Another Great Weekend

I won't be able to add some of the pics till later in the week (I am sitting in the Sky Harbor airport waiting for my plane to take off - Cleveland this time), but here are some quick thoughts about another fruitful weekend.

Friday, I flew to Albuquerque for the Annual banquet for the New Mexico Conference of Churches. It was an enjoyable evening. Lee Maynard received their very honorable 'Turquoise Chalice' award. Here is his picture.

I flew back Saturday morning, and met with the Youth Council. Oh, my goodness - what an amazing bunch of young men and women. We talked about the future of youth ministry and youth presence in the Conference.

From there I went to the Hispanic Minister's gathering at South Mountain church here in Phoenix to hear Linda Jaramillo preach. Linda is the Executive Minister of the Justice and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ - a member of the Collegium. It was an honor to have her among us, and a joy to hear her preach.

And then yesterday I had the honor of preaching at the 5th anniversary of First Congregational UCC's decision to become an Open and Affirming church. What an absolute delight that was! I guess now is as good a time as any to answer a question that many of you have been asking. The answer is First Congregational. The question is: where are you going to place your membership. I let Mimi make the choice, and when not with me on my sojourns around the Conference, she has been traveling around. We met with Steve Wayles after the service in his office and informed him of our decision. We are very happy about this.

Well, enough for now. My plane is taking off soon, and I must get ready. I will post again later in the week, so stay tuned.

Catching Up

I am back from three days in beautiful northern Indiana, helping the Great Lakes Regional Conference Staffs be in retreat.

Let me do just a little catching up.

I mentioned that the Board of Directors met last weekend for a retreat and board meeting. They worked hard. I want you to know about two important decisions they made - among many very important decisions.

The voted to oppose Proposition 200 on the November ballot in Arizona. This is a referendum written by Pay Day loan funds that ostensibly is intended to reform the Pay Day loan industry. Uh, well - that's a joke. It would reduce their Annual Percentage Rate of interest to around 381%, and would give the loan company's electronic access to the bank accounts of those whom they are charging that level of interest. We strongly oppose Prop 200. Visit this website to learn more:

http://www.200isnoreform.com/2008/08/judge-to-consider-hearing-on-prop-200-ballot-language/

The Board also voted first to oppose Prop 102, a ballot initiative to amend Arizona's constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. In addition to opposing this ballot initiative, the Board agreed to receive funds from donors to be used to defeat this amendment proposal. We already have a donor who is willing to contribute an amount equal to what our own restrictions allow, and that money will be given to help defeat Prop 102.

From there I went to Oro Valley, and I will include just a couple more pictures from that weekend event. Here I am holding forth in the fellowship hall after worship. We spent some time talking about the value of OCWM and covenant partnership.

This next photo was the view from our hotel room for the night. Thanks Herb!


Stay tuned for more news from around the Conference.

I'm tired, but deeply satisfied

What an amazing weekend!

Two days of retreat and meeting with the Board of Directors, and an overnight trip to Oro Valley United Church of Christ just outside Tucson.

I will spend more time in the next couple of days filling you in on some important Board decisions, and including some pix.

But let me talk right now about Oro Valley.

Saturday night, Pastor Jim Briney and his wife Sandy hosted us at their home. It was dinner with a couple of close friends and a few members, and it was a delight. The views from their porch and pool are as breathtaking as any.

And thanks to Herb and Jan for taking care of our accommodations - when I woke up to watch the sun set outside my room, I knew I was a lucky man.

Worship at Oro Valley, fellowship afterwards, a time of conversation and dialogue, and then gathering at a local restaurant for lunch with some of the members was very enjoyable. I found that Jose, their accompanist, and Herb, their choir director, had a unique blend of high quality and real enthusiasm. This combination made for some lively worship.