First Congregational UCC, Prescott AZ

Mimi and I spent a magnificent morning in worship with our friends at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Prescott AZ.

Rev. Valerie Garrick is serving as their Interim Minister. I had the honor of serving on the Committee on Ministry in the Western Association of Missouri when Valerie was presented as a candidate and authorized for ministry in and on behalf of the United Church of Christ. Little could I know that these many years later our paths would cross in this way.

I also met a gentleman who pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies - and we had to be very careful. We could have spent the entire morning, and the potluck dinner that followed, doing nothing but telling baseball stories to one another.

It was only through an act of discipline and commitment to my preaching responsibilities that I was able to break myself away from him and go on to meet, greet, and share meal and fellowship with the rest of the good people at the church. Just one more note before I leave this thread: as impressed as I was by the fact the he pitched for the Phillies in an all too brief career - I would learn something else from him that impressed me even more. He pitched against Ty Cobb!

In case you are not as impressed as I was, I should point out that Ty Cobb began his major league career in 1905, and ended it 23 years later in 1928. This man of whom I speak looked relatively young. Turns out he was 15 at the time he threw that pitch, and Ty Cobb was in his 70s. He says the elderly Cobb laid down a bunt on him. I love this stuff.

But back to the church. Mimi and I had a nice lunch with all, and met with them as they shared dialogue about their Mission Statement, their Shared Values, and the plans to remodel a church basement that both houses a pre-school and is rife with mold and in need of repair. They have a lot on their plate right now, and we lift them up in prayer through this time of transition.

After the morning and early afternoon at First Congo, Mimi and I went down and spent a little time in a town Square that it seems in some ways time has forgotten. Whiskey Row is replete with saloons, salons, and even (they tell me - I neither saw it nor looked for it) an active Brothel. We did a little shopping before heading back in the early evening hours for home sweet home.