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We are so excited to announce that this year’s SCNC Annual Gathering will be May 30th-31st in Claremont/Pomona. Please mark your calendars! We are thrilled that Cole Arthur Riley, author of Black Liturgies, will be a featured speaker and workshop leader this year.
We have received feedback from multiple participants over the past few years regarding accessibility barriers at Chapman that prevented full joyful participation from everyone gathered. As an Accessible to All (A2A) Conference, we are blessed to be in new spaces this year that can accommodate all of our needs as well as our growing numbers.
In that spirit, we are thankful to be hosted for 2025 by an A2A congregation: Claremont United Church of Christ. We will begin on Friday for registration, opening worship, opening plenary, and some workshop opportunities. In the afternoon, we will transition to a nearby hotel in Pomona for dinner, evening events, fellowship, and our entire Saturday program.
See below for information on registration. And don’t forget to choose your delegates! This year will be a transition year as we continue to think and dream about creative ways to gather and worship together, while also getting to know the local churches that make up the Southern California Nevada Conference.
It will be so good to gather as a church as we make a way together in these tender times. Please reach out to Conference Minister Rachael Pryor or Moderator Ashley Hiestand with any questions.
Registration is now open for Annual Gathering 2025! Click here to register and please carefully read and complete the entire form with payment.
Submit your complete registration no later than May 5, 2025 to join the Clergy Retreat. If you are attending Annual Gathering only, registrations are due by May 15, but the final deadline for hotel reservations is May 7.
We’ll be hosted at the Sheraton Fairplex in Pomona starting with the clergy retreat on Thursday evening, but the opening sessions of our Annual Gathering on Friday, May 30 will be held at Claremont UCC. We’ll conclude at the Sheraton on Friday evening through Saturday afternoon.
Read more about some changes coming to AG2025 in our full announcement from last Wednesday. More basic logistics are covered below, but first we’d like to highlight some important additional updates here:
For 2025, registration will be offered on a sliding scale ($100, $150, $200) as a reflection of our shared values of equity, mutual care, and covenant. We recognize that access to resources varies widely across our Conference—some churches and individuals have financial support for events like this, and others do not. We honor the many lived realities, responsibilities, and forms of abundance that people bring with them. This approach is an experimental project and we look forward to sharing the outcome with you at Annual Gathering.
We invite you to choose the rate that aligns with your current circumstances. The Conference’s intent is that by offering a sliding scale we help ensure that finances are never a barrier to participation, and that we can gather as a full, diverse, and connected community. The cost of Annual Gathering is already heavily subsidized by grants and special donations, but local church support is also a significant part of the budget.
Members in Discernment whose status has been confirmed as of April 1, 2025 with the Covenanting Committee on Ministry are invited to register at no charge. Please contact Rev. Ellis Arnold if you are unsure whether this applies to you.
Annual Gathering registration fee covers the cost of attending the event, including programs, materials, and shared meals—but does not include hotel accommodations. Scholarships are available by contacting Rev. Rachael Pryor.
Tabling and Organizational Sponsors
If you are part of an organization that would like to participate in tabling at this event, please contact Rev. Ashley Hiestand at revashley@mounthollywood.org.
If you are attending the event solely for the purpose of tabling (no meals or participation), you do not need to register. If you are tabling but you also plan to attend as a guest or delegate, please register for yourself as an individual and the tabling will be organized separately.
A Few More Logistics to Note:
Delegate status can be tricky for clergy from other denominations or Conferences! Clergy who do not have their authorized UCC Standing in Southern California Nevada Conference (even UCC clergy from other conferences), should choose “guest” to help us clearly establish a quorum at the Annual Meeting. Clergy without UCC Standing who are serving as one of their congregation’s delegates, should select “elected Lay Delegate” to participate in voting. If you aren’t sure about your standing, contact Ellis or Virginia.
Workshops: Registration will include a place to indicate your top choice of workshops, but not all workshops listed will be offered at the event. Your choice does not obligate you to attend the workshops you select, but it will help us prioritize the most relevant topics.
Room Reservations: once again, clergy do NOT need to book a room for Thursday night, but everyone staying at the hotel will need to book their own room for Friday night using this link. We’ll be sure to connect the reservations so you’ll have the same room for multiple nights if applicable.
Stay tuned for more details about the agenda, schedule, and business items when our Annual Gathering website goes live next week!
Cole Arthur Riley is a writer and poet. She is the NYT bestselling author of This Here Flesh and Black Liturgies. Her writing has been featured in The Atlantic, Guernica, The Boston Globe, and The Washington Post. Cole is also the creator of Black Liturgies, a space that integrates spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black literature, and the Black body. Read more…
Rev. Dr. David Vásquez-Levy serves as President of Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California –a progressive, multidenominational seminary and center for social justice that prepares spiritually rooted leaders to create a world where all can thrive. A nationally recognized leader and a sought after speaker, he leads at the intersection of faith, higher education, and social change. Read more…
The Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson is the newly elected General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ. Rev. Thompson is the first woman and first woman of African descent to serve as leader of the denomination. She is a writer, poet and theologian who has contributed to numerous publications. Her book of poetry Drums in Our Veins, was published in 2022. Read more…
Stay tuned for more details about the agenda, schedule, and business items!
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