UCC Reporter's Roundtable LIVE  🔗 **Source:** [UCC Reporter's Roundtable LIVE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTr7Yx6lccE) [00:00:23] Well, good afternoon, United Church of Christ family. It is so good to be here with you all in this space this afternoon. And welcome to episode 4 of UCC News' Reporters Roundtable, where we go a little bit more in-depth about the stories that matter most to us and that also matter to you, our United Church of Christ family. My name is Charles Jefferson. I serve as the news director here at the national ministries of the United Church of Christ, and I'm part of an amazing team of wonderful journalists, writers, content creators that bring you every week our UCC News Digest. And we just want to spend some time today talking about some of our most impactful stories of 2026 thus far. [00:01:09] And as you see, we are on a gallery view, and so I want to take a moment to introduce the rest of our panelists that make up UCC News. And so I am going to start I'm going to go in order of our agenda here, and then I'll come back with just a little bit more of some housekeeping things and whatnot. So we first have Kayla Berkey, who is our digital content specialist. Kayla, wave. We also have Brooke Canada, who is our social media manager. Brooke is responsible for all of our social media pages here at the UCC, and is probably, if you've asked a question or anything like that on any of our UCC channels, more than likely you were interacting with Brooke. Brooke, hello. [00:01:54] We also have Renee DeLuca. Renee is our public relations coordinator I and she also serves part-time on UCC news. Renee, hello. And last but not least on this call, we have Donna Jackson. Donna Jackson is our communication specialist and has brought you some pretty good stories of from of 2026 this year as well as the rest of the news team. Donna, hello from Vermont. Donna is joining us from Vermont this afternoon. Before we go any further, I also just want to mention a couple of members of our news team who are not with us on this call this afternoon. The first [00:02:36] being Bob Lorimer who is our video services coordinator. Bob is actually in Johannesburg, South Africa at the moment with several other members of the global ministries team. They're there meeting with some partners and Bob is there to capture some of that meeting. So we hope in the next several weeks or so we'll be able to share more about that visit with you all here via UCC news and the news digest. And then we also who also is not here with us this afternoon is Dave Sakyi. Dave serves as our digital marketing specialist and he is the one who is responsible for all of the email communications that come from the [00:03:18] national ministries including weekly news digest. So we want to give a special shoutout to both Bob and Dave who are equally as important to the life of UCC news and what we are able to do here for you every week. Before we get started with talking to some of our reporters, I just want to just mention a couple of housekeeping things. Number one, if you haven't done so in the chat already, you know, just let us know where you're from. You know, where you are logging in from and if you have any questions or if you have any news tips or story ideas or anything like that that you think that we should know about and that we should possibly do a story about, we [00:04:01] want to know it. Even if you think I'm not really sure if this is a story or not, we still want to know. So, the best way you can get in contact with us is via email. And that email is and thank you Andrea, our wonderful tech support in our digital programming specialist who's been helping us out with all the webinars, not only here but all the webinars that you see from National Ministries. She'll put it in the chat, [email protected]. That email comes to all of us and then we'll be able to answer any questions you have as well as follow up on any story ideas or pitches that you may send our way or just anything that you think that we should just know about. We just [00:04:44] we we want to hear about it. So, just send us that email at [email protected]. So, without further ado, we're going to go ahead and get started. Um as we are sort of discussing the stories, Andrea and our tech support team will be sure to put the links to the stories, each reporter's stories in the chat and then they'll also will also follow up via email with those links as well. So, our first reporter, we're going to talk to Kayla. Kayla recently did a story about the Citizens Bank. Citizens Bank recently ended their ties to the companies that were running some ICE detention centers and there were quite a [00:05:28] few clergy members who were involved in getting that decision to to be made. And so, Kayla was the one who did that story. So, Kayla, tell us a little bit more about that and what were the circumstances that led up to the protest and subsequent decision uh from Citizens Bank to end their association with companies that run the ice detention centers. >> Sure, yeah. Thanks for Thanks for giving me space to share a little bit about that. I think one thing I'd just want to acknowledge is that the news can be a little bit bleak these days. Anyone else feel that? Um but one of the reasons that I really like this that I got to report on this [00:06:10] story and that just reporting for UCC news is that um we kind of get to look for all of the hopeful spaces where people of faith are organizing. Um and particularly around immigration because it's been such um you know, immigrants have been facing such devastating treatment in our country. And so we're looking at the ways um and finding hope where churches and people of faith across the country are standing with their immigrant kids, pushing up back against these unjust systems. Um and so this story that started in Boston in May, actually, uh was a coalition of people from across faith traditions. They gathered in this bustling public square in front of a [00:06:52] Citizens Bank. They had this um oversized withdrawal slip for a million dollars and that's how they launched this really focused and organized campaign that was called Not With Our Money. And the aim was to pressure Citizens Bank to stop financing these two companies that were notorious for running detention centers and private prisons, uh CoreCivic and GEO Group. And it started in Boston through Greater Boston Interfaith Organization where several UCC congregations are members. And one of the uh folks I was able to interview for this story was the Reverend John Edgerton, who's the senior minister of Old South Church, uh which [00:07:35] is a UCC congregation in Boston. And one thing I really appreciated hearing from him uh with this idea that different churches and faith groups have different resources at their disposal. They have different strengths, relationships, and even positionality is like where they are in the country. >> [clears throat] >> And that gives them different things at their disposal of how they might think creatively to stand with immigrants. So, Old South Church is more than 300 years old and if they have been given significant monetary gifts over the centuries. And so, Edgerton said they get to be really intentional and thoughtful about how they're stewarding [00:08:18] their wealth and how they're deploying it uh in ways to make a difference. And so, in this case um it was as part of a broader coalition with a campaign that caught on um this sort of boycott or pressuring against Citizens Bank. Um it caught on to a to a their sister group in Cleveland, Greater Cleveland Congregations. Also includes a lot of UCC churches. And then municipal governments started to join, cities started to divest from Citizens Bank. And they got to the point of hundreds of millions of dollars pledged to just regularly withdraw from Citizens Bank um until they were willing the bank was either willing to meet with them or stop [00:09:02] their financing of these detention centers. Um and so, I I do want to lift up in this, I want to lift up the name of Emanual Damas um a Boston resident um who died in ICE custody from what his family has described as a lack of basic medical care. He had a toothache and was not treated and ended up dying. And that his life and the sacredness of his life and all of the people impacted um by being detained in in in these detention centers, like that is the center of this work. That is the heart of like what people of faith are gathering around and [00:09:45] coming together um to protest and to stand in solidarity with with these folks who are impacted. Um and so I share this story because after several months, it started in May and then in July I got to do a follow-up story um because Citizens Bank announced that they were going to stop financing these detention center companies. And even though the bank very explicitly downplayed the pressure that had been put on them and said that's not why they made this decision. Um you know, the the faith leaders and the campaign leaders very much attribute this as a win that they did this targeted, focused, faith-based strategy [00:10:30] and they successfully caused this corporate interest to change course. And so I give that as as a story like this, I really hope can keep us looking to the hopefulness that is there and the possibility and power that people of faith can have um together. >> Yes. Well, thank you Kayla for that. I appreciate you sharing that story and just that that that message of hope. Um one question that I do have for you um just as related to the response from Citizens Bank. You know, obviously downplaying, you know, the impact. What in your professional opinion would you say is the message that this sort of uh [00:11:12] targeted effort sends to you know, big you know, banking companies or conglomerates in general um just about uh the the the power of you know, grassroots community organizing uh in this manner? >> Yeah, I think anytime that there's a successful change of course like this, it does send a message that the people are paying attention and the people are recognizing things like wealth and just collective consciousness that they have. Um I think one of the organizers of this campaign said this is what organizing looks like. Like pay attention. This is what it looks like. Like it's focused, it's targeted, and in this case, I think [00:11:57] it being led by these faith-based groups also brings this sort of ethical sway um to it as well. >> Yes. Well, thank you, Kayla, for sharing that story. We do appreciate it. And uh the link to Kayla's reporting is in the chat. Um so, please feel free to check uh that out. And as we uh continue with our reporters roundtable, we'll be sure to include the links to um the rest of the reporters' stories so that you are able to check those out um if you haven't done so already. But, Kayla Burkey, thank you so much. And you can catch more of Kayla's reporting uh in our upcoming news digest every Tuesday afternoon. And if you Oh, one other shameless plug that I forgot to do at [00:12:39] the beginning is that if you are not subscribed already to UCC News, you should do so. ucc.org/news. It's very simple. The uh link the form to fill out is right there on the homepage. So, be sure if you're not already to subscribe to UCC News so you don't miss uh an edition of the news digest. Brooke Canada, who is our social media specialist, is going to talk to us a little bit about some uh trending things that have have been going on on UCC social media pages. And Brooke has a small presentation for us. So, I'm going to turn things over to Brooke uh and she's going to tell us about what's been going on on social media and just some things that you guys have been talking [00:13:22] about over on our social channels. Uh Brooke, I'll hand it off to you. >> Thank you, Charles. Um I'm Brooke Canada. I am the social media specialist, as Charles said. And so, the UCC is currently across all of sort of the major platforms: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Blue Sky, and Threads. Um we do our presence on YouTube, obviously, too. But where I kind of where I hang out is on those platforms there. So, if you're on any of those platforms and you're not already following us, give us a follow and you'll be able to see a lot of these things that we put out. Um so, today I am going to just share my screen here and pull up my slides to help me along. And I'm focusing on [00:14:08] the posts and the stories that really engaged all of you. So, I will show you some of those. All right. So, um not only to provide, you know, insight into our social media work, but also to give insight into which posts perform well may perform well for your church, too. So, I'm sharing these as also, you know, these are things that you can do, too, with your own church. You can share our posts, but you can also create your own in these same veins. Current events. Um we're all in tune with and watching the current events play out on a global scale, and many of our and and watching as it many of our siblings are continually harmed. Um and so, when [00:14:52] Reverend Karen Georgia posts a post or a statement, and for those of you that might not know, Karen Georgia is our general minister and president of the UCC, and she has a weekly on my mind today blog post, where she does respond to a lot of these current events. Um but when she puts out a statement and and we [clears throat] post those on our UCC social media channels, you are all often very interested in seeing that. And as well as you know, these participations. The The second one I have in here is her participation in the installation of Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally. And while she was at that event, she [00:15:37] interacted with global women leaders across you know, across the world. And so that was a really huge event that you all kind of jumped on and were interested in. And then in addition, many of our news stories, as Kayla mentioned, um as particularly around the impact of ICE in many of our cities, um you also take notice to those as well. And so for this one, this is when a local when local UCC churches created essentially a national movement to bring uh UCC members across the country together to stand out against ICE. So my next one here is social justice. [00:16:25] Social justice posts are often coupled with action alerts, and UCCers love to pray with their feet and put their faith into action. Anytime we post an action alert or a hot button social justice topic, like being a welcoming church, um to our our LGBTQIA+ siblings, you you often shower it with love and affirmation, and it's such a beautiful thing. Um these three posts are a little different in our actions we participated in with some of our other offices and partners. Um the first is a stand out in Washington in front of the White House calling for uh justice for those harmed by ICE. The second is a communion invitation by the late Reverend Derrick Terry, who was the director of the Open and Affirming [00:17:07] Coalition. And the last is to uh an invitation to join in our 250 acts of kindness for 2026. Um and I believe Renee is going to speak more in detail to that campaign, which is still going on. So, join in that campaign as well. And then the the last piece I have here is uh the People's Prayers for Peace. It's an ongoing daily campaign of prayer. And it's something that we've invited people to join in and participate in. So, anytime you have a prayer, please feel free to [00:17:49] uh submit it to the People's Prayers for Peace, and we would be happy to showcase it on our social media channels. It's really the most consistent post that we have across the board. It's always something that people love and um often times it it overlaps with some of these social justice and current event issues, and those end up going like crazy as well. And finally, after a little taste of social media, coming up next, we have uh next year is the 70th birthday of the UCC, and we are inviting people to join in a social media campaign sharing your welcome story. [00:18:33] So, we invite you to share your story of of how you have experienced welcome within the UCC, whether that was, you know, as a child growing up in the UCC or somebody walking through the UCC uh local UCC doors for the first time. How did you experience that welcome, and what made you choose UCC? And so, that link is there as well. And I will stop sharing my screen Well, stop sharing my screen now. There we go. >> All right. Thank you, Brooke. We appreciate uh that uh that presentation and all the work that you do and that I have a couple of things. [00:19:17] So, I just want to point out a comment made by Carrie Foster who is our special projects and programs manager here at the national ministry. Just going back to the people's prayers for peace. Just so you all know that it doesn't have to be fancy or clergy. This can be anybody. So, anybody if you feel if you feel moved by the Holy Spirit, something that is on your mind something that is on your heart that you feel that you want to share with the wider church, please submit that Andrea put a link to the people's prayers for peace in our chat. So, please feel free to bookmark that and if you have a prayer that you want to share with the people, we want to hear it. We want to showcase it. So, send it to us via that link as well. And thank you Carrie for for [00:20:00] mentioning that. The other thing that I just you know want to mention is that I'm not sure how many of you are aware, but Brooke is a one-woman show in terms of our social media. We all do you know our part to you know help support the different parts of marketing and communications here at the national ministries, but Brooke does all of our social media across Facebook and Instagram, sometimes X but not really, Blue Sky Threads, TikTok. I'm sure there may be one or two that I'm missing, but we're across all the social media channels and Brooke supports all of that as well as some of our other ministries and [00:20:45] teams at the at the national ministries with their social media efforts and also those you know that perhaps in conferences or associations or local congregations that may periodically reach out for help or some ideas about social media and we're always happy to collaborate and work together on those things. So, Brooke thank you for that presentation and thank you for all the work that you do. And Brooke, just one more time, if people want to get in touch with you, if they have any social media ideas or anything like that, what is the best way that people can reach out to you for that? >> They can certainly reach out by tagging us, as Craig said, in your posts, certainly. If you want us to have eyes [00:21:27] on it, we are oftentimes looking for new stories too in that way, and some that are just going to be social media posts. But if you tag us in the the things that your church is doing, we're happy to give you some love and to share it if it makes sense to share it. You can also reach out by messaging us through any of those social channels, through social [email protected], but honestly, I think if you just stick everything into news [email protected], it comes to all of us. And so, that's really a way to reach all of us at once, and that might be the best method. >> Yes. Thank you so much, Brooke. Appreciate that. And thank you for the presentation. Next, we're going to talk to Renee [00:22:11] DeLuca. Renee, hello. Renee has been traveling a bit, and one of the places that you were just recently was Raleigh, North Carolina, which I understand Renee, you lived in Raleigh for a period of time, correct? >> I did. I was there about eight or nine years ago for a year and a half. It was a short stint, but it was nice to return and see what's changed in the triangle. >> Absolutely. And one of the well, the main reason that you were you returned to Raleigh is for the Internet Broadcast Society event that you you were at and you covered for UCC News. So, tell us a little bit more about for those who may be joining us on this webinar today. Tell us a little bit [00:22:53] about what Internet Broadcast Society is, the theme, and sort of the significance of of year's meeting in Raleigh. >> Sure. Well, just for a little bit of background about myself, I've been with the National Setting for 3 and 1/2 years now. I came to the UCC with a news background. I worked in Cleveland media for a long time as a news reporter for radio and a news producer for local television. So, it was really wonderful to go to an event and cover it like the reporter I am, you know, my roots of my career. So, I really enjoyed it. They met in Raleigh. [00:23:38] The Antoinette Brown Society is the clergy women of the UCC. They're invited to meet. They have this meeting every other year. It It was rebooted around 2015 by Reverend Elizabeth Dilly on the Mesa team. This year's organizer was Reverend Tara Barber and they have a whole team of folks. When you look at the link that Andrea just posted, the head photo is the group of our clergy women who organized the event this year. If you don't know, Antoinette Brown was the first woman ordained into Christian ministry in this country. She's an advocate for women's leadership in the church and she was an abolitionist and a [00:24:23] very early suffragette. So, that is what this society is named for. And the theme of this year's meeting was rooted, restored, and rising. So, the group gathered together along with the UCC's African American women in ministry who were meeting just up the road about an hour north. And we did a little field trip with them. I'm going to talk about that in a minute. But first I want to note that Um they were honoring the 2025 Antoinette Brown Brown Society Award winners. Um the first that they honored was Reverend [00:25:05] Ann Holmes as a trailblazing elder. Um Ann was the first openly gay minister ordained by the UCC. Um she was there with her wife. They were very moved to be there and to be honored and invited. Um the first thing that we did as we went to honor these these clergywomen, was we replayed the uh Kansas City video of when the award winners were announced. So, we got to kind of see that again. So, if the people in the room were not there for synod in Kansas City in 2025, they got to see their names being announced, which was nice. Um the next person that was awarded was Reverend Melody Seton as a trailblazer. [00:25:49] She's the author of a children's book, a grandmother of six, the program director of Thriving Pastors and Revitalizing Congregations Initiative, and she's a pastor of Grace United Church in the Chicago area. She is a very busy woman. And what she said about being awarded the Antoinette Brown Society Award was, "Wow, I'm so busy all the time. I didn't notice that anybody noticed." And she said she was very humble to be included. And then uh the last person that was recognized was Reverend Kayla Simmons Wood as a trailblazing innovator. Um she said she is passionate about understanding and confronting systemic injustices, especially related to race, [00:26:35] gender, and sexuality. And uh Reverend Dilly presented each of them with a very special pendant. And um so, they were recognized in that group. And throughout the week, each one of them got to give a keynote address, which was very nice to hear from each of them about what they're most passionate about. So, that was a really lovely thing. >> Yes, Renee. Thank you. Um one of the things there was something else that was significant um that happened uh at Antoinette Brown at the Antoinette Brown Society event. And it was actually um the first time that all three uh of our elected officers were in the same place at the same time. And this is significant because um [00:27:18] all for the first time in UCC's history all three elected officers are women. Uh Renee, tell us a little bit about that. Um just the significance of having all three elected uh leaders at the Antoinette Brown Society event. And um you know, what did they say to those gathered? >> Sure. Well, you know, they're three very busy uh women. Reverend Karen Georgia Thompson, our general minister and president, and our two AGMs, Sherry Prestaman and our newest AGM, Jennifer uh Saul. So, they were gathered there and in the welcome uh Karen Georgia said her first event that she went to as the first newly elected general minister [00:28:02] and president who was a woman of the UCC was the ABS luncheon in 2023. And she had a very warm welcome there. So, she loved being in front of this group again. And they answered questions on a panel. And one of them was, you know, what does the theme mean to them? Being rooted, restored, and rising. And Karen Georgia addressed it by saying, you know, if we aren't grounded and rested as clergy women, then we aren't capable of rising. So, there's an importance to that. And um Sherry Prestaman noted that in these times when it feels like everything everywhere all at once, it's very hard to stay rooted and stay rooted in in [00:28:45] ministry. But she says for her, it means paying attention to her relationships and being reminded of how important those relationships are to her. And then our newest AGM, Jennifer, said Excuse me, I got to take a drink. >> No worries. Thanks, Renee. >> For sure. >> [clears throat] >> She's been paying particular attention to how women lead and how we can raise each other up. So And then they were asked, what can ABS attendees do to support them? And Karen Georgia said, pray for us collectively as leadership of your church. >> Yes. [00:29:28] Absolutely. Thank you, Renee, for for that for that reporting and for that information. And I also just want to note that also coming up in 2027, we're going to be doing a special series centered around women leadership in the UCC beginning with our three elected officers of the church as well as other women leaders. I'm not sure if, you know, you all are aware, but in addition to our three women elected officers our general synod moderator and assistant moderators are women and our UCC board chair, Jasmine Quinerly, is also a woman ordained clergy. So we and as well as you know, [00:30:12] women throughout the the denomination not only here at the national ministries, but also across our many different settings of the church. And so we're going to be doing a special series that sort of highlights and uplifts the women leaders in in our denomination. So we hope that you stay tuned here in the coming weeks and months as we begin to share some of those stories with you as well. Renee, before we let you go, another an initiative that you've been heavily involved in is the Kindland initiative here at the national ministries and that has also spread to many different settings of the church including our local congregations. Tell us a little bit about that and just an [00:30:55] update that we have with the Kindland initiative. >> Sure. Brooke a little earlier showed a slide from social media that talked about our participation with Kindland and this year the Kindland folks are pushing everyone committing to doing 250 acts of kindness this year for the 250th anniversary of the United States and there's a sign up place for that and what is fantastic to note is that over 10,000 sign ups across the country have come from people from the UCC congregations from the UCC committing to doing those acts of kindness and that is really wonderful thing and something I'm going to be writing about very soon in the future is Kindland organization it [00:31:40] is going to start a new event this year. You've heard of Black Friday and you've heard of Giving Tuesday. We are going to have kindness Wednesday on the calendar. So stay tuned to hear more about kindness Wednesday and how you can be a part of that. >> Thank you so much for Nan. We'll be sure to get the link. Oh, thank you so much Brooke. Just included the link to the US of kindness website where you can sign up and then we also have a special webpage on UCC.org that will also share as well where you can learn more about our involvement as well as how you can how you can get involved or how your local congregation or whatever setting of the denomination [00:32:22] that you might serve how you may also get involved in the 250 acts of kindness. We still have a little bit of time left in 2026 and there is never too much kindness that you can show. So uh on to those websites and and learn how you can be involved. Thank you so much, Renee, for your reporting and we look forward to that uh that next update uh from the Kindland initiative. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Uh Donna Jackson, our communications specialist. Donna actually has two stories that she's going to share with us this afternoon. Um and we're going to start with the first one first. Donna, first of all, hello. Um good to good to see you and good to have you here with us. Um [00:33:06] the first story that we want to sort of that I want you to sort of speak about is the story about and I'm going to read the title and I want you to tell us a little bit more about that and just uh some of the inspiration behind the story is uh their building sold but their church didn't die. Uh joy permeates a congregation's future and we're seeing a lot of this now where uh congregations are having to make, you know, some some hard decisions about whether or not to, you know, keep the physical buildings uh or whether or not to keep the physical buildings while still maintaining the actual church and the legacy um of that that uh extends beyond any four walls. So, Donna, tell us a little bit about that story and what [00:33:49] initially uh drew you to that. >> Sure. Sure. When you um Charles, when you asked us to think about stories that we wanted to lift up, I was really surprised that this one came to my heart because stories like this and they are going to be um many many many of them coming. This isn't unusual. This isn't um you know, late-breaking news. Oh my gosh, a church is closing. Uh sadly, it is the reality and in fact, uh CNN News on October 1st just recently had the headline that there is going to be a tsunami of church closures coming to the United States. A tsunami of church closures. [00:34:34] Now, maybe that headline was clickbait, but such a story is not unique. And so, I entered into this story thinking, "Uh, what is going to be the news angle?" But, when I had the conversation with Emily Pearl, uh, a member of First and St. Stephen's Church in Townsend, Maryland, who had to sell their building, >> [gasps] >> I I was just touched by her faith, by her her belief that this is not the end. And the more I spoke to her about the whole journey of this congregation having to let go of their building, and they lost a lot of people, and they were down to a core of just 20 faithful followers, [00:35:17] when she said to me, "In all my years of being a member of First and St. Stephen's." She was a member of for about 30 years. She said, "In all my 30 years, this is the first time that I feel alive. I feel joy. We are actually having fun." And that I'm an ordained Presbyterian pastor, and I recently heard that the first church that I served, a beloved congregation, it was a very special uh, call for me. I recently heard that they are they are close to having to close their doors. And they only have about 2 more years left. And so, when I heard about the [00:36:01] church that I first served having to go through that, I was surprised by my reaction. My reaction was great sadness. And no, it can't be. We have to make it, you know, work. We have to to make sure it survives. And that surprised me because I'm always the one saying, "Have faith. We are resurrection people. With every death, there's is new beginning. And so, we can let go of our church buildings. So, for myself to have that reaction and that lack of faith for a church that I love, I had to really ask myself, what's going on here? What do I believe? And so, when I did this story and spoke to Emily [00:36:44] Pearl, and she had such faith and hope and joy, that was the story I wanted to lift up because this is going to happen to more and more of our beloved congregations. So, I really wanted to get that story out. Do not fear. It's going to be okay. You can still be the church. And what I really appreciated is what she said, that those core 20 people, they don't have a pastor, so they invite people to share a message of hope. Now, there are two retired pastors in that core group of 20 people who are still the church. And Emily Pearl said, and this makes me laugh because I am a pastor, is she said that she has to try to tell those two [00:37:29] pastors to take a backseat. No, no, no, no, we want other people's voices to be heard. >> [laughter] >> And so, I appreciated her honesty with like, okay, pastors, keep quiet and let the laity lead and share their stories of faith. So, that is why I wanted to lift up this story um in our time together to talk because it's going to happen more and more. If that CNN news headline is correct, a tsunami of church closures are coming, then we have to really dig in to being the resurrected people that we claim to be, and do not fear, and uh just see the new thing that the the church can be. So, that's why I really wanted to lift [00:38:11] up that story because it it touched me, and it changed me. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for sharing that, Donna. And you know, we we hear a lot, you you one of the and um perhaps Andrea or Brooke you can find a link to the national ministries programmatic priorities because one of those programmatic priorities and you may have seen some of our reporting in UCC news. One of the things one of those priorities is reshaping the narrative and so that can mean a lot of different things, but I think they at least the way that I interpret it as from a news perspective is really reshaping that narrative that you know, the church is dying and I've always said that I don't believe the church is dying. I just think that the church is [00:38:53] shifting and we have to be open to you know, shifting and and sort of adapting to the needs of of a ever-changing society. And so Donna, you know, with the shifts that we continue to see in our faith landscape and just how people interact with churches, how that changes and how people's you know, sort of connection to the divine or God or you know, however you identify and you know, now we're seeing things like you know, laid led leadership which I believe is also a story that you you may have worked on. I believe you you worked on that story as well of just you know, how there are congregations who are going more of a lay leadership route. [00:39:38] But what in your professional opinion do you think other churches can sort of take from this particular example? >> Yeah, well the story of lay leaders and churches that are thriving with lay leadership. That is a story that is in the works. There's a lot of leads that I have a lot of digging to get into. So stay tuned everybody. That is to come. >> Mhm. >> What can other churches learn from this? I think that my greatest thing that I hope that they learn from this story is not really a lesson, but I hope that they walk away from reading the story with a sense of peace, with a sense of of hope, with a sense of okay, we are [00:40:23] not alone. This is not the end. If this church can do it, we too can be open to new thing that God is doing. So, I hope this story, the lesson is you're not alone and it's not the end of your story and trust God who's always writing the new chapter and do not be afraid. And I know it's easier said than done because as I said, I was very taken aback and very surprised that I personally had such a sad reaction to hear beloved congregation that I served having to perhaps close their doors. I didn't think that I would feel that way. I thought I had faith. So, even pastors can struggle with [00:41:07] having a faith and believing in >> Absolutely. >> doing. So, I hope that >> [clears throat] >> we'll realize that it's a it's a reaction that is yes, it's it's it's a reaction that is common, but we really have to dig in and hold on to the fact that God is a God of new beginnings and I really do believe with all these churches that are closing, I have come to to realize just recently that perhaps all these closures of our buildings is not the end of a congregation, it's the goodbye of a building. I've just recently to believe that that perhaps this is the new thing that God is indeed [00:41:49] doing among us in terms of providing these empty buildings to be places of affordable housing, places of respite, um places of community centers perhaps. There was a story down in West Virginia, it wasn't a UCC congregation, but the church closed, But the Lutheran um denomination that owned that building, they decided to hold on to the building and they turned it into a grocery store because there was a lot >> Mhm. >> grocery stores in this rural area. So, for me, a church building that people have to say goodbye to, that in itself could be God doing the new thing, [00:42:34] offering that empty space for the needs of today. So, >> Yes. >> that might be the lesson. >> Yeah, absolutely. And um thank you for that, Donna. And if you have, you know, any, you know, stories or, you know, anything like that related to this topic or, you know, anything, you know, dealing with lay leadership um or shifting to that model, anything that you might know um that you think could be beneficial uh for Donna, feel free to uh reach out to us at [email protected] or, you know, provide it in the chat or you can email us afterwards and we'll be happy to follow up with you um once we conclude today's um webinar. But um Donna, you have another story um that [00:43:18] you did in Vermont, which is uh if you all missed the first part of our uh discussion today, uh Donna is uh uh lives in Vermont uh and is joining us from Vermont. And so, this is uh the Club West story and it sort of deals with uh poverty um in Vermont, which is not something that, you know, people may not always correlate poverty in Vermont. Tell us a little bit about that story um and what sort of led you to that one? >> Uh yeah, it's it's always always exciting when I'm able to do a story that's in my own backyard. I live in rural Vermont in the southern part of the state. And I was just skimming Facebook one day and I [00:44:02] saw in Brattleboro, Vermont, the First Congregational Church of Brattleboro, they were streaming their Sunday worship service and like many of our churches, Sunday worship service is sparsely attended. So, I took note of that and I'm like, "Oh, wow, you know, um huh, not that many people." But then, when I did more research into this church and learned of this exciting new ministry that they started and the numbers that they were getting, I knew there was a story there because the story is the thing that God is doing is not happening on a Sunday morning in the sanctuary. So, Reverend Jeremy Kirk started Club West for the teens in this area, [00:44:46] Brattleboro, which is named the poorest uh town in the state of Vermont, which startled me. I didn't realize that because when you think of Vermont, what comes to mind? Seriously, okay, people, viewers, put in the chat. What do you think when you when I say Vermont? Bernie Sanders, right? Okay, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, uh cows, covered bridges, maple sugar. >> Someone said skiing. >> Skiing, yes, skiing. And you don't think of You don't think of homelessness. Our state I I believe Vermont is the fourth largest uh state that has a homelessness problem. You don't think about the drug problem. Vermont is riddled with drugs. You don't [00:45:30] think about the poverty and you don't think about the lack of resources that today's teens have in these in these towns. And so, Reverend Jeremy Kirk, he was driving down street in Brattleboro and he knows these teens hanging out and he realized there's no place for them to gather. So, he created Club West in the basement of the church and it has a drum set, it has a stage, so there's a lot of focus on music because the pastor himself, he said that his faith was formed in many a church basement playing in a band. So, it was really it was really cool that he took what he knew and he kind of parlayed it into a [00:46:13] ministry for today's teens. But, the greatest thing about Club West is that it's not just for teens, it's becoming intergenerational, the pastor said. So, he noticed a lot in in his area, a lot of the events are attended by somebody in their 80s sitting right next to somebody who is 15. So, there is this intergenerational connection that Club West is also providing. People are getting very active in it. And it's just a safe place for these teens to come and to be who they are and to be welcomed. The other interesting thing about Club West, and I wasn't able to get it into the story, there's always so much information that we writers we have to [00:46:57] leave on the editing floor a lot of times, but he also invites local artists from the schools and just from the community, and he's renting space to some of them, and these artists provide the kids with opportunities to learn how to do like pottery, how to weave, how to paint. Because the pastor said, now take note everybody, the pastor said that teens today are getting sick of their phones and the texting and the social media and the technology. He's noticing a return to hands-on. They want to paint, they want to create. They don't want to be just connected to their their iPhones. And I [00:47:40] thought that was really hopeful in this world, you know. We always complain about, you know, the screen time for our kids. There is a movement now. Kids want to get off of their screens. And so, the pastor recognized that and is providing a space for this to happen. And I think with these two stories and with all the stories that I I feel passionate about that I do, at the heart of all of them is a pastor who opened their eyes to the need outside of their church door. And it seems like those are the stories [00:48:22] that I tend to do all the time because I think we forget to really look with wide, you know, our eyes wide open. I think we we can get jaded, we can get skeptical, and that's what I hope UCC News provides for the wider church, a moment of of hope, of ideas, of resources, and basically stories that tell everyone, you're not alone. We're all connected. So, that's why I wanted to lift up these two stories because they were stories of people opening up their eyes to the great thing that God is doing. >> Amen to that. Thank you, Donna. And Donna, as she mentioned, is our ordained [00:49:06] clergy as part of our team. And so, thank you for for sharing that and sharing those uplifting stories. And as we sort of come back to the gallery view here, I just want to take a moment to just acknowledge the team that is UCC News. This is your UCC News team. We bring you the UCC News Digest every Tuesday afternoon. These are stories that come from the from across our denomination, all the way from national ministries to our conferences and associations to our local congregations to our affiliated and associated ministries. We work hard every day to try to bring you some uplifting, relevant news and [00:49:49] information about the United Church of Christ. We are documenting the history of the church in real time. As I mentioned before, we have three elected officers and they are all women. That is the first time that that has ever happened in the nearly 70-year history of this denomination and we are documenting that in real time. And this team is the one that does that and that brings you, excuse me, the news of the denomination every week. So, myself and Donna, Renee, Caleb, Brooke, also Bob and Dave, who are not with us today. We really do take pride in the work that we do on behalf of you, the wider church. And so, I'll say it [00:50:32] again, our ears and our minds and our hearts are open to news tips or story ideas or pictures that you may have for us to share or just some information that you think that we should know that could perhaps be, you know, a link or anything to a to a future story. Send us that email. [email protected]. I get those emails. Caleb, Donna, Renee, Brooke, Bob, Dave, we all get those emails. And so, we'll be able to look at those collectively and then we can discuss those more in depth when we meet for our editorial meetings which happen Tuesday afternoons following the publication of the news digest. Many of [00:51:16] you may have also known UCC News as Keeping You Posted. That's what it was known as historically for a long time. So, we're still have those same fundamentals that that we've always had. We've just sort of transitioned to the digital space to be able to have an even wider impact. So, that is all that we have for you today. We do thank you all for joining us. Be sure to subscribe to ucc.org/news. We have another edition of our news digest with fresh original reporting. Now, these aren't stories that we just pull from some wire and then just post them on ucc.org. We each are original reporters that spend time in various [00:52:01] communities, whether we travel to them or whether we do them virtually, being able to report and write fresh news stories about things that are happening in in this denomination for you. So, these are original stories that we report on every week and that is something that we are very proud of. We produced, I think it was something the number was like maybe 170 stories that we produced thus far in 2026 and we will very much exceed that 200 mark by the time we reach the end of the year. So, we the this is 170 original stories that if I may brag on the news team for just a second, that otherwise would not be told if we were not telling [00:52:44] them. So, we take our work very seriously, but not ourselves, but we take this work very seriously to be able to document and tell these stories in real time and we thank you all for your contributions and you supporting the church and our church's wider ministry our church's wider mission, excuse me, which makes it possible for us to do that work and to continue to do this work. So, that's all that we have. I'll get off my soapbox. Thank you, Kayla. Thank you, Donna. Thank you, Renee. Brooke. Thank you, Andrea for all of your support with our tech this afternoon and as always, ucc.org/news, news [email protected]. Reach out, talk to us, let us know [00:53:29] what's going on. We want to hear from you. Okay, until our next episode, we'll talk real soon. Thanks everyone., UCC Reporter's Roundtable LIVE, United Church of Christ, 01m4x7h58d2s0v14pkqqye4xme.