• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
AZDisciples.org

AZDisciples.org

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Arizona

  • Home
  • Congregations
  • Ministries
    • Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation
    • Border and Immigration Ministry
    • Commission on Ministry
    • Congregational Vitality
    • Global Ministries
    • Hispanic Ministry
    • New Church Ministry
    • Women’s Ministries
    • Youth & Children
  • Resources
    • ALEX
    • For Clergy
    • For Congregations
    • Regional Resources
    • eAZ Newsletter
    • Subscribe Now
  • Events
    • DWM Retreat
    • Executive Order Conversations
    • Camps
    • Retreats & More
    • Calendar
  • About Us
  • Donate

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list and receive timely updates and information on Arizona Ministries like camps, retreats, training, learning, and more! Make sure to click Manage My Preferences after you confirm your subscription to tell us what kind of emails you want to receive.

Name(Required)
Email(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Search AZDisciples.org

Uncomfortable Growth

May 18, 2022

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

I’m tempted to write about all the good things I experience as I travel around Arizona – Foothills CC celebrating with Pastor Bekah Krevens who just gave birth to her third daughter; our new preaching cohort who met for the first time this past Saturday to study preaching in Spanish; my upcoming visits to Community CC in Tempe, who will be celebrating their 75th anniversary, and to preach at Templo Cristiano Central, which will be the 20th different congregation I will have preached for in Arizona, and my fifth sermon in Spanish; or our recent Anti-Racism training event attended by 27 Arizona leaders.

I’m also tempted to write about some of the horrible things I read about – most recently the horrific shootings in Buffalo and Laguna Woods. We are called both to pray for an end of violence and to do all we can to dismantle our white supremacist culture that fosters warped ideologies that lead to violence.

But today, oddly enough, I’m going to write about concentric circles.

Years ago, I was shown a drawing with three concentric circles. The inner circle was labeled “Comfort Zone.” The middle circle was labeled “Growth Zone.” And the outer circle was labeled “Terror Zone.”

The speaker said that if we stay in our comfort zone all the time, we never grow. So, we were encouraged to leave our comfort zone, to allow ourselves to be UN-comfortable, so that we could grow. The more discomfort we can tolerate, the more we can grow – until we get to the place of sheer terror, in which case we shut down. Our leader encouraged us to not confuse discomfort with terror – to let her know if we were reaching a point of terror, but otherwise to hang in there and see how we grow.

I think of these concentric circles often. In anti-racism discussions, white people often say we feel “uncomfortable,” like that’s a bad thing. But it’s not. It’s a good thing. Only through feeling uncomfortable can we grow. I also think of my first times worshipping in Hispanic congregations: it was un-comfortable for me. I wasn’t sure what to do when everyone put their hands up in the air and started swaying around, or when some people came forward and lay prostrate on the floor and started weeping. It was uncomfortable for me – but not terrorizing. So I kept coming back. And I grew. And now, I am finding that when I show up, I am with my Disciples family. And that’s a beautiful thing.

I am reminded of a few lines from a beautiful prayer called “A Franciscan Blessing”: MAY GOD BLESS YOU with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless us all with enough discomfort to help us grow.
Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay

Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona


We invite you to pray for the following congregations in the coming months. Visit our Regional Calendar of Weekly Prayers for our annual list.

May

22 First Christian Church (Globe) led by Pastor Al Beasley

29 Comunidad Limen Christian Church led by Pastor Pedro Ramos-Goycolea and New Church Ministry

June

5 Iglesia Casa de Adoración (Phoenix) led by Pastors Aurto and Janett Laguna & New Church Ministry
12 Larkspur Christian Church (Glendale) led by Pastor Job Cobos
19 Iglesia Dios de Segunda Oportunidad (Glendale) led by Pastor Minerva Guzman
26 Desert Heritage Church DOC/UCC (Mesa) led by Pastor Derrick Elliot

Filed Under: Featured, PRAR, Regional, Regional Minister, Regional Reflection

Footer

Contact

PO Box 6193
Scottsdale, AZ 85261
602.468.3815
region@azdisciples.org

Mon. – Thurs.: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
except for lunches and meetings

RSS Disciples.org News Feed

  • In care for Downey Memorial Christian Church
  • A Joint Prayer on the aid blockade in Gaza
  • Pastoral Letter Concerning Los Angeles and the Surrounding Area
  • In Loving Memory of Patricia Penelton
  • Letter from Reconciliation Ministry and the General Minister and President to the Christian Church on refugee resettlement

Disciples of Christ

Our Identity
Our Four Priorities
Our Structure
Our General Ministries
Our History

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 · AZDisciples.org · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design