United Church of Christ

What has been your most important COVID shift?
2023-05-31 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Part 8 of the Create Playspace with the President series.
Provocateur:
Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister and President of the UCC.
**Please note- all sessions in this series will be recorded.

Strengthen the Church Offering
2023-05-28
Strengthen the Church offering is traditionally taken on the first Sunday of Pentecost. This year it will be on May 28, 2023. Order your offering theme materials here.

Security and Faith: Threats and Responses from UCC Local Churches
2023-05-25 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Security and Faith. In this three-part series, host Rev. Tracy Howe, Team Leader and Minister for FaithINFO and seasoned organizer invites panelists to engage community security issues. We live in a world of increasing vulnerability, charged public rhetoric, and more and more guns. Local congregations are encountering threats to persons and property, from their local churches where buildings are being vandalized and pastors being threatened to the greater community where white Christian nationalists are demonstrating against drag shows and pride festivals. What does security mean from a Gospel perspective? What can we build together towards a safety for all?
Security and Faith Episode III: Local Church Preparedness and Safety. Join Rev. Tracy Howe, Team Leader and Minister for FaithINFO at the National Setting and seasoned organizer as she speaks to local church pastors and lay leaders involved in local church preparedness and safety. Learn about the resources available and where imagination and faithfulness are coming together to fill in the gaps. What if a local church hosts a school? A food pantry? How do these public programs impact community safety in a world with increasing threats and vulnerability. How can we faithfully prepare and respond?

Building an Endowment
2023-05-24 18:30 - 19:30 | Zoom
An endowment can support a congregation and its wider mission. But where do you start? This webinar will provide ideas and policies for creating and growing an endowment for your congregation. Rev. Andrew Warner will draw on his experience with the Wisconsin Foundation UCC when discussing how to raise, manage, and use endowment funds.

Security and Faith: Abolitionist Perspectives
2023-05-18 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Security and Faith. In this three-part series, host Rev. Tracy Howe, Team Leader and Minister for FaithINFO and seasoned organizer invites panelists to engage community security issues. We live in a world of increasing vulnerability, charged public rhetoric, and more and more guns. Local congregations are encountering threats to persons and property, from their local churches where buildings are being vandalized and pastors being threatened to the greater community where white Christian nationalists are demonstrating against drag shows and pride festivals. What does security mean from a Gospel perspective? What can we build together towards a safety for all?
Building off of Commuinty Safety for All, this Webinar brings us into the commitments the United Church of Christ has made over the years through General Synod Resolutions, from supporting movements for racial justice live Black Lives Matter to advocating for gun control, how should these things inform the decisions we make about local church security. Join Rev. Tracy Howe, Team Leader and Minister for FaithINFO at the National Setting and seasoned organizer, Katie Adams, Domestic Policy Advocate for the UCC Washington D.C. office, and Rev. Adam Erickson, pastor of Clackamas UCC in Clackamas, OR in a critical conversation on embodying our faith and collective justice commitments in the context of increasing threats and vulnerability of pastors and local churches.

General Synod Frequency Town Hall 3/3
2023-05-17 18:00 - 19:00
At General Synod 34 in Indianapolis, delegates will consider amendments to the UCC Bylaws that would change the frequency of General Synod from two years to three years.
Join one of the Town Halls to learn more about the Bylaws changes recommended by the UCC Board.

Becoming an Immigrant Welcoming Church
2023-05-17 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
Just as ONA, WISE, and Willing to Respond are standardized designations across the life of the UCC, we are working to expand the Immigrant Welcoming Church (IWC) designation. Please join us for a conversation on becoming an IWC church, and how this formalized designation will help you with resources, collaboration, and strengthening our collective capacity to welcome with dignity.

What is changing in ministry?
2023-05-17 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Part 7 of the Create Playspace with the President series.
Provocateur:
Rev. Elizabeth Dilley, Team Leader of Ministerial Excellence, Support and Authorization (MESA), Justice and Local Church Ministries.
**Please note- all sessions in this series will be recorded.

Security and Faith: Faithfulness and Vulnerability
2023-05-11 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Security and Faith. In this three-part series, host Rev. Tracy Howe, Team Leader and Minister for FaithINFO and seasoned organizer invites panelists to engage community security issues. We live in a world of increasing vulnerability, charged public rhetoric, and more and more guns. Local congregations are encountering threats to persons and property, from their local churches where buildings are being vandalized and pastors being threatened to the greater community where white Christian nationalists are demonstrating against drag shows and pride festivals. What does security mean from a Gospel perspective? What can we build together towards a safety for all?
Security and Faith Episode I: Faith and Vulnerability, Imagining Community Safety for All We are living in times that call for prophetic imagination and a courageous willingness to “practice the world we wish to see,” as Adrienne Maree Brown says in Emergent Strategy. These times also call for honest reflection on how racism and violence are entangled with policing and property security. Can we imagine safety for all and start to build community practices for preparedness? In this, the first of three webinars on Security and Faith, seasoned faith organizer and UCC Minister Rev. Anne Dunlap brings us through SURJ’s (Showing Up for Racial Justice) Community Safety for All toolkit. As local churches imagine safety, we look to the Gospel to illuminate what security means, and be bold and courageous in imagining safe communities for all people, not just church properties.

Stop Cop City: A Moral Call
2023-05-10 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
In Atlanta, faith leaders have been involved in a struggle to confront violence in multiple forms as they seek to prevent the destruction of the Weelaunee Forest for the building of a police training center in a predominantly Black community. Through their actions for a just world, these faith leaders have additionally sought to honor Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán who was killed by the Georgia State Police while protecting the forest. This webinar will feature Rev. Leo Seyij Allen, Rev. Darci Jaret, and Rev. Keyanna Jones as they share with us about the ongoing pursuit of justice in seeking to stop Cop City.
Even if you cannot make the webinar at its scheduled time, still sign-up, and we will send you a link to a recording of it.
This monthly installment of Creation Justice Webinars is co-hosted by the Rev. Dr. Brooks Berndt who serves as the Minister of Environmental Justice for the United Church of Christ and the Rev. Michael Malcom who serves as the Executive Director for Alabama Interfaith Power & Light and the People’s Justice Council.

Sacred Reckonings
2023-05-04 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Sacred Reckonings, a conversation with Rev. Traci Blackmon and Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel on white settler-colonizer churches doing the work of reparations.

A new eco-system for Members in Discernment.
2023-05-03 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Part 6 of the Create Playspace with the President series.
Provocateur:
Rev. David Vasquez-Levy, President and Professor of Homiletics at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California
**Please note- all sessions in this series will be recorded.

Mental Health Awareness While Offering OWL
2023-05-03 12:00 - 13:00
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund UCC Minister for Mental Health and Disabilities, and Jennica Davis-Hockett UUA Youth Ministry Specialist, will join us for a conversation about youth, mental health, and intersections with Our Whole Lives.

Rethinking What God Calls Volunteers to Do
2023-04-26 18:30 - 19:30 | Zoom
Rev. Bridget Daniels of Union UCC in Green Bay, WI, and Rev. Elana Larson of the National Ministries will reflect on ways to engage volunteers and hear God’s call to something new when you can’t find volunteers. They will help us think about ways to make more dynamic volunteer experiences.

General Synod Frequency Town Hall 2/3
2023-04-26 18:00 - 19:00

What's Possible?: Earth Day Stories of Hope
2023-04-22 11:00 - 12:00
On April 22nd, the United Church of Christ will inaugurate an annual Earth Day summit to lift up, celebrate, and further ministries dedicated to caring for God’s creation. This two and a half hour digital event will feature a keynote address by the Rev. Jim Antal, the author of “Climate Church, Climate World: How People of Faith Must Work for Change.” Churches are invited to organize book groups to read this book in the month of April.
The summit will also feature:

a panel discussion with Gina Peltier from Honor the Earth, Analyah Schlaeger dos Santos from Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light, and Alexa Horwart from Isaiah
a celebration of our denomination’s newest Creation Justice Churches
a recognition of our recent youth and young adult Climate Justice Fellows
the presentation of the Dollie Burwell Prophetic Action Award to a congregation or green team that has distinguished itself in taking public action for environmental justice

If you are unable to join at the scheduled time, still register and a link to the recording will be sent to you following the event.
This event is cohosted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ, the United Church of Christ’s Council for Climate Justice, Mayflower United Church of Christ, and the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ.

Status of Welcome Corps with Church World Service
2023-04-13 13:00 - 14:00
On January 19, the Biden administration rolled out a new project called Welcome Corps, which enables private citizens to independently resettle refugees. Church World Service (CWS), a formal partner of Welcome Corps, will be presenting for UCC churches about the status of the program and how churches can responsibly engage. At this webinar, UCC churches will have the opportunity to ask questions to CWS HQ staff about the new available sponsorship opportunities, the support available for sponsor groups, and implications of the new system. Groups who previously sponsored are invited to attend to learn about how to build on past experience to welcome again.

Getting Ready for Earth Sunday: Resources for Congregations
2023-04-12 13:00 - 14:00
Many churches celebrate God’s creation on the Sunday closest to Earth Day (April 22nd). It is an opportunity to not only address some of the most pressing issues faced by our world today, but to also give people a vision of hope and a path forward. To assist with this vitally important undertaking, Creation Justice Ministries has created an ecumenical resource for churches. The resource for this year brings the lens of justice to food, the most immediate and tangible way that we connect with the natural world around us. In this webinar, Karyn Bigelow, Co-Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries, will introduce the resource and talk about specific ways churches can deliver a powerful message and experience on Earth Sunday.
Even if you cannot make the webinar at its scheduled time, still sign-up, and we will send you a link to a recording of it.
This monthly installment of Creation Justice Webinars is co-hosted by the Rev. Dr. Brooks Berndt who serves as the Minister of Environmental Justice for the United Church of Christ and the Rev. Michael Malcom who serves as the Executive Director for Alabama Interfaith Power & Light and the People’s Justice Council.

How do we effectively use social media to message progressive Christianity?
2023-04-12 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Part 5 of the Create Playspace with the President series.
Provocateur:
Rev. Sarah Tevis-Townes, pastor of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a Tik-Tok innovator who has built a large following using video shorts to teach the world about progressive faith.
**Please note- all sessions in this series will be recorded.

A Palestinian Christian Reflection on the Meaning of Easter
2023-04-12 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
In the week following Western celebrations of Easter, and during what is Holy Week for Orthodox and some other Eastern Christians, Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac will share his understandings of the journey to Easter — Palm Sunday, Last Week, the Cross, Resurrection — and Easter stories.
Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, academic dean at Bethlehem Bible College, and the director of the Christ at the Checkpoint conferences, the Rev. Dr. Isaac has written several books; his latest is The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope.
This webinar is jointly presented by Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ and the United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network (UCC PIN).

Christian Nationalism: A Threat to Democracy and Christianity
2023-04-11 20:30 - 21:30
The Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer, general minister and president of the United Church of Christ, will discuss the challenge of faithfulness in the face of Christian nationalism, and the need for religious leaders and people of faith to openly discuss and confront it. Dorhauer is the author of Beyond Resistance: The Institutional Church Meets the Postmodern World (2015). Part of the Religious Literacy Project at Elmhurst University.
Upon registering, event can be livestreamed here: https://www.youtube.com/@ElmhurstUniversity1871

How we gather: Where are future faith seekers finding access to their Sacred?
2023-04-05 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Part 4 of the Create Playspace with the President series.
Provocateurs:
Casper ter Kuile co-author of How We Gather, and co-founder of The Sacred Design Lab.
**Please note- all sessions in this series will be recorded.

War in Ukraine and Our Church's Response
2023-03-29 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, 2022, members of the United Church of Christ were exceedingly generous in offering support for people affected by the war. In the past 13 months, more than 15 million people in Ukraine have been displaced from their homes and communities, fleeing both inside Ukraine and to other countries. UCC partners responded immediately with care and support, and continue to meet needs even as they face their own sometimes challenging circumstances.

Join four UCC leaders who recently visited partners in central and eastern Europe to hear the stories and reflections they carry back from their encounters in Ukraine, Hungary, Greece, and Moldova. Learn about the inspiring work our partners are undertaking, which is strengthened by the generosity of UCC members and friends.

Changing Landscape of Giving: What we can learn from Millennial and Gen Z Donors
2023-03-22 19:30 - 20:30 | Zoom
Rev. Dr. Colie Batavia of Grace UCC in Two Rivers, WI, will discuss insights and ideas the Church can learn from Millennial and Gen Z Donors.

General Synod Frequency Town Hall 1/3
2023-03-15 14:00 - 15:00

How do we fund the future?
2023-03-15 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Part 3 of the Create Playspace with the President series.
Provocateurs:
Rev. Kent Siladi, UCC Director of Philanthropy
Rev. Andrew Warner, Generosity Outreach Officer in the UCC Office of Philanthropy, Technology, Identity, and Communication (OPTIC)
**Please note- all sessions in this series will be recorded.

Movie Screening: The Ants and the Grasshopper
2023-03-01 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Join us online for a free screening of an acclaimed documentary that follows the life of the inspiring Anita Chitaya. After successfully confronting challenge after challenge in her home country of Malawi, Chitaya comes to the United States faced with the most difficult task of her life. In order to save her home from extreme weather, she seeks to persuade people in the United States that climate change is real. The film documents her efforts as she travels around the country from California to the White House to engage everyone from climate skeptics to despairing farmers.
The documentary has received numerous film festival awards and accolades. Journalist Michael Pollen declared that he was “blown away” by this powerful film about “a hero of such grace and intelligence and power.”
Join us from the comfort of your home or gather with others from your faith community for this film screening. An action guide and a Bible study are available to make the most of the experience.
This event is cohosted by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Green Chalice Ministries, the Environmental Justice Ministries of the United Church of Christ, and Blessed Tomorrow.

Migrant Sponsorship: Responding to the Heartbreaking Emails
2023-03-01 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
UCC Refugee & Migration Services will be speaking about the new, specialized migrant sponsorship processes, why they evolved, and why they’re resulting in a flood of heartbreaking e mails from migrants around the world in your local church inbox. Guests from Al Otro Lado, a family reunification non-profit in California, will be joining us to discuss this phenomenon.

Is property a missional asset or liability?
2023-03-01 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Part 2 of the Create Playspace with the President series.
Provocateur:
Maria Coyne, President and CEO of the Cornerstone Fund.
**Please note- all sessions in this series will be recorded.

OWL Taking Flight - Child Safety and Mandatory Reporting: Advice from a Pediatrician
2023-03-01 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Dr. Verena Brown, pediatrician and educator who specializes in cases of child physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect, will join us for a discussion about child abuse and mandatory reporting. Dr. Brown is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Executive Committee of the Council on Child Abuse and Neglect.
