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Transitions announced

Jennifer Castle was ordained at Plymouth UCC in Seattle Sept. 26 on Zoom. She has served the church in a variety of staff capacities, and now continues as the associate pastor.

Corey Passons was ordained by the PNC and Community for Interfaith Celebration on Aug. 22 at Priest Point Park in Olympia. Corey graduated with a master of divinity degree from Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry in June 2016 and began work
that summer with Community for Interfaith Celebration in Olympia and as an interfaith minister and program manager for interfaith relations with the social-justice organization, Interfaith Works.

Conard Edwards died in June. He served churches in Idaho, California and Washington. He was also an army chaplain and served in Europe, Panama, Korea, and Vietnam as well as the U.S. He is survived by his wife, Judi. A memorial service was held at St. Paul’s UCC and via Zoom on Saturday, June 26.

Anna Edmonds died Aug. 4 in Omak. She served with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission and later Global Ministries from 1949 to 1952 and then from 1955 to 1959 teaching English in in Uskudar, Turkey, and from 1960 to 1990 as an editor and author with Redhouse Press, in Istanbul. She served with her husband, Bill, who died in 2009. After they retired they moved to Bainbridge Island.

Communities of Practice groups are underway

Communities in Practice groups began in September and continue through June 2022. They have begun online, open to change as the pandemic protocols change.

The groups, coordinated by Brigitta Remole, include the Pacific Northwest, Montana-Northern Wyoming and Central Pacific conferences. Communities in Practice groups are for active, retired and specialized ministers and members in discernment.

The fee this year is $250 with the option for payment plans and scholarships.

For information, call 206-914-5684, email brigitta.ucc@gmail.com or register at https://bit.ly/3AM5nc9.

Care Fund tax added

Conference accounting manager Andy Warren reports that a new employee tax, the WA Cares Fund, is being implemented in Washington beginning in January 2022.

Everyone who works and contributes .58 percent of their wages for at least 10 years will be eligible for long-term care, up to $36,500 in a lifetime. Funds can be used to hire a home-care aide, pay a family member, modify a home or receive residential care.

For information, visit wacaresfund.wa.gov.

UCC offers racial justice tie

“Join the Movement toward Racial Justice” helps UCC churches imagine a church free of racism and a world where all people live without fear of violence or systems harming God’s human creation. At jointhemovementucc.org, the UCC is offering a way to share stories to help people grow together and learn from one another to build a just world.

For information, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M50t1TaP7oY&t=34s.

History provides lessons

A UCC webinar on “Movement Lessons: The First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit 30 Years Later” will be at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 13, on Zoom. The first summit, organized by the UCC’s Commission for Racial Justice in 1991, redefined the word, “environment,” to focus on where people lived, worked, studied, played and prayed. It included the water one drinks at home, the air one breathes in their neighborhood, safety in one’s workplace. The summit produced 17 environmental justice principles that are still used.

There is also access to a recording.

For information, visit https://UCC.zoom.us/webinar/register/8516270122480/WN_s23u KjQVTPWuzxT7ceKW8Q.

Farm Worker Forum is Oct. 23

The Farm Worker Ministry Northwest, a faith-based farm worker solidarity organization working for justice, will hold a Farm Worker Ministry Northwest Community Forum from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 23, on Zoom or in person at Englewood Christian Church, 511 N. 44th Ave., in Yakima. It is an opportunity to learn how farm workers are organizing for their rights and how to support them.

For information, email fwm-nw@mnfwm.org.

UCC website being updated

The transition of the UCC website will soon be completed. It will allow people to up for email lists from the daily devotional to upcoming events, opportunities for advocacy and more. It’s a way to see what this denomination is doing; find resources and participate. The denominational site is at: www.ucc.org.

Also watch interview with UCC President and General Minister John Dorhauer about the decision to sell the national offices at 700 Prospect in Cleveland and live into the future four blocks away on the 11th floor of a building with office space that fits the current size of the staff who may work three days a week at home. Hear about the visions that virtual technology brings to the life of the church.

https://www.ucc.org/online-audience-learns-more-about-ucc-building-sale-office-move/?fbclid=IwAR1MG6goDB-f51S-yyOvnmKwtjkC-RXrtYesqJYz5hytGGcW1tSYTkQuY_U

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