Cocreate the World as It Could Be

Written By Jenny Whitcher (she/her)

Hi Friends,

Asking for help is not something I’m accustomed to doing often. I don’t like feeling like an inconvenience or burden other people. Even though I’ve always had to fundraise in some capacity in every job I’ve had, I’ve learned that it is much harder and more vulnerable for me to ask for donations for Juniper Formation UCC, because it is so personal.

I know there are a growing number of individuals and families, congregations, denominational judicatories, nonprofits, government leaders and agencies, and businesses who want us to thrive. People who are cheering us on, praying for us, talking us up, advocating for us in other spaces, and supporting us in so many ways.

We are as committed as ever to live out our faith even as it is being threatened by the powers that be in this country.

We need your help to continue our collective work to cocreate the world as it could be as we follow the disruptive peacemaking ways of Jesus.

I'm putting our new (employee owned!) fundraising platform DonorPerfect through its paces as we make some bookkeeping and fundraising system transitions at Juniper Formation UCC, because we are growing! We literally outgrew our previous systems.

A cool new option is that our supporters can help us meet new donors and raise more funds by creating your own online fundraiser. This option comes up after you make a donation on our website, or here is a direct link to create an online fundraiser. Once you’ve created the fundraiser you’ll get a link to post to your social media accounts and you can send it in emails inviting friends to join you in supporting the ministries of Juniper Formation UCC.

It would be amazing if our Juniper Formation friends could help us raise $10,000 in the next month. 

If 20 of you each created a $500 fundraiser, or if 40 of you each created a $250 fundraiser, we could reach that $10,000 together. I got us started by creating my own fundraiser, you can see how well it’s going here, and you can even donate to it!

It takes a tremendous amount of work to fundraise to do this level of ministry and to pay people justly for their work, which we are committed to continuing. 

As a newer church, we do not have traditional savings, endowments, or other assets—that is a whole blank section on our bookkeeping chart of accounts. We are always only a couple of months ahead in our income to our expenses.

It can be stressful to be responsible for things like payroll when we don’t have anything to fall back on, no safety net. And also, we have always come through, even in the tight spots, because the Spirit of God is at work and we have amazing donors, grantors, and supporters!

Right now Juniper Formation UCC is:

  • Co-leading the organizing of the Mutual Aid Sanctuary in Metro Denver—an interfaith and ecumenical congregational network to provide protection and care to immigrants, LGBTQ+, those seeking reproductive healthcare, and other targeted people. We’ve offered a congregational legal talk with renowned immigration law expert Violeta Chapin, more trainings are in the works, and most importantly we are supporting families and children in need of care, and so that they can stay together here in the United States and through the deportation process that tears families apart. Learn more at: MutualAidSanctuary.org

  • Hosting a whole dang conference September 19-20, 2025, on the Auraria Campus in Denver, CO, to help us all prophetically reimagine the church in a time of rising fascism, White Supremacy, and Christian Nationalism, because the Gospel calls us to bold, liberative action. This conference equips attendees to embody liberative theology, build transformative relationships, and take concrete actions toward justice. With an amazing keynoter, Womanist and biblical scholar, Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney. Conference details: ReimagineTheChurch.org. Conference registration will open in late June.

  • Offering Transgender and Gender Expansiveness training to local churches and judicatories so that congregations become more affirming, celebrating, and advocating within the church and wider community (every church member is part of other institutions too!). If you want to set up training for your congregation and/or community, contact our Minister of Gender + Sexuality Liberation Rev. Candace Woods, at candace@juniperformation.org.

  • Providing daily (M-F) rituals with scripture-based reflections and action steps written by 20 diverse lay and clergy writers in the ONLY liberative, progressive Christian Bible-based app in Google Play and Apple App store: Daily Ripple

  • And last fall we led the community organizing effort that resulted in a 91% decrease in gun incidents and 98% decrease in gun rounds in a Denver neighborhood experiencing regular, long-term, 40+ years of gun violence.

Our ministers (lay + ordained) and ministries are effective. And there is so much more we are dreaming of doing.

We depend on donations from people like you, and we also need your help in expanding our reach, connecting us to potential supporters, and assisting us in raising funds.

I hope you’ll consider creating a fundraiser for Juniper Formation.

If you are ready to get even more involved in helping us fundraise, please send me an email. I’d like to start organizing a group of Juniper Formation UCC advocates who can work together, receive training, and help us grow relationships and funds.

In Partnership,

Rev. Dr. Jenny Whitcher, Ph.D (she/her)

Minister of Prophetic Formation

jenny@juniperformation.org

Jenny Whitcher (she/her)

Rev. Dr. Jenny Whitcher is the Minister of Prophetic Formation and founder of Juniper Formation, an entrepreneurial and ecumenical faith community of the United Church of Christ (UCC), with the mission of "prophetically reimagining the Church from the margins."

She is a pastor, entrepreneur, community organizer, artist, public scholar, and theologian committed to liberation and social justice.

Her areas of expertise include: professional, personal, spiritual, and organizational formation and leadership; religion and public life; democratic culture, leadership, and pedagogy; community organizing; and social change theory and practice.

Whitcher previously served as the faculty Director of the Office of Professional Formation and Term Assistant Professor of Religion & Public Life at Iliff School of Theology, after serving as Iliff's Director of the Master of Arts in Social change (now M.A. in Social Justice & Ethics) and Director of Service Learning.

As an interdisciplinary public scholar committed to social justice and human rights, Whitcher bridges fields of religious, theological, and civic studies within local, national, and international contexts. Prior to working at Iliff, Whitcher served as Associate Director of the Center for Community Engagement & Service Learning (CCESL), where she taught Community Organizing and Denver Urban Issues and Policy courses; created and led student civic development curricula; trained faculty in public scholarship and pedagogy; led local and international Immersion Programs; and was the creator, editor, and contributing writer of the "Public Good Newsletter" at the University of Denver for five years.

Her career in higher education started in 2004 at the University of Denver's Office of Internationalization Study Abroad Program. Whitcher transitioned into higher education from the nonprofit sector where she worked locally in Denver with populations experiencing homelessness and globally on affordable housing with Habitat for Humanity International where she was also the "Advocacy Alert" columnist for Frameworks Magazine.

Whitcher's publications include book chapters, articles, and public resources on civic and spiritual development and formation, relational community organizing, experiences of organizers and public life, and democratic education. She is co-author and co-editor of the first and second editions of the Community Organizing Handbook (2009, 2010).

Whitcher's public scholarship, teaching, leadership, and ministry have included work with various local congregations and denominational leaders across the U.S. and across denominational, faith, and spiritual identities. In addition, she has worked with various nonprofits and foundations, including, but not limited to:  WorldDenver, La Academia at Denver Inner City Parish, Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, Diyar Consortium, Everyday Democracy, Colorado Progressive Coalition, Puksta Foundation, the Kettering Foundation, El Centro Humanitario, Denver Public Schools, American Commonwealth Project, Urban Peak, and Habitat for Humanity International.

Internationally, Whitcher has travelled and partnered with local leaders and communities in Palestine, Israel, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Hungary, Italy, and Spain.

She is the recipient of the Peacemaker Award from the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Church of Christ (2006) and the Young Philanthropist Award by Women in Development of Greater Boston (2004).

Ordination: Metro Denver Association of the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC).

Education:

B.A., New York University
M.A., University of Denver
Ph.D. Iliff School of Theology & University of Denver

https://www.jennywhitcher.com
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