3 Great Loves is a denomination wide initiative to live out our purpose, vision, and mission and is a witness to our collective efforts in making a more just world for all as God's hands and feet. Beginning at Synod 2017 and ending at Synod 2019, through the lens of the 3 Great Loves, the UCC in its many settings of ministry will discern and lift up how we act upon our Love of God in and through these 3 Great Loves; Love of Neighbor, Love of Children, and Love of Creation. As we do so, we will tell the story of how we are impacting and transforming the world as covenantal partners united in common purpose, vision, and mission.
Read More...an upcoming podcast for spiritual and interfaith leaders focused on interfaith teachings on environmental stewardship, climate change and oil and gas development.
Read MoreThe gun violence that plagues our society is a massive public health emergency. We can’t fully understand it’s causes, or know the best tools for preventing violence – in part – because Congress has prohibited the CDC from researching it.
Read MoreGreetings from the SWC Disaster Ministry. I am looking forward to attending the Annual Meeting next month and meeting many members of our congregations across the SWC. In addition to assisting with the ALICE Webinar and helping to represent the Greater Phoenix UCC Justice Network, I will be available to meet with church leaders and attendees to discuss our Disaster Ministries. In May and over the months to come we have an opportunity to participate in the FEMA/VOAD National Mass Care Exercise (hosted by Arizona and including California, Nevada and New Mexico) and we are discussing organizing a work team or two to assist with disaster recovery in Texas or Florida. Opportunities to send work teams to Puerto Rico or Northern California will become available later in the year.
Please see below brief descriptions of the National Mass Care Exercise (NMCE) and and the disaster work team opportunities. Contact me with your questions, to express interest or to set up a meeting in person or by phone/conference call. Phil Shea at 602-663-5065 or philipshea@justicestar.org .
Phil Shea
Read MoreThe Phoenix Pride Festival and Parade is the largest LGBTQ event in Arizona spanning two days with the “festival” and the “parade.” Last year, more than 37,000 people visited the festival over the course of the two days. The theme for this year is “United We Stand, Equality for All.”
Several churches in the Southwest Conference will participate in Phoenix Pride. If we've missed yours here, please send your information to Wende at wgonzales@uccswc.org and we will add it!
Read MoreShadow Rock UCC
Mondays, April 9, 16, 23, 30
$75
Are you looking for...
More authentic connections?
Easier conversations when anger is involved?
A way to feel centered and clear?
Read MoreTwelve youths and seven adults from the Southwest Conference traveled to Washington D.C. on Friday to participate in Saturday's March For Our Lives. See photos and read their reflections.
Read More“It is easier for me to get a gun than to get a job or birth control.” This line is from a Facebook post by high school student Maya in Albuquerque that put into motion a trip with 11 other youth and seven adults from her church and four other churches in the Southwest Conference United Church of Christ.
"Maya's words were an invitation for Maya and her peers to exercise their power to create a safe world through the agency of the Southwest Conference," said the Rev. Bill Lyons, conference minister. "We shared Maya's wisdom on our conference Facebook page. And we sent out the invitation for Southwest Conference high schoolers to join the March for Our Lives in Washington. This trip is Christian formation, a justice witness, and a civic engagement all in one."
Read MoreAll UCC, UU, Catholic, and other church-related youth, friends, and chaperones are invited to a late night discussion and sleepover at Encanto Community Church.
You are also invited to attend the March For Our Lives Empowerment Gathering.
The youth event will begin around 8:30 p.m. on Friday March 23, 2018, immediately following the 7:00 pm March For Our Lives Empowerment Gathering.
Read MoreSunday, April 8, 7 pm
Sandia Presbyterian Church
Llive music, sweet treats, and a silent auction!
Read MoreMany local March For Our Lives events are in the works at churches across the conference. If your church is planning a rally or is marching in your city's event, please notify Wende Gonzales at wgonzales@uccswc.org OR fill out this form so that we may put together a list of all our church events.
Read MoreIn the Minnesota Conference, it's a number of essays; in the Southwest Conference, it began with a Facebook post.
Those are just two items powering UCC youth participation in the gun violence prevention rally, March for Our Lives, created, inspired by, and led by the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, survivors of one of the deadliest mass school shootings in U.S. history.
Read MoreSee the JPANet March 2018 Newsletter HERE
Read MoreA group from our church went to Santa Fe for the Ecumenical Advocacy Ministry Day. This event is sponsored by Lutheran Advocacy Ministry to educate people of faith about issues facing the legislature. We learned more about Health Care in New Mexico and Negative Impacts of Taxing Food. There are many ways to act on our faith. Legislation and Advocacy is one way we do that.
Read MoreDid you know that most congregations can cut energy costs by up to 30% by investing strategically in efficient equipment, facility upgrades and maintenance? The EPA’s ENERGY STAR program can help congregations do this with their staff, free tools, trainings, and technical support.
Read MoreChurch of the Red Rocks has a team in Guatemala this week, and we are glad to share their updates and photos! Check back soon, as we will add more as they send it.
Read MoreHow does one live in a world gone mad when mainstream culture endorses the insanity? The Reluctant Radical, a documentary produced and directed by Lindsey Grayzel, explores this question in relation to the ecological crisis.
The film follows Ken Ward, a lifelong activist who took time off from his environmental work to help raise his son. During his down time he plunges into the literature on Climate Change, growing all the more alarmed as he ponders the fate of the world awaiting his child. The experience convinces him he needs to act.
Read MoreBill Lyons will be speaking at this event, and he and Rock Fremont are on the discussion panel.
Read MoreIt is time to say – Enough! As people of faith, we are called to heal our society’s acceptance of violence and idolatrous fascination with weapons. Here are three things you can do.
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