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Jan
30
Dec
We Keep Us Safe: A New Year’s Resolution for the Body of Christ
One of the things I love about this time on the cusp of a new year is the plethora of year-end lists that circulate. Lists of the best movies and music of 2022 abound, as well as retrospectives of significant moments in our common life. I appreciate the opportunity these lists afford us to take
29
Dec
General Synod 2023 online registration opens Jan. 23
Planning on going to General Synod in Indianapolis this summer? Mark your calendars for Jan. 23. Registration for the United Church of Christ’s 34th Synod will open online on that Monday for all delegates and visitors. The biennial gathering is taking place June 30-July 4 at the Indiana Convention Center. The cost is $275 for
28
Dec
UCC climate win with FedEx is part of a record year of raising religious voices to corporations
Like other religious bodies, many congregations and ministries of the United Church of Christ have money to invest. When they do so, they enter the corporate world as shareholders. This gives them a voice — if they choose to use it — in how corporations behave in the world. In 2022, religious shareholders used that
27
Dec
Announcements from 12-25-22 Bulletin
announcements eblast27
Dec
Florida church and others say streaming, begun with COVID, is attracting new people
Jiajin Zhou was baptized Oct. 9 at a church she first attended virtually. Under a light that aids Union Congregational UCC’s streamed and in-person worship, the Rev. Sheila Harvey baptizes Jiajin Zhou on Oct. 9, 2022, in West Palm Beach, Fla. That same day, five other people also joined Union Congregational United Church of Christ
26
Dec
Trailblazer Carol Joyce, first woman elected to leadership in mainline denomination, dies at 81
The Rev. Carol Joyce, former secretary of the United Church of Christ, died Nov. 30 in Minneapolis. She was 81. In 1983, Joyce became the first woman elected to national leadership in a mainline Protestant denomination. At the 14th General Synod in Pittsburgh, she successfully ran for secretary, which then was one of the highest
24
Dec
Outgoing ONA Coalition director reflects on challenges, hopes for LGBTQ+ community
The Rev. Andrew Lang, executive director of the Open and Affirming Coalition of the United Church of Christ, is leaving the position he’s held for a decade with much hope for the future. Lang announced his retirement in April, effective Dec. 30. In this reflection, an adapted excerpt from his “State of the ONA Movement”
23
Dec
‘Is there room at the inn?’ UCC pastor asks, as migrants await fate at U.S. border this Christmas
The Rev. Randy Mayer and members of The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ in Sahuarita, Ariz., are leaders in the humanitarian response along the U.S.-Mexico border that offers food, water and medical care to migrants in the desert—operating on the belief that no one should die there. As thousands of migrants wait at the
22
Dec
When God Has Our Face!
Every December 12th, Mexico and Latin America celebrate the Virgin of Guadalupe. The brown Madonna is said to have appeared to Juan Diego, an Indigenous man who, like many others, had been forced into Catholicism. The conquest robbed Indigenous people of their spirituality, language, and culture. A new religion was imposed on them by the