I love my bike

One of the things I am really enjoying about my life here in sunny Arizona is my bike. Here it is January, and instead of wondering whether I should drag my bike out and fight the single digit wind chills like I did back in St. Louis, I wake up and wait for the sun to rise over the North Mountain and enjoy the heat coming into the day as the ride goes forward. The canals around town, and the paved pathways that run alongside them, make biking here a lot safer that it was on the streets of the Lou. And the canals connect my house to my office, so on most days I even get to ride my bike to work.

You gotta love it! I know I do.

protesting the protestors

This is a small portion of the group that hung out on the corner of 124th and Via Linda this afternoon.

It was special, it truly was. Fred Phelp's followers were there, and their hatred was atrocious. It was scary.

In this picture are youth, clergy, and adults from churches all across the valley. If you look really hard, you will see me holding up my "Clergy for G.S.A." sign just to the right of the large rainbow flag. (G.S.A. means Gay Straight Alliance). Fred Phelp's church came all the way from Kansas because this High School in the East Valley has one. Tomorrow they will go to Luke Air Force Base and pray for more soldiers to be killed.

All of our signs talked about God, and God's love. Not exactly radical stuff. That our youth would choose to be present to remind us all how important that love is; and that they would invite adults and clergy to join them made me proud of them. These are the leaders we are cultivating to build us a church - and I have to say, I feel pretty good about that.

Here is a photo of what stood with us on the other corner. It is hateful, and hard to imagine that this is a part of the Body of Christ.

First Samoan Congregational UCC

I spent a very enjoyable morning with the families of Phoenix's First Samoan Congregational UCC. We met early, before the service, with Andy White from the Church Building and Loan fund. There were tears of profound joy shed at that meeting as they learned of the decision that Andy would help them with their financing in these difficult economic times.
From there, I experienced worship with them - an amazing experience, indeed. Their choir is astounding, so full of life and energy and enthusiasm.
And then, the feast. WOW!!!!
There were gifts offered, and some more conversation with members and families as they seek to piece together a future for the mission and ministry that is so important to them.

The Brothers D

Two of my brothers, Jimbo and Jay, flew in a couple nights ago to enjoy the fine weather here in central Arizona.

Why? Because back home, it's 40 degrees and snowing.

We got to play a round of golf together at the TPC stadium course Thursday afternoon, and here are some of the pictures. You can go to my Facebook page to see more.

You can see us here, along with my son John, enjoying the day. The next ones to tee off behind us would be Tour pros, who arrive over the weekend for the FBR open next week.

Meet your Delegates

Here are your General Synod Delegates, minus one. Pat Dunn, from St. Paul's UCC in Rio Ranco New Mexico was not able to be with us, so meet the rest of your delegation.

Here are Bill from First Congregational UCC in Flagstaff AZ, and Alissa from United in Santa Fe.



And here are Susan from Casas Adobes in Tucson, and Michael Ann from Desert Palm in Phoenix.




And finally, here are Davin from First in Tucson, and Karen from First in Tempe.




We all met today for an orientation, and have officially now begun our work as your Southwest Conference presence at General Synod. We invite you to keep them in your prayers as the Synod approaches.

Mug shots

While leaving a meeting a meeting at Church of the Beatitudes, I found this old friend. His name is Robert Koth, and he and I moved here from Missouri at about the same time. You can't get rid of me that easily, Robert.

And here we are - we being Hans Holznagel, Don Hill and myself, mystifying the residents of the Beatitudes campus with our knowledge of Charitable Gift Annuities (my contribution to the wealth of knowledge stops at my ability to spell the term correctly).

And speaking of Hans and Don - here we see a mug shot of the dynamic duo.


We are grateful to these two for the help they provided this week - they are a class act.

From West to East...

The day started out West with a visit to United Church of Sun City.



Jim Fredette met me early and took me on a tour of the facility, including their Olive Branch Center - where the serve over 300 meals a day, many of those to low income clients. Jim was a delightful host, and his wife Nancy was also a joy to meet. There is a great spirit of fellowship and companionship at United that was a treat to experience.

From there, I drove out to the East Valley where, at Congregational Church of the Valley, I had the pleasure of participating in the Ordination of Judith Horgan. I have to say, few things give me greater joy than Ordinations and Installations, and this one was no different.

Here is Tom Garrison with Judith. Tom served as an advisor for Judith while she was in-Care.



Also attending were Abby Atkins, Dosia Carlson, and Liana Rowe - all pictured here. By the time we gathered in fellowship hall, word was circulating that the Cardinals were going to the Super Bowl. There was much rejoicing all the way around.

Leadership Event

The first of our series of Leadership Events was held yesterday at Shadow Rock United Church of Christ in Phoenix.

We had 78 people attend - far exceeding our hopes and expectations. The second event will be held Feb. 28 in Tucson, and then again March 28 in Albuquerque. Eight different workshops were held, and there was much enthusiasm about each and every one of them.

Here are some photos to help tell the story:

This is Ann Hanson presenting material on "Our Whole Lives Curriculum". Ann comes to us from our National Staff in Cleveland.


And Phil Reller taking about 'Equipping the Saints.' Phil is Interim Minister at Rincon UCC in Tucson.


Peggy Ice, Melissa Talley, and Briget Nicholson all take a break. Melissa and Briget came from 1st in Tucson with Davin to do a presentation on Digital Worship.


Here's Holly - this whole idea was hers, and she executed it to perfection:


This is Sue Gallagher, retired minister, who flew in from Albuquerque to do a workshop on Stewardship.


All in all, this was a very good day. We look forward to the next two.

Southern Arizona

These two photos are of a couple of pretty good guys. The first is Dave Jernigan, pastor at Nogales - I offer it as proof that the man does actually work. I drove down to meet with clergy in South Arizona, and there he was, sitting and working at his computer.

The second guy is Hack McCall, who organizes the men's group at Church of the Good Shepherd in Sahuarita, AZ. I led their men's retreat yesterday, and 22 men showed up. It was a great day, and I was very impressed with this group. It was held at Rex Ranch - a quiet little nesting place in the shadow of Elephant Head just south of Green Valley.

Executive Committee

This is your Executive Committee, with a few faces missing.

We met yesterday. It was a very good day.

Highlights include an afternoon spent envisioning our future - not just doing work, but actually thinking ahead about where we want to go and how we want to get there.

And during the actual business portion of our meeting, we looked at the Budget for 2009 (now THAT was fun! - ok, maybe for Brent Smith, our Treasurer, it was - but not so much for the rest of us); we heard reports from the Nominating Committee and the Youth Task Force and the Church Growth and Development Committee - all of which were very important, and news about them will soon be forthcoming.

There was a lot more work done, but this is getting boring already. Let's just say thank you for a very good day's work to each and all for the time they gave.

A Couple of Meetings...

When the Committee on Church and Ministry met at the Conference Office this morning, we had the pleasure of meeting Beth Frigard, who before the morning was over would become our newest student In-Care. She is half-way through her second year as a seminary student at Andover Newton, and expects to graduate and prepare for ordination in the Spring of 2010. She is a member of Rincon UCC in Tucson, and is pictured here with her pastor, Phil Reller.



Meeting at the same time today in the Conference Office was the Church Growth and Development Committee. They were following up on the work they did on their retreat in October. Having written a report that surveyed both our recent history and our future goals, and having shown that to some key leaders throughout the Conference, the Committee came together to do some editing and prepare a second draft to share with the Executive Committee when it meets on Saturday. They will conduct a series of Conference wide listening visits prior to presentation at the Annual Meeting, hoping after all this work to have a strategy for developing, growing, and revitalizing our churches.
Pictured here, going clockwise around the circle and starting in the foreground, are Pete Norum from Prescott, Pam Gaston from Surprise, Tina Squire from Tombstone, Ray Gentry from Scottsdale, Randy Mayer from sunny Sahuarita, Christy Jewell-Roth from Albuquerque, and Briget Nicholson from Tucson.

Back in the Saddle

Well, after a nice Holiday break, I am back in the swing of things. Sunday morning I had the privelege of sharing with the members and friends at United Church of Sun Lakes. Rev. Dr. Tom Garrison and I had the opportunity to share a meal together at a nice restaurant - between services! I've never had that experience before. But their first service being at 8:15 and their second at 11:30, we had plenty of time to sit at table and share meal and conversation. I enjoyed that very much.



Yesterday, I drove up the highway and spent the morning with the Search Committee at Faith United Church of Christ in Dewey AZ. They are being served for now the outstanding Interim leadership of Rev. Ed Mendenhall.



And from there, I drove a little further up the highway and spent the afternoon with the Council at First Congregational UCC in Prescott. They have been without a pastor since early November, and we were able to talk about their future and what that might look like. It was an important discussion, and I very much enjoyed my time with all of them.

Now, its just back in the office for a few days catching up on whatever has piled up over the little break I took.

A Nice Break

Well, I've made the most of this week off.

Tomorrow I start up again, preaching at United Church of Sun Lakes.

But, here is a look at my week away:

there was Christmas...



there was golf...



there was a birthday...



there was a hike up the Phoenix Mountains...



and finally, this afternoon there was Phoenix Cardinal playoff victory...





I'm ready to go at it again.

Well, while sitting on the couch watching about 12 hours of football on this New Year's day, I will take time to reflect on what I hope will be a great year for us in the Southwest Conference.

Here is my top ten list of things I will be looking forward to in the coming year:

10a. Conference Minister Gathering in Pacific Northwest
April 14 - 16
An event where Denominational leadership will strategize about how to revitalize Small Membership/Large Geography Conferences - this is important

10b. Polity Class
April 3-4, May 1-2
I know, this doesn't sound that exciting. But, its an opportunity to talk about what I love about this denomination - from its beginnings to its future. Plus, I get to spend some quality time with those who will soon be leaders in this denomination. What's not to like?

9. Visiting
I have been to almost all of our churches now, and will have been to all of them by the time of the Annual Meeting. But once is not enough - this will always be a highlight of my ministry. Look for me at your church.

8. Border Trip
March 9-12
I will spend four days across the Border with denominational leaders. This will be my first such trip, and I am really looking forward to this.

7. Youth Work
I just don't get to do this enough. I had hoped to spend a full week at camp with our Senior High Youth, but we had to schedule this while it overlaps with General Synod. I love working with our youth, and will find more ways to do that in the coming year.

6. Justice and Witness Summit
Feb. 9th and 10th
Because the work of justice is central to all we do, and because we have to get this piece right. All clergy and representatives from every church in the Conference are encouraged to attend and help us develop a Conference -wide strategy for this crucial ministry.

5. Leadership Events
The first of these will take place Jan. 17th in Phoenix, then Feb. 28th in Tucson, and March 28th in Albuquerque: a full day of workshops to empower strong and vital lay leadership with key National and Conference leaders teaching a variety of skills. All churches should send someone.

4. Clergy Retreat
October 25-28 at Ghost Ranch in New Mecixo
Last year's retreat was special for me. I got to spend quality time with the key leaders of this Conference - our outstanding clergy. This will be a highlight of my year every year I am with you, and what we do here is crucial for maintaining the life, the spirit, and the purpose of the ministry we undertake.

3. Annual Meeting
April 24-26
This is another very important moment - my first as your Conference Minister. A lot will be at stake as I look to build a sense of purpose, vision, and mission for the coming years. Each year will serve as a building block in a long range strategy to renew our commitment to the mission we are called to undertake, and no where do we get a better chance to establish our commitment to this ministry than when we gather for Annual Meeting. Make your plans to attend.

2. General Synod
June 24 - July 1
It is here you really get a sense of who we are in the United Church of Christ. I love these events. This year, we will be voting on restructuring the denomination, a new General Minister and President, and many other important items. Seeing old friends from across the denomination makes this feel like homecoming of sorts. Can't wait!

1. Installation
Feb. 7
I hope to see many of you at First Congregational in Albuquerque. Of all the things I have to look forward to this year, this tops the list. We are family. We are in this together. And this is the ceremony that makes it official.

Happy New Year, and let's give God thanks for all this this New Year will bring.