The United Church of Christ’s General Minister and President/CEO, the Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson issued a statement Saturday condemning the bombing of Iran by the United States and Israel, and urged people of faith to continue to call on elected officials to reject war. 

“We call for an end to the abuse of government might that is poured out on people who are not the ones making decisions yet bear the brunt of the ensuing violence, casualties of actions they do not support,” said Thompson in the statement.

Read it in full here.

The United Church of Christ Musicians Association is pleased to announce its upcoming biennial national conference to be held July 8 – 11, 2026 at the First Community Church in Columbus, Ohio.

Conference 2026: United in Spirit, Diverse in Sound will offer workshops, worship services, concerts, optional activities and networking to church musicians and worship leaders. The First Community Church of Columbus, Ohio, which is affiliated with both the Disciples of Christ (DOC) and the United Church of Christ (UCC), will host the conference. Attendees will have access to a wide range of activities designed to refine musical skills and provide valuable resources and ideas for expressing God's Spirit creatively, especially during challenging times.

This in-person event is open to all. For complete information and registration, please visit Conference 2026.

For information about the United Church of Christ Musicians Association, visit their website or click here for an introductory welcome letter.

Feb 26, 2026 01:30 PM

This is the first in a four-part series discussion on those ministers who serve in and with community-based organizations, rather than through congregational outreach. Join our conversation as we discuss the immediate role of clergy and other authorized spiritual support individuals in times of emergency crisis and disasters. Four spiritual support specialists from across the country will discuss their roles as first-responder chaplains and disaster response individuals on the important role of clergy in those moments when all hope seems lost and in long-term community-based situations when immediate concerns are being handled, but hope seems hard to find.

Insurance Board - Webinar - EPL Risk Management 360: Smart Hiring, Compliance, and Litigation Readiness

Thursday, March 19, 11:00 am AZ / 12:00 pm NM/El Paso

via Zoom

Register to attend this webinar by visiting this link. The Zoom has a limited number of live participants, and the recording will be posted on the IB webinar page.

Lent brings us back to what matters. When we receive ashes and hear, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” we remember something essential. Titles do not define us. Positions do not elevate us. We all stand equally before God as servants of Christ.

This truth shapes how we live and govern together in the United Church of Christ, and especially here in the Southwest Conference.

We practice covenant, not hierarchy.

Jesus showed us this way. When the disciples questioned their importance and status, Jesus did not set up a chain of command. He taught them to serve, wash their feet, and walked beside them. He formed a community rooted in humility, trust, and shared responsibility. He showed leadership grows from service, not control.

We continue that same practice today.

Click through to read Dr. Derrick’s article.

March 2nd · 12 pm 

Register Here for Zoom Link

The Safe Communities Coalition will host Praveen Sinha, Security Director of Equality Labs. This interactive workshop will offer tangible steps to help you and your colleagues tighten your online security, including best practices for preventing doxxing and addressing other digital threats.

Black women are often praised for strength, resilience, and endurance, but rarely given space to name the cost. This workshop examines how racism functions as a system of power rather than individual bias, and how Black women, including Black trans and queer women, experience its impacts in work, leadership, relationships, and movement.

Together, we will explore how the demand for exceptionalism emerges as a survival strategy within racialized systems, and how it leads to burnout, disconnection from the body, and conditional belonging. Participants will be invited to reflect on the ways faith communities may unintentionally reinforce these expectations through theology, leadership culture, and justice work.

Grounded in spiritual practice and collective care, the workshop closes by reclaiming rest as resistance understood as small, intentional acts of pause and presence that refuse disposability, restore agency, and re-center sacred worth, even as violence, occupation, and struggle persist.

Register here.

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the phrase “third place” to describe spaces beyond the two main poles of our lives: home and work. At home, we live our private roles. At work, we carry out our public responsibilities. Third places are the church, cafés, libraries, and parks where community forms, and we remember we are more than our obligations.

When those spaces disappear, life tightens into a loop between productivity and privacy. We move from task to task and rarely pause to ask who we are becoming.

Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent create a sacred third space. At home, relationships and routines shape you. At work, expectations and performance define you. But when you step forward to receive ashes, those labels fall away. Titles fade. Status fades. Success and failure lose their grip. Christ meets you there, not as a résumé or a role, but as a soul. You hear the words: " You are dust. And you belong to Christ.

Click through to read Dr. Derrick’s entire article.