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All clergy and MIDs with standing in the Southwest Conference are invited to the 2026 Southwest Conference Clergy Retreat, November 16–18 at the Redemptorist Renewal Center in Tucson.
Ministry cannot thrive without rest—not simply time away, but intentional time to reconnect with God, with one another, and with the quiet places within ourselves that we too often overlook. When we neglect that space, we risk running empty while trying to lead others toward fullness.
Rest is not indulgent. Rest is part of how we honor and sustain the sacred calling we have received.
We invite you to retreat for a time that is not about fixing, producing, performing, or checking things off a list, but simply BEING.
Come for prayer.
Come for laughter.
Come for quiet.
Come for meaningful connection with colleagues.
Come for renewal.
And yes, perhaps even come to sleep in without guilt.
Ask yourself: What might it look like to truly rest in the presence of God, among colleagues who understand the joys and demands of ministry?
Come and see.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A CLERGY-ONLY RETREAT
Click through for the registration link.
At the 2026 Annual Meeting, a motion was made calling for a Conference staff position focused on children and youth ministry. We want our congregations to know that this important action has not been forgotten or set aside.
Now that the Conference staff has settled into the new office, the Executive Board is actively considering the scope of this position, how it would fit within the existing staff structure, and how it can be funded responsibly and sustainably given the Conference’s current financial realities.
Input from our local churches will remain an important part of this process. Although every question has not yet been answered, we are committed to communicating openly and providing additional updates as decisions and next steps become clearer.
Thank you for your patience, engagement, and continued commitment to strengthening children, youth, and campus ministries throughout the Southwest Conference.
SWC Executive Board
Have you done anti-racism training, or decentering whiteness training, or cultural humility training and still long for a place to practice identifying racism when you see it, and to get better at knowing what to say or do when it happens? Consider joining the Anti-Racism Circle of Practice—a group of clergy and lay people in the conference who are committed to getting better at addressing racism when we see it.
We meet the second Thursday of the month September through May each year at 5:30 AZ time by Zoom.
Click through for details and registration.
Looking for ways to breathe new life into your Advent and Christmas season preaching? Join this workshop with Anna Carter Florence and Jake Myers from Columbia Theological Seminary, and explore the upcoming lectionary texts together, with a special emphasis on Luke 1.
We’ll discover some new strategies for reading Scripture that are easy to grasp and easy to adapt to your context. We’ll move from text to sermon, as we consider what the familiar stories might have to say to us this year. We’ll talk about some images of the preacher to spur thought and conversation. And we’ll share roundtable conversation about how the light of the world might be illuminating our own congregations and our own lives, as preachers.
Sponsored by the CTS Preachers’ Studio for Renewal, this one-day event will be a lively and energizing deep dive into Scripture and your own preaching ministry. The workshop is limited to the first 35 registrants.
On Monday, August 24, I had the joy of sitting down for a long visit with the Rev. Dr. James "Jim" Ewing. We shared a table, a glass of water, a cup of coffee, and a couple of hours that I will not soon forget. What began as a check-in became a conversation about ministry, memory, aging, and the kind of faithfulness that only shows itself over decades. I came to offer a presence. I left having received a good deal more than I gave.
Click through to read more.
SWC Clergy,
I want to share an upcoming training opportunity that may be helpful for you and your congregational leaders:
PPRC To PSC with Rev. Tara Barber
Monday, September 14, 2026
5:00–6:30 PM NM & El Paso | 4:00–5:30 PM Arizona Time
Not Your Predecessor’s PPRC!
This workshop will explore the transition from the traditional Pastor/Parish Relations Committee model to a Pastoral Support Committee (PSC). Rev. Tara Barber will discuss the purpose and priorities of a well-functioning PSC, clarify what the committee is and is not responsible for, share best practices from across the church, and answer questions.
The training is open to pastors, lay leaders, and judicatory staff.
Registration:
Register for PPRC To PSC Training
I encourage you to share this opportunity with appropriate leaders in your congregation.
Blessings,
Rev. Dr. Derrick D. Elliott
August is National Make-A-Will Month with an annual reminder about the importance of writing a will. We’re are inviting you to put your love into action by creating or updating your will at no cost!
In 2024, the Pension Boards-UCC and National Ministries launched Together for Tomorrow, a shared legacy campaign that provides our UCC community with access to FreeWill.
Through FreeWill, you can create or update your will in minutes and, if you choose, leave a planned gift to the causes and ministries that matter most to you. It takes just minutes to document the choices that will help you secure:
Peace of mind with a long-term plan for your assets.
Protection for children or pets by naming a guardian.
A legacy of care for your local congregation, the UCC, or another charity you care about.
FreeWill makes it easy to include a legacy gift to The Christmas Fund, National Ministries, your local church or Conference, or any organization close to your heart. A will allows us to protect the family, faith, and finances that have been entrusted to our care for this generation; a planned gift allows us to continue this legacy and serve our faith community in the generations to come.
The season starts September 1st, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends October 4th, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations.
Throughout the month-long celebration, the world's 2.2 billion Christians come together to care for our common home. Click below to download Creation Justice Ministries' Season of Creation toolkit to access free activities and resources to celebrate the Season of Creation are supported by an ecumenical steering committee and a coalition of partners from around the world.
The Southwest Conference is beginning the development of a new pastoral practice called Covenant Tending.
Covenant Tending is intended to address what we have identified as the “missing middle” between situational support and a formal fitness review. There are times when communication has become strained, trust has been weakened, or relationships need intentional care, but the circumstances do not call for disciplinary action or another formal Conference process.
Click through to learn more.
Join us as for a conversation with Dr. Meg Bartlett-Chase, sex educator, organizer and advocate--about how providing great sexuality education is a way to resist authoritarianism. Dr. Bartlett-Chase has researched sex education policy, practice and controversy, and she is the founder and executive director of Honest Sex Ed Minnesota.