‘Wednesdays with the World’ webinars share UCC’s ‘glocal’ mission

Sharing the mission and ministry of the United Church of Christ, at home and around the world, is the reason Wider Church Ministries is launching a new webinar series. 

“Wednesdays with the World,” which premieres March 24, will bring WCM work into the webinar space. The series will look at what Associate General Minister Karen Georgia Thompson calls “opportunities of a glocal scope and involvement with many issues.” 

“In Wider Church Ministries, we are connecting the members and settings of the United Church of Christ with the world. We are globally focused and locally rooted,” Thompson said. “We will be highlighting the ways in which the quest for justice is intersectional and global, allowing UCC members greater opportunities for increased awareness of global concerns — our connectedness — and highlighting options for advocacy and action.” 

Offered on Zoom, the bimonthly series will air on the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 2 p.m. ET. Rebekah Choate, associate for global advocacy and education, will serve as host. Moderators will change, depending on the topic.   

“We are planning webinars on a variety of topics, both global and local, that will make the connections with congregations and conferences to global partners,” Choate said. “Disaster response, refugee and asylum ministries — we will take a look at what we are doing locally and connect it to the wider world.” 

Making connections

WCM’s first program in the Wednesday time slot, on March 3, delved into life in Nicaragua and Honduras after Hurricanes Eta and Iota in November 2020. The discussion with Global Ministries partners can be accessed on YouTube here. The next offering, at 2 p.m. EDT on March 17, will mark the 10th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

The first webinar in the “Wednesdays with the World” series, March 24 at 10 a.m. EDT, will be “Journey to the Waters.”

Held a few hours earlier than the usual time, this first episode will mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The day honors the memory of the millions whose lives were interrupted and disrupted by slavery. 

Thompson will officiate a service to create space to honor and remember many whose names are unknown — those lost or buried without funerals or other rituals. It will be a time for lament, to remember through song, poetry and prayers, the resilience, courage, resistance, ingenuity and rebellion of Africans who were brought forcefully into the Americas. Registration is available here. 

Future episodes 

The schedule ahead includes these live Wednesday webinars, all at 2 p.m. EDT (more information and registration links will be posted, as they become available, at the UCC “Events” page): 

• March 31: “Commission on the Status of Women.” A United Nations intergovernmental body, the CSW is dedicated to gender equality and empowerment of women. Hear how women can be more involved in fighting for women’s justice and learn about the role of the church in advocating justice for women and girls.
• April 7: “Toward a Sustainable Future.” The U.N. General Assembly set 17 interlinked Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, aiming to achieve them by 2030. It designed them as a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.” See how the work of the church, in justice and in ministry, is tied to sustainable development.
• April 21: “Spiritualities and Powers.” The spiritualities of colonized peoples have survived and are being recovered by new generations. How are these contributing to resilience and justice in the process of decolonizing Christianity?
• May 5: “The State of Global Racial Justice.” Afrophobia refers to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards Black people or people of African descent around the world. It is a perceived fear and hatred of the cultures and peoples of Africa. This global problem is often named as racism. Yet it is more than an issue of race. Examine how the church is dealing with this global challenge.
• May 19: “Global COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout.” Global Ministries area executives will address unequal access to the COVID-19 vaccine around the world.