Been too long...

Sorry, but I have been off-blog for a little too long.

Spent last week in Tampa with my CM colleagues (that's Sheldon Culver and Mike Denton - two of my closest CM friends) - and some terrific things happened. We talked about how to do church in times of diminishment, and some very creative ideas emerged.

I have to say, that although we are experiencing some hard times - I feel new life breaking out all over. I will find a time and way to talk more about that, but last week was certainly a part of that.

This week has been a good one, but a pretty busy one. Along the way I have had meetings with quite a few different people - including some reps from a brand new start-up organization with one of the most creative ways to respond to homelessness and poverty I have ever heard.

Stay tuned - I'm back on line and ready to go!

A Full and Extended Weekend

We had the pleasure of spending the day with Dick Sparrow, Minister and Team Leader for the United Church of Christ's Parish Life and Leadership Team. Dick is a gem, and absolute delight. He came to do a training for our Committee on Church and the Ministry response teams, some of which are pictured here.


The weekend that followed included visits to Faith in Dewey:

to United Fellowship in Nogales:

to Church of the Good Shepherd in Sahaurita:

to First Congregational in Tucson:

to Casas Adobes search committee in Tucson:

And to Oro Valley in Oro Valley:

I'm glad to be back, but thoroughly enjoyed my trip.

A New Partner

The Committee on Church and Ministry held one of its eight regularly scheduled meetings yesterday. Among the business we undertook was the granting of Ministerial Partner Standing to the Rev. Deborah Clugy-Soto. Deb has been serving as the newly called pastor at Desert View United Church of Christ in El Paso. With Partner Standing, Deb now has full standing in the United Church of Christ. We are very pleased to welcome her into our fellowship, and hope and trust that in her time at Desert View both she and the church will blossom.