For many years Desert Palm has participated in providing Christmas gifts to foster children through partnerships with local social service agencies - For many years Desert Palm has participated in providing Christmas gifts for foster children through partnerships with local social service agencies - most recently Southwest Human Development.  We have all enjoyed picking out tags with requests from specific children and heading out to the stores to shop and fulfill those wishes. 

As with many of our other traditional holiday activities, this year will have to be different. Southwest Human Development has set up an online shopping cart where you can purchase items (link below). Please mention Desert Palm when completing your purchase.

If you aren’t comfortable with online shopping, you can send a check to Desert Palm - please note “foster gift” on the memo line.  We will forward funds to Southwest Human Development.  

This won’t be as fun, and I’ll miss having 100 gift bags in my dining room!  But children and families still need help, hope, and kindness - now more than ever. 

Shopping link: www.swhd.org/holiday


Thank you,
Rebecca Bond

Please join us for Sunday School via Zoom at the following times:

                              Kindergarten and younger:  10:45 a.m.

                              First through fourth grade: 10:00 a.m.

Our gatherings will last about 30 minutes. Please e-mail Audrey Penner at alpenner@viterbo.edu or Kathryn Andrews at kathrynandrews47@gmail.com if you would like to join us this Sunday, or on a future Sunday. 

Hope you can join us!

The time has come to talk of many things, including . . . registering your child for Sunday School!  Families with current students may fill out the form on line; just scroll to the bottom of the church web page at www.desertpalmucc.org.  Even if you do not have a current Sunday School student, please invite any friends or relatives with an interest in progressive Christianity to register a child and check out our classes.  Through the magic of Zoom, our offerings are now available to any child, anywhere.

Thursday Group

Next meeting: December 3. For December 3, we will conclude our Levine Short Stories by Jesus study and share any parables we have written or created.

December 17 - ZOOM HOLIDAY TEA & SHOW AND TELL - this would be a fun opportunity for new folks to join us. 

On December 17, we will do a socially distanced holiday tea party. Everyone is encouraged to wear a holiday sweater/shirt or holiday colors. This might be your only chance to show off those holiday earrings this year!! Plan to enjoy a festive beverage. Perhaps pick a holiday tea to sip from a special teacup. If the cup has a story behind it, we want to see the cup and hear the story. Please prepare something meaningful to show or tell about your holiday traditions in place of a book discussion. Perhaps you can share a special ornament from your childhood or tell us your favorite Christmas Eve memory or sing a verse from your favorite Christmas Carol.

New folks and visitors are always welcome! Contact Sue Henderson at suegreenhenderson@gmail.com or the church office for the zoom link. 

  Sunday Group

The Sunday Women’s Bible study’s next meeting is November 22, at 3:00 pm. This group will be continuing via Zoom, meeting once or twice a month. We are reading Bible Women: All their words and why they matter by Lindsay Hardin Freeman. On November 22, we will be reading the New Testament, “The Syrophoenician Woman—aka The Canaanite Woman.” We discuss not only the book and the bible passages but how they relate to what is happening in our lives and the world we live in now.

You do not need to have come in the past to join us now. Please contact Pat Speer (pspeer686@gmail.com) if you wish to be added to the email list to receive the Zoom link.  

Topic: Supportive Conversations
Time: Nov. 30, 2020 07:00 PM Arizona
Every week on Mon, until Jan 11, 2021, 7 occurrence(s)

Nov 30, 2020 07:00 PM

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East Valley Network Update- 11/22/20

Although currently unable to host asylum seekers on-site, the East Valley Network still tries to serve that community in Mexico. We are also assisting one of our member churches with a high number of food-insecure members. Here is an update on these two efforts.

Iglesia Cristiana el Buen Pastor

Monetary donations to the Iglesia Cristiana el Buen Pastor account have enabled the purchase of 25 -$50 gift cards that Pastor Hector at el Buen Pastor can give to struggling parents so that they can purchase Christmas gifts for their children. Pastor Hector will also receive a small monetary gift as recognition of his ministry during the COVID crisis, not only to his own church members but to his wider neighborhood and the homeless.

Another Network participant, one of the Muffin Queens, made and donated 25 necklace and earring sets so kids could choose one for their mothers for Christmas. Still, another group, remaining anonymous, donated several new toys divided between el Buen Pastor and the Sonoyta family shelter.

Another Network church, Scottsdale UCC, sent us a $500 donation to be used toward food purchases for el Buen Pastor. 

Thank you to everyone who brings groceries to me week after week. You are all so appreciated for your generosity and kindness. I am overwhelmed - and I mean that sincerely. We have been contributing a carful of groceries and about $300 in grocery gift cards every week since April, and there has NEVER been a week when nothing was donated.  

But we cannot rest on our past generosity- there are still about 15 church families that are food insecure and families from the neighborhood and homeless living in the park next door. Nothing donated goes to waste, and everything is distributed each week.  

This week, donations will be collected as usual at my house any time before noon on Friday. 

As a reminder, the most requested items are rice, pinto and black beans, canned chicken/tuna, canned vegetables, cereal, spaghetti and sauce, soups, vegetable oil, salt/pepper/garlic, laundry/dish soap, TP/paper towels, bread/tortillas, chicken bouillon, school lunch items, dog food, and coffee. Fruit or vegetables that do not have to be refrigerated in the short term (apples/oranges/melon/potatoes) are also possible. I can keep them in the house until I transport them on Friday afternoon. Of course, anything you donate will be used and appreciated.

Checks or $25 Walmart gift cards for Igl. Crist. el Buen Pastor can be mailed to University Presbyterian Church or dropped through the church office's mail slot. Indicate "el Buen Pastor" on the envelope or memo line. Groceries, or cash for supplemental groceries, can be delivered to my house by Thursday afternoons. Call me if you need a Friday morning drop off or for a pickup.

Sonoyta Shelters

As a reminder, the Network supports two shelters of asylum seekers (a men's shelter and a family shelter) in Sonoyta, MX, in conjunction with the Ajo Samaritans and Humane Borders. Together, the shelters house about 150 people. And with the change in national administrations, we expect a surge in those coming to the border over the next few months.

University Presbyterian approved a $1000 undesignated gift to the Ajo Samaritans to use toward any of many current needs at the shelters. For example, an infestation of bed bugs at the men's shelter will cost nearly that much to exterminate.

Over the past two weeks, two volunteers have driven downloads of men's clothes, children's shoes, diapers, toys, towels, and other requested items to meet some immediate needs. Other volunteers will make a trip every couple of weeks.

We are always in need of men's clothing, shoes, underwear, and jackets. If you feel safe enough to shop at the resale/thrift stores, please try to find some items for us.

-men's long-sleeved T-shirts/shirts (S, M)

-men's jeans (waist sizes 26-34)

-jackets and sweatshirts (S, M)

-new underwear (S, M)

-tennis shoes or boots (up to size 10.5)

-socks

I know you have a choice in who to help, and we appreciate your continuing to support us.  

Food and clothing are the basics in these uncertain times.

Thank you all for your continued compassion, energy, kindness, and generosity.

Holly

Hhbillsmom@gmail.com

(480) 570-0450 

1701 W Lindner, Mesa 85202

(near Baseline and Dobson)

University Presbyterian Church, 139 E Alameda, Tempe, AZ 85282

Coffee Hour is a time after the church service for people to get together and talk about whatever is on their mind. Get to know people you may not know very well. You can talk or just listen; it’s up to you. 

Whether you’re in the Phoenix area or across the country, join us and share some good conversation and fellowship time. 

We meet on Zoom, to join us just click the link that says “ join zoom meeting “.  Even if you don’t have Zoom on your computer yet, just click the link and Zoom will download the required software. Just install it and you will be connected. It’s free.

If you have trouble loading the software, send an email to the church administrator and she will get you in touch with someone to help you.

Topic: Coffee Hour

Time: November 22, 2020 11:00 AM Arizona

Every week on Sun, until Dec 27, 2020, 20 occurrence(s)

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At this time all our gatherings are digital in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Please connect with Andrew (andrew@desertpalmucc.org) to join us.

All ASU students (graduate and undergraduate) are welcome.

Weekly Small Group-Every Thursday at 6:30 pm

Open One-on-One Office Hours on Zoom with Andrew-Every Other Tuesday from 2:00pm to 4:00 pm

Join Rev. Tom Martinez and Sue Ringler for a Small Group Storytelling Project and Find Out. There will be two groups, one drawn entirely from Desert Palm and one mixed group made of people drawn from both Desert Palm and I-Help.  

Rev. Tom Martinez (Senior Minister of Desert Palm, UCC, in Tempe, AZ) will be offering an online storytelling project for I-Help participants and members/friends of Desert Palm UCC as part of his dissertation project through the Pacifica Graduate Institute (located in Carpinteria, CA). This degree program is based on Community, Liberation, Indigenous, and Eco-psychologies. One group of between 8 to 10 participants will be drawn from Desert Palm, and one group will consist of a combination of I-Help participants and members of Desert Palm UCC. Participants will be participating in a series of storytelling sessions, relating its themes to others' stories in the group, and the CHIME model of mental health (CHIME is an acronym that stands for connectedness, hope, identity, meaning, and empowerment).   

What: Rev. Tom Martinez’ Pacifica Graduate Institute Ph. D. Dissertation Project. 

Pastor Tom will facilitate the Desert Palm group. Sue Ringler of the Tempe Community Action Agency (Tempe, AZ) will co-facilitate the mixed group with Tom, drawn from both Desert Palm and I-Help. This small group project will engage the practice of storytelling, with an emphasis on both telling and listening to our individual stories. 

When: each of the eight sessions will last 90 minutes. 

Groups will be held online through zoom. Each group will run for a total of 8 sessions.    

Where: meetings will take pace through the zoom.