United Church of Christ

OWL Taking Flight: Framing Conversations about Restarting OWL Programs
2021-07-07 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Eager to start or re-start your Our Whole Lives program? Join national UCC and UUA OWL staff and guests to explore the value of a “soft reentry” focused on safety, community building, and relearning how to be in shared spaces, including considerations for justice and the integrity of OWL.

Looking Back; Looking Forward
2021-07-06 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Join Rev. Traci Blackmon, and Rev. Dr. Chris Davies from the Tuesdays for Nurture and Thursdays for the Soul webinar series for a conversation on where we’ve been—and where we hope to go. As we move into General Synod and a Summer Sabbatical in the webinar series, we want to celebrate some highlights of our shared digital space together. But don’t worry! We’ll return with worship on September 9th with more relevant programming for our audience in the United Church of Christ, and beyond.

Polity Primer 101: How is our Polity Lived out at General Synod?
2021-07-01 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
The United Church of Christ has a way of governing itself (“polity”) that’s different than many other denominations. Bound together by covenant and freely entered into through congregational autonomy, the UCC gathers in many different expressions to be the church. Every two years, the United Church of Christ comes together for worship and business, taking time to speak to the church about matters of faith and conscience. Come listen to some UCC History, Theology, and Polity teachers talk about the gifts and challenges of our structure, how our theological values show up at General Synod, with attention to proposed resolutions for this year’s General Synod.

Thursdays in Black: Toward a world without rape and violence
2021-06-30 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
Globally, 1 in 3 women experience physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime, according to data from the World Health Organization. Such violence can increase during public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. We all have a responsibility to speak out against violence, to ensure that everyone is safe from rape and violence in homes, schools, work, streets – in all places in our societies.
Join us as we learn about the Thursdays in Black campaign and ways in which we, as faith communities, can help to end gender-based violence in local and global settings.

Decision Day
2021-06-30
DecisionDay will occur sometime between now and the end of June. The court does not announce which opinions will be issued ahead of time.
Decision Day Schedule:

10 AM ET: Court begins to announce decisions; one every 10 min
11 AM ET: We will email you that today is “DecisionDay”
2-2:30 PM ET: Check-in call for organization staff & event speakers. Overview of the opinion, outcome scenario we are facing, recommended talking points and brief Q&A. RSVP required
7 PM ET: Virtual National Rally with featured speakers and performances. Live-streamed on DecisionDay.org, YouTube, and Facebook
8:30 PM ET: Virtual Town Hall. RSVP required at DecisionDay.org

Sharing Leadership in UCC Community
2021-06-29 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Some mistakenly believe that United Church of Christ faith communities resist leadership by-design. The truth is that UCC polity calls on communities to share leadership, voluntarily and covenantally. Sharing leadership is so countercultural, it’s easy to misunderstand.
Join Dean Sarah B. Drummond of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School and Rev. Dr. Chris S. Davies for an in an energizing and timely conversation about Drummond’s new book from the Pilgrim Press, Sharing Leadership: A United Church of Christ Way of Being In-Community.
Davies and Drummond will reflect on questions like, “How can faith communities share leadership well?” and, “How can the UCC help its members to carry the life-giving practices of sharing leadership into their families, communities, and workplaces?”

Synod Storytelling
2021-06-24 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
As we gather in for the first ever Special Edition Digital General Synod upcoming, we know that there are so many who will hold an ache for the kind of things that happen in person. General Synod in the past has been: A gathering of our church to do the work of the denomination and pass resolutions, a family reunion of sorts, a place where people are activated for Justice and Jesus, a place where connections happen and sparks of innovation come forward, and so much more. While we’ll still have resolutions and worship and digital programming for Synod 2021, it will certainly be different this year! Before we gather in July, come to this Synod Storytelling event to hear stories of Synod’s past, and the incredible community, work, and connections which have occurred, because WE are the UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST.

Rural Congregations of the South/Southwest
2021-06-22 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
In a continuing series regarding the state of rural congregations and ministries in the United Church of Christ today; join Conference and Local congregational leaders as they speak into the opportunities, challenges, and realities of doing church in rural and small towns in the Southern and Southwestern parts of the U.S.

A Juneteenth Celebration with Stories and Sacred Music
2021-06-18 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Juneteenth marks the official end of slavery in the U.S. The original legal declaration was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln which instituted Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration honoring the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger led thousands of federal troops to Galveston, Texas to announce that the Civil War had ended, and slaves had been freed.
Listen to lives of African peoples through 4-genres of storytelling and music. Experience the long history of first peoples despite the interruptions, setbacks, and tragedies. Journey with us through sacred music, spoken word, and creative expressions of joy, sorrow, and praise. African descended people have resisted, revolted, protested, and fought for their freedom and right to exists as God intended since the beginning of human existence. In the 21st century, COVID-19, state sanctioned law enforcement murders, and white nationalism and vigilante threats and acts of violence continue to impact people of African descent nationally and globally. And Still We Rise!

United Black Christians (UBC) Celebrates Juneteenth
2021-06-17 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
On June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas, a U.S. federal proclamation was read notifying people of African Descent were all free and that slavery was abolished. This date has since been commemorated as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day and/or Emancipation Day. The earliest Juneteenth celebration being recorded in 1867.
On Thursday, June 17th at 3:30 pm EST, come and celebrate with UCC’s United Black Christians (UBC) celebrate the historic significance of Juneteenth to our UCC congregations, especially our African Descendent churches

Together in Hope: A Journey through Southern Asia
2021-06-16 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
Join Brande Crosby, Global Ministries Communications Associate, at the premier of a 37-minute travel documentary, “A Story from Southern Asia”, on her encounters with people and their initiatives for change. To make connections between continents for Global Ministries’ Southern Asia Initiative, Brande travelled to India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Indonesia in 2019, and captured stories and images of people engaged with the challenges of human trafficking and forced migration, caste discrimination, religious and ethnic conflicts and climate change.
Nearly two years since then, these partners now find themselves in circumstances more complex and challenging on account of Covid 19. Deenabandhu Manchala, Southern Asia Executive, will reflect on what these mean to the churches there and here, and to our journey of hope together.

Mind the Gap: Worker Justice, Wage, Medicaid, and the Right to Organize
2021-06-15 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
In part 2 of this four-part series, we will address the need for worker justice. Over the next few months we will explore Motherhood, Working and Wage Justice, Debt and Health Equity.
Join us as we look at the gaps for workers and their families that make it difficult to survive and thrive. We will examine wage, labor organizing, Medicaid Expansion, and how to hold corporations accountable for how they treat workers both in the US and abroad. A link to a social media toolkit on how to engage these efforts moving forward will be provided to registrants and on the Youtube description resources afterwards.

Take a Stand: Stop Line 3
2021-06-14 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
The Line 3 Expansion is a massive tar sands oil pipeline under construction through the heart of Northern Minnesota. If completed, it would cross a hundred waterways, including the headwaters of the Mississippi River. It would also pass near the border of multiple Native nations and across hundreds of miles of treaty-protected land, which those communities depend on for drinking water and wild rice gathering. In this webinar, we will learn more about Line 3 and what faith communities can do to stop it. Featured speakers will include:

Rev. Jim Bear Jacobs, Minnesota Council of Churches and Healing Minnesota Stories
Nina Berguland, Youth Council and Indigenous Council for Earth Guardians
Joe Meinholz, Pipeline Resistance Coordinator for Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light

Even if you cannot make the scheduled time, still sign-up, and we will send you a recording.
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

Focus on the Philippines: Stop Red Tagging
2021-06-10 20:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
The alarming human rights situation in the Philippines is drawing international concern. Following the June 2020 Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report, people’s organizations and civil society demanded an independent international investigation of the Philippine human rights situation amid a targeting of human right defenders through the use of red tagging, a prevailing culture of impunity, and the inadequacy of the domestic justice system.
INVESTIGATE PH is that independent international investigation and is conducted by people’s organizations and civil society from all over the world. It aims to urge relevant UN bodies to make use of international mechanisms to hold perpetrators of human rights violations in the Philippines accountable and to deliver justice to victims. Its first report was released in March 2021, the second report will be released on July 6, 2021, and the third report will be presented in September 2021 to the UN Human Rights Council when the High Commissioner will update on the implementation of the technical cooperation on human rights with the Philippine government.
During this webinar, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines will report on the current human rights situation in the Philippines. Two INVESTIGATE PH high-level commissioners, Rev. Michael Blair, General Secretary of the United Church of Canada, and Rev. Dr. Susan Henry Crowe, General Secretary of the United Methodist Church in the United States, and one sub-commissioner, Derek Duncan, East Asia and Pacific Executive of Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ will talk about INVESTIGATE PH and its first two reports.

Creating Rituals for our Virtual Synod Worship
2021-06-10 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
This session, led by Rev. Tracy Howe, Worship Director for General Synod, and Rev. Nancy Rosas, pastor at Pilgrim St. Lukes in Buffalo, NY and part of the Synod Worship Planning Team, we will continue to prepare our hearts and minds and bodies and communities for General Synod Worship. We will look at how ritual is woven into GS worship and what to expect. Participants will gain insight and understanding into the theological foundations and artistry that went into the rituals included in the worship services we’ve woven in and how we hope people will participate from home as well as ideas as to how to incorporate these things into continuing virtual worship and hybrid worship. Suggested rituals for getting rooted, resilience and renewal and resurrection will be shared!

Reparatory Justice and Reparations: Truth-Telling, Conciliation, and Healing
2021-06-09 18:00 - 19:30 | Zoom
The Case for Reparations is a national and global movement for people of African descent—enslaved Africans and their descendants globally. Reparatory justice is also needed for descendants of Indigenous peoples including Native Americans, Latin Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders/Hawaiians whose legacies include, genocide, theft of land, the denial of legal and human rights, and forced labor to build the wealth of Europe and U.S. territories. During this digital program, we will introduce a new learning platform engaging the denomination in An Interactive Educational Study Guide on Reparatory Justice and Reparations for the Christian Church in the 21st Century.

Sexuality & The Black Church
2021-06-08 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Ministers for Racial, Social, and Economic Justice (MRSEJ) is launching a curriculum intended to address the historical challenges faced around fully embracing all expressions of Black sexuality. While such challenges are not unique in any expression of the church regardless of racial/ethnic identity, ongoing challenges to the recognition of the broad spectrum of gender identities and sexuality is at the heart of many theological, spiritual, psychological, and practical struggles Black congregations face. Join us for this panel discussion with the thought leaders behind this curriculum and learn more about its origin, intent, and ways you might engage.

Pulse 5 years after, a Remembrance
2021-06-03 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
This service will honor the lives of those lost on June 12, 2016, at the Pulse Club in Tampa Florida. This hate crime took the life of 49 people at LGBTQ Club on Latin night. We will remember with music, prayer, and rituals. The service will be in Spanish with simultaneous interpretation.

Testing Justice: the Divide of COVID-19 Vaccine Access Globally
2021-06-02 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every country around the world. Yet, we’ve seen developing countries shut out from vaccine access, while developed countries have horded supplies to make vaccines along with manufactured doses. This divide has impacted our global partners and will continue to impact them for years to come.
The Rev. Michael Kalito, Training and Capacity Development Manager at the Theological Education by Extension, Zambia, will give a theological reflection on COVID-19 and the uneven and inequitable rollout of the vaccine. Each Area Executive will then speak to specific challenges facing our partners in their region.

OWL Taking Flight: HIV/AIDS-What We Can Learn from the Framework for Dialogue
2021-06-02 12:00 - 13:00
Join UCC and UUA national staff in a conversation about the importance of faith voices in the fight against HIV stigma.

The State of Seminary Education
2021-06-01 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
After a year of dramatically-increased digital engagement, new ministries and new leadership is emerging everywhere! How has the increased open access to theology shifted the landscape of credentialed theological education? What new models help ground spiritual communities theologically, and how are our seminaries preparing current and future leaders of the Church? Join the presidents of the UCC-affiliated seminaries for a robust conversation moderated by Rev. Elizabeth Dilley, Minister and Team Leader of the Ministerial Excellence, Support, and Authorization (MESA) ministry team in the national setting.

Disabilities, Mental Health, and Racial Justice
2021-05-27 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Join international disabilities scholar Rev. Dr. John Swinton and UCC’s Minister for Disabilities and Mental Health Justice Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund for a theological and practical conversation about God’s calling for us to create communities of radical belonging and liberating love. We will explore the intersections of disabilities justice, mental health justice, and racial justice. We will share suggestions for how faith communities can live out this call for radical belonging, liberating love, and justice.

TikTok Ministry: Faith, in the World
2021-05-25 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
TikTok Pastors Rev. Timoth Sylvia and Rev. Sarah TevisTownes lead congregations and have literally millions of engagements online. Join the United Church of Christ for a conversation about TikTok, how ministry is happening creatively, and a celebration of the ways our Faith moves outside of the buildings and traditional expectations upon it.

Wisdom for the Church: Antoinette Brown Awardees Speak
2021-05-20 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
In 1853, Antoinette Brown was the first woman ordained into the Christian ministry in modern times. Throughout her lifetime, she was a passionate advocate for women’s leadership in church and society. Since 1975, the UCC at General Synod has recognized clergywomen with the Antoinette Brown Award, celebrating their trailblazing leadership and innovative, catalyzing ministries. Due to the pandemic, our biennial leadership event was cancelled for 2020, this session will allow us to provide the recognition we were unable to provide earlier.
Join the Ministerial Excellence, Support and Authorization (MESA) Ministry Team and the 2019 Antoinette Brown Awardees – Rev. Liddy Barlow, Rev. Dr. Marti Baumer, Rev. Eileen Norrington, and Rev. Dr. Valerie Bridgeman of WomanPreach!, Inc. for a celebration of Antoinette Brown’s birthday and the trailblazing ministries of these extraordinary women.
Moderated by Revs. Sheila Guillaume and Courtney Stange-Tregear

The Middle East in Transition, and the Future and Role of its Christians
2021-05-19 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
The counties of the Middle East region continue to experience major social, political, and economic shifts with uncertain outcomes. What is sure is that the people of the region have been impacted in significant – and even tragic – ways. The Christians and churches of the region have not been exempt from these shifts. What is their future? What has been their role in responding to needs, and what will their role be in what is to come? Join us to hear from the General Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches, Dr. Michel Abs, as he offers his insight into the context and his vision for the place of Christians in the future.

Purple Church
2021-05-18 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
The United Church of Christ contains people with a wide spectrum of theological belief, and political alignment. People who choose to be in a church that holds difference of opinion often do so with a few different strategies of love, and conflict management. On this conversation, we will hear from leaders of Purple Churches, or churches that have members across the theological/social/political lines, about how they show up authentically with each other in the midst of difference.

A Celebration for Mother's through Filipino Culture
2021-05-13 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Honoring ancestors is an important aspect to Filipino culture and the United Church is blessed to have Filipino identified congregations within the denomination and many are active members of the Pacific Island and Asian American Ministries (PAAM) of the UCC. Join Faith Community Congregation of Oakland, CA as they lead us into a very special Filipino style worship of family participation, prayers and music honoring Mothers and Matriarchs. A Mother’s Day Event for UCC congregations and the Wider Church. Come learn more about our Filipino siblings in the UCC as they share their spiritual joy in Christ for all.

Where Do We Go From Here: COVID-19 in 2021
2021-05-11 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Please join Rev. Traci Blackmon and Nicolette A. Louissaint, PhD, executive director and president of Healthcare Ready: a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on strengthening the United States’ healthcare supply chain preparedness and response before, during and after natural disasters and disease pandemics. Dr. Louissaint will share with us the current state of the virus and vaccinations nationally, as well as considerations community for re-engagement and long-term recovery post vaccination.

Sisterhood: The Work Our Soul Requires
2021-05-06 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Our togetherness is rooted in the spirit of Ubuntu – I am because you are, and because you are, I can be also. Join African American Women in Ministry (AAWIM) for a candid conversation with an intergenerational panel of women from our select Sister Circles. In the spirit of Ubuntu, these sisters will share from a personal lens the essentiality of sisterhood in these unprecedented times. We are hopeful all will be enriched by this conversation and equipped with resources to continue on this sacred journey during this season of recovery.

State of Global Racial Justice
2021-05-05 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
Racism, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination are on the rise globally. Afrophobia refers to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards black people or people of African Descent around the world. It is a perceived fear and hatred of the cultures and peoples of Africa and the African diaspora. Casteism prejudice or antagonism directed against someone of a different caste. These are global problems diminishing the human rights of the world’s population. Join us for a conversation on the state of racism and discrimination globally.
