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Regional Reflection: No Hype Necessary

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

Years ago, two friends of mine organized a concert. The friends were very sophisticated musicians, and they organized an amazing concert. They promoted the concert, telling everyone they knew: “It’s going to be a good concert.”

Following the concert, someone came up to them and said: “That was AMAZING!!!  That was INCREDIBLE!!! I wish you’d have told me how AMAZING it was going to be – I would have invited all my friends.” My friends looked at each other and thought: “We told you it was going to be good.  Why didn’t you believe us?  Did you really need all those exclamation marks?”

We live in a world of hype.  Or should I say: “we live in a world of HYPE!!!” We live in a world which makes much ado about the lifestyles of the rich and famous, that celebrates pomp and circumstance, that wants everything to be the GREATEST EVER or the BIGGER AND BETTER.

And I think about the lessons of scripture. 1 Kings 19:  God wasn’t in the thunder.  God wasn’t in the earthquake.  God wasn’t in the fire.  God was in the silence.  Matthew 13:  The kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour. Luke 21: Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all. So many lessons from the Bible seem to be anti-hype. They tell of God at work in humble places.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of a baby, out in a barn with the farm animals, we are reminded once again that God does not need to be hyped. God does not need a red carpet, a spotlight, or a suped-up sound system. God just needs us to be ourselves, to care for each other, to shine our little lights in our little circumstances. 

God is here.  God is with us. God’s presence is always with us. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will never overcome it.

Dios les bendiga,

Pastor Jay
Regional Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Arizona

Regional Reflection: hay un lugar para ti

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

Three and a half weeks have passed since our Regional Assembly. Two weeks have passed since the national elections. One week until we gather with family and/or friends to share a meal of thanksgiving – which sounds a little funny since most of us gather every single Sunday to share a meal of thanksgiving.   Collectively – that’s a lot of activity and a lot of emotion within 4 weeks of time!

Reflecting on all of that, I can’t help but see the theme of the table. Our Disciples movement was started by leaders who believed that everyone should have a place at the table.  The Lord’s Supper/Holy Communion/La Santa Cena/the Holy Supper/the Eucharist – whatever you want to call it – has many meanings. One way of understanding La Santa Cena is as a PRE-enactment of the messianic banquet, the great feast in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Religious leaders have imagined a heavenly banquet, where a great multitude of all the nations, every tribe and tongue, are gathered. There is no longer rich or poor, no longer people who are outcast or excluded because of race or skin color or language or gender. There is just one big Thanksgiving banquet for all souls – where Jesus is the host, and we all receive blessings in abundance.  I don’t know about you, but every single week, when I take a little wafer and drink a little cup of juice, I do my best to imagine that I’m in that heavenly banquet, feasting and celebrating with all of God’s children.

En el nombre del cielo, in the name of heaven … hay un lugar para ti, there’s a place for you. That was our theme for Assembly, a call to hospitality, a call to welcome each other, to make another place at the table, to share God’s love with each other – no matter what. Perhaps there will come a time in human history where that message will no longer be necessary.  But we aren’t there yet. And so I encourage us all to continuing growing in our hospitality, growing in our ability to recognize the image of God in our neighbor, growing in our commitment to opening our hearts to each other.

En el nombre del cielo, hay un lugar para ti.

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay

Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona

Regional Assembly Adopts RA-2401, Emergency Sense of the Assembly Resolution Calling Arizona Disciples to Oppose Christian Nationalism

By a majority vote on Saturday, October 26, 2024, the gathered Regional Assembly of the Christian Church in Arizona adopted RA-2401, Emergency Sense-of-the-Assembly Resolution Calling Arizona Disciples to Oppose Christian Nationalism. This resolution was submitted by the Arizona Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation Team and recommended for adoption by the Administrative Council.

RA-2401

CALLING  ARIZONA DISCIPLES TO OPPOSE CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM
(An Emergency Sense-of-the-Assembly Resolution)

WHEREAS, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) affirms the inherent worth and dignity of all people, created in the image of God, and called to live in mutual love and respect; and 

WHEREAS, the teachings of Jesus Christ call us to love our neighbors as ourselves, to welcome the stranger, and to seek justice for the oppressed; and 

WHEREAS, Christian Nationalism promotes a distorted interpretation of Christianity that seeks to merge national identity with a particular racial and religious identity, often resulting in the exclusion, marginalization, and harm of people of color, non-Christians, immigrants, and other vulnerable communities; and 

WHEREAS, Christian Nationalism is contrary to the inclusive and reconciling nature of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which transcends all human-made boundaries of race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, and creed; and 

WHEREAS, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Arizona, as part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) adopted Sense-of-the-Assembly Resolution GA-2341 which says, “The Church in all its expressions commits to educating ourselves and our constituencies about the societal and spiritual dangers of Christian Nationalism, how to talk about Christian Nationalism theologically, and how to counter it in both ecclesial and public life.” 

WHEREAS Sense-of-the-Assembly Resolution GA-2341 also: “…calls on its leaders and members to take every possible opportunity to speak out and act boldly against Christian Nationalism, ensuring that the love of God known to us in Jesus Christ may not be distorted by this ugly and false appropriation of our faith, but proclaimed with generosity and grace to all peoples, from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth.”

WHEREAS we have been called by the General Church “…to prayerfully discern, confess, and repent of our own complicity with Christian Nationalism“; 

WHEREAS the recent threatening rhetoric of political leaders and the major polarizing election cycle before us, makes it critical at this specific time, for us to name publicly, that our actions and reactions must adhere to the vision and call of Christ in opposition to actions and reactions adhering to political leanings.

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Region of Arizona unequivocally condemns Christian Nationalism as a heretical distortion of the Christian faith and a threat to the unity and justice to which Christ calls us; and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we, as Arizona Disciples, in all our expressions, commit ourselves to educating our congregations about the dangers of Christian Nationalism, promoting theological teachings that emphasize the inclusivity and justice central to the Gospel; and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we, as Arizona Disciples, in all our expressions, actively support and partner with organizations and movements that work to dismantle systems of white supremacy and promote racial justice, equity, and reconciliation; and 

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that we, as a Region and as Arizona Disciples, will denounce Christian Nationalism and seek to embody the beloved community, where all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion, are welcomed, valued, and treated with dignity, as we strive to live out the reconciling love of Christ in our world. 

Arizona Regional Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation (ARPR) Ministry Team

Community Christian Church, Tempe
Comunidad Limen Christian Church, Tucson
First Christian Church, Tucson

Rev. Trish Winters
Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea
Rev. Dr. James Sterling
Rev. Brett Winters
Rev. Jay Deskins
Rev. Terry Steeden
Rev. Allen Cunningham
Rev. Katie Sexton
Pastor Tawni Garcia
Pastor Arturo Laguna
Rev. Kenneth Stamper
Pastor Janett Laguna
Rev. Ailsa Guardiola González
Rev. Chad Boseker
Rev. Kevin Prahar

BACKGROUND

General Assembly (Sense of the Assembly) Resolution GA-2341 CALLING THE CHURCH TO OPPOSE CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM

Link: https://ga.disciples.org/resolutions/2023/ga-2341/

Presented at the 2023 General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, this resolution calling for the church to oppose Christian Nationalism was adopted. The resolution includes background information which helps to define the term Christian Nationalism and provides resources for additional reflection.

The Administrative Council of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Arizona recommends that the Regional Assembly ADOPT RA-2501

Regional Reflection – Welcome

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

“Welcome.”   It’s such a beautiful word – in both English and Spanish.  Bien-venidos.  It is well, it is good, it is a joy to me that you have come.”  “Es bueno que tu has venido.”

Have you ever shown up somewhere and got that awkward sense that people wish you would NOT have come? Ugh. That’s no fun. And we’ve all had that experience. Or worse – they slam the door in your face, or call you hateful names.

But the opposite is so wonderful. Someone opens the door and their face lights up with a smile when they see you. You walk into a room and lots of faces light up, and they get up and move another chair into the circle to make room for you. They introduce themselves, tell you their name, offer you a glass of water or a tray of snacks.  It is so, so wonderful to feel welcome – to feel that people are glad you came.

Our Regional Assembly last weekend took that idea and added a theological claim: “In the name of heaven, you are welcome here.”  “In the name of God, there is a place for you at the table.” In Spanish: “En el nombre del cielo” – in the name of God.  Offering hospitality creates a sacred space, and receiving hospitality is a holy moment.

It was a joy to welcome so many of you to the Regional Assembly this past weekend. It brought me joy to see you, to be with you, and to worship with you. And I pray that all of us will continue to both receive welcome from others and in turn offer our welcome to all whom we meet. What a delight when we can truly look at our neighbors and say: “It is well that you have come.  It is a joy to be here together.”

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay

Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona

Regional Reflection: Called to Hospitality

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:               

I’m just home from seeing many of you at the Disciples Women’s Retreat in Prescott.  It is always a joy to gather with Disciples for worship, education, and relationship-building.  Speaking of which … the next big opportunity to gather together is coming up soon:   Regional Assembly.  More information and registration can be found here, but here I want to reflect a bit on our theme.

The Regional Assembly Planning Team decided to focus on the biblical theme of HOSPITALITY. Hospitality is a key characteristic of the people of God throughout the Bible. It begins in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, when Abraham welcomes three strangers to his ranch, offering them food and drink and a chance to get out of the son. Abraham’s nephew Lot, in a story that is much misused, offered hospitality to visitors to his city.  Then Genesis ends when the sons of Jacob are offered hospitality by the Pharaoh in Egypt during a famine. Later in the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites are often reminded to offer hospitality to foreigners, remembering that they too were once offered hospitality in a foreign land. 

Click to Register for Assembly!

Hospitality remains a prominent theme in the New Testament – starting with the birth of Jesus, whose parents were told there was “no room in the inn.” As an adult, Jesus both offers and accepts hospitality, frequently dining in the homes of others. Jesus instructs us to invite strangers, the poor, and outcast to our homes for our banquets – offering the love of God to all. Romans and Hebrews both invite and instruct us to be hospitable to strangers.

So … what does biblical hospitality look like today? Who are the “strangers” and “foreigners” of our day? In what ways are we called to offer hospitality to migrants, to homeless veterans, to LGBTQ+ individuals, to young people, to seniors, to any of our neighbors? How do congregations practice hospitality – and how do we FAIL to practice hospitality? These are themes and questions that we will explore in worship and workshops throughout the Assembly.

First Christian Church of Tucson looks forward to offering YOU hospitality this October at our 2024 Regional Assembly.   I hope to see you there!

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay
Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona

Click to Register for Assembly!
Oct. 14, Tucson
Nov. 4, Phoenix Metro

Regional Reflection: Summer of 2024

Following my trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland in May, this summer has continued to be filled with travel, including trips to Kansas City for the Obra Hispana assembly; Flagstaff for Foothills Family Camp; Loch Leven Campground in California for summer church camp; Wichita to preach at the Kansas Regional Assembly; Bethany, West Virginia for the College of Regional Ministers and Forum of Regional Moderators retreat; as well as some vacation time in Maine, New York, the mountains in Arizona.

The trip in July marked my first ever visit to Bethany College and the home of Alexander Campbell.  In addition to being the alma mater of Rev. Rebekah Krevens, pastor at Foothills Christian Church in Phoenix, Bethany College now hosts the Disciples of Christ Historical Society. Our Regional Moderator-Elect, Kerry Swindle from Saguaro Christian Church in Tucson, joined me on the trip. We got a tour of the Campbell Mansion, the Campbell cemetery, the Historical Society, the Old Meetinghouse, Bethany Christian Church, and the Bethany College campus. It was a joy to connect to these historical sites of Disciples origins.

Jay at the Alexander Campbell estate
Jay on Bethany College campus

As many of you know, Alexander Campbell was one of the most prominent leaders of the movement that became the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  He founded Bethany College, a testament to our emphasis on the importance of education.  Campbell wrote journals and was frequently known to hold public debates with other ministers on points of faith. I am grateful for Campbell’s emphasis on education. As I’ve often heard people say, the Disciples are a movement that doesn’t ask you to “check your brain at the door” when you enter the sanctuary. Faith and reason, faith seeking understanding, deep study of the Bible are all very important to us. 

Speaking of education, we have 10 great workshops lined up for you to choose from at our upcoming Regional Assembly:   October 25-26 in Tucson.  To register, click here. We are excited to be with you “In the Name of Heaven/En El Nombre del Cielo.”

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay

Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona

Regional Reflections: Arizona at General Board

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

I write to you today from Chicago, where I – along with Arizonans Rev. Jessica Braxton (Saguaro Christian Church), Cecilia Johnson (Chalice Christian Church), and Rev. Lori Tapia (Casa de Adoracion and Obra Hispana) – am in town for the General Board meeting. All regional ministers serve on the General Board, and it is a chance for us to connect with each other and with our General Ministry partners as well as attend to the governance matters of our denomination. Official business dominated the agenda, but we closed with a wonderful worship experience featuring as our preacher the Rev. Jessica Braxton of Saguaro Christian Church! 

Our General Minister and President, the Rev. Terri Hord Owens, highlighted 3 major initiatives of the Church:  

  1. The Church Covenant Project, which includes changes to the Design to help us be a more nimble and efficient movement and to be clear about our covenant relationships with each other
  2. The Church Narrative Project, which is to help us develop the narrative of the future we want to share together
  3. The Proclamation Project, a major initiative to support and inspire preachers.

During her report, she mentioned that Arizona was one of the first regions to participate in the Narrative Project.  Then she celebrated the Proclamation Project’s first ever Disciples preaching retreat was going to be held in Arizona (October 28-30, 2024). And then she went on to talk about the Week of Compassion and their great work in partnership with the Arizona Disciples Border Initiative. She and others were invited Disciples from all over to come to Tucson and learn about border and immigration issues through the Caminantes Border Immersion program led by Rev. Pedro Ramos Goycolea and Comunidad Limen CC.  Given our relatively small size (at 20 congregations, we are the second smallest region), Arizona featured prominently in this General Board meeting!

It is always helpful to remember that we are not alone.  We are not single, solitary, isolated Christian individuals. We are not single, solitary, isolated congregations. We are not even single, solitary, isolated regions.  We are part of something bigger – a movement for wholeness.  Together, with Disciples across the U.S. and Canada, we are called to shine the light of God’s love by seeking unity, practicing compassion, and working for the well-being of all God’s Creation.

Somos Uno!

Pastor Jay

Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona

Regional Reflection – Holy Week

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

Holy Week is almost upon us. As our journey through Lent intensifies, there is much talk about dying and living, clinging to life and letting go, losing our lives and being saved. In Christian tradition, Jesus is linked to salvation.  Indeed, the name “Jesus” means: “God saves.” But do you ever wonder, on the really practical level: “HOW does God save?”  How does Jesus save?

Christians have debated this topic throughout our history. Some claim that Jesus saved by dying – but while he is still alive, he proclaims to Zacchaeus: “Today, salvation has come to this house.” Some claim that God’s resurrection of Jesus is what saves, that we are all included in that resurrection. Some claim that Jesus was the “pioneer and perfecter” of our faith, leading the way for us, showing the path to salvation, if we will only follow – a path of overcoming fear in order to live filled with love for all Creation.  It’s a path Jesus pioneered, and that Jesus accompanies us on, but a path we have to walk ourselves.

On an even more practical level, I can share one of the ways that Jesus saves ME. There are times in my life when I start feeling sorry for myself: people complain and criticize, I start feeling overworked and underappreciated, and I get stressed out.  Bummed out.  Feel like I’m getting a raw deal in life. It’s tempting to just sit around and have a pity-party. Sometimes I get stuck there, depressed, feeling alone. 

In such times, I have found one consistent cure:  reading the story of Holy Week. This year, we find it in Mark 14-15. When I sit down and read about the last week in Jesus’ life, how people misunderstood him, criticized him, sold him out, falsely accused him, disassociated with him, claimed they never knew him, mocked him, tortured him, abandoned him – suddenly my little pity-party seems … pitiful.  Suddenly, I realize this Jesus I claim to follow didn’t exactly have an easy life, where everything was rosy.  No, his troubles were FAR greater than mine.  But he faced them with love. He faced them with resolve.  In fact, maybe it’s just enough to say he faced them. He didn’t avoid them. He didn’t hide. He didn’t wallow in feelings of self-pity.  And suddenly, having gone through that journey with Jesus, I wake up, I snap out of my self-indulgent pity and bring new energy to facing that which I must face. The story of Jesus’ last week saves me, again and again, from my self-indulgence.

I wish you great blessings during Holy Week.  I invite you to sit down and read Mark 14-15 straight through, to live with the story of Jesus’ last week. And I invite you to share with me sometime how you experience Jesus in your life.

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay

Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona

Regional Reflection: Winter Camp

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

“Pharaoh, Pharaoh, Oh baby, let me people go!”

“You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us.”

“Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary …”

“Come, and go with me, to my Father’s house …”

“Some-times in our lives, we all have pain, we all have sorrow …”

If these lines sound familiar, if you start humming, tapping your foot, or if you just got up out of your chair and started dancing and singing and walking around the room – perhaps you’ve been to church camp.  Or perhaps you sent your child to church camp, and they came home singing and singing and singing until you knew all the songs by memory.

That might be the case for several parents around our Region, as 13 campers and 3 adult leaders from Arizona went to Winter Camp at Loch Leven Retreat Center this past weekend. The theme of Winter Camp was: “Virtual Faith IRL.”  Now before I lose your attention, let me admit … I had no idea what that meant.  It turns out, for any of you who are as clueless about modern lingo as I am, that “IRL” is code for “In Real Life.” Apparently when the on-line world came to be, people used to distinguish between their “virtual life” and their “real life.”  So they would tell their online friends: “In real life, I’m just a 14-year-old boy who is the backup catcher on my high school team.”   Except they’d text:  “IRL, I’m just …”

Several years later, however, there is not so much distinction between being online and your real life.  In other words, our real lives involve the use of technology.  It is ever-present. And so the point of camp was not to say that “real life” is better than “virtual life,” but to say that we are called to live our whole lives, including the virtual parts of our lives, in ways that are pleasing to God.  Campers made short movies to express a faith message, practicing using technology to communicate positive messages and to explore how faith can be part of our virtual life.

Winter Camp was our third camp partnership with the Pacific Southwest Region, following Summer Camp in 2022 and 2023. We are grateful for this inter-Regional partnership. And we are most very grateful to Church of the Palms UCC in Sun City who generously loaned us their church bus to make the trip. All children and youth in the Arizona Region are invited to join us this summer for the next installment of Summer Camp (dates found below). If you want to know more, you can ask me, or you can ask one of the parents at Foothills who were waiting in the parking lot Monday afternoon as the bus pulled in full of enthusiastic campers singing:  “Pharaoh, Pharoah, Oh baby, let my people go!   Oooh, ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!”

Dios les bendiga, 

Pastor Jay

Regional Reflections – Bias Interrupter

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

I am just returned from a trip to Indianapolis for a gathering known as the Disciples Executive Leadership School. It was a gathering of General Ministry presidents and vice-presidents, regional ministers, and others to talk about leadership in our church. As always, I am impressed by the quality of people we have in our wider church family and their dedication to God’s love for all people and for all of Creation. I enjoyed dinner Monday night with 3 other Regional ministers and our General Minister and President, as we talked over issues related to ministry. We were also joined by other staff from the Pacific Southwest Region (PSWR) and were able to discuss the growing partnership between Arizona and the PSWR for church camp and children/youth ministries. And then on Tuesday evening, I enjoyed dinner with our Regional Assembly speaker, Rev. Dr. Juan Rodriguez, who had served as my advisor on my D. Min. project.

Among the highlights of the experience: I learned a new term: “Bias Interrupter.” During our Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation workshop, Rev. Sandhya Jha discussed several situations where bias is at play, and then asked: “What would it take to interrupt the bias, to be a ‘bias interrupter?’”

What is a bias interrupter, you ask? It’s someone who hears a demeaning joke about transgender people and interrupts the narrative to challenge the bias of the speaker and listeners. It’s someone who hears ugly slurs about migrants and lifts up the worth of all children of God. It’s someone who hears a search committee talk about their hopes for their next minister, saying “HE should be a really good preacher,” and suggests that we shouldn’t pre-judge the gender of whom God may be sending us as our next spiritual leader. Bias interrupters are not mere bystanders, allowing bias to exist unchecked. Bias interrupters INTERRUPT the bias, offer alternative ways of viewing things, more grace-filled and inclusive ways of viewing things. 

What would it take for US to be “bias interrupters?”

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay

Regional Calendar of Weekly Prayers

Join in praying for our Arizona Disciples Congregations. 
View the full calendar at azdisciples.org.

October

1 – End to Racism and the Reconciliation Ministry Special Offering

8 – First Christian Church in Tucson led by Pastor Ailsa Guardiola Gonzalez

15 – Foothills Christian Church led by Pastor Bekah Krevens

22 – Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer led by Pastor Sandy Flores

29 – Arizona Saints and Congregations that have come before us

Highlights

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

I continue to be blessed as I travel to and from Disciples congregations in Arizona. I thought I’d share a few highlights from just the last three weeks.

I had the great privilege to present the “Honored Minister Pin” to two of our clergy who are retiring this month.  Rev. Judy Stall has served as Outreach Minister at First Christian Church (FCC) Scottsdale for many years, helping the congregation serve their community in so many ways. We celebrated Judy’s retirement on May 7. One week later, I presented the pin to Rev. Bob Howard at Community Christian Church (CCC) in Tempe. Bob has served several congregations in Arizona and has also taught preaching to several of our clergy. Bob’s last Sunday will be May 28 and CCC will have a retirement celebration on May 21, which you are invited to attend. What a privilege to witness the love and service of these two longtime Arizona Disciples clergy!

On the way to CCC, I was blessed by an hour of worship music and prayer at Alfa y Omega. The theme of the music was asking God to fill us up with the Holy Spirit that we might be living embodiments of God’s love.  It is also worth noting that the seven musicians and two speakers that led the worship were all under age 30. What a blessing! 

The previous week was a week of contrasts.  One day I had breakfast with Rev. Brett Winters, the new pastor at Sun City Christian Church, as we discussed his first six months and the exciting future of Sun City Christian Church. Then I had dinner with Rev. Liz DeWeese, who just announced that she has been called to serve a congregation in Nashville, TN, and has about six weeks remaining as pastor of First Christian Church in Mesa. It was a blessing to share time with two dedicated Christian servants at different stages in their life cycle of ministry.

I also experienced the contrasts in the life cycles of congregations. On Tuesday, I shared a good but sad evening at Coolwater Christian Church as we discussed the future of their congregation now that they have put their building up for sale. Members had difficult and honest conversations as they processed the challenges the congregation is facing. Then on Thursday, I was blessed to witness the first “campus meeting” led by Minerva, Dulce, and Ruben Guzman of Iglesia Dios de Segunda Oportunidad as they grow and develop their campus in Glendale. IDDSO partners with Family Promise, DEHP, Headstart, Arizona Faith Network’s “cooling center,” and another congregation to provide a variety of ministries in Glendale.

On May 6, I was blessed to be part of the Anti-Racism training in Spanish. Our uber-talented Regional Moderator, Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea, co-led the training which included leaders from four of our six Spanish-speaking congregations. Pastora Minerva Guzman and her team at IDDSO were gracious hosts.

And speaking of gracious hosts, this three-week travel journey began with the Church Narrative Project at Foothills Christian Church. Rev. Bekah Krevens and her team were amazing hosts for this weekend event, providing dinner and lunch to about 50 participants and handling everything with their gracious smiles.

Mixed in throughout this three-week journey were multiple conversations with the leadership at Comunidad Limen and First Christian Church in Tucson, including their pastors Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea and Rev. Ailsa Guardiola-Gonzalez, as they work to expand their ministries with migrants and with border issues. Along those lines, my experience in worship with Desert Dove CC, who hosted a guest speaker from the Tucson immigration welcome center, led me to a tour of Casa Alitas and their welcome center, seeing the first place migrants arrive in Tucson once they officially apply for asylum in the U.S. I am grateful for all that our congregations are doing to help address the humanitarian crisis at the border. You’ll hear more about this soon.

As I said, it has been a rich three weeks witnessing and sharing in the ministry experiences of the Disciples of Christ in Arizona. I am blessed to share in ministry with all of you, and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay
Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona

Regional Calendar of Weekly Prayers

Join in praying for our Arizona Disciples Congregations. 
View the full calendar at azdisciples.org.

May

21 – New Church Ministry and the Pentecost Special Offering

28 – New Church Ministry and the Pentecost Special Offering

June

4 – Comunidad Limen Christian Church led by Pastor Pedro Ramos-Goycolea

11 – Alfa y Omega led by Pastor Elias Garcia

18 – Casa de Adoración Discípulos de Cristo led by Pastors Arturo and Janett Laguna

25 – Chalice Christian Church led by Interim Minister Vernon Mayer

Lenten Greetings

Lenten Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

I hope and pray that you are all having a meaningful journey through Lent, as we journey with Jesus on his road to the cross. Unlike the first Disciples, we know that resurrection and Easter are coming. But let’s not let that knowledge prevent us from acknowledging the very real experience of suffering in our midst. After all, new life is only necessary when it is preceded by death.

As our congregations are preparing for Holy Week, our Regional ministry is preparing for several events coming up after Easter. Registration is now open for three events: the Disciples Women Spring Event on April 22, the Church Narrative Project on April 28-29, and Summer Camp for our youth and children. You will find all three registration links in this newsletter. While I am excited about all three of these, I probably most need to explain the new event – the Church Narrative Project.

We are excited to welcome our General Minister and President, Terri Hord Owens, and our Associate General Minister, Yvonne Gilmore, back to Arizona for our Church Narrative Project – and I hope you will join us. We will gather at Foothills Christian Church on Friday evening for dinner and a night of storytelling featuring 9 Arizona Disciples. Then we’ll reconvene on Saturday from 9:00-3:00 for a day of training on the Transforming Community Conferencing process. This outstanding training will help leaders in churches with visioning, consensus building, conflict resolution, and more. I hope you will join us. This is a free event but we are asking everyone to register here so we can appropriately plan for the two meals.

As a brief example: what is the narrative you know about the United States? Is it a nation founded on the principles of liberty and well-being for all? Is it a Christian nation? Is it a nation built on the backs of enslaved Africans on land that was forcibly taken from indigenous peoples? Is it a nation of immigrants? Or a nation hostile to immigrants? What is the narrative you tell about the United States?

Similarly, what is the narrative you tell about the church? About Disciples? What have you been taught about who we are? The Church Narrative Project is a bold attempt to construct a narrative of who the Disciples are and who we want to be, built from the ground up by including Disciples from all over the Church. We hope you will be a part of constructing our narrative.

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay
Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona

Regional Calendar of Weekly Prayers

Join in praying for our Arizona Disciples Congregations. View the full calendar at azdisciples.org.

March

26 – Iglesia Dios de Segunda Oportunidad led by Pastor Minerva Guzman

April

2 – General Ministries and the Easter Special Offering

9 – Office of the General Minister and President and the Easter Special Offering

16 – Larkspur Christian Church led by Pastor Job Cobos

23 – Saguaro Christian Church led by Pastor Kelley Dick

30 – Sun City Christian Church led by Pastor Brett Winters

What are we celebrating?

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

Photo of Rev. Dr. Jay R. Hartley

What a joy it is to witness and participate in Advent in Arizona! I am enjoying all the ways Disciples are celebrating the incarnation of God’s love, from living nativity scenes to toy and food drives, from offering “room in the inn” to those who have nowhere else to lay their heads, to las posadas – which also celebrates the offering of hospitality. I join with Disciples across the state in re-telling and celebrating the Christmas story.

But do you ever stop and wonder: “What exactly are we celebrating?” Some answers come quickly: “The birth of Christ,” “the birth of our Savior,” “God’s presence on earth.” But what does that mean, I hear many friends asking. Other than getting presents on December 25, how does that change my life?

Well, there’s no “exact” answer to the mystery of the incarnation, but I invite you to reflect with me on one aspect of the Christmas story. So much of our lives are governed by fear – way more than we are willing to admit. There are big fears: gun violence, climate disasters, cancer. But there are so many little fears: will they think I’m a bad mom; will they make fun of what I’m wearing; what if I don’t have enough? In many cases, we are prisoners to our fears – or at least we miss out on the joy of living freely and generously because we are worried about what people will think or whether we’ll have enough.

And into our fear-filled world comes an angel, saying: “Fear not.” “Do not be afraid, Mary.” “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, Joseph.” And their child grew up embodying the angel’s message. Jesus wasn’t afraid to touch lepers. Jesus wasn’t afraid to dine with sinners and tax collectors, with Roman soldiers or gentiles of anybody else. And Jesus wasn’t afraid to walk into Jerusalem when the border patrol was at its most violent, knowing full well what they might do to him. And they did it. But up until that point, Jesus LIVED. He lived freely, fully, without fear.

All of us are here for a limited time, yet we spend too much of it in fear. You might recall the words of Julius Caesar:  Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come. The Christmas story invites us to enter into Jesus’ life, to live fully, freely, and without fear. Perhaps the greatest Christmas gift, if we are willing to accept it, is the gift of a life without fear, the gift of life lived fully and generously because we know God’s love is with us no matter what.

Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas, and Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay

Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona

Regional Calendar of Weekly Prayers

December

18 – The entire Arizona Region

25 – The Worldwide Church

January

1 – Desert Dove Christian Church led by Interim Pastor Michael Malone

8 – Desert Heritage Church led by Pastor Derrick Elliot

15 – East Mesa Christian Church led by Pastor Charles Dubbs

22 – First Christian Church in Globe led by Pastor Al Beasley

29 – First Christian Church in Mesa led by Pastor Liz DeWeese

2022 Regional Assembly – Thank You!

In the midst of a another year filled with challenges for our world, our churches, and all Arizona Disciples; we are grateful for a successful 2022 Regional Assembly. Thank you!

If you missed Regional Assembly and would like to watch some of our events you can do so below or with a special playlist on our YouTube page.

Opening Worship

Date: November 4, 2022

Guest Preacher: Rev. Dr. Juan Rodriguez
Translation by Valeria Bejar

Worship & Wonder: Pat Barton and Briana Cruz

Music: Casa de Adoración Praise Band, Dr. Steven DiBlasi, Bill Goodenberger

Saturday Morning Session

Date: November 5, 2022

Guest Speaker: Rev. Paul Tché
Translation by Alex Morales

Music: Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea, Pastor Al Beasley,

Panel Discussion

Date: November 5, 2022

Discussion Leader: Rev. Dr. Jay R. Hartley

Special Guests: Rev. Dr. Juan Rodriguez, Rev. Yvonne Gilmore, & Rev. Paul Tché

Translation by: Alex Morales, Kelly Strachan, Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea

Business Session

Date: November 5, 2022

Moderator: Linda Necker
Vice Moderator: Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea

Business Items: Election of Officers, as well as Administrative Council and Mission Focus at Large Members.

Closing Worship

Date: November 5, 2022

Guest Preacher: Rev. Yvonne Gilmore
Translation by Valeria Bejar

Music: Dr. Steven DiBlasi, Bill Goodenberger, Carlos Samaniego

Children’s Moment: Rev. Bekah Krevens & Briana Cruz
Youth Moment: Cynthia Peña & Mark Line

We give great thanks for all who participated in our Regional Assembly on November 4th and 5th. We are excited to share that over 160 Arizona Disciples joined together to hear about the work of our region these last two years, elect our 2022-2024 leadership team, and hear the call to Prophetic Unity | Unidad Profética! If you missed it, you can view the most of the assembly at ra.azdisciples.org or our YouTube channel.

We are also grateful for the many people who made this assembly possible including:

Our Guest and Presenters: Rev. Yvonne Gilmore, Rev. Dr. Juan Rodriguez, Rev. Paul Tché, Rev. Belva Brown Jordan, Pastor Al Beasley, Rev. Richard Wing, Rev. Rosario Ibarra, and Rev. Katie Sexton.

Our Worship Leaders: the Casa de Adoración Praise Band, Dr. Steve DiBlasi, Carlos Samaniego, Bill Goodenberger, Ben Waddell (Audio/Video Technician extraordinarie!), Rev. Jenny Wynn, Pat Barton, Briana Cruz, Rev. Kelley Dick, Rev. Liz DeWeese, Rev. Minerva Guzman, Pastor Arturo Laguna, Rev. Dr. Bob Howard, Rev. Rick Gates, Rev. Bekah Krevens, Rev. Ailsa Guardiola Gonzalez, Rev. Kathleen Day, Kerry Swindle, Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea, Rev. Yvonne Gilmore, Rev. Dr. Juan Rodriguez, Rev. Paul Tché, Rev. Belva Brown Jordan, and Rev. Dr. Jay R. Hartley.

Our translators/interpreters: Valeria Bejar, Alex Morales, Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea, and Kelly Strachan

Our host, First Christian Church and volunteers: Carol Tidrow, Julie Erickson, Jane Rosenfeld, Ken Stamper, Gloria Stamper, Judy Stall, Bob Stall, Lloyd Howard, Leone Neidhardt, Bob Bruns, Jan Atkinson, Jayne Bridge, Julie Ingalls, Diane Critchet, Jack Critchet, Michelle Landreville, Jeanne Thompson, Monica Case, and so many more who prepared the campus and supported assembly efforts! A special note of thanks for Casa de Adoración for bring and serving Tres Leches Cake by Gloria, a member of their congregation! 

Our 2020-2022 Administrative Council and Mission Focus Team: Linda Necker, Carol Tidrow, Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea, Richard Bierce, Ari Cruz, Rev. Kelley Dick, Rev. Gary Luallin, Carolin Moorman, Jan Prinz, Rev. Katie Sexton, Rev. Silvia Tiznado-Smith, Karolyn White, Pat Winter, Briana Cruz, and Matthew Clark.

Regional Leadership:
Regional Staff, Linda Necker (2020-2022 Moderator), our 2022-2023 elected Administrative Council and Mission Focus Team, and ALL our Arizona congregational pastors!

Our Ministry Partners and their representatives: Chapman University, Christian Unity and Interfaith Ministries, Corazón Arizona, Disciples Church Extension Fund, Disciples Seminary Foundation, Global Ministries, Jensen Ford Insurance Agency (and Insurance Board), National Convocation, Office of the General Minister and President, and the Pension Fund of the Christian Church.

And more! – We know that there are more who have helped contribute to our Assembly. If we missed your name please know that we are thankful for your work and presence.

Photo Credit: Chuck Necker

Prophetic Unity

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

Most of you are probably familiar with the old Disciples slogan: “Christian Unity is our Polar Star.” From the beginnings of our movement, Disciples have stressed the importance of unity, of staying together, of valuing and affirming each other.  And yet …

Too often we settle for a superficial unity. We take photos of Disciples with various skin colors, publish them, and proclaim that we are practicing unity.  But that is “photo-op unity.”   Many of you are familiar with Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s contrast between “costly grace” and “cheap grace.”  We might also say there is such a thing as “cheap unity” — superficial unity, photo-op unity. As your Regional Mission Focus Team discussed this topic, we came up with the term “Prophetic Unity” to express our goal to go beyond the cheap unity of photo-ops to unity based on mutual respect, shared power, and shared resources. And so we are delighted to announce that registration is now open for our 2022 Regional Assembly:   “Unidad Proftica/Prophetic Unity.”

Regional Assembly is for everyone.  We will have a wonderful nursery for children who haven’t yet attended kindergarten, an outstanding program for elementary children and youth, worship and panel discussions and workshops and lovely new purple T-shirts!  We’ll praise God in Spanish and English with a variety of music and three deeply faithful and truly inspiring guest speakers.  But most of all, we will be exploring the theme of Prophetic Unity.

I invite you to join us, to come with open spirits, to come willing to step a little bit out of your comfort zone and with a desire to grow.  Many of us will see old friends.  All of us will have the opportunity to begin new friendships.  And together we can take a step forward to practicing a unity that is based in truly mutual respect, shared power, and shared resources.

Registration for Regional Assembly is now open!!!

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.

September

11 Desert Dove Christian Church (Tucson) led by Interim Minister Vernon Mayer

18 Saguaro Christian Church & Sol Food Initiatives (Tucson) led by Pastor Kelley Dick

25 Anti-Racism and Reconciliation efforts (Reconciliation Special Offering)

October

2 Anti-Racism and Reconciliation efforts (Reconciliation Special Offering)

9 Prophetic Unity & Regional Assembly

16 Prophetic Unity & Regional Assembly

23 Prophetic Unity & Regional Assembly

30 Arizona Saints and Congregations that have come before us

Regional Assembly Guests

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

Like many of you, my heart is heavy given the violence and hatred we read about in the news.  Every day, we are bombarded with words and images that are in compete contrast to the values taught by the early Christian community that we try to embody.  The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Oh, for a world with more kindness, more gentleness, more self-control.

But my heart is also lifted by the good news of God’s love and by all those who attempt to embody God’s love for the world. For Christians, that story starts with Jesus.  In the face of hatred, Jesus practiced love. In the face of indifference, Jesus practiced kindness.  In the face of violence, Jesus practiced self-control. And ever since, Jesus has inspired people to do likewise.  True, many people have evoked the name of Jesus but not the Spirit of Jesus. True, many people claim to follow Jesus but seem to be making little progress in exhibiting peace, patience, and kindness. But we are also blessed with many people who HAVE embodied the Spirit and values of Jesus, even at times when their hearts were heavy too.

I am excited that three people who DO exhibit the fruit of the Spirit are coming to speak at our Regional Assembly, November 4-5.  Juan Rodriguez, Paul Tche, and Yvonne Gilmore, three influential leaders in the Disciples movement, will be sharing the weekend with us, offering words of illumination, inspiration, and wisdom. I am grateful that each of them accepted our invitation, and I look forward to their presence here in Arizona.  I hope you will ALL join us for our Assembly. We’ll have more details each month, but for now, please reserve Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5 on your calendar.

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.

June

26 Desert Heritage Church DOC/UCC (Mesa) led by Pastor Derrick Elliot

July

3 First Christian Church (Tucson) led by Pastor Ailsa Guardiola González
10 East Mesa Christian Church (Mesa) led by Pastor Charles Dubbs
17 Sun City Christian Church (Sun City) led by Pastor Gary Luallin
24 Coolwater Christian Church (Scottsdale) led by Pastor Rick Gates

Uncomfortable Growth

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

Holy Week and an Invitation

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

This past week, I was blessed to observe Palm Sunday at FCC in Scottsdale. I continued my long-standing tradition of leading a palm processional while playing the bagpipes. We remembered Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, an entry filled with hope and expectation, expressed by the crowds shouting “Hosanna!”

But Palm Sunday is also Passion Sunday – the Sunday on which we tell the story of Holy Week, of Jesus’ passion, of his betrayal, arrest, torture, and execution. It is a week that brings us face to face with the pain and suffering that human beings can inflict on each other.  And, of course, it is a week that ends with the promise that Love can transform pain, that new life is possible.

Reflecting on these themes, I find it appropriate that this newsletter contains an invitation for all of you – pastors, church leaders, and other interested Disciples – to an Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciling workshop on April 30. Racism is one of the ways humans being inflict pain on each other.  None of us really wants to face it.  But pretending it doesn’t exist will never make it go away. We see in the story of Jesus that the only way to transform pain is to go through it, to confront it face to face, to deal with it honestly and openly, and then allow God’s love to bring new life.  Over 20 years ago, the Disciples proclaimed that Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation is one of our mission priorities. I hope you will join us, and encourage others to join us, on April 30.

In the meantime, I wish for you a rich and deeply meaningful Holy Week.  May the story of Jesus offering love to all inspire you.  No matter what the world threw at him – even when he was betrayed by a friend, denied by another, abandoned by others, and hung on a cross – Jesus kept on loving.  May Jesus inspire us all to love each other no matter what.

Happy Easter, and 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.

April

17 Office of General Minister and President Terri Hord Owens & the entire Disciples of Christ movement

24 Alfa y Omega (Phoenix) led by Pastor Elias Garcia

May

1 Chalice Christian Church (Gilbert) led by Pastor Vernon Meyer

8 Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer (Tucson) led by Pastor Sandy Flores

15 Foothills Christian Church (Glendale) led by Pastor Bekah Krevens

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