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The United Church of Christ (UCC) is calling on its congregations to participate in the 2025 All Church Read initiative with a focus on justice-making within local communities. The selected book for this initiative, "Building Up a New World: Congregational Organizing for Transformative Impact," aims to inspire new methods of solidarity and transformative change.
Rev. Velda Love and Sharon Fennema, leaders of Join the Movement Toward Racial Justice and UCC Racial Justice Ministries, emphasize the importance of building collective power to address both new and ongoing challenges. "What better response could there be to all the new and familiar challenges that arrive at our doorsteps each day than to join together with communities all across the United Church of Christ and beyond and use our collective power to build God’s kindom ‘on earth as it is in heaven!’" they said.
To support engagement with "Building Up a New World," the 2025 All Church Read Curriculum is available through UCC’s Frontline Faith portal. The curriculum includes six sessions with centering practices, discussion questions, and organizer-focused assignments intended to promote solidarity and liberation. Additionally, worship resources will be provided through UCC Sermon Seeds and Worship Ways from April 20 to June 8, reflecting on the book's themes in conjunction with Scripture.
"This season invites us to consider our role and responsibility as Christ-followers in the world, as well as within the institution of the church," the worship resource introduction states.
The book, published by Pilgrim Press, contains essays on various topics such as mutual aid, community safety, and economic justice. Essays are written by local pastors, lay leaders, and others, addressing issues like "From Potluck to Policy Reform" and "Building a Just Economy." A discount is available for the book using the code "AllChurchRead."
Rev. Velda Love, in the book's introduction, emphasizes that the writings serve as "a call to action and an offering of applicable tools for the journey." She encourages readers to engage with the book's content actively.
Edited by Rev. Anne Dunlap and Rev. Vahisha Hasan, the book "offers so many openings for you and your community to begin or deepen your journey of doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God," says Fenema and Love.
People across the UCC are invited to engage with these themes and to find "new pathways and practices for Building Up a New World," according to Love and Fennema. They encourage participation to address current societal issues and to work towards creating a just world.
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