Nurture the Soul Special Offering: "What's Next", The Flourishing Body with Rev. Dr. Beverly Dale
2025-01-09 15:30 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | 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.

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.

Womxn Are Here: Inspiring Generations Onward
2025-03-04 15:30 - 16:30 | Zoom
Join Gender & Sexuality Justice for a special Womxn’s Month offering featuring intergenerational womxn’s voices from across the United Church of Christ. Together we’ll discuss the work of womxn in the UCC by sharing stories, hope and what this moment calls for in seeking justice and care for all.

OWL Taking Flight: Sex Ed and Disability Justice
2025-03-05 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Join Our Whole Lives leaders in a discussion about sexuality education and disability justice.

Christ in the Rubble: A Conversation with Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac
2025-03-05 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac received a lot of global attention with his Christmas 2023 Nativity scene showing Christ surrounded by the rubble of Gaza. He has now expanded on that Christmas message with a forthcoming new book Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza. In this book, Rev. Dr. Isaac challenges mainstream Christians’ uncritical embrace of the modern State of Israel and challenges us to realign our beliefs and actions with Christ – who can be found not among perpetrators of violence, but with victims buried under the rubble of war.

Climate Action Assembly
2025-03-06 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Every two months the UCC Council for Climate Justice hosts a Climate Action Assembly to discuss actions and programs related to recent General Synod resolutions. This assembly will focus on federal advocacy efforts and future planning as we approach the next General Synod in July. Climate Action Assemblies are open to all members of the UCC.

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.

Love of Children Partner Event - Storytelling with Spirituality
2025-03-12 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Through lecture, exercises, and discussion we will explore how both biblical and personal stories can become a “thin place” for encountering the Sacred and the depths of our human experience.

America in Search of a Soul
2025-03-12 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
In a 1976 sermon entitled, “America in Search of a Soul,” Howard Thurman creatively imagined God declaring, “I’ll set up somewhere a school and I’ll call that school America.” Knowledge, experience, and noble ideals were imparted to the children of the school, but eventually came a moment of reckoning as “the soul of America” sought “to realize itself in the life of America.” Thurman declared, “Now, school is out. School is out, and it’s been out for some time.” Thurman prophetically understood that the soul of America was threatened by “the Cult of Inequality.” Today, we face our own moment of reckoning in the face of the crises of inequality and climate. Among the panelists who will help us unpack both the threats and the opportunities before us as people of faith will be the Rev. Cameron Trimble and the Rev. Dr. Jim Antal.
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.

Rooted in Faith and Justice: Palestinian Women in the Struggle
2025-03-13 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Women have played a critical role in the struggle for Palestinian rights and liberation, and have also been victims of the realities of occupation, displacement, and violence over the decades. Mira Rizeq continues to be a leader in Palestinian civil society and is uniquely able to share about the place of women in this struggle. Join this special webinar as Mira, President of the World YWCA and immediate past General Secretary of the YWCA of Palestine, speaks with Rev. Shari Prestemon, Acting Associate General Minister of the United Church of Christ and Co-Executive of Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ. They will discuss Mira’s chapter in Global Ministries’ new book, Rooted in Faith with Justice, and more.

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.

OWL Taking Flight: Teen Sexual Assault Prevention with SafeBAE
2025-04-02 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Join us for a conversation with Shael Norris, Founding Executive Director of SafeBAE, the only US national survivor-founded, youth-led organization working to prevent sexual violence among teens.

Love of Children Partner Event - The Meaningful Inclusion of Children in Worship: Theology and Practice
2025-04-02 12:00 - 13:30 | Zoom
Corporate worship is the work and the joy of the people of God, and when the body of Christ gathers, we are incomplete without the active presence and meaningful participation of children and youth. What can this engagement look like (feel like, sound like, smell like, taste like) in liturgy, and why does it matter to the formation of people of all ages? Canon Wendy Claire Barrie will lead this webinar exploring the theological whys and practical hows of incorporating children and youth into congregational worship.
