Nurture the Soul Special Offering: "What's Next" - Naming the Pain: Unresolved Grief and the Lure of Political Extremism
2024-11-11 15:30 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | Zoom
In most cases, anger and fear are the emotions most readily associated with Christian Nationalism and other forms of political extremism. Rev. Dr. Tanya Jeffcoat, however, will examine the ways in which unresolved grief often plays an underlying role in drawing people to extremist positions. After exploring several expressions of unresolved grief, she will offer potential approaches for addressing grief and building communities that offer opportunities to heal from the divisions we face.

What Is Owed: International Climate Debt
2024-11-13 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
While developed countries disproportionately caused the climate crisis, developing countries have disproportionately suffered the consequences. As a result, a debt is owed. Yet, the opposite is happening as developing countries are the ones saddled with the crushing burden of debt payments. According to a report from the IMF and World Bank, 47 developing countries will pay $400 billion dollars to service their debts in 2024. With the risk of default, these countries are not able to devote the money needed to address the climate crisis. As the UN Climate Change Conference takes place in Azerbaijan, we will focus on the enormous moral and financial issues at stake with climate debt. Athena Peralta from the World Council of Churches and Karimi Kinoti from Edeni Platform discuss these critical matters.
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.

Breaking the Chains - A 2-day Virtual Summit
2024-11-13 13:00 - 14:00, 2024-11-20 13:00 - 14:30 | Zoom
Join us as we participate in rich dialogue and intentional learning on Gender & Sexual Based Violence through the lens of Thursdays in Black!
Together, we’ll learn how to partner in Breaking the Chains of gender and sexual based violence through deconstructing biblical narratives, testimony in action, social media’s influence on youth and ways to engage in violence prevention and anti-trafficking work.

Nurture the Soul - Building Community Connections to Create Resilient Communities Part 2
2024-11-14 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
In this webinar, Katie Howe, Minister for Disaster Response and Recovery will discuss how loving our neighbor starts with being prepared for disasters. There are some steps that all churches should be taking regardless of their financial or human resources. She will discuss some of the main ideas in the newly revised Local Church Disaster Preparedness Workbook, and discuss the importance of having a well-structured preparedness plan. She will be joined by Rev. Kelly Hansen, Conference Disaster Response Coordinator for the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference United Church of Christ, and John Etter, a member of Central St. Matthew United Church of Christ in New Orleans, LA, who will discuss their experiences with disaster preparedness.

Nurture the Soul Special Offering: What’s Next: Building Community w/Faith Practitioners from Across the Country
2024-11-18 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Join a small group of diverse faith practitioners (campus, church, community organizing and board settings) who met through a gathering of people to explore racial justice. In this webinar, we’ll learn through personal accounts of how they have attended to sacred self-care in complicated and diverse settings; developed strategies and skills for sustaining themselves in their work; confronted their fears personally and collectively in order to model building authentic relationships of trust across our divided Nation. All of this has led to an imagination and practice of what a just world for all looks and feels like and a deep admiration and a sustaining kinship.

Reset for Renewal: Imagine Labs
2024-11-19 - 2024-11-20 | UCC National Ministries or Virtual, 1300 East 9th St., Suite 1100, Cleveland, OH, 44114
Over the course of several days, we invite those involved in children’s and youth ministry in local congregations to gather for a time of study, reflection, leadership development, worship and support in a hybrid model. We will have a diverse group of presenters, theologians, authors and local church practitioners to offer insight and lead spirited workshops that will provide extra tools for leading ministries in the twenty-first century.
In person attendees will meet at the UCC National Ministries, 1300 East 9th St., Suite 1100 (11th floor), Cleveland, OH 44114. The meeting will take place in the Mission Central Conference Room. Virtual attendees will receive the Zoom link information in the registration confirmation email.
In Person Attendee Agenda
Virtual Attendee Agenda
All times listed are in Eastern Standard Time. Agendas are tentative and subject to change.
The registration fee is $10 for virtual attendees.
The deadline to register for in-person attendees is Thursday, October 17, 2024. In Person registration is by invitation only. Please contact Tyler Ung at UngT@ucc.org for any inquiries.
The deadline to register for virtual attendees is Friday, November 15, 2024.

Nurture the Soul: Immigration: Will There Be Calm After the Storm?
2024-11-21 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Join Revs. Noel Anderson, Randy Mayer, and others to learn more about how United Church of Christ is working and evolving to welcome immigrants to our communities and congregations. Immigration has once again become a divisive issue in this election season, one that is filled with false statements and misinformation. The presenters will share stories from the Border as well as some practical steps on how to practice our faith through ministry and advocacy with immigrants.

Nurture the Soul Special Offering: An Ecumenical Gathering for Prayer and Action for World AIDS Day 2024
2024-12-02 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Two years ago, Rev. Roberto Ochoa organized an ecumenical online World AIDS Day observance. He cultivated a program that was both informative and spiritual. Since then, he and Metropolitan Community Churches’ representatives have been creating resources for churches and communities to honor World AIDS Day. Join a diverse group of theologians, faith and community leaders to learn more about these resources and how your communities and learn more about how to support and honor World AIDS Day in 2024 and beyond.
Thursdays for the Soul: A webinar series to care for the whole church. Topics are wide ranging, and are focused on the spirituality and care of people. Prayer, worship, music, psalm readings, or compassionate teaching are included. This will be a predictable time of gathering for something to feed your spirit, offered by Faith Education, Innovation, and Formation and Justice and Local Church Ministries of the national setting, United Church of Christ.

Stories from the Pacific Basin
2024-12-03 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom
As part of the Pacific Basin Initiative Week, please join us for stories and updates from Global Ministries’ East Asia and Pacific partners.
Frances Namoumou, Program Manager with the Pacific Conference of Churches in Fiji, will discuss the ecumenical partner’s Climate Change work and their new sustainable agriculture project, the Vulagi Eco-Farm and Training Center.
Martha Mensendiek, long-time mission co-worker in Kyoto, Japan will lift up stories of staff and visitors who have been transformed by the outreach of the Bazaar Café, a bold witness of the United Church of Christ in Japan to marginalized communities in the Kyoto area.
Voices from Silliman University Divinity School in Dumaguete, Philippines will share about the school’s growing Music and Liturgy degree program, which integrates indigenous Filipino song and instrumentation as part of its formation of students for ministry in the United Church of Christ in the Philippines.

Reclaiming Our Democracy
2024-12-11 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
After the election, commentators like Tom Nichols urged people to “stay engaged and make their voices heard at every turn.” But most still wonder how, and even if, they can make a difference between elections. What are the options? (1) Protesting? Vital, but usually not the long game. (2) Signing email form letters, which only 3% of Congressional staff says is highly effective? Just gestures. (3) Taking a 2-year nap until the next election? Sadly, the preferred route for many. Few know about (4) transformational advocacy which helps you change an issue while you also become changed in the process.
In his book “Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen’s Guide to Transformational Advocacy,” Sam Daley-Harris writes about people who have successfully brought about social change and personal transformation. Join us for this webinar as Daley-Harris shares his stories and wisdom gained from years of leading and coaching advocacy organizations such as Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Catholic Relief Services, and RESULTS.
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.

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 | 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.

Climate Action Commissioning Service
2025-01-08 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
As we enter a year of critical importance in the struggle for climate justice, the UCC is holding a Climate Action Commissioning Service. Gather with us as we faithfully prepare ourselves to take action in the coming year. The theme for this service and for the UCC’s 2025 Climate Hope Campaign is “Planting Seeds of Hope.” Our preacher will be the Rev. Michael Malcom, the Executive Director for Alabama Interfaith Power & Light and the People’s Justice Council.
Even if you cannot make the service at its scheduled time, still sign-up, and we will send you a link to a recording of it.

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.)

From a Toxic Media to a Toxic Environment
2025-01-15 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Media in our society can have a decisive influence on everything from elections to the quality of the very air we breathe. It can shape and inform the demands of a public and the political will of those in office. In short, a toxic media can lead to a toxic government and, literally, a toxic environment. This is evident in the influence that media conglomerates like Fox can have on matters as vital as the climate crisis. In this webinar, we will hear from three guest panelists who will help us to understand our current media landscape, how it impacts the climate crisis, and what we can do about it.
-Allison Fisher, Program Director for Climate and Energy, Media Matters for America
-Elyse Martin, Manager of Persuasion Research & Campaigns, Environmental Defense Fund
-Cheryl A. Leanza, Policy Advisor, UCC Media Justice
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.

Interfaith Service & Moral Mass Meeting
2025-01-20 19:00 - 20:00 | Healing Cathedral Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 4523 Elvis Presley Blvd., Memphis, TN, 38116
For Such a Time as This: A Prophetic Response to America’s Defining Moment
January 20th is a time for us to gather as one, united in witness, to reflect, and to rise in body and spirit as we seek a just world for all.
Healing Cathedral Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
4523 Elvis Presley Blvd.
Memphis, TN 38116
Monday, January 20th, 2025
6:00pm CT / 7:00pm ET
Register to attend in person: Summary – Interfaith Service & Moral Mass Meeting (cvent.com)
Learn more: Interfaith Service & Moral Mass Meeting – United Church of Christ (ucc.org)

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.

OWL Taking Flight February 5: 25 Years of OWL!
2025-02-05 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Join us as we celebrate 25 years of Our Whole Lives! Special guests will share historical context and we’ll look at where we hope the next 25 years will take us.

Love of Children Partner Event - Context Matters: The Impact of Social Context on Emotional Growth
2025-02-05 12:00 - 13:30 | Online
This presentation will give youth workers, parents and educators a chance to examine the context and environment within which our children are developing socially and emotionally. The goal of this seminar is to offer a framework for understanding the WHY so we can identify the WHAT and HOW when we are working to support youth today. Participants will also be invited to think about how their own context can show up in their interactions with youth and ways to be mindful of those impacts.

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.

Elon Musk, Oligarchy, and Climate Justice
2025-02-12 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Over and over again, the Bible tells of prophets who confronted rulers and the rich with an eye toward justice. Today, the ultra-rich hold enormous political power in the United States, and the implications are many, especially when it comes to the pursuit of climate justice. As the world’s richest man and as someone once hailed as a climate savior, Elon Musk has told the President that “we don’t need to rush” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As people of faith, what are we to make of this situation in which a small number of wealthy individuals have a tremendous influence over the future well-being of humanity and all of God’s creation? More importantly, what are we to do? The following panelists will help us address these questions:
-Edie Rasell, author of “The Way of Abundance: Economic Justice in Scripture and Society”
-KeShaun Pearson, Executive Director of Memphis Community Against Pollution
-Joseph Geevarghese, Executive Director of Our Revolution
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.

My Soul Looks Back And Wonders How I Got Over: Wisdom Of The Elders For Such A Time As This - A 3 Part Series
2025-02-13 15:30 - 16:30, 2025-02-20 15:30 - 16:30, 2025-02-27 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
In this three-part webinar, two elders of the Afro-Christian tradition will share how the African Spirit of Ubuntu has sustained their lives, and why it offers a source of nurture for our souls at such a time as this. Each session will center on one value of Ubuntu as we discover ways to put our collective wisdom into practice.

Gender & Sexuality + Our Faith
2025-02-18 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
God seeks love OUT LOUD in our tending to ourselves and one another! Join Gender & Sexuality Justice Ministries to learn, grow and embrace Gender & Sexuality + Our Faith in action!

What's Next Rooted in Faith and Justice: A Vision of Liberation with Jonathan Kuttab
2025-02-24 15:30 - 16:30
For decades, Palestinians have sought freedom and justice, including recognition of their rights and self-determination. Their struggle is at the heart of Palestinian Liberation Theology, developed in the late 1980s by Palestinian Christians, and set forth in the Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek’s groundbreaking book, Justice and Only Justice. Jonathan Kuttab was among those Palestinian Christians whose discussions led to the emergence of this paradigm. Mr. Kuttab, a Palestinian Christian and a lawyer, is also a co-founder of Al-Haq, the first Palestinian human rights organization. Join us in this webinar to hear Mr. Kuttab speak about the genesis and development of Palestinian Liberation Theology and the founding of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center; and efforts to advocate for and defend the human rights of Palestinians. Mr. Kuttab will speak about liberation from theological and political-legal perspectives, including an alternative vision to a two-state solution. He will also share reflections on the genocide and war of the past 15 months.

Thriving Through Moments of Unrest
2025-02-25 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Join Gender & Sexuality Justice Ministries to explore ways to thrive through moments of unrest and building communities of care.
