United Church of Christ

Planning Your 2023 Volunteer Service Trip
2022-10-19 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Volunteer Service Trip…Mission Trip…Work Trip…
Traveling to places in need to perform hand’s on service is a long tradition in the United Church of Christ. With Covid restrictions waning, this fall is the right time to start planning your 2023 Volunteer Service Trip.
This webinar will include: ideas and planning suggestions, new UCC curriculum to deepen youth trips into Faith Formation experiences, and practical pieces for creating a positive and productive experience.
All are welcome!

Get Your Student Loan Debt Cancellation Questions Answered
2022-10-17 15:30 - 16:30
Have questions about the latest news with student loan debt cancellation, processes, and upcoming deadlines? Join us Monday, October 17, 2022 from 3:30pm-4:30pm to hear directly from senior officials of the Federal Student Aid Office of US Department of Education, Student Borrower Protection Center and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Intergenerational Advent Planning
2022-10-13 15:30 - 16:30
Join members of the Association of United Church Educators (AUCE) Board of Directors as they share about faith formation during Advent. There will be ideas for intergenerational Advent activities, Advent resources, ways to collect ideas. We’ll also touch on intergenerational ministries, creative planning strategies, and practices of online faith formation.

The Inflation Reduction Act: How It Can Benefit Faith Communities
2022-10-12 13:00 - 14:00
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) changes the landscape of what’s possible for faith communities when it comes to solar and energy efficiency. For example, did you know that this new law now makes it possible for nonprofit organizations to receive a direct payment from the federal government that equals 30% of a solar installation’s cost?
Yet there is much about the law and how it can benefit faith communities that requires careful attention and navigation. Moreover, there can be an alphabet soup of technical and financial jargon that one must confront when it comes to understanding PPAs, SRECs, ITCs, and more.
How is a faith community to discern what is the best way to finance solar or energy efficiency upgrades?
For this webinar, we will sort through what faith communities need to know, while also looking at successful examples and practices. Panelists for this webinar will be assembled in collaboration with the UCC Cornerstone Fund, a long-time advocate for climate-care church energy projects.
If you can’t join us live, still sign up and we will send you the recording and resources!
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.
REGISTER

Releasing, Blessing, and Sending Rev. Dr. Chris Davies
2022-10-11 15:30 - 16:30
Join officers and staff of the United Church of Christ in a Service of Release as we give thanks for the ministry of Rev. Dr. Chris Davies, Team Leader and Minister, Faith INFO, as she transitions from her role at the national setting to do a new thing.

The Small Church Story Project in the Maine Conference
2022-10-06 15:30 - 16:30
Intrigued by reports of small, rural, congregations who are creating new ways of “being church’, Rev Douglas Dunlap and Rev Susan Craig formed The Small Church Story Project in 2015. Their efforts are to gather the stories of such congregations of the Maine Conference to share with churches small and large, wherever these may be, in the nation or the world. Also to counter the narrative that small churches have no other future than that of closing and how small size can be turned to advantage which leads to spirited worship, vibrant fellowship, and responses to Christ’s call to serve that are engaging, effective, and heartening.
Join us as Rev Roberto Ochoa meets with Rev Dunlap and Rev Craig to find out more about the Small Church Project and to hear the stories of small, rural, congregations making a difference in their communities of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

A New Breed of OWL: Formatting for K-1 and Beyond!
2022-10-05 12:00 - 13:00
Join us as we welcome Mary Benard, Publicity Director for the UUA, to discuss our new easily updatable format for OWL, beginning with OWL for K-1, 2nd ed. We’ll also get a glimpse into our new OWL Portal, which we hope will be operational in 2023.

Climate Hope Cards Art Contest
2022-10-04 - 2022-11-29
We find ourselves in the midst of ongoing climate and environmental justice crises. The future sometimes seems uncertain and even frightening. Yet as people of faith, we are called to heed prophetic voices and fight for a livable planet.
Calling all UCC children and youth: Draw or paint about climate hope, environmental justice, or protecting the Earth. Sunday school class and youth group participation encouraged.
Last day to submit art (11/29/2022)

Preparing for Advent 2022: Days to Come
2022-09-29 15:30 - 16:30
The United Church of Christ partners with The United Church of Canada to offer a collection of resources for the Advent season. From devotionals to candle lighting rituals, for individuals and for communal worship, we will have resources ready for your faith communities. Join us for an overview of the collection and a preview of a new song!

Partners in Building 2022
2022-09-29
Partners in Building (PIB) is a multi-day training event where leaders from congregations are invited to attend and engage in various informative presentations and workshops facilitated by the UCC Church Building & Loan Fund.
PIB connects pastors and other church leaders with information on how to repurpose, finance, and manage church-owned property through presentations and workshops.
Participants will have the opportunity to learn from and engage with experts on a variety of topics: Navigating Land Use, Repurposing Resources for Mission, Faith Based Entrepreneurs, Fund Raising, Hybrid & Online Ministry, and so much more.
Join us virtually on September 29-30.
Registration is only $49 for this two-day event and includes access to the recordings of the presentations.

Narrative Budgets: Telling your Story by the Numbers
2022-09-28 19:30 - 20:30
7:30pm to 8:30pm Eastern Time (6:30pm to 7:30pm Central)

A narrative budget translates the line items of a traditional budget into a story of how your congregation makes a difference in the world. It can be a helpful tool for a stewardship campaign or annual meeting. By telling the story of our congregations’ impact, we can inspire generosity in our donors.
Register in advance for this meeting:

For Such a Time: To Confront, Connect, and Create at the Intersection of Race and Gender
2022-09-27
For Such a Time: To Confront, Connect, and Create at the Intersection of Race and Gender
A Clergywomen’s* Leadership Event of the Antoinette Brown Society
The Antoinette Brown Society invites authorized clergywomen* to join us for a much-anticipated hybrid gathering to honor, celebrate, and develop Clergywomen’s leadership in the United Church of Christ. The in person retreat will take place September 27-29, 2022 at the Courtyard Atlanta Decatur Downtown/Emory in Decatur, Georgia, and online participants will be invited to join in digitally for live and pre-recorded content.
We will be led by our ABS Award recipients from 2021 – Rev. Dr. Susan Thistlethwaite, Bishop Yvette Flunder, and Rev. Linda Jaramillo, as well as our 2019 Awardees Rev. Liddy Barlow, Rev. Eileen Norrington, Rev. Marty Baumer, and WomanPreach, Inc! Other leaders from our partner organizations – Council for Racial and Ethnic Ministries and the African American Women in Ministry will center our conversations on leadership development and access at the place where race and gender cross.
We look forward to deepening connections, learning, strategizing, and being replenished and inspired for where God is calling us next.
*this invitation is expansive to include all cis and trans women as well as non-binary people comfortable in a space that centers the experiences of women.
Registration Information
In Person Attendees: $400
Virtual Attendees: $75
For scholarship assistance, please contact Tara Barber at barbert@ucc.org prior to your online registration.
Registration deadline for in person retreat is August 15.
Registration deadline for online participation is September 1.
REGISTER

COVID PRECAUTIONS – we will be requiring full vaccination for in person participation, and will update with masking and/or rapid testing requirements as we get closer to the event.

Shared Learning from Gun Violence Ministries
2022-09-22 15:30 - 16:30
“They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation; they will train for war no more. Everyone will sit under their own vine and fig tree. No one shall make them afraid.” Isaiah 2:2-4
We have testified, protested, advocated, written letters, made calls, held vigils and prayed, weeped and comforted and, after the March 22, 2021 massacre in Boulder, our faith communities demanded action. We could no longer be satisfied with being “just another stat”. Although it would have been easy to be overwhelmed with the complexity and scope of gun violence prevention, we knew we MUST do something – anything – and we had to start immediately. Peace-making action was required urgently and there was no time to be afraid.
Hear from faith leaders in Colorado as they share their experiences, lessons learned and best practices in transforming trauma and catalyzing a nationwide disarmament movement.

40th Annual Parker Lecture & Awards Ceremony
2022-09-22 08:00 - 10:00
Join the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry as we celebrate the 40th Annual Parker Lecture.
Maya Wiley, newly appointed President and CEO of The Leadership Conference, will deliver the 40th annual Everett C. Parker Lecture and Jessica J. Gonzalez, co-CEO of Free Press will receive the Everett C. Parker Award and Talila “TL” Lewis, co-founder of HEARD, will receive the McGannon Award. Community and celebration is essential as we work to make our world more just, more connected and more accountable. Join with us as we reflect, rejoice and get energized.
Please note: Out of a respect for disability justice, all guests are requested to use a properly worn face mask during this event when not actively eating, drinking or speaking from the dais. Face masks will be provided.

UCC Summit: The Church in a Post-Pandemic World
2022-09-19
The Church in a Post-Pandemic World
September 19-21, 2022 | Online event*
Join us as we envision what a vibrant, healthy church looks like as it emerges from the pandemic.

Click here to view the UCC Summit event webpage

The Church in a Post-Pandemic World
September 19-21, 2022 | Online event*
Join us as we envision what a vibrant, healthy church looks like as it emerges from the pandemic.

Click here to view the UCC Summit event webpage

How to Grow A Movement: Invest to End Racism
2022-09-15 19:00 - 20:00
Join us as we kick off the historic Join the Movement Capital Campaign with co-chairs Otis Moss III, Naomi Washington-Leapheart, and Starsky Wilson sharing their visions of a church and a world moving toward fuller embodiments of racial justice. On the 59th anniversary of 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama that galvanized movements to end segregation and establish civil rights, we come together to remember and discover how our sharing of resources can fuel and grow our racial justice work today and for generations to come.

Just Peace Churches and the Disruptive Power of Peace!
2022-09-15 15:30 - 16:30
The United Church of Christ was the first Christian denomination to declare itself a “Just Peace Church” in 1985. Over the past 35+ years, the concept of Just Peace- that intersection of peace with justice reflected in the biblical vision of God’s Shalom – has been affirmed by ecumenical partners around the world. As our world suffers from conflicts around the world, now is the time to seek alternatives to militarism and turn our focus to building peace from the ground up.
This webinar will introduce you to the concepts of Just Peace and highlight ways in which local churches are living out their Just Peace identity. We will also lift up our 2022 theme for Just Peace Sunday “The Disruptive Power of Peace: Friendship, Justice & Security” to be celebrated on Sunday September 18th this year. Speakers for this webinar will include members of the UCC’s Just Peace Network and Steering Committee.
This webinar is part of a special series of Thursdays for the Soul webinars focused on twelve Just World Covenant programs in the United Church of Christ. On the third Thursday of each month, one of these programs will be featured. Learn more at: www.ucc.org/just_world_covenants

The Birth of a Movement: A 40th Anniversary Retrospective
2022-09-14 13:00 - 14:00
Just as the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a watershed event in kickstarting the Civil Rights Movement, a six-week civil disobedience campaign in Warren County, North Carolina, served as the watershed event for the Environmental Justice Movement in 1982. As more than 500 people were arrested to prevent the dumping of toxic waste in a predominantly black community, a nation soon became awakened to the crisis of environmental racism. This September will mark the 40th anniversary of the Warren County protests that would ripple outward around the world with far reaching impacts that continue until today. A wealth of insight and inspiration is to be found in this critical moment of history during which leaders grounded in their faith played an integral and significant role. In this webinar, we will hear from three persons who were an important part of the protests: Dollie Burwell, the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Jr., and the Rev. William Kearney.
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.

UCC Colectivo de Latinx Ministries: Present & Future
2022-09-08 15:30 - 16:30
Join Rev Roberto Ochoa as he speaks with the leaders of the UCC Colectivo de Latinx Ministries about their role in uplifting the contributions of Latines/Latinas/Latinos in the United Church of Christ. They will share how they were formed and their hopes and vision for the Latinx communities in the wider church.

You Know, Sex
2022-09-07 12:00 - 13:00
Join us as we welcome Cory Silverberg to talk about You Know, Sex (Cory’s new book), as well as the books What Makes a Baby? and Sex is a Funny Word. Learn about these inclusive resources, their language, illustrations, and why and how they were written the way they were.

Gather in Joy…Go in Justice
2022-09-01 15:30 - 16:30
Rejoice with us in worship as Cheryl Lindsay, Minister for Worship and Theology, and conference ministers of the United Church of Christ reflect on the Spirit at work among us…moving in joy and justice.

Moving Through Life With Embodied Grace
2022-08-25 15:30 - 16:30
How do we connect the inspired mind of Christ to the often tired Body of Christ? What spiritual practices allow us to tap into the “fount of every blessing” even as we engage the urgencies of our time?
Join Matt Carriker, the founding pastor of Agape Spiritual Community UCC in Waltham, Massachusetts and Gabrielle Chavez, organizing pastor of Christ the Healer UCC centered in the Portland Oregon metro area as we explore some cutting edge work at the intersection of activism and contemplation coming out of two newer congregations.
As part of the conversation, there will be an offering of understanding and practice that evolved from over a generation of experience and experimentation to quickly access embodied grace, the state of being Jesus called “heaven on earth”.

Annual Campaigns 101
2022-08-24 19:30 - 20:30
7:30pm to 8:30pm Eastern Time (6:30pm to 7:30pm Central)

Designed for pastors and lay leaders planning an annual pledge campaign, we will explore ways to create an effective campaign. We will reflect on the core purpose of a campaign, discuss practical steps leaders can take, and explore creative ideas to design a campaign uniquely suited to your congregation. Join this webinar to develop and strengthen plans for a successful fall campaign.
Register in advance for this meeting:

Accessible to All Churches and Disabilities Justice
2022-08-18 15:30 - 16:30
The United Church of Christ adopted the Accessible to All (A2A) covenant as a denomination in 2005 as part of our commitment to disabilities justice. Barriers to accessibility are both physical and attitudinal. Disability justice intersects with the UCC’s commitments to racial, economic, gender, sexual identies, just peace, and environmental justice. Join representatives of the UCC Disabilities Ministries Board for practical resources for what UCC members and congregations can do to create a more just world for all.
This webinar is part of a special series of Thursdays for the Soul webinars focused on twelve Just World Covenant programs in the United Church of Christ. One the third Thursday of each month, one of these programs will be featured. Learn more at: www.ucc.org/just_world_covenants.

Sharing Leadership in UCC Community
2022-08-11 15:30 - 16:30
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 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?”
*Please note this session is pre-recorded.

Building an Endowment
2022-08-10 19:30 - 20:30
7:30pm to 8:30pm Eastern Time (6:30pm to 7:30pm Central)

An endowment can provide support to 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.
Register in advance for this meeting:
REGISTER

Overdue: Environmental Justice for All
2022-08-10 13:00 - 14:00
The United States has a long history of environmental injustice that has led to undue burdens of pollution on people of color and low-income communities. In this webinar, we will focus specifically on environmental injustice in relation to access to clean water. Our special guest will be Lynn Thorp who serves as the National Campaigns Director for Clean Water Action. She will discuss how we can make strides in reducing water pollution, including exposure to toxic substances such as persistent and pervasive PFAS chemicals also known as “forever” chemicals. She will additionally discuss how to ensure that large new water infrastructure investments are spent equitably and effectively as well as how to modernize our drinking water systems. Finally, she will draw the connections between securing clean water while also addressing the climate crisis and promoting clean energy. Join us as we learn about what reforms are needed (and possible!) from our federal government.
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 Andy Wells-Bean who serves as the National Environmental Justice Fellow 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.

Faithful Abortion Access: Then And Now
2022-08-04 15:30 - 16:30
The Clergy Consultation Service was a nationwide network of getting people access to safe abortion services and resources before it was legal. Hosted by Rev. Dr. Chris Davies, join alongside To Offer Compassion: A History of the Clergy Consultation Service On Abortion authors D.A. Dirks and Patricia Relf to learn more about the extensive network of the time, and hear the testimony of Rev. Donna Schaper about her work along the way. Faith Choice Ohio’s Executive Director Elaina Ramsey will join alongside Dr. Sherry Warren, the United Church of Christ’s Minister for Gender Justice in speaking towards ways people of faith can show up now that we look towards state-led decision making.

2022 Grant informational Meeting
2022-08-03 13:00 - 14:00
This is to register for an informational meeting to learn about the 2022 Justice and Local Church Ministries grant
Justice and Local Church Ministries of the United Church of Christ has decided to take a bold step in creating a common application that streamlines our granting process. The hope and goal is to ensure granting is made easier for congregations in the United Church of Christ as we honor the intentions for funding for seven funding areas.
1. Operational Support (Rolling Monthly deadline until November)
2. CASA New and Rebirthing Church grant (October 3,2022)
3. Neighbors in Need Grant (October 3,2022)
4. Pension Board New Church Benefit support grant (September 12, 2022)
Interested individuals and churches can find out more information and apply for the grant here:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

A Conversation with Franklinton Center at Brick’s Rev. Elly Mendez Angulo
2022-07-28 15:30 - 16:30
The mission of Franklinton Center at Bricks is to provide a nurturing home to local, national, and global programs and organizations seeking liberation. (FCAB’s website).
Come join us as for a conversation with Rev Elly Mendez Angulo, Program Manager and Interim Executive Director who will share the history, the UCC connection and current vision of Franklinton Center to manifest a world where systemic oppression does not exist; the whole divinity of a person is realized; the memory, contribution and resilience of our ancestors is embraced; and the environment is healed.
Today, Franklinton Center at Bricks programs continue to focus on living up to the legacy of our ancestors and our predecessor institutions by serving the people of our community, through the following broad program areas:

Center for Rural Community Development and Education
Center for African American Historic Preservation
Center for Land-based Innovation
Social Justice Conference and Retreat Center.
