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Worship
We remain in the liturgical season of Pentecost (also called Common Time) all the way until Nov. 30. On July 27, we will finally hear from Helen and Johanna Ortega. They were originally scheduled to speak in May but they had to reschedule due to a conflict. We are looking forward to hearing their experiences at the Summit for Religious Freedom (SRF) which they attended last spring. According to the registration information for SRF, The
Summit for Religious Freedom is the hub for our collective fight for religious freedom, church-state separation, and the issues that depend on them like LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, protecting public schools, strengthening our democracy and more. It’s a big tent — welcoming the diversity of our movement from longtime advocates to those just discovering the issue and its critical role in protecting our democracy, our equality, and our rights. We’re collaborating to defeat the biggest threats to these values including Christian Nationalists and other extremists, along with their political allies, who have launched a coordinated campaign
to force us all to live by their narrow, religious beliefs.” Their message sounds like it will be especially timely. This Sunday, July 6, we will celebrate the 4th of July. Our UCC Southern CA Nevada Conference
minister Rev. Rachael Pryor, shared the following message. It includes a link to an essay written by Andrea Ramos, an immigrant who came when she was a child, one of the many “Dreamers” whose status continues to be unsecure. Independence Day invites both celebration and reckoning. For many, it’s a reminder of hard-won freedoms. For others, it marks promises still unfulfilled. As people of faith, we are called to live in that tension. We give thanks for what has been made possible and yet stay committed to what remains unfinished. In this brief reflection — An Undocumented Woman’s Complicated American Pride on the Fourth of July by
Andrea Ramos—we’re invited to hold space for a love of country that endures with both persistence and prophetic truth. People navigating life as immigrants are familiar with the challenge of deeply loving a country that doesn't return its love for them. As we mark this day, may we remember that faith calls us not only to freedom but to justice and to the holy work of building a nation where love, dignity, and belonging are shared by all”.
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