Author: Davena Jones

High schoolers and youth leaders are heading down to Camp Tamarack youth camp in about a week. We’ll spend seven days together with bonfires, camp songs, togetherness, time to listen and share, oh, lots of sweat, and it’s hot out there. But when we ask teens where they’ve seen God work, summer camp shows up a lot—not because of how fantastic our campsite is, but because God has used this week to change our hearts in beautiful and abundant ways. We’re praying that God does that again this year. I hope and pray that you will send your High Schoolers…

That feeling of experiencing history in person took my breath away, tears rolled down my face and I had to keep my feet from breaking into a full-on Holy Ghost Dance as the favorable vote came across the screens. The Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson was elected as the UCC's General Minister and President, the first female and the first of African descent. For me, it was an important reminder of being a part of a larger whole, where each part of the church can offer its blessings and ask for support in its burdens. I have been publicly criticized…

Disaster responders, communicators and coordinators gathered May 8-11 in St. Louis for the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) conference, “Gateway to Collaboration.” Attendees from religious and secular organizations from around the country, along with representatives from government agencies such as FEMA, heard the latest disaster response initiatives in the various workshops and presentations offered throughout the four-day event. What was just as important as the plethora of information, though, was for VOAD members to meet in-person once again.“It was good having the family back together,” said the Rev. Karl Jones. Jones, who serves as a Conference Disaster Coordinator…

This month we, the Northern California Nevada Conference UCC, celebrate our 61st Anniversary. We are the United Church of Christ in Northern California and Northern Nevada. We are 110 local churches (13,500 members) and 357 ministers, from Eureka to Tulare, from Monterey to Reno, and everywhere in between. Some of our churches were founded during the early years of the California gold rush. We all started with a desire to be people of worship, education, fellowship, and ministry to our communities. Our mission is to unite ourselves as a covenant community and support and nurture each other as we seek to make God’s…