Faith In Action
Every congregation is on a different part of their spiritual journey. The same is true for their journey toward racial justice. The Decentering Whiteness Task Force recognizes this and has created a structured program plan designed to support congregations at all stages. We want to meet you where you are, not ask you to jump to a place you’re not ready for.
Our approach is designed to be invitational and action-oriented. We offer three "levels" of engagement, providing a clear pathway for congregations to grow in understanding, courage, and commitment. Congregations can start at a level that aligns with their current journey and comfort, knowing that each level builds upon the last.
Level One provides foundational understanding and language. This is for churches just beginning their work, focusing on education and awareness.
Level Two encourages more critical self-examination and dialogue for those who have some familiarity with racial justice concepts and are ready to look inward.
Level Three challenges congregations to directly confront difficult historical and contemporary symbols and practices that uphold whiteness. This is for churches already engaged in ongoing anti-racism work and ready to move into concrete action.
This structured pathway is not a race; it's a pilgrimage. It allows your congregation to grow at a sustainable pace, building the necessary trust and shared vocabulary to tackle more challenging conversations and actions down the road. Our goal is to empower you to become a more inclusive and equitable faith community.
Next Step: Are you ready to find out which level is right for your congregation? Visit the Our Program: Engaging Your Congregation page on our website to learn more, and stay tuned for our next posts where we'll break down each level in more detail.
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has placed a blanket repeal of Arizona’s Electric Energy Efficiency (EE) Standards on its Sept. 17th open meeting agenda. Buried in the agenda, Item #23 would dismantle critical standards that save families money, reduce waste, and make our grid more reliable—all while prioritizing utility profits over the interests of Arizona ratepayers. This recommendation also comes on the heels of APS’s request for a rate increase and abandonment of clean energy goals. It’s time to voice your opposition.
ACTION: Oppose the Repeal of Energy Efficiency Standards
Submit a comment to the Docket through the ACC Portal by 9/16.
Docket No. RE-00000A-24-0025
Mark “against” for your position on the Docket.
Company Name: ACC - Electric Rules as the company name.
Call ACC staff (1-800-222-7000) to leave a comment.
Post on social media & share broadly with your network.
The Global HOPE Office offers three grants through its Refugee and Migration Services ministry that are intended to encourage local UCC congregations, associations, conferences and covenanted ministries to engage in ministry to migrants, immigrants, refugees and asylees in their midst.
The goal of this program is to nurture a deeper understanding and care for the most vulnerable in our local contexts. We encourage participating churches to partner with other organizations in their local contexts who are engaged in similar work. We also encourage program participants to think long-term about how they might raise awareness to address systemic injustices present in immigration policy or consider how they might more completely live into a new understanding of what it means to love our neighbor.
Contact Megan Bergert (bergertm@ucc.org) with any questions.
Before we can begin a new journey, we need to understand the map. Two terms that are central to this work, and which are often confused, are "racial justice" and "decentering whiteness." While they are deeply connected, they have different focuses.
Click through to read more.
We are living in a time of ecological urgency. As climate protections are rolled back and sacred lands come under threat, people of faith are called to respond—not with despair, but with moral courage and hope. The Season of Creation invites us into this sacred work: to honor the Earth, to lament its desecration, and to act boldly for its healing.
From September 1 to October 4, Christians around the world observe this liturgical season as a time to reconnect with Creation and recommit to justice. This year’s theme, drawn from Isaiah 32, reminds us that peace cannot flourish where justice is absent and relationships—between humanity, Creation, and God—are broken.
In partnership with 19 national faith organizations, Creation Justice Ministries is leading public witnesses across the country to call for “peace with Creation.” One such gathering will take place on September 9 at 8:00 AM at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, where Arizona faith leaders will lift their voices in prayer, testimony, and prophetic call for climate justice.
Let us come together in faith, in solidarity, and in action. The Earth is crying out—and we are called to listen, to respond, and to lead.
Burke Scot Beu, a member of Washington Park UCC in Denver, introduced this poem/song at the General Synod of the UCC in Kansas City in July. It was read at a poetry reading hosted by the UCC's General Minister, Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson.
Burke has shared it with us for use in our congregations on Indigenous Peoples' Day (Monday, October 13) and the day before (Sunday, October 12). He's been focusing his efforts recently on DC-based organizations to promote the idea of reciting his poem with the national anthem on Indigenous Peoples' Day.
This poem can be spoken or sung as lyrics to St. Denio, a traditional Welsh melody known in many churches as the hymn "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise" by Walter C. Smith. The first verse is a stand-alone secular piece. The second verse, for church, is a modified version of the original hymn.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Open our eyes
to that which we overlook or minimize.
Let's see all of history, the best and the worst.
Remember and honor those who were here first.
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible, above the skies,
the highest, most holy, the Ancient of Days –
yet think of the lowly when God’s name we praise.
© 2025 Burke Scot Beu
(free to use w/ copyright acknowledgment)
Thursday, August 28, 12:30 pm AZ / 1:30 pm NM & TX
Join us for an introductory conversation that invites faith leaders into a transformative and lifelong process of letting go of supremacist theologies and monocultural care paradigms of mental wellness. This webinar will explore the intersections of mental wellness, spiritual formation, and liberative care that affirms the dignity of each being. Rooted in an Internal Family Systems framework centered on the lived realities of BIPOC communities, participants will learn how intrapersonal healing can catalyze collective healing and renewal. By integrating cultural humility, prophetic theology, and trauma-informed practices, faith leaders can reshape spiritual care praxis and co-create communities grounded in justice, belonging, and sacred restoration.
Emerging threats demand emerging strategies. The rise of AI data centers has been a driver in the rise in power demand and increasing greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Moreover, the advanced cooling systems required by these data centers necessitate high levels of water consumption which can have serious ecological consequences, especially in places of water scarcity. Finally, the technological components of AI data centers require the extracting of rare earth minerals in addition to generating enormous amounts of electronic waste. The justice concerns intertwined with these issues are many when one considers the racial and economic disparities in bearing the cost of everything from increased utility bills to the harms of climate change.
To address what is at stake and point us toward emerging strategies, we will hear from Anthony Rogers-Wright from the Black Hive of Movement for Black Lives, Nayyirah Shariff from Flint Rising, Wanda Mosley from Black Voters Matter, and Lindsay Harper from Arm in Arm.
Even if you cannot make our scheduled time of Wednesday, September 10th at 1 pm ET/10 am PT, still sign-up, and we will send you a recording afterward. Register now!
The Southwest Conference is thrilled to introduce our new dedicated website section: Decentering Whiteness: Our Journey Together. This new resource is designed to provide your congregation with clear pathways, resources, and support. Our objective is to deepen your understanding of how whiteness has shaped our society and church life, to build a shared vocabulary, and to create a foundation for ongoing transformation. This is a journey we are taking together, and this new section is our shared map and compass.
Click through to read more.
Various dates/times, August 21 - September 16 via Zoom
Join Election Protection Arizona (EPAZ) to help answer voter questions during the CD-7 election on September 23 across Tucson, Yuma, San Luis, Bisbee, Tolleson, Avondale, Gila Bend and more! Election Protection Arizona volunteers act as nonpartisan poll monitors and help answer voting process questions in real time. This training is virtual through Zoom and will last approximately 1 hour. Completing this training is a prerequisite to serve as a poll monitor. Upon completion of the training volunteers will be allowed to sign up for an in-person shift on Election Day.
AFN is working in partnership with EPAZ to ensure that all voters have an equal opportunity to vote and have that vote count.