Marching into history....

What an incredible day - an historic day. We gathered first at Indian Steele Park and prepared ourselves for a 5 mile March protesting SB 1070 through the streets of downtown Phoenix. Estimates ranged on site from 250,000 people to 400,000. I met walkers from all over the country: two UCC pastors from Denver, a Unitarian Minister from Olympia WA, a college student from Philadelphia - and the list goes on and on. It was an honor to be a part of this moment. I will let the pix tell the story...
Here we are approaching the capitol...
This was a mother and child right in front of me as I left the park to start the march...

Here are Brittany and Sidney, two of our young adults taking their place in this historic moment...

Here are Ken Heinzelman, pastor at Shadow Rock, and Rich Doerrer-Peacock, pastor at South Mountain...

Here are musicians who played for us as we walked the five miles to the Capitol...

Here are John Herman, pastor at Desert Garden, and Tina Campbell, chaplain at Scottsdale Hospital....

Here I am marching with Gordon Street, partner of our Moderator, Brendan Mahoney...

Here is Brian Frederick-Gray, Interim pastor at Encanto UCC...

Here are Alsonso Escareno of TOX ministries and Felix Carrion, Director of the UCC Still-Speaking campaign

I have so many more pix and memories, but this gives you a glimpse. What a thrill!!

Tombstone, Dewey, and Sun City

Sunday, I had the distinct pleasure to travel on a beautiful but very windy day to Southern Arizona and spend the day with our church in Tombstone. We had a great time - we really did. Pictured here are Lane doing the children's sermon, and a couple of tough hombre's I encountered while meandering the streets of Tombstone.



Monday morning, I drove up to Dewey to present their search committee with the first candidate profile. This is always an exciting time in the life of a church, and it brings with it a real sense of hope and promise. Here are members of their Search Committee, and a picture of a new window that was installed and of which they are very proud.


And then I spent the afternoon with the Church of the Palms. Here is their pastor, Len Silvester, and his little pup Chile (ain't he cute).

Safe Church

A number of lay and clergy leaders from around the Conference gathered on Saturday for a workshop on building Safe Church policies.

Our presenter was Dr. Jaime Romo.


Dr. Romo is a commissioned minister for Health and Wellness Ministries at Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Carlsbad CA. Dr. Romo has written extensively on what makes for Healthy and Safe churches, and his presentation was very helpful. Participants left with a clear sense of what makes for a healthy church, why this work is so critical, and how to take the first important steps towards insuring that safety.

I am grateful to Rev. Kristen Barner for her help in putting this event together.


We hope this is only the first in a series of important steps to prepare our churches to create spaces of safety, wholeness, and healing.

In Cleveland

I'm hanging out in Cleveland for the better part of the week. After almost two years in Conference Ministry, I am finally sitting at a table serving on my first National Committee.

With me are some of my colleagues in Conference Ministry, including my good friend Kent Siladi (from Florida):


and also our General Minister and President, Geoffrey Black:


I was sent this picture a while ago, and knew I would post it sometime. I haven't done that, and now seems like as good a time as any. This is Don Nordlund, a lay member at our Scottsdale Congregational church, and he's hanging out with the Rev. Tina Campbell - a Chaplain at one of the Scottsdale Hospitals. They are two delightful people. Sue, the third member of the group. spent a day last week answering phones for us in the Conference Office - and for that we are grateful. These are three pretty remarkable people.

Desert Garden

I spent a beautiful morning here in Sun City West with the good folk at Desert Garden United Church of Christ.


In the fellowship hall following the service, we gathered the clergy couples together for a picture: the Schenks, the Sawitzkis, and the Ellersiecks.


It was an enjoyable morning: great music, lots of laughter, and this guy - enjoying himself before the service (I thought he should have moved the chair up front so I could preach from it).

Justice and Witness Committee

Wednesday morning, the Justice and Witness Committee met to consider how to follow up the passage of the Immigration Resolution at Annual Meeting, building strategies for meaningful responses to the passage of SB1070.

We heard some very helpful words from Senator Guittierrez, who served as state senator for 16 years, 14 of them as the Senate majority leader. Sitting to his right are Luis Gonzalez, pastor of the TOX ministries, and fellow member Alfonso Escarena. To his left is Kelly Kahlstrom, member at First Congregational. Phoenix.


Here are Yvette and Judith, also members at TOX ministries.


And this is Noel Anderson, intern at Church of the Good Shepherd in Sahuarita AZ and one of our Southwest Conference Members in Discernment.


We heard powerful stories from some of the members of the TOX ministries. We heard very good information from the Senator about the bill and its legal impact. We heard some very creative ideas about educating our church members and empowering them to creatively respond to this bill. This was a very meaningful meeting.

A full, and joy-filled weekend

On Friday I was able to spend the day with a dear friend, Wally Ryan-Kuroiwa, who is the new Interim minister at Valley Community UCC in Silver City New Mexico. At the end of the day, we met Alan Mong for dinner.

From there, I drove to El Paso and attended the Installation of the Rev. Deborah Clugy-Soto. While there, I got into an argument with her twelve year old daughter Jodi as to whether or not Mozart or Beethoven was the greater composer. By winning a two out of three arm-wrestling match (and yes, the outcome was momentarily in doubt), it was determined I was right: Mozart it is.


And finally, I spent Sunday morning with Rincon UCC as they celebrated the Installation of their new Pastor, the Rev. Steve Van Kuiken.



I am happy to be home, but must say this was a spirited, joyful, and enlivening journey through New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona.

Before I close the post, I can't help but add these two photos. They are just too adorable, and were taken this weekend. Enjoy.

Tucson

I spent Thursday in Tucson leading some workshops for the Tucson area churches on the centrality of Mission.

I had a great time. Pictured here are Jean-Marie and David Huisjen from Casas Adobes, the Rev. Lee Milligan (and Moderator Elect) of Church of the Painted Hills, and finally June Stavem from Oro Valley Church (as she is a devout Mets fan, I post her picture here with some reluctance. She has already paid off one bet to me - a free lunch- and I hope another is coming when the Cards finish better than the Mets again this year).

The time together was meaningful, and I was grateful for the opportunity.

Bill Ingraham Installation

These are all pictures from the Rev. Bill Ingraham's Installation as the pastor and teacher at Church of the Good Shepherd in Albuquerque NM.

What a great day it was - from the dinner at Sandiago's at the foot of the Sandia Mountains, to the remarkable music, to the visit from the Samoan church in Phoenix, to the preaching of the erstwhile Executive Minister of the UCC's Local Church Ministry - the Rev. Dr. Jose Malayang. It just makes me proud!