Justice & Witness Ministry

Ministry Team Chair Contact

Rev. Tara Wilkins, BridgeportUCC, Chair, Email

Justice & Witness Ministry Team members

Kelly Childress, Ainsworth UCC; Mike Huntington, Corvallis UCC; Starr Reardon, Pocatello UCC; Paula Sohl, Ashland UCC; Ed Keener, Boise First UCC; Sharon Ericson, Parkrose UCC; Beth Pfeiffer, Eugene UCC; John Boonstra, Riverside UCC Hood River

Are you interested in serving on the Justice & Witness Ministry team? Read the Position Description for members HERE.

Justice & Witness Ministry Networks

Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Network

ONA Conference Consultant:  Jessica Shine

The Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) Network serves all the churches in the Conference, to assist them in welcoming lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons into the full life, leadership, and ministry of the church. The Network publicizes resources and opportunities available at the local, regional, and national levels. It informs member churches of opportunities for witness and advocacy in the community, including legislative hearings and Pride festivals.

Does your church want to become Open and Affirming (ONA)? Your first step is to obtain an ONA Starter Kit from the national UCC Open and Affirming Coalition here.

Check out the resources from the national UCC Open and Affirming Coalition here.

Subscribe to RIPPLES, the Coalition’s free newsletter here.

Racial Justice Network

The Racial Justice Network provides resources, accountability, and support to engage all settings of the conference – including and especially local churches – in the racial justice ministry.

Our work answers a call from the Conference to engage in anti-racism education and accountability as outlined in the Resolution Declaring the Central Pacific Conference is Called to Be An Anti-Racist Conference.

In January of 2020, after a half-day training and retreat, the CPC Board decided to add "Be and Anti-Racist Conference" to our Mission Priorities, recognizing that we put our money and time into the things that we state are priorities. In the fall of that same year, at the urging of a mission partner who observed we are not yet anti-racist but are striving to become anti-racist, the Board changed the Mission Priority to "Become an Anti-Racist Conference." 

The Board and Ministry Teams continue to live into this priority. In mid-2020, the Board and COM committed to including anti-racism education and reflection at every one of their meetings. We have reinvigorated our Nomination Subcommittee with an attempt to bring more transparency into the nominations process. And each Ministry Team has begun to accept the call of JWM and the Anti-Racism Network as presented in the 2017 resolution passed by the Annual Gathering.

In November 2021, the Board approved a multi-year phased plan to live more fully into this Mission Priority. The plan began in 2022 with an audit of our Board, Staff, Ministry Teams, and practices, in conjunction with Consulting By Design, an Oregon-based consulting agency. The next phases will include making changes based on what we learn from the audit.

For more information, visit the Racial Justice Network Facebook group.

Climate Action Network

For the next steps that you and your congregation can take, go to: In a climate crisis world, what is the church for?

The mission of the CPC Climate Action Network: To create an effective communication network among members of CPC churches who will work together to address climate change from a faith perspective within our region.

The Climate Action Network will educate and engage its members in shaping public policy in keeping with God’s vision of a just and loving society that seeks to protect and mitigate the warming of our global climate.  It supports education, direct action, collaborative programs of local and regional projects and work at local and regional levels to promote energy sustainability and environmentally friendly stewardship.

Our work is grounded in the call to environmental justice and stewardship of creation, consonant with historic UCC witness, and formed by a biblical understanding of prophetic ministry on behalf of those who are being adversely affected by climate change.

Healthcare Ministry Network

The Healthcare Ministry Network promotes the movement for universal healthcare, and invites you to join its discussions and actions. The CPC Health Care Network invites all congregations to join the fight for universal health care as a faith-based moral movement. We encourage ways to share ideas and explore activities that will lead us to universal health care. We assist congregations in forming a health ministry team and engage in the movement.