Upcoming events.
Merced Adoption and Foster Group
We are a gathering of families with foster & adopted children. The whole family is invited, and all families are welcome. If you are interested in exploring the possibility of fostering or adopting, and you want to learn more, we would also love to meet you.
Each month, we offer a free dinner, followed by play for the kids and conversation for the adults. Some months, we have special guests who share their expertise or introduce us to local resources. Every month, we offer each other mutual support from people who understand.
There is no cost. Please RSVP, if possible, to help estimate how much food to provide.
If you cannot make it to our gathering, but you want to talk with someone about your experiences, needs, or questions about fostering or adoption, we still want to meet with you. You can contact us by phone, text, or email. We can’t promise that we have all the answers, but we will listen, and we will do our best to connect you with people who can help.
Merced Adoption & Foster Group has a new day and location!
Friday, October 16, 5:30-7:00 PM
McNamara Center
1040 Canal Street Merced
Blessing of Animals
Celebrate God’s creation, the gift and companionship of animals, and the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi’s death
9:00-9:15 AM: Prayer service ending in the blessing of animals
9:15-10:00: Drop by for blessings if you can’t make the service
If you would like a blessing for your livestock or other animals that you cannot bring to the park, please contact us directly at micahproject@c4so.org. We will arrange a time to visit your animals and pray a blessing over them.
The Anti-Greed Gospel: Spirituality and Justice Summer Book Club
July 29, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM in person (Location to be announced)
Online Option to be announced
Join the “Spirituality and Justice Summer Book Club” with the Micah Project Merced.
Meetings are free, and we will have an in-person and online option for each book. All are welcome.
Email micahproject@c4so.org for details.
Share your email with us, and we’ll send out notes, questions, and reflections on the book in advance.
(Contact us quickly if you would like to share input on dates and times. We would love a local business or community space to host).
Racism is not about hate and ignorance. It's about greed.
And it always has been.
Black Christian historian Malcolm Foley explores this powerful idea in The Anti-Greed Gospel, showing how the desire for power and money--what some call "racial capitalism"--drives violence and exploitation across American history. In this book, you'll discover:
* how greed historically gave birth to racial categories and systemic oppression,
· the connection between economic exploitation and racial violence,
* lessons from historical figures like Ida B. Wells on resistance and truth-telling,
* practical steps for building communities of deep economic solidarity, and
* biblical foundations for combating racial capitalism through gospel values.
Foley reviews the history of racial violence in the United States and connects the killings of modern-day Black Americans to the history of lynching in America. He challenges the contemporary church to wrestle with crucial questions: How can we become communities that show generosity and resist greed? What is the next step in the journey toward racial justice?
Readers will gain tools to resist greed that exploits others, love their neighbors more completely, and build communities rooted in deep solidarity, anti-violence, and truth-telling.
"Presents a searing critique of the status quo and points Christians to a redemptive path forward. A must-read book for the American church."
--Kristin Kobes Du Mez,
"This book, properly understood and applied, has the potential to topple our monuments to Mammon and make room for real racial justice in both church and society."
--Jemar Tisby,
"Offers us a necessary antidote to racism if we put down the delusions and temptations of greed."
--Christina Edmondson,
"Foley reminds us that the church's fight against anti-Black lynching and its struggle for economic justice and solidarity are the same fight."
--Jonathan Tran, Baylor University
Migrant God: Spirituality and Justice Summer Book Club
July 2, 5:30 - 7:00 PM in person at the Merced Public Library
July 9, 5:30-7:00 PM Online
Join the “Spirituality and Justice Summer Book Club” with the Micah Project Merced.
Meetings are free, and we will have an in-person and online option for each book. All are welcome.
Email micahproject@c4so.org for details.
From Tijuana, Mexico, to Douglas, Arizona, across North Carolina and beyond, Isaac Villegas cuts a new path through worn-out talking points and bears witness to loving solidarity among Christians—both with and without US citizenship. Along the way, he offers a theologically astute and politically rich vision of beloved community.
Centering the stories of people who have been transformed through their dedication to the work of collective wholeness, Villegas begins each chapter “on the ground”—with protests in the streets, hospitality in migrant shelters, and shared meals in home kitchens. He then engages in biblical, theological, and political reflection to explore the significance—for our faith and our world—of these sites of collective work. Migrant God is a stirring read for anyone who wants to shift conversations about immigration toward a more holistic Christian vision of life lived in solidarity with migrants.
“Migrant God offers readers clear eyes and scriptural vision about God’s care for migrants, putting before us the stories and faces too often lost in our debates, mistreated by our laws, and diminished in our politics.”
—Christianity Today
“With eloquence and grace, Isaac Villegas captures the complexity, heartbreak, and resilience found in the US/Mexico borderlands. Embodied in these stories of spiritual communion—from Tijuana to Durham, NC—is a profound treatise on hope, struggle, and the power of solidarity across borders.”
—Felipe Hinojosa, Baylor University
“The Christian story remembers the plight of migrant people who believe and hope in a migrant God. Isaac Villegas offers us testimonies to inspire our politics, and argues that our action must begin with worship and prayer. This is a book for our times.”
—María Clara Bingemer, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Prayer and Psalms
Prayer & Psalms
Sunday evenings in November from 4-5 pm
Come join us for an evening of bringjng our joys and griefs before God. Text 209-233-0213 for details.
Day Retreat
I am weary, let me rest
Jesus says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
When the words of God don’t match with our experience, it is an invitation to sit with Him, talk with Him, and listen to Him. Join us in a day of retreat and reflection, as we seek the rest of God.
We will begin with a brief teaching. Then, we will spread out for times of individual reflection and prayer. Juliet will provide music that you can use to join in worship or receive as a backdrop to your prayer or journaling. Ryan will be available for individual spiritual direction, if you would like that. Ryan and Juliet will both be available to pray with you if you would like that too. We will finish our afternoon with a gathering to share as much or as little as you would like.
It’s a simple time that you can spend however you need to.
There is no cost, although donations can be given to the Micah Project Merced through our website.
We will not have childcare at this retreat.
Past Events
We are a gathering of families with foster & adopted children. The whole family is invited, and all families are welcome. If you are interested in exploring the possibility of fostering or adopting, and you want to learn more, we would also love to meet you.
Each month, we offer a free dinner, followed by play for the kids and conversation for the adults. Some months, we have special guests who share their expertise or introduce us to local resources. Every month, we offer each other mutual support from people who understand.
There is no cost. Please RSVP, if possible, to help estimate how much food to provide.
If you cannot make it to our gathering, but you want to talk with someone about your experiences, needs, or questions about fostering or adoption, we still want to meet with you. You can contact us by phone, text, or email. We can’t promise that we have all the answers, but we will listen, and we will do our best to connect you with people who can help.
Merced Adoption & Foster Group has a new day and location!
Friday, September 18, 5:30-7:30 PM
McNamara Center
1040 Canal Street Merced
We will be hosted by Lifeline Community Development
(next to McNamara park, at the corner of Canal & 11th).
Why the change?
1) We hope the space will work better, being more kid-friendly, while also allowing parents to talk with each other more easily.
2) We've been hosted at churches because pastors in the community have been generous to give us free space. However, that has also been a barrier to some people. We have families that attend churches, and we have families that don't. We want everyone to feel welcome.
3) Lifeline is already serving many people in the community, including many who live immediately around the McNamara Center. These include many families with foster and adopted children, who are looking for a group like ours. We're hoping that inviting them to a place they know, recommended by a group they already trust, will help them find us.
4) Friday night is an experiment. It's what Lifeline has to offer right now, but they will let us know when other nights become available. However, we've been surprised by how many parents said that they would actually prefer Friday nights. So, let's give it a try, and we can change it later if we need to!
