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UCC conference ministers visit Washington DC

Twenty-two UCC conference ministers met Oct. 27 to 30 in Washington D.C. on the theme, “Love Knows No Borders.”

Phil Hodson, designated conference minister

The Council of Conference Ministers gathered on Capitol Hill for a time of education and engagement. The event was organized for the United Church of Christ Office of Public Policy & Advocacy, and was centered around lifting up the real, lived stories experienced within and around the communities where our congregations are located across the country as a direct result of the policies being undertaken by the present administration.

On our first day together, we heard from policy experts on specific pieces of legislation that impact our ability to keep individuals safe while practicing our faith. We met with organizers from within the Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ and other groups who train for peaceful protest and engage on the issues in and around our nation’s capital.

We learned about resources available to our churches at www.votervoice.net and about daily updates on refugee resettlement with Church World Service at www.interfaithimmigration.org.

Our DC Peace Team gave us training for prayer vigil security.

On our second full day together, we took a prayer walk from the United Methodist Building, where we gathered and our policy offices are located, to the Supreme Court, Library of Congress and the Capitol building.

As we walked together, we sang. At each stop, we shared Scripture and prayed together for our judges, our federal employees, our legislators and all who are impacted—all of us—by what is unfolding now.

From there we broke into groups of three or four and were given specific congressional offices to visit.

Outreach had been made to more than 50 offices, but only 18 agreed to meet with our groups. The group I was part of visited one Senator from California, two California House offices and one Massachusetts House office.

At each meeting we delivered postcards gathered from among our congregations and shared stories pertinent to the districts each member of Congress represented.

We met with one representative in-person, who was very excited to visit with us and genuinely appreciated the time we took to share and then pray over them. Members of the staff in each office were warm, appreciative and engaged throughout the day.

Everywhere we went, the feedback was the same: “Stay involved.” and “Get more people involved.”

Our elected representatives want to hear from us. They need to hear our thoughts on legislation and find the lived experiences of constituents incredibly helpful to know as they work with colleagues and endeavor to do what they have been elected to do.

We ended our time together with a prayer vigil at the United Methodist Building, joined by members of the community and leaders from the national setting and the National Council of Churches.

There are some practical things we can all do.

• We can write and phone our representatives. They want to hear from us on the issues. They would also love to receive our stories, sharing the ways what is happening now is directly impacting us and those we know.

• We can speak up in our communities on the issues in ways that are hope-filled, engaging and filled with personal story. Story changes hearts and lives.

• We can lend our support, sometimes without acknowledgment, to organizations who are doing the work daily in helping them to make positive change.

• We can vote.

For more information, see the video on “Love Knows No Borders” to learn more at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg7QWV9mJVg

 

Pacific Northwest Conference United Church of Christ News © January 2026

 

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