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SWC – In the Loop February 20, 2008 If you have any problems receiving this e-mail, please contact Peggy Ice at PIce@uccswc.com. Thank you.
Southwest Conference UCC news Southwest Conference 2008 Annual Meeting April 25-27 at Rincon Congregational UCC in Tucson, Arizona. Brochures and registration forms were mailed to our churches last week and will be online soon. In addition to clergy and church delegates, visitors are welcome to attend. This annual meeting will be very important to our Conference. The candidate for Conference Minister will be presented, and Ron Buford will return to stir us to fresh vitality and dreams. We hope to see you there!
SWC Personnel Committee Seeks Performance Review Tools In order to create tools and forms to be used as part of the evaluation process for our Conference staff, the Personnel Committee is seeking examples of review tools/forms that churches use to evaluate the performances of their minister(s) and staff. The examples received will serve as guides, as we create evaluation tools for the Southwest Conference staff. Please send your performance review tools/forms by email to: patcdunn@comcast.net
or by US mail to: Dr. Patricia Dunn, Chairperson Personnel Committee 191 Camino Rayo Del Sol Corrales, NM 87048
Desert Garden UCC has Bibles and hymnals available Desert Garden United Church of Christ has 75 Bibles RSV, 1972 and 160 old UCC hymnals (1974) that they would like to give away. All have Desert Garden United Church of Christ on the front. If you are interested, please contact the church at 623-584-0173 or Dave Coon at dcoon5@cox.net.
First Congregational UCC of Tempe - Tailgate Party Date: March 9 at 1 pm Location: 101 E. Sixth St, Tempe More information: 480-967-2275 First Church is honoring two of its long time members for the many years that they have coordinated volunteers and worked in the church’s parking lot. So we are breaking out the grills, turning up the music and sharing side dishes with family, friends and anyone who would care to join us. Wear your favorite team’s colors, grab your lawn chair and kick back for a good time and chance to visit.
St. Paul’s UCC in Rio Rancho – Leadership Training Event Date: Saturday, March 1, from 9:30 am - 12:00 pm Location: 2701 The American Road SE, Rio Rancho, New Mexico RSVP and questions: St. Paul's UCC 505-898-7026 St. Paul's UCC in Rio Rancho will offer a leadership training day for all church leaders. "Growing Your Church With Integrity" is the theme and the presenter is Dr. Steve Lucas. The workshop will be from 9:30 am to 12 pm. Following the workshop, we are pleased to serve lunch! Please join us for this special installation weekend event!
Partners in Education How can we help??? It may be that your local church is evaluating and reviewing programming for children, youth or adults… Partners in Education can act as consultants to provide an “outside” perspective and make suggestions to enhance programming. It may be that your local church is thinking about a change in resources for programs… Partners in Education can make suggestions about appropriate resources based on the size, needs, age of participants, and leadership of the local church. It may be that your local church is working on developing a new ministry model… Partners in Education can work with ministry teams to bring ideas together into a comprehensive design. It may be that your local church has volunteers who need support or skill development… Partners in Education can provide workshops for leadership development.
The Southwest Conference Partners in Education are available to local congregations to support educational programming! Call us!!
v Northern or Central AZ: Susan Wadell 602-993-0050 or Dana Bender 602-264-1221 v Southern AZ: Carol Wilson 520-296-9332 or Marie Bacchiocchi 520-297-1181 v New Mexico or El Paso: Juanita Marken 505-268-2765
Arizona Ecumenical Council’s Annual Banquet & Silent Auction “Caring for God’s Creation” Date: Friday, April 11, 2008 at 6 PM Location: Mountain View Lutheran Church, 11002 S 48th St, Phoenix The Southwest Conference has purchased 4 seats for this event. The evening begins with a silent auction and hors d’oduvres, followed by dinner, live music, singing, an ecumenical mixer, storytelling and dancing. If you are interested in attending, please contact Holly at the Conference office at 602-468-3830.
Missionary News - Faces Around Me Mark Behle’s February letter is available on the Global Ministries Website by selecting this link: Behle Newsletter or at http://www.globalministries.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2131&Itemid=74 Mark, whose parents are members of Church of the Palms, is a missionary with the Lesotho Evangelical Church.
People News The congregation of St. Paul’s UCC in Rio Rancho, New Mexico will celebrate the installation of the Rev. Lynne Hinton as pastor on March 2 at 2 p.m.
Ms. Jean Bareis was approved for ordination pending a call at an Ecclesiastical Council held on Feb. 10th at First Congregational UCC in Albuquerque.
The ministry of Pastor Ham Lejohn with the Tucson Marshallese Ministry was recognized and affirmed by the Southwest Conference at a "Celebration of Covenant Between Pastor and Congregation" on February 10 at Church of the Painted Hills. The service was based on that for the installation of pastors in the UCC Book of Worship, and amended to reflect the practices of the United Church of Christ of the Marshall Islands. Present were the Rev. Sue Martin and Jim Smith representing the Committee on Church and Ministry, and the Rev. Lee Milligan, pastor of Church of the Painted Hills where the Marshallese congregation is being “nested.” An added delight was seeing Pastor Ham and Pastor Lee sharing in the baptism of two Marshallese infants!
National UCC news Get connected, stay informed A Stillspeaking daily devotional for Lent and Easter - by email! Some of the most gifted writers in the United Church of Christ have collaborated to produce a daily email devotional for Lent and the first week of Easter. Every day, you'll receive a daily Bible text and an inspiring message to help you on your spiritual journey from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. Use it for daily prayer, for meditation, to share with your friends. Subscribe to Daily Lent Devotional on UCCvitality.org
JPANet (Justice & Peace Action Network) Newsletter Measure up! Rule Out Debt to Fight Global Poverty The Jubilee Act is most important piece of debt legislation in the past seven years and one of the most widely supported anti-poverty bills in Congress. Come to El Salvador! Do you know young people who are ready to make a global difference? The SHARE Foundation: Building a New El Salvador Today will bring 100 junior and senior high school youth from the United States to El Salvador to explore their role in advancing social accompaniment and environmental responsibility. Witness for Justice Read faith and justice commentaries that speak to our nation’s social ills. Check out the latest JWM’s Witness for Justice Articles by clicking onto this link: http://www.ucc.org/justice/advocacy_resources/witness-for-justice/
CLGS (The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry) E-Newsletter Every month CLGS produces an e-Newsletter that includes current events and news. The current edition is also available to read online each month.
Ecumenical news Beatitudes Center DOAR - JAZZ CABARET Enjoy fabulous jazz music and help people in need at the same time. Beatitudes Center DOAR presents Jazz Cabaret on Sunday, March 30, at 2 pm at the AZ Biltmore. Jazz Cabaret features music great Carmela Ramirez and her Diva Band, an exhilarating auction – plus a delicious array of sandwiches, wine, cheese, and desserts. Reservations ($85) are due by March 20 and can be made by calling 602-274-5022. Proceeds will bring vital help to homebound adults and their caregivers, grandparents raising grandchildren, and congregational health programs. See www.centerdoar.org for more info.
“FAITH IN OUR TIME” SERIES Rio Verde Community Church’s Center for Spirituality and the Arts continues its series of national speakers. The Rev. Kevin Brown is the pastor at Rio Verde Community Church and an ordained United Church of Christ minister.
Lecture by Rabbi Norman Cohen Monday, February 25, 7:00 pm. Location: 25603 N. Danny Lane, Rio Verde, Arizona More information: 480-471-7239 Lecture by Rabbi Norman Cohen, who in 1981 founded the 830-family Jewish congregation, Bet Shalom, Minnetonka, MN. He will discuss “Being Jewish in America Today: Standing with One Foot in the Modern World and the Other On Mt. Sinai.” He serves on the national Joint Commission of the Rabbinic Mentoring Institute and is the local chaplain for the Minnetonka and Hopkins police departments near Minneapolis. Author of numerous news articles and the book Jewish Bible Personages in the New Testament, Mr. Cohen is working on a book about stereotypes and misconceptions that Christians and Jews hold about each other.
Other events Actors Theatre presents 9 Parts of Desire Dates: March 7—23 Location: On stage at the Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix Information and tickets: www.actorstheatrePHX.org. For tickets please call the Herberger Theater Center Box Office at (602) 252-8497 between 10 am and 5 pm Monday thru Friday
ONE Powerful Voice-Nine Vibrant Iraqi Women. The stories you never see on CNN. A remarkable look at the women whose extraordinary lives have been frayed and fractured by the last 20 years of turbulent history in Iraq. It’s a portrait of a shattered community and the humanity that lights it from within. A work so compassionate, so heartbreaking, so soul-shatteringly human, that it promises to change forever the way you'll think. Written and performed by Heather Raffo.
CALENDAR February 22-23, Polity Class (2nd half), Shepherd of the Hills, Phoenix, AZ February 22-23, Full Board of Directors Meeting, Shepherd of the Hills, Phoenix, AZ, March 2, Installation service for the Rev. Lynne Hinton at St. Paul’s UCC, Rio Rancho, NM, 2 p.m. March 4, Church Growth and Development Committee meeting, SWC office, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. March 13, Committee on Church and Ministry meeting, SWC office March 29, Executive Committee, SWC office April 12-13, Phoenix Pride Celebration, Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix, AZ April 19, Church Growth and Development Committee meeting, location to be determined April 25-27, 2008 Annual Meeting at Rincon Congregational Church, Tucson, AZ
DATES FOR YOUTH MINISTRY AND SUMMER CAMPS Feb. 29-Mar 2, Junior High Retreat, Rincon UCC, Tucson, AZ April 25-27, Youth Rally, Rincon Congregational Church, Tucson, AZ June 15-18, Super Camp for Young Juniors, Emmanuel Pines, Prescott, AZ June 15-20, Super Camp for Juniors & Junior High, Emmanuel Pines, Prescott, AZ June 29-July 5, Senior High Camp, Pine Summit, Prescott, AZ July 24-28, National Youth Event, University of Tennessee, TN
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