A list of Climate Strike events and how our conference churches are participating!

From Meredith Owen, Deputy Director of Policy and Advocacy, Immigration and Refugee Program, Church World Service:

Last week, the administration held a meeting to discuss plans for the refugee admissions goal for Fiscal Year 2020, with some administration officials previously proposing resettling zero refugees next year. This would decimate the bipartisan refugee resettlement program and follows FY 2019’s historically low goal of 30,000. 

The film How Are the Children? forms the centerpiece of an education curriculum designed by the UCC Palestine Israel Network for members of the United Church of Christ.

Sunday, Nov. 10 - Friday, Nov. 15, Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center, Abiquiu, New Mexico
Rev. Dr. Jim Antal

Use code CLIMATE100 at checkout and receive $100 off!

The climate crisis provides people of faith with opportunities to embrace new vocations rooted in hope expressed in action. We will move from despair and feeling overwhelmed to joyful engagement as we understand and experience our call to make a difference on a local, national and global level. Climate activist and denominational leader Rev. Dr. Jim Antal will examine the most recent science as well as our grief over the loss of our home as we identify and commit to grounded, resilient strategies to thwart the impending crises, amidst the poignant locale of Ghost Ranch.

Now is a critical time to join with partners in Colombia in responding to the call of the Days of Prayer and Action for Colombia: “Let’s Make a Pact for Peace - Pactemos La Paz!” Take action today by writing to your member of Congress and ask them to support the peace accords. Also, lift up Colombia in your worship service and sign the “Pact for Peace” and share on social media. 

Take action today by writing to your member of Congress and ask them to support the peace accords.

The Hospitality Coalition is regularly taking items to the shelters in Ciudad Juárez in order to support migrants, shelters, the city, and volunteers in Juárez as much as possible. If you're interested in delivering items to the shelters, please contact HospitalityNM@gmail.com to schedule a time (departing Thursdays at 10am or Saturdays at 12pm).

As a part of a collaborative effort, First Christian Church, Las Cruces is helping to collect items to provide to a network of shelters in Ciudad Juárez, where families are currently staying.

The climate crisis is an emergency, and the world's youth are calling on all of us to start acting like it. On Friday, Sept. 20, three days before the United Nations convenes Climate Action Summit 2019 in New York, the UCC will be following the lead of young people leading strikes for the love of creation in cities and towns across the planet.

Since the General Synod pronounced the UCC to be a Just Peace Church in 1985 and encouraged local churches to do the same, at least 178 UCC Congregations have done so. A newly organized national UCC Just Peace Steering Committee is encouraging all those congregations to dig out and review the covenants they once voted and renew their identity as Just Peace Churches, or, if they have not yet become a Just Peace congregation, to consider this important journey in justice and peace work.

11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 17th at ICE Headquarters, 2035 N. Central Avenue in Phoenix

The prayer and mission statement are led by the clergy from Shadow Rock UCC, and are most meaningful, with immigrant families sitting near the prayer circle. It is a short service, lasting about 10 minutes, with a variety of churches represented. Other churches are welcome to participate.

Southwest Conference Minister, Rev. Dr. Bill Lyons, will attend the Council of Conference Ministers Advocacy Event to advocate for no more funding for detention, deportation, and border militarization. Bill is one of three speakers for the press conference that will include foot washing ceremony.

The Tucson Area UCC congregations are joining together to show our support for the LGBT Community during Tucson Pride on September 28th. Join us as we march in the Pride Parade and then visit the booth we will have on the Festival grounds.

You may have met Rev. Dr. Helen Boursier during last year’s Faithful Witness at the Border. Her new book “Desperately Seeking Asylum” has been receiving excellent advance feedback, and her hope and prayer is that it will make a dent and a difference. This book includes bits from Faithful Witness at the Border, including one of the two front cover pix that she took when she went to Mexico plus several others from the week are inside the book, which is due out December 15th.

Just Peace Sunday, Climate Strikes, and more. This month the Rev. Michael Neuroth, UCC International Policy Advocate, helps us prepare for Just Peace Sunday.

From Church of the Red Rocks UCC in Sedona:

In spite of the hot summer days and so many people having escaped to cooler climes, we continue to make progress with Hope House of Sedona. Following are some of the items we are currently addressing

This month the Department of Labor issued a proposed rule extending religious exemptions to federal contractors, which dramatically expands the definition of who is a “religious exercising” organization. The rule, if finalized, will result in the ability for those organizations to base employment decisions on “religious tenants,” meaning that employment can be conditional with meeting an employer’s religious belief. At the heart of this rule would be the allowance of discrimination toward a variety of vulnerable groups including the LGBTQ community, religious minorities, and other marginalized groups.

The 2nd Annual Border Ministries Summit provides an opportunity to share information, build partnerships and increase awareness of the important ministries taking place on both sides of the border.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre, Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO.

Most UCC congregations will receive the Neighbors In Need offering on October 6, 2019 as part of their World Communion Sunday observance. However, some local churches select another date.

Location: Church of the Beatitudes, Phoenix

November 1: Mental Health First Aid – a training program that teaches members of the public how to help a person developing a mental health problem (including a substance use problem), experiencing a worsening of an existing mental health problem, or in a mental health crisis.

November 2: W.I.S.E. Conference – includes a keynote by Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund, workshops, basics of starting a mental health ministry, opening and closing worship, and more.

Participants are encouraged to attend both events.

Saturday, September 21, 1 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Prescott

1. A Master of Divinity graduate from a Methodist Seminary who is also a professor at Boston University teaching graduate classes on the subjects of immigration and theology.

2. An immigration attorney

3. A holocaust survivor

4. Dan Streeter, Humboldt Unified School District Superintendent and Board member of the Prescott Valley Chamber of Commerce.

5. Representative of “No More Deaths”, a humanitarian organization based in Southern Arizona.

6. Member of the local immigrant community

7. Community organizer and graduate student at Prescott College who has researched local law enforcement practices in Yavapai County.