Yuma Arizona

Had a great time visiting with our friends at Yuma United Church of Christ.

I want to thank Stacey and Marilynn for their warmth and hospitality.

This is a great group of people committed to keeping alive the vision of and hope for a progressive community of faith in the farthest reaches of the Southwest Conference. I am proud of them, and lift them up in prayer. The challenge to be meaningful covenant partners for and with them belongs to us all.

Thanksgiving Alive at Camp Thunderbird

About 65 Youth from across the Conference (ranging from Flagstaff AZ to El Paso TX) gathered at Camp Thunderbird last night. The Camp is about 30 miles north and east of Silver City NM - where the youth will gather today to perform a variety of mission services throughout the town.

The youth will spend the entire weekend there, and will worship with the members and friends of our church in Silver City.

This is always a highlight of the year for our youth, and we want to send our thanks and appreciation to Katrina Glenn, our Director of Youth and Outdoor Ministries, to the members of our Youth Council, and to all of the adult supervisors who volunteered their time to make this a great event for our youth.

A Happy Dorhauer Thanksgiving

Here's hoping your Thanksgiving was as special as ours, and that you had as much to be thankful for as we did.

John and Kelley, wish you were here.

I met with the Scottsdale Congregational UCC yesterday to do an orientation for their search Committee (pictured above, seated around the table). It's always an exciting moment when a Search Committee finally comes together for the first time, anticipating both the many months of hard work that is ahead of them, and the thrill of finally calling the pastor who will come to serve their church.

Only last Sunday I was with them as they celebrated their 50th anniversary.

This Sunday the celebrated the feast of St. Andrew - patron saint of Scotland. And with an Interim pastor named MacFarlane, the celebration took on an added tone of gaiety. Take a look for yourself:

West Region Conference Minister Gathering

Here is my little cabin in the woods. Three days in heaven, meeting with the Conference Ministers of the West Region.

A visitor and a 50th

What a wonderful Sabbath Day!

First, Michael Piazza, such a gift and a remarkable blessing, led worship at Beatitudes Church in Phoenix. He was amazing!

And then, as if rising to the top of that mountain top experience wasn't enough, I had the pleasure of representing the Southwest Conference at the evening celebration of Scottsdale Congregational United Church of Christ's 50th anniversary. In the following pictures, you see the two former pastors, Katherine Harts and Eric Elnes, announcing a blessing at the close of the servuce; all of the former Moderators who were in attendance; and the lighting of the prayer candle by Sue Jenkins, a Charter Member, Lois Bond, widow of former pastor Alan Bond, and Charlene Smallsreed Tapp, the widow of the founding pastor.



What an absolute joy this was!

Here's to their next 50 years, and the blessings that will come to them, and be offered by them.

Executive Committee

Before I showed up for the Executive Committee this morning, I drove out to visit with the pastor and members of the First Samoan Church here in Phoenix. They were vandalized two weeks ago, and today was to be a cleanup day. When they showed up this morning to continue working on the damages, they discovered they were broken into again. Busted doors, cinder walls knocked over, furniture overturned, and gang tags spray-painted on walls and doors inside and out. This is truly sad.

From there, I spent the day with the Executive Committee. We did a little business, but most of the day was spent in the early stages of our mission planning. Pictured here is Beth Mohr, member at First Congregational UCC in Albuquerque, who flew in to facilitate our discussion. I have to tell you, she is a real gift. We came a long way in a short time. We will continue the mission planning at our December Board meeting, at a January Board retreat, and again at our March Board Meeting.


Following her time with us, the Board continued its work - here they are caught up in the business of the day. All in all, a good day's work for the leaders of the Southwest Conference.

CoCAM

Our Committee on Church and Ministry met yesterday.

As you can see in this picture, they work hard.


In fact, we had a full day.

The real highlight of the day was the Ordination Exam of Theresa Blythe, member of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Tucson. Here she is with Mark Clark, her In Care Advisor, just moments after being told she was approved for her Ecclesiastical Council.


This group. CoCAM, works long, hard hours and does the kind of work that keeps the church functioning well. We lift them up in prayer as they continue to serve us.

First Day Back

Refreshed from a wonderful week away, I began yesterday with an afternoon gathering at the Beatitudes Campus celebrating the gifts of our retired clergy. A good array of retired clergy from all over Arizona (having done one just two weeks prior for our New Mexico clergy) gathered for food, for fun, and for fellowship.
The Carlsons are shown here leading us in song:


And Holly is shown here giving our door prizes:



And last night I met with the Search Committee at Beatitudes. Here we are meeting in the Luther Life Center on the Campus of the Beatitudes. It was their first meeting, and we lift them up in prayer as they begin their process of discernment.

On vacation, so not much to report.

A quick getaway with Mimi to San Diego made for a nice start to a much needed week away. Back at it come Saturday, but till then enjoying a little R and R.