Commentary: Pigs do fly! January 13, 2013
"When pigs fly" is a figure of speech often used to describe something that seems impossible to achieve. Justice and Witness Ministries claimed this phrase for years as a way to encourage and challenge all of us to work for justice even if it seems impossible to realize at the moment.
Millions from UCC help Haiti rebuild January 11, 2013
When the United Church of Christ asked for donations in 2010 for earthquake relief in Haiti, the denomination’s members responded with a generous $4.5 million in aid to help a struggling people. In the three years since, those gifts have allowed Haiti to begin its recovery from the second-deadliest earthquake on record.
UCC brings Church World Service members together in N.C. January 11, 2013
To lay out a roadmap in the fight against hunger and poverty in 2013, the United Church of Christ’s Wider Church Ministries is hosting members from Church World Service at a week-long retreat at Franklinton Center at Bricks.
UCC minister takes a stand in the South for LGBT equality January 9, 2013
A United Church of Christ minister and her growing group of advocates are traveling through seven southern states with a very visible message of support for LGBT equality. The Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara is using a proactive approach to promote the rights of all in the southern United States, supporting same-sex couples who are demonstrating the lack of equality as they apply for, and are denied, marriage licenses.
UCC congregations to rally for marriage equality in 2013 January 8, 2013
The 2013 calendar year could be another banner year for marriage equality in the United States. It should also be another banner year for visible support of LGBT issues by congregations of the United Church of Christ.
Wilmington Ten pardons celebrated at North Carolina UCC January 7, 2013
Hundreds came to a congregation of the United Church of Christ in eastern North Carolina to see a group of justice advocates receive their pardons, removing a false conviction after nearly 40 years of protests and appeals.
Couple in UCC’s Partners in Service program changing lives in Cincinnati community January 7, 2013
When Jan Day and Bill Wight first arrived at Washington UCC, they wanted to reach out to the community and make a lasting impact on the congregation’s neighborhood ministry. The couple, volunteers in the United Church of Christ’s Partners in Service program, have helped Washington UCC work with neighbors to rebuild a destroyed playground, and plan an upcoming community garden that will bring the whole project in line with the UCC’s Mission 4/1 Earth environmental campaign to launch in April.
UCC celebrates pardons of Wilmington Ten 40 years after wrongful conviction January 3, 2013
The Wilmington Ten, justice activists who became political prisoners in North Carolina in 1972 for a crime they didn’t commit got their pardon from the state’s governor. After decades of persistence, UCC leaders past and present now say, finally, justice has prevailed.
UCC minister says tax breaks important step toward fairness January 3, 2013
Congress went down to the wire, forging a last minute deal that avoided sending the United States over the fiscal cliff, and potentially into a recession. Though there's much work still to do on the budget, the New Year's Day agreement is a good step for the country, says Edith Rasell, the United Church of Christ’s minister for economic justice, because it averted the fiscal cliff without endangering the poor.
Resolve to make 2013 healthier by joining UCC’s Let’s Move! initiative December 27, 2012
The campaign to get churches involved in the fight against childhood obesity is picking up steam heading into 2013, with a little help from New Year’s resolutions. Barbara Baylor, the United Church of Christ’s minister for health care justice, wants to see children get or remain active by starting 2013 with achievable, fun goals that encourage health on a variety of levels.
Wisconsin UCC reaches elderly members through 35 years of radio broadcasts December 21, 2012
With more than half of the congregation unable to attend church every Sunday because of illness, disability or just general old age, the church takes its message to the airwaves to make sure that even its members who can't be present can hear worship service and remain involved.
UCC Connecticut Conference supports education about genetically modified foods December 20, 2012
Bob Burns is concerned about the future of food as we know it. The member of Ledyard (Conn.) Congregational Church United Church of Christ and owner of Ledyard's Aiki Farms is one of the area's most active voices against the production and unlabeled use of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, that ultimately find their way into the food supply without public knowledge or consent.
Carrasco-Hill joins UCC's Franklinton Center as project coordinator December 19, 2012
Eunice Carrasco-Hill’s first challenge in her position with the United Church of Christ, serving as Project Coordinator at the Franklinton Center at Bricks, N.C., is to mobilize the surrounding community to get involved with the center's literacy and food justice projects.
Remembering an exuberant young teacher, Lauren Gabrielle Rousseau December 18, 2012
Lauren Gabrielle Rousseau loved teaching young children. The precious daughter of Gilles and Teresa Rousseau, Lauren died Friday, Dec. 14 doing what she loved, along with the other innocent victims of the mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Raised in the First Congregational Church UCC of Danbury, her life will be honored there Thursday.
Ms. Connie N. Larkman Managing Editor & News Director Publishing, Identity, and Communication Local Church Ministries/Office of General Ministries 700 Prospect Ave. Cleveland,Ohio 44115 216-736-2196 larkmanc@ucc.org
