2022 VIRTUAL Annual Meeting of the Southwest Conference United Church of Christ
Monday, April 25 through Saturday, April 30, 2022
The 2022 Virtual Annual Meeting is in the books! If you missed anything, or want to watch something again, click here for a list of the Zoom sessions, including the opening worship, plenary, and workshops.
DELEGATES: Churches with 500 members or fewer may have FIVE delegates. Ministers with standing in the SWC, members of the SWC Executive Board, and General Synod Delegates are Delegates in their own right.
STANDING RULES: Please acquaint yourself with these rules for our 2022 meeting.
RESOLUTIONS: In accordance with Annual Meeting Standing Rule; resolutions may be submitted to the Conference at Annual Meeting. Resolutions must be in the hands of the Executive Board, in writing, no later than Tuesday, March 15, the day before the meeting of the Executive Board preceding the Annual Meeting for approval for submission at the Annual Meeting.
We’re so grateful that our 2020 and 2021 Annual Meeting Coordinator, Karen Richter, said YES to returning again for 2022. Her organization skills, attention to details, communication, and smiling presence are all invaluable as we put together this year’s event. We appreciate you, Karen!
Virtual Exhibit Hall: With their paid registration, vendors may request a spot on the Virtual Exhibit Hall page by clicking here. The Virtual Exhibit Hall will have a photo, blurb, and link to exhibitors’ websites.
With the unpredictability of COVID variants and some other practical considerations, the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Southwest Conference will be conducted online. However, this year our schedule is getting a refresh! We’ll be meeting over the course of five weekday evenings and a Saturday.
REGISTRATION: Registration cost is $175 per church which covers all five delegates, and $40 per person (clergy and other guests). Friday night concert ticket is included! Registration closes on April 11.
DELEGATE ORIENTATION: Saturday, April 23 at 9 am AZ / 10 am NM/EP.
Need help with the registration process? Watch this step-by-step video. Or email Wende.
We’ll conduct the Annual Meeting via the Zoom platform. First time on Zoom? Watch this video. Or this one.
Make sure you’re using the most recent up-to-date version of Zoom! Here’s how to do that.
DELEGATES: Keep tabs on this space! All of your need-to-know materials will begin to appear below as they become available. Click to download them, print them, whatever works for you to prepare for Annual Meeting.
Committee on Church and Ministry – A Report
Committee on Church and Ministry – B Report
Get to know the nominees: Read their bios (updated)
Financial Report: was emailed to delegates
RECOMMENDED READING for our Annual Meeting: Without Oars: Casting Off into a Life of Pilgrimage by Wesley Granberg-Michaelson.
Order here | View the author’s website here
Be sure also to download the free discussion guide for small groups!
And MORE from Associate Conference Minister, Rev. Dr. Barb Doerrer-Peacock:
"How to make a pilgrimage..." article by Wes Granberg-Michaelson
Indigenous peoples and pilgrimage - redeeming a concept once tarnished
Will you be attending the Budget Q&A on Thursday evening? Get to know Bernstein Private Wealth Management, who will be participating.
Plenary speaker
Sr. Lika Mejía, Director of Casa De La Misericordia y de Todas las Naciones
Alma Angelica Macías Mejía hails from Tecalitlán, Jalisco, Mexico. Having dedicated her life to serving others through the Catholic Church, Sister Lika established Casa de la Misericordia where she helps to support more than 200 people of different nationalities in their journey north in search of a better life. Since she was young, Sister Lika has been influenced by the social conscience, spirit of service and self-improvement, learned from her parents. With a great sense of humor, she is sensitive to the needs of others and joy radiates in everything she does.
After leaving home to study at the University of Guadalajara, she then entered the religious congregation of Missionaries of the Eucharist, where she concluded her studies as a Social Worker and later earned a degree in Communication Sciences at the ITESO (Jesuit University) of Guadalajara and Theology in Mexico City. With missionary energy, she has engaged in youth ministry, catechesis, prison ministry, creating mission groups and listening with female prisoners, evangelization in different places in the Mexican Republic. She was part of the General Council of her congregation, coordinator of the educational area, general director of schools, from preschool to higher level (undergraduate). She was named President of the Federation of private schools in the State of Colima. In 2011 she felt the call to continue her missionary service apart from an official affiliation with the Catholic Church. She currently serves as the Director of La Casa de la Misericordia y Todas las Naciones, a shelter serving migrants on their journey.
Workshops
Are you registered for Annual Meeting? Peruse these offerings and sign up for your workshops HERE (you’ll need the password that was emailed to you).
Meet Heatherlyn! She’s our opening worship musician who will also give a concert on Friday evening.
The concert on Friday, April 29 at 7pm AZ / 8pm NM/EP is included with your paid Annual Meeting registration! And tickets are only $10 for anyone else who wants to watch. Here’s the link to buy tickets; we’ll email the viewing link to ticket holders before the concert.
You might say that Heatherlyn got into music because music got into Heatherlyn. Inspired by the irresistible way it can connect and carry us, she’s built an international community around songs, poetry, and gatherings designed to pull listeners deeper into their own stories and the stories of others.
Her passion for theology and the beautiful complexity of the human spirit is present in everything she creates, resonant in the echoes of the soul, rock, and roots influences that weave through her eclectic sound. It’s a passion that stems from her firmly held belief that love is a powerful force of hope and healing, and that music is a uniquely powerful expression of love.
Alongside her life partner, Jason, Heatherlyn creates and curates sacred space through music at HeatherlynMusic.com and as the Worship Pastor at Left Hand Community Church in her current home base of Colorado.
From the very first time she led a congregation as a four-year-old in a small rural Pentecostal church, to the hundreds of evenings her life as a traveling troubadour has allowed her to spend in living rooms and on stages around the world, Heatherlyn holds her role as a compassionate witness and storyteller with unwavering gratitude.
She’s had the privilege to serve with the organization PeaceJam, to perform alongside Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, to partner with women’s leadership organization She is Called, and to contribute to the global 9BEATS Collective.
She has travelled with and performed in support of internationally recognized authors, on behalf of countless civic groups and social justice projects, and in partnership with faith communities around the world.