Applications for the United Church of Christ’s 2024 Justice and Local Church Ministries grants, which support the work and mission of local churches, are now open. The deadline for congregations to apply is Sept. 15. “From immediate financial aid to churches in crisis to seed funding for justice advocacy and innovative programs, the opportunities are
With the Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson beginning her new role as General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, a vacancy has been left in her previous one. Thompson has been serving as Associate General Minister for Wider Church Ministries and Co-Executive of Global Ministries since 2019. Beginning Aug. 1, she now will
The Rev. Courtney Stange-Tregear, on behalf of the Antoinette Brown Society leadership team, reflects on the phenomenon of women in “precarious leadership positions” and what those dynamics might mean for the United Church of Christ as it prepares to be led by the Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson. While there is much to be celebrated about
“I’m leaving my shame here and taking away healing.” These were the words of a participant in a recent ecumenical and interfaith Our Whole Lives/Sexuality and Our Faith Training. After decades of this holy work at the intersection of faith and sexuality, I have seen this dozens of times. Once people realize they are in
Delegates to the General Synod 34 in Indianapolis approved a resolution July 4 calling on the United Church of Christ to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans. The committee that considered the resolution of witness, originally submitted by the Indiana-Kentucky and Central Atlantic Conferences, recommended delegates approve a version that was amended to
Last November I had the joy of worshipping with University UCC in Seattle for Ubuntu Sunday. Ubuntu is an African concept of the interconnectedness of community most often translated with the phrase: “I am because We are.” On this Sunday, the invitation to Our Churches Wider Mission (OCWM) was offered by a parent at the
Amid smoke that looked like fog, I traveled to General Synod last week on a Greyhound bus from Cleveland to Indianapolis. As I did so, I pondered with self-conscious awareness the pull of a familiar form of wishful thinking—the hope that catastrophic events such as wildfires and their unfurling blankets of smoke will alarm people
There are several new faces on the United Church of Christ Board. The delegates of General Synod 34 elected 12 new at-large members to UCC noard, five new members to the Nominating Committee, as well as a new moderator and assistant moderator. After the elections, the Rev. June Boutwell, chair of the Nominating Committee, expressed
Thirty-three years ago on July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. This historic civil rights law protects the rights of people with disabilities and helps break down barriers to increase inclusion and accessibility. Disability justice is part of the United Church of Christ’s mission to build a just world
United Church of Christ delegates at General Synod 34 approved a resolution Monday morning, July 3, aimed at reducing the reliance on fossil fuels. The resolution, “Urging Planning for and Implementing Electrification,” aims to encourage new energy by electrification as “one of the ways” UCC churches and individuals can “protect all of God’s creation” from
