United Church of Christ

Embodied Advent Series 2024
2024-12-16
Join us for an Embodied Advent Series that highlights the ministries of a diverse representation of United Church of Christ partners and faith leaders. All Advent programs have been pre-recorded and will be made available on Nurture the Soul’s YouTube channel the Monday before each Advent week. Please note we decided to include a “Longest Night” service in lieu of a 4th week of Advent. The purpose of these webinars is to nurture your souls and ministries and can be shared in lieu of holding your own service – or to pull pieces from to enhance your own ministry settings.

Nurture the Soul Special Offering: What's Next, What Our Covenant Calls Us to Do and Be in this Time
2025-01-06 15:30 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Join Rev. Mark Pettis and others for a conversation on What’s Next, What Our Covenant Calls Us to Do and Be in this Time? Coming out of the election season, how do we, as congregations of the United Church of Christ refocus our attention to the mission that is central to who we are? How do we lean into the relationships we have across the church, and with others of faith, to move our mission forward.

Nurture the Soul Special Offering: "What's Next", The Flourishing Body with Rev. Dr. Beverly Dale
2025-01-09 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Join us for a conversation with a sex-positive Disciple of Christ Pastor, Rev. Dr. Beverly Dale whose ministerial call is to help Christians rethink the 2000 year-old Christian teaching about our sexual bodies when many have been harmful to intimate relationships and dampened our joy of being spiritual in all of our physicality. We’ll explore how the recent political election is, in part, a result of some of the cultural teachings of what is known as The Empire Church about the body and why it is so important to recognize the ongoing danger this represents to our culture and the planet.
And, we’ll take a deep dive to explore the difference between religious beliefs and faith, and whether we need to obey religious rules about sexual intimacy and what it is to be authentic in our spiritual life. (found in her first book, Advancing Sexual Health for the Christian Client, Data and Dogma.)

Nurture the Soul's Reading Into the New Year: The Recovery of Joy while Living with Depression with Robert Griggs
2025-01-23 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
At the start of every year, Nurture the Soul partners with Pilgrim Press to highlight books that came out in the last quarter of the previous year or are forthcoming. We have an exciting list of topics and authors to highlight this January including Author and Pastor Robert Griggs.
At a time when we’re all looking for hope, his book, “Wild Coin Hunting: The Recovery of Joy while Living with Depression”, offers hope for people living with mental illness and their loved ones. Drawing from his own experience of recovering from depression, as well as what others have taught me along the way, it shows that a full and joyful life is possible after the devastation of mental illness. There’s honesty about pain, but there’s also laughter, as he shares recovery stories from his adventures as the founder of a great new sport, “wild coin hunting”

Nurture the Soul Special Offering: What's Next, Illusions and Realities of Christianity and Politics
2025-01-27 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Join Rev. Dr. Dietra Wise Baker for a conversation exploring Justice as a spiritual practice within and beyond the Protestantism and how to live beyond the illusions of an apolitical gospel. Rev. Dr. Wise Baker will then give us some guidelines on how to get started towards a social transformation that includes ALL of G-d’s creation.

Nurture the Soul's Reading Into the New Year: "Don't Just Give Me That Old Time Religion" with Rev. Dr. Christine Y. Wiley
2025-01-30 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
At the start of every year, Nurture the Soul partners with Pilgrim Press to highlight books that came out in the last quarter of the previous year or are forthcoming. We have an exciting list of topics and authors to highlight this January including Author and Rev. Dr. Christine Y Wiley.
Rev. Dr. Christine’s new book is based on qualitative research done alongside 20-African American women from different walks in life. We’ll hear stories to get a sense of what mental well-being means to these women and then explore how religion impacts their mental well-being directly and indirectly.

Nurture the Soul: Reading into the New Year: Rooted in Faith and Justice
2025-02-06 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Are you struggling to understand the complexities and injustices in Israel/Palestine? Rooted in Faith and Justice offers a powerful and enlightening perspective through the eyes of Palestinian Christian leaders and thinkers. Join us for this webinar to become empowered to host your own book study and delve into a conversation around the realities and possibilities of liberation.

What's Next Disarming Leviathan: How We've Become Entangled in the Worship of Nationalism and Political Power
2025-03-03 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Join us for an enriching conversation with Pastor and Author, Caleb Campbell, the author of “Disarming Leviathan”. As Christian Nationalism has become an established feature of the American landscape, how does Rev. Campbell’s writings in “Disarming Leviathan” help prepare us to confront it with compassion and hospitality, and with the truth of the good news of Jesus. We’ll be in deep conversation with Rev. Campbell on his journey, how the book came about, and the practical steps of loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Nurture the Soul's Reading Into the New Year: "Who Told You That You Were Naked" with Rev. Dr. Beverly Dale
2025-03-06 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Both self-help guide and spiritual inspiration, “Who Told You That You Were Naked?” is packed with meditations that are biblically grounded and tangibly liberating. Each meditation includes a prayer and prompts for reflection, with themes focusing on purity culture, sacred-sexual bodies, and ethics without repression. This book takes the body’s experiences seriously and honestly, wrapping readers in love where they are wounded, inviting holistic reflection on the faith that informs our living, and encouraging movement to (re)connect the spirit and the flesh. We will get to spend time in the text and enjoy an enlightening conversation with Rev. Dr. Beverly Dale during this hour-long webinar.

Nurture the Soul What's Next: Befriending Loneliness
2025-03-17 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Loneliness was brought to the spotlight in 2023, when the Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, declared loneliness as an epidemic in post-COVID America.
What does that mean for us now and how might it contribute to the divide we are living through now in the United States and beyond?
What role does loneliness play when remembering the “good old days” in all aspects of our lives, including our religious lives where our memories are of full pews and offering baskets and even Sunday Schools?
Our guest, the Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter, will explore and help to raise awareness around loneliness, give us some tools to empower change and move to transform loneliness to a portal of access to empathy, solidarity, creativity, community-building and (you will soon see) fun!

Blessed Minds: Breaking the Silence about Neurodiversity
2025-03-20 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Is your church truly welcoming to all of God’s children? Many churches are unintentionally exclusive toward people whose brains work differently. Join Rev. ellie hutchison as she will be in discussion with Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund, advocate, pastor and Author of “Blessed Minds: Breaking the Silence About Neurodiversity,” Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund. We’ll explore some theological insights into neurodiversity as part of God’s good creation, how to help churches embrace the gifts of neurodiversity and become a place of belonging for all and finally, we’ll briefly touch on how to create a neuro-inclusive worship experience.

Special Offering: Into the Deep - General Synod 101
2025-03-31 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Every two years, General Synod brings together faithful members of the United Church of Christ for inspirational worship, fellowship with friends (old and new), and public witness including through engagement with the business of the church. In July 2025, we are excited to welcome thousands from across the country for General Synod 35 in Kansas City, Missouri – and Nurture the Soul is helping to get you there by introducing a 4-part series that goes deep into General Synod and why we hope to see you all there.
Part 1 – General Synod 101 will help us better understand what Synod is and why it is so important that you show up! We’ll have a time for Q&A so you can ask the questions that’ll help you better prepare for our time together this summer.

Into the Deep: The 5-Ws of Synod Resolutions
2025-04-07 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Every two years, General Synod brings together faithful members of the United Church of Christ for inspirational worship, fellowship with friends (old and new), and public witness including through engagement with the business of the church. In July 2025, we are excited to welcome thousands from across the country for General Synod 35 in Kansas City, Missouri – and Nurture the Soul is helping to get you there by introducing a 4-part series that goes deep into General Synod and why we hope to see you all there.
Part 2 – During the 5-Ws of Synod Resolutions, we’ll hear from representatives that will help us better understand: the role of Resolutions from the perspective of our D.C. offices; what they mean for our local congregations; the Resolution process; and stories from those who’ve written Resolutions and those who’ve acted in the role of Committee Chair. We’ll also be introduced to the Resolutions that will be presented this summer.

Into the Deep: Womxn 2 Womxn Series Part I
2025-04-08 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Join us for an intimate workshop and learning community space for womxn as we journey toward Synod together! We’ll grow together and share communal space in an open-meeting format. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to build community and gather.
Rev. Jes Kast and Tehilah Eisentadt will join us to offer wisdom and connection around being a womxn, loving God and neighbor well.
The Rev. Jes Kast is a progressive minister, constructive theologian, and gardener. Raised in Michigan, Jes took her second call to ministry in New York City. After the 2016 election, she longed to share healing and desired a slower way of life. Those passions, among many others led her to taking a call as the settled pastor at Faith UCC in State College, Pennsylvania where she now resides with her wife, Dr. Jessy, and together they have two cats and puppy named Charlie.
Tehilah Eisenstadt is an educator, activist, rabbinical school student. Her focus is on deepening the emotional resonance of educational experiences, creating interfaith relationships designed for creating a more empathetic world, enriching leadership pipelines through staff mentorship in Jewish organizations throughout the US, raising up silenced voices, and enabling Jews who felt they didn’t belong to connect with Jewish community. In 2023, she launched Wonder and Repair, through which she develops approaches to community-building and care that incorporate best practices in trauma-informed education and ritual. Tehilah is enrolled full-time at Academy for Jewish Religion, a trans denominational rabbinical school. She is also a full-time member of East End Temple’s leadership in NYC. Prior to this,Tehilah spent 15 years serving as Director of Education in synagogues, day schools, and JCCs across the denominational spectrum throughout New York City’s five boroughs. She has been honored to consult for Clal (national Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership), Charlie’s Colorform City (Netflix) and Cordoba House – Muslim Sunday School. Tehilah spent 11 years organizing Bring Back Our Girls NY (which officially joined global BBOG efforts in 2020) and 12 years as a non-denominational Mikva guide with ImmerseNYC for women and non-binary folx.

Into the Deep - Accessibility, Safety, and Welcoming Spaces
2025-04-14 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Every two years, General Synod brings together faithful members of the United Church of Christ for inspirational worship, fellowship with friends (old and new), and public witness including through engagement with the business of the church. In July 2025, we are excited to welcome thousands from across the country for General Synod 35 in Kansas City, Missouri – and Nurture the Soul is helping to get you there by introducing a 4-part series that goes deep into General Synod and why we hope to see you all there.
Part 3 – Join us for these Special Offerings, “Into the Deep” as we explore how we are planning to support the deepening and strengthening of relationships along with connections to one other, with our ecumenical, global and interfaith partners, and with God during General Synod 35.
During this webinar, we’ll hear from leaders on how we plan an accessible, safe, and welcoming Synod. We’ll learn more about how we create brave space through networking and communal opportunities for the LGBTQ+ community and moments of intentional intimate connections for women within the wider church and those seeking ways to be in community through a justice action lens; how we’ve created several places where children (birth through 12) and youth (rising 6th graders through recent high school graduates) to have their own unique faith formation experiences while also taking in the lessons of the wider church; and, the ways we’re living into our commitments to be Accessible-to-All (A2A) and WISE (Welcoming, Inclusive, Supportive, and Engaged) for mental health that include a Community Care Space as well as an Access Team available to support access needs.

And They Shall Be Consoled: Connecting Eco-grief and Maundy Thursday
2025-04-17 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
The grief we feel toward melting ice, heating cities, and dying species is woven throughout the activities of daily life. This Maundy Thursday, join interfaith Rev. Lauren Van Ham as we learn about eco-grief and consider how our ministries can be strengthened through our honest acts of lament and care for the living system on which we all depend.

Collaborative Change through Grief and Lament
2025-04-24 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
We often recognize our grief and display our lament the more we learn about anthropogenic climate change but what do we do with this ecological grief and lament? How do we move through our grief and lament in order to build systems of collaborative change? Join Gabrielle Fields to learn about harnessing the power of collaboration and compassionate meaning making of ecological grief and lament.

Special Offering: Into the Deep - Braiding Worship and Beyond
2025-04-28 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Every two years, General Synod brings together faithful members of the United Church of Christ for inspirational worship, fellowship with friends (old and new), and public witness including through engagement with the business of the church. In July 2025, we are excited to welcome thousands from across the country for General Synod 35 in Kansas City, Missouri – and Nurture the Soul is helping to get you there by introducing a 4-part series that goes deep into General Synod and why we hope to see you all there.
Part 4 – Join us to learn more about worship and celebration at this year’s GS35 – we’ll hear from staff working on our shared time together and hear personal accounts of why this time is so very special.

Our Faith and Sensitive Locations - What Faith Communities Are Doing
2025-05-08 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
The Center on Faith and Justice along with the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law organized a lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of more than two dozen religious groups in response to the current administration’s policy allowing immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at “sensitive locations,” including houses of worship. Join us to learn more about what the lawsuit is, what our own congregations and communities can do to support our siblings migrating, and dream of what’s next collectively.

What's Next, Theatre for Change: Use What You've Got!
2025-05-12 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
This series began prior to the 2024 election cycle and is designed to help educate us around the big questions of our faith. This special offering is curated to push back on the political ideology and divide that has become this nation’s “religion”. To live into the Still Speaking G-d, we are the embodiment of who and what we are called to be to one another – whether it be spiritually, culturally, and lovingly during a time when we are being pulled apart at the seams. Part of this embodiment is examining the ways that art speaks and moves us towards expression and collectiveness.
In this session, Rev. Dr. McGilvery shares insights from their recent work using theatre to amplify unheard voices, advocate for justice, and bring overlooked stories to the stage. We’ll explore how even the smallest resources—when used intentionally—can spark meaningful change in communities. Whether you’re an artist, educator, or activist, you’ll be inspired to use what you have to create an impact where you are.

Into the Deep: Womxn 2 Womxn Series Part II
2025-05-13 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Join us for an intimate workshop and learning community space for womxn as we journey toward Synod together! We’ll grow together and share communal space in an open-meeting format. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to build community and gather.

Theology, Polity, or Policy - How Do We Move Forward on Immigration in Small Town and Rural Communities
2025-05-15 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Join us to hear from Pastors and Leaders within 3-different geographic small town and rural settings within the UCC to explore immigration during this complicated political and theological time. During our shared time together, we’ll hear more about how current immigration policies are impacting these small and rural settings, what our scriptures call us to be to one another, and how our UCC polity can inform our work to push back on the hateful rhetoric and policies that seeks to strip the dignity and humanity of those migrating to the United States.

Lessons, Stories, and Theologies of Small Town and Rural (STAR) Churches in 2025
2025-06-05 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
We are joined by a number of Small Town and Rural (STAR) faith and lay leaders for an important conversation to learn about the lessons that all of our faith communities face today. We’ll hear personal accounts of their journeys and how scripture and theology guide them towards framing the future of our churches and our faith.

Into the Deep: Womxn 2 Womxn Series Part III
2025-06-10 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom

A Little One Shall Lead - A Small Church Story Project
2025-06-12 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
In this webinar, we’ll hear stories about how the wider church and congregations can discover opportunity in their smallness. The stories highlight how to create spirited worship, highly engaged prayer practices, and an invitation to live into a committed and generous responses to suffering in the communities where they are located. These compelling stories from 17-small UCC congregations can offer perspective on how denominations may relate with small congregations in fresh ways, and how seminaries, through inclusion of small church studies and field experiences, may enrich clergy education.

The Future of Faith - Perspectives from Young Leaders in Diverse Religions and Countries
2025-07-31 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
In a world marked by fragmentation and fear, young people of faith are not retreating—they are rising. They are drawing on sacred teachings to respond with courage, creativity, and compassion, becoming bridge-builders in divided societies. Through dialogue and mutual learning, we will highlight how interreligious solidarity can be a powerful force for healing, justice, and hope. Join two dynamic multi-faith young leaders to learn how young people are deepening or returning to their faith in response to the profound challenges of our time. This program is an invitation to envision a future where diverse faith traditions collaborate to cultivate collective dignity, love, kindness, and respect, building a better world for all of G-d’s (Allah’s) creation.
Nurture the Soul’s Future of Faith: So many of us are living in the most divided times we’ve known collectively. Between fascism, genocide, war, famine, environmental collapse, and uncertainty about our relationships and what we are called to be in such a time – we find ourselves deepening or returning to our faith. This series is curated to help us learn from the thought leaders who are exploring these themes and is an invitation to come into a dreaming space where all of G-d’s creation can be cared for – a space where we can know that collective dignity, love, kindness, and respect is honored and how our different perspectives of faith can build up a better world!

Revitalizing Labor Sunday – Liturgy and Solidarity
2025-08-07 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
The affordability of meeting our basic human needs is beyond comfortable reach for more people than ever. Wages, salaries, and worker protections are suppressed. How can churches help meet the needs within their congregations, their communities, and our country? The United Church of Christ is revitalizing Labor Sunday as an inflection point for specifically naming the unjust causes of our current struggles, and the power we have within and without our sanctuaries to manifest real change that helps everyone thrive. Join a conversation with UCC Minister for Economic Justice Rev. Seth Wispelwey on “liturgies for labor” and organizing for worker justice where you are.

Future of Faith: Is Religion Bad News for Human Rights?
2025-08-14 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Why at times is religion so dishonest when it gets things wrong, the instinctive reaction is protect the institution, don’t tell the truth. Has religion been the catalyst for war and division and if so what conversations do we need to have to rectify that?
A Nurture the Soul special offering, Future of Faith: So many of us are living in the most divided times we’ve known collectively. Between fascism, genocide, war, famine, environmental collapse, and uncertainty about our relationships and what we are called to be in such a time – we find ourselves deepening or returning to our faith. This series is curated to help us learn from the thought leaders who are exploring these themes and is an invitation to come into a dreaming space where all of G-d’s creation can be cared for – a space where we can know that collective dignity, love, kindness, and respect is honored and how our different perspectives of faith can build up a better world.

Decolonizing Mental Health and Empowering Holistic Wellness
2025-08-28 15:30 - 17:00 | Zoom
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.

Dumpster Fire Ethics: Rethinking How We Follow Jesus
2025-09-04 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
In times of social, political, and economic crisis we need new ways to think about morality and ethics to make sure that our ethical approaches serve the moment and compel us into just and healing action. Sociologist, liturgist, and sacred music composer Amanda Udis-Kessler offers us a new way of thinking about ethics that is consonant with the commitments of progressive Christianity and that helps us follow Jesus in times of violence, cruelty, and corruption. This ethical approach has implications for our spiritual development, personal growth, church practices, and justice work. Join us for a conversation with Amanda about her 2024 Pilgrim Press book Abundant Lives: A Progressive Christian Ethic of Flourishing.
