You Are Connected
Christian Church in Arizona Annual Fund
RJ Howard wrote “I’ve known for a while, but I think it was at this camp that it really sunk in that what makes camp special is not the traditions, curriculum, location, or any of those components. The most crucial part is the people and the shared bonds that manifest.” RJ served as a Disciples Peace Fellowship Intern during the summer of 2017. His journey began here in Arizona, but took him all over the country. Some of the locations are familiar to Disciples, like Bethany, West Virginia. Not quite so many have heard of Wetumpka, Alabama, but he was there, too.
In the young adults who were children of our Region, it is easy to see how deeply we are connected. Many of you know RJ, who unloaded the pumpkins you bought at First Christian Church of Scottsdale. Maybe you remember him from camp as the very tall counselor the youngest kids used as a jungle gym. Or maybe you don’t know him, but you know others like him: children who grow into faithful teenagers who grow into faithful young adults. They reflect our best connections—connections that grow ever deeper and create new life.
The most crucial part is the people and the shared bonds that manifest.
After his summer as a DPF intern, RJ moved to Dallas to serve for a year in National Benevolent Association’s (NBA) XPLOR program. Over the course of the year, XPLOR residents serve in a local ministry and discern their vocation. Several Tucson churches partner to host an XPLOR site housed at FCC Tucson, welcoming residents from across the country. This, too, is one of the many ways we live out our call to be connected to each other as Disciples of Christ.
We are connected in many ways, but one of the things that most strongly binds us together is the Region, the Christian Church in Arizona. Together, we celebrate our commitment to creating new generations of faithful Disciples of Christ who live out deep connections in Arizona and beyond.
Your financial gift to the Region maintains our connections to each other and supports the vital ministry we share. Please use the button below make a gift, and see more of your connections through the Christian Church in Arizona. We are grateful for the ways that we are all connected.
You may also mail your gift marked “Annual Fund” to the Regional Office at:
Christian Church in Arizona
917 E Sheridan St
Phoenix, AZ 85006
“Blessed be the tie that binds,” we sing. Undoubtedly, some of us sing the old hymn more than others. It remains a reminder that we are connected to the larger Church and a faith we share with God’s children the world over. In our own corners of the Arizona Region, in our own congregations of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), we often forget our own deep connections to each other, and the transformation they create.
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Stephanie hanging out with her family group the last day of CYF Church Camp 2012.
Many people in the Arizona Region recognize Stephanie Sager. Stephanie grew up at Saguaro Christian Church, serving there in VBS, as a member of the Board of Directors, and eventually as an elder. She also served the region on the Youth Council and is returning to Arizona this summer for her second year as a Chi Rho camp counselor. Her Arizona Youth Council leadership and connections led her to Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois, where she received the Disciples Leadership Scholarship. The scholarship provides her with full tuition as well as funding for two mentorship opportunities. This summer, that mentorship opportunity is serving as a youth intern at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Sulphur, OK.
We could count the connections of Stephanie and the Arizona Region if we liked: three years of Youth Council, four camps just this summer, four General Assemblies, one college—but where would we stop counting?
We could count all the people connected to Eureka College? What about the Disciples Leadership Scholarship? What if we tried to count the kids at camp, both the ones she camped with and the ones she will counsel? Could we count the counselors, the teachers, the pastors, the elders, the deacons, and all the other adults in Arizona who were a connection along Stephanie’s way?
Stephanie and other Arizona Youth at EPCOT during General Assembly 2013 in Orlando, FL.
Instead of counting, let us remember that in our own corners, in our own congregations, we are deeply connected to one another. We are connected through the Region at Arizona camps, retreats of all sorts, assemblies. We are connected through congregational transformation. We are connected in Arizona as we search for new pastors and congregations develop new ministries. You are connected. You are connected to people you will never meet and places you will never visit. You are connected to generations before you. And you are connected to Stephanie, one of the young adults of the Christian Church in Arizona.
Delta Zeta
All of the Chapter Presidents from Region 16 of the Delta Zeta Sorority at the Annual President’s Leadership Academy in Dallas, TX.
Costa Rica Mission Trip
On a mission trip to Costa Rica with other Disciples Students from Eureka College.
With Sharon Watkins
Stephanie and other Disciples Leadership Fellows from Eureka College with General Minister and President Sharon Watkins.
With Chi Rho Campers
Stephanie playing Apples to Apples with some of the Chi Rho campers at Church Camp 2016.
Over the course of the year, the Region will share the many ways we are connected in ministry to each other. Today, we invite you to invest in your connections to the Christian Church in Arizona with a gift to the Region’s Annual Fund.
We are grateful for the ways that we are all connected
Connect the Dots Chalice