants, supplementation of small annuities and health premiums, and Christmas “Thank You” gift checks each December to our lower-income retirees.
The Christmas Fund for Veterans of the Cross is managed by the Pension Boards. Get information here. Get promotional resources here.
Read MoreOn the UCC website, it states,
“Gender & Sexuality Justice Ministries seeks transformative justice for our faith communities and congregations by just action and love for all. ~ We believe in the justice-oriented ministry of Jesus and act with those facing systemic oppression at the intersection of gender & sexuality to offer care, sex positive education & curriculum, gender & bodily autonomy education & programming, policy & advocacy and partnership and outreach opportunities.”
For those seeking greater knowledge and depth in addressing this important justice issue, PATHWAYS Theological Education, Inc. offers a course where participants from across the country have a place to gather in online conversations. Go to PATHWAYSTheological.org to register or to find out more about the course, Theology of Gender and Sexuality.
There is still time to register for this course as well as UCC Polity and History, and several other courses which begin in early January 2024.
Read MoreJoin us on Tuesday, December 5, 4pm ET (2 pm MST) for a virtual worship service with Team Global HOPE at UCC National Ministries for a Blue Christmas worship service.
Blue Christmas services traditionally provide space for those who don’t feel so “merry and bright” during the holiday season. This service seeks to recognize and stand in solidarity with the experiences of those aggrieved or displaced by disaster or forced migration in 2023, as well as those who are grieving. We remember that we are called to stand in solidarity with the captive and the oppressed, the grieving and the suffering, and work together with God’s guidance to create a just world for all.
UCC Clergy, members, and choirs engaged in humanitarian ministries across the denomination will be providing reflective liturgy, music, and prayers during this event. This event will be recorded for later availability or use in local Blue Christmas events.
Read MoreJoin the Movement invites exploration of liberation with second-annual Abolition Advent Calendar. Learn more here.
Read MoreAfter bidding a fond farewell and sending well wishes to our Annual Meeting Planning Coordinator for the past several years, Karen Richter, we are now in need of another individual to plan, organize, and execute our Annual Meeting.
View the job description here.
Please pass it along to anyone you think would be a great fit! If that’s you, please apply!
Read MoreTo mark Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), the United Church of Christ hosted a vigil Nov. 20 to collectively hold space for remembering the names of trans siblings — those known and unknown — who have been lost to violence.
Read more here.
Read MoreIn observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance, Nov. 20, the Council of Conference Ministers of the United Church of Christ have released a letter lamenting for and confessing to harm caused to trans and nonbinary youth and adults, as well as pledging a commitment to action and solidarity. Read it here.
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