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Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Arizona

Regional Reflection

Sabbatical

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

I’m excited to be back with all of you after a very restorative three-month sabbatical. I’m grateful to all of you in the Arizona Region for the opportunity to renew, and I am especially grateful to Matthew Clark, to our moderator team (Kerry Swindle and Rev. Martin Tapia), and to our on-call Regional Minister Rev. Bill Rose-Heim for handling everything in my absence.

In case you are interested in a little report on my time away … it was great!  Besides visits with family and time to rest, Dawn and I spent 4 weeks in Scotland, mostly in the Highlands doing stuff in nature (a 91 mile hike through the highlands, a week at a Field Studies Centre with guided hikes by naturalists). We also spent a few days in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival, enjoying some concerts, theatre, and the legendary Edinburgh Tattoo.   And we spent 2 days in Glasgow enjoying the World Pipe Band Championships featuring the best bagpipe bands in the world. 

Then after 2 weeks back in AZ for some dental work, I went to Costa Rica for 3 wonderful weeks with the Christian Immersion Spanish Academy (CISA) which was recommended by Rev. Lori Tapia, National Pastor for Hispanic Ministries.  I had classes every morning and studied in the afternoons and engaged in conversations with local residents and my host family.  I am now a semi-expert on the Costa Rican soccer league, for what that’s worth. I hadn’t intended to do anything except study Spanish, but CISA and my host family got me out to enjoy some activities in the surrounding area, so I saw 77 new life birds (after seeing about the same number in Scotland), went rafting, and toured coffee and chocolate farms and production facilities. 

Both trips were a wonderful change of scenery and setting, offering a healthy break after six years of Regional Ministry.  Both countries approach caring for the natural world in amazing and refreshing ways. The public transit and environmental laws in Scotland are marvelous. It’s notable that Costa Rica doesn’t have an army — they put their money into public education and the literacy rates are extremely high.   A better world is possible!

October is Pastor Appreciation Month, and I know many of you have been expressing your appreciation for our amazing Arizona Disciples clergy. If your congregation doesn’t have a policy providing sabbatical renewal, I encourage you to have that conversation.  Keeping our clergy fresh and healthy is vital for the church.  We also encourage you to make funds available for them to attend our annual Clergy Retreat in January where we will offer activities to restore and renew.

I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay
Regional Minister and President

Regional Reflection: At the Crossroads of Ubuntu and Koinonia

At the Crossroads of Ubuntu and Koinonia: Building a Multicultural, Pro-Reconciling Community
A reflection by Rev. Trish Thompson-Winters, Pastor of Community Christian Church in Tempe

Rev. Trish Thompson-Winters
Pastor at Community Christian Church in Tempe

On Monday of our General Assembly, forty of us sat in a chilly conference room and wondered together, at the guidance of Rev. Vinnetta Golphin-Wilkerson, minister of Granger Community Christian Church in Salt Lake City: What does it really mean to be a multicultural, multiethnic, anti-racist, and pro-reconciling community of faith?

In short, it means stepping into the sacred intersection of Ubuntu—“I am because we are”—and koinonia—deep spiritual fellowship. It means not just welcoming difference, but respecting it, learning from it, and allowing it to reshape us into something more whole. It means reflecting the full image of God. 

In Acts 6:1–7, we see an early example of this kind of transformation. We know, change was in the air. New people had joined the movement and misunderstanding and tension followed. Some widows were being neglected and the new church was called out. Instead of defending the status quo, the new church got honest, got creative, and formed new roles and practices to make sure no one was left out. The result? The word of God spread.

Inclusion wasn’t a distraction from the mission—it was the mission. When we are authentically engaged with one another across lines of difference, the gospel comes alive.

It sounds ideal, right?! But Rev. Vinnetta assured us that though this is holy work, it is not easy. 

So she encouraged us to begin, by asking ourselves – and our communities of faith – some difficult questions:

Do we look like the community around us?

Are we willing to change so that others can truly belong, not just fit in?

How far are we willing to go?

When we’ve taken those questions seriously, we can begin the four part process of creating sacred, whole, kin-dom. 

So what does it take?

Intentionality

We must ask what we’re really trying to do—and be clear about why it matters. Building a multicultural community isn’t about optics or checking boxes. It’s about embodying the kin-dom of God more faithfully.

Information

We don’t know what we don’t know. And we won’t learn unless we’re willing to listen, read, visit, and pay attention. Be in spaces, where you are the minority. Attend worship services in languages that are not your own (and trust the Holy Spirit to move even when we don’t understand the words). Read books. Study under theologians that don’t look like you. be in relationships where you can ask questions. 

Implementation

Change doesn’t happen without action. We have to do more than plan, hope or dream…we have to live it. We need to interrogate our tools.  (One example: Robert’s Rules of Order is intrinsically centered on whiteness and is often weaponized or treated as universally sacred). We need to honor the differences in communication styles in different ethnic and social groups (one example: for some, sign-up sheets are a barrier, not a bridge). And we need to wonder about the thinks we hold sacred: worship order, songs and hymnody, visitation, spaces in our building, etc. 

Investment

This work requires sacrifice. It requires truth-telling. It requires language that binds us together (“we” and “us”) instead of language that separates (“them” and “those people”). It demands that we stop generalizing and instead, that we speak specifically and truthfully.

So, how do we begin?

Start with relationships. Share space. Ask honest questions: Why do we do it this way? Why do you?

Resist the urge to anoint a single person as “the expert.” Instead, create a culture of mutual learning. 

And above all—show up. Show up in unfamiliar spaces. Pay attention to what you feel, what you see, what you hear. Don’t confuse spectacle for solidarity. 

Remember:

  • Representation matters—but tokenism is an insult, not inclusion.
  • Visual symbols matter—but they must reflect lived values, not surface diversity.
  • There will be a tendency to wonder about the “why”.  For example: Spanish translation may seem unnecessary when you don’t have anyone in your congregation that needs it…until someone does! Rev. Vinnetta used the example of your Thanksgiving meal preparations…you form a menu and a shopping list, weeks in advance of actually needing the items! Folks in your community of faith may wonder “why” we need to do something (change music style, offer sign language, etc) and it’s a great moment to talk about “why”. 

Above all, Rev. Vinnetta reminded us that this work is spiritual. It is strategic. It is slow. And we will fail…we will fail at being authentic, at communicating well, at getting it “right.” But we fail forward. Fail faithfully. Keep failing at love, until love takes root and grows.

Because the gospel cannot spread if someone is still being left out.

The Arizona Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation Team is committed to the growth of its leaders and their participation in Reconciliation Ministries work in the wider church. This reflection was made possible in part by Arizona Reconciliation Ministry Grants which helped assist Arizona Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation leaders attend General Assembly.

Regional Reflection: Rest and Renewal

Six years ago, the Christian Church in Arizona gathered for a special Regional Assembly to elect your new Regional Minister and President. It was a beautiful day for me, as I got to meet many of you for the first time. Over the next 6 months, before Covid shut everything down, I was able to worship with every congregation and sit down to a meal with every congregational pastor in the Region. I was fortunate that my very first weekend coincided with the Disciples Women’s Retreat in Prescott, where I was able to meet 70 Arizona Disciples women over the course of 2 days.  It was a wonderful gift, as I then found friendly and familiar faces welcoming me when I visited your congregations. You have all enriched my life during these past 6 years. 

While I am truly blessed by relationships with all of our clergy and congregations, I am also grateful that the Region recognizes the need for rest and renewal by providing for a 3-month sabbatical every 5 years.  As soon as General Assembly ends on July 15, I will begin a period of sabbatical rest and renewal. I will return to the office (and email and phone) on October 16.  Read on for more information about my plans and about Regional leadership while I am gone.

I have scheduled 2 major experiences during my sabbatical.  Dawn and I will spend the month of August in Scotland.  This is a major bucket list trip for me. We will begin with a week at the Aigas Field Centre, doing daily walking trips to learn about the wildlife of the Scottish Highlands.  We then go the Isle of Skye for a few days, drive to Edinburgh for the Tattoo and the Fringe Festival, take a train to Glasgow to attend the World Bagpipe Band Championships (no – I am not playing), and then finish by walking the West Highland Way, a 7-day, 75 mile walk from Ft. William to Inverness. Starting and finishing the trip with a week outdoors among God’s beautiful Creation was a priority for us.

Two weeks after returning from Scotland, I will fly to Costa Rica for 3 weeks of language immersion school. Given that 40% of Arizona Disciples speak Spanish, I have worked hard on my language skills for the last 6 years.  I hope that 3 weeks of intense instruction and immersion will help further my ability to communicate and at least somewhat lessen the pain I cause to our herman@s when speaking their beautiful language. 

In between the 2 trips, I will be sitting in a dentist’s chair having a tooth implant, visiting my doctor for my annual check-up, and resting and recovering.

While I am gone, your primary contact for anything involving Regional ministry is Matthew Clark, our Regional Ministry Administrator. If your pastor resigns, if you want to request a grant, if you want to celebrate something,  if you need information, contact Matt.  Matt will know whom to contact and how to proceed. We have a great moderator team – Kerry Swindle and Martin Tapia – who will be in regular communication with Matt.  We also have a “Regional Minister on Call” whom Matt will contact if needed. 

I invite you to pray for me during this time of sabbatical, and I commit to praying for each of you. I also invite you to check your own congregation’s personnel policies and encourage your own pastor to be able to take a sabbatical time of rest and renewal.  In the meantime, I hope to see many of you in the next few weeks and in Memphis at the General Assembly.

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay
Regional Minister and President

Regional Reflection: May 2025

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

Paul, the apostle, wrote a number of letters to early Christian communities. Sometimes he expressed gratitude for what he heard about them – celebrating that they were shining the light of Christ’s love.  Sometimes he chastised them for things he was hearing – castigating them for hiding their light under a bushel.  Or worse. And often, he was instructing them in how to be a Christian community.

He begins his letter to the church in Colossae:  In our prayers for you we always thank God … for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints… He writes to the Corinthians: Now it is not necessary for me to write you about the ministry to the saints, for I know your eagerness … In both cases, Paul is celebrating that the congregations are supporting one other, sometimes in prayer, sometimes financially. Paul is teaching that all of us are ONE church, and that we should all help each other out when necessary.

I thought of these passages as I learned about the damage to two of our congregations in St. Louis:  Centennial Christian Church and Union Avenue Christian Church. Both are service-oriented congregations making a great difference in their neighborhood.  Both were struck by tornados last week. Both buildings were severally damaged, and one of the faithful members of Centennial CC was killed in the destruction, having spent her morning at the church making meals to serve to the community.  Disciples everywhere are grieving for and with these congregations and those whom they serve.

If you made a donation to the special Week of Compassion offering in February, your gift is already being used to help the congregations and families affected. If you would like to make an additional donation specifically to help the congregations in St. Louis, you can put a check in your church offering this week and write “St. Louis congregations” on the memo line, or make a direct gift via the Week of Compassion website.

I invite all of us to pray for those affected, to pray for our siblings affects by ICE raids in Nashville, and to pray for each of our Disciples congregations here in Arizona. Together, may we shine the light of Christ’s love.

Dios les bendiga!

Rev. Dr. Jay R. Hartley

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

Regional Reflection: Christ is Risen!

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

Christ is Risen!  Christ is Risen indeed!

All around the Arizona Region – indeed, all around the world – that message of good news was preached on Sunday. I heard it at sunrise in Saguaro National Park from the pastoral team of Saguaro Christian Church: Kelley Dick, Jessica Braxton, and Patricia Leong.  I heard it at breakfast at First Christian Church of Tucson, as they shared breakfast and then a worship service with Comunidad Limen Christian Church, during which they celebrated the baptism of Pastor Pedro’s son Santiago.  I heard it at Desert Dove Christian Church from the pastoral team of Kathleen Day and Kevin Prahar.  And I know you all heard it in your local congregations, as many of you celebrated baptism and proclaimed the good news:  Christ is Risen!

And in typical Disciples fashion, many of our preachers emphasized that resurrection is not a one-time event, limited to the individual raising of Jesus.  Rather, resurrection is the eternal process of God bringing light into darkness, bringing form to the chaotic, bringing new life where once all we saw was death. The Israelites suffering oppression in Egypt were liberated, given new life and a new start in the Promised Land.  The Israelites suffering oppression in Babylon were liberated, given new life and a new start as they returned from the Exile. From the beginning of time until the present day, the creative power of God’s love is bringing new life to us and to all of creation.  

Even though we celebrated Sunday, I know that we all face individual and collective moments of darkness. Everything didn’t change over night.  Resurrection doesn’t happen on our timetable, and the challenges of life are still before us. But hopefully the story of Easter, the reminder that God’s creative power works among us, that God’s love will not leave us alone forever, will inspire us to face our challenges with hope and faith. 

Christ is Risen!  Christ is Risen indeed!

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay
Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona

Regional Reflection: General Assembly – BEYOND

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

This summer, Disciples from all across the U.S. and Canada will gather for our General Assembly:  July 12-15, 2025, in Memphis, TN.   ALL Arizona Disciples are invited to attend – and to join together at a special reception on the opening night.  You will find information on how to register below. We are moving from a two-year cycle to a three-year cycle, so this will be our last in-person General Assembly until 2028. I hope you will consider joining us for four days of worship, education, fellowship, business – and of course, some amazing Memphis BBQ!

The theme for this summer’s Assembly is “BEYOND,” based on Ephesians 3:20 and the idea that God is able to do “BEYOND” anything we can imagine. We will celebrate and reflect on the power of God’s love to move us beyond ourselves, our fears, and our limits.  While I was reading through the General Assembly Bible Study Guide, I was delighted to come across this inspiring image by an Arizona Disciples artist – Rev. Bekah Krevens from Foothills Christian Church:

Painting by Rev. Rebekah Krevens

A dandelion pushes up through concrete – the will to life overcoming what seems like impossible suffocation.  God’s love, God’s power extends BEYOND anything we can imagine.  Or in the words of St. John: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never overcome it.”

At times, we feel overwhelmed by darkness. We see beloved landscape plowed over to build new housing developments or shopping malls, obliterating the plants and animals that called the land home for thousands of years. We see concrete where once there were majestic saguaros. It is easy to give in to despair, frustration, and anger. 

But the call of the gospel is to trust in the power of God’s love, the will to life – to trust in the one who brought the Israelites out of Egypt, who brought them home from the Exile, who raised Jesus from the tomb. The call of the gospel is to trust that God can do BEYOND what our eyes can now see and what our imaginations can conceive. May we, too, live with deep trust in God’s love to lead us through all difficult situations.

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay

Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona

Learn more about General Assembly at this link, or start your register at this link.

Regional Reflection – Coworkers with God

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

January 20 is here, and it brings an odd mixture of events and emotions. For some, the big event today is the inauguration of a president.  For others, the big event is the commemoration of the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  For still others, the big event is the NCAA football championship. And it is likely that others of us will celebrate birthdays, mourn the loss of a loved one, or experience a life-changing event in our personal lives. 

While much of the world knows Dr. King as a Civil Rights leader, the Church has long recognized him as a prophet – a spokesperson for God, a voice calling for God’s vision of righteousness and justice to be realized within our social realm. In seminary, I was inspired by a book entitled “Four Modern Prophets,” highlighting the work and ministry of Rev. Dr. King, Walter Rauschenbusch, Gustavo Gutiérrez, and Rosemary Radford Ruether.  If you are not familiar with all of them, I encourage you to do some research.  You may be inspired!

King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” reminds many of the letters found in the New Testament – a letter written by a major church leader to a group of ministers dealing with some specific issues. It was a letter written to the clergy of Birmingham, much like the letters written to church leaders in Corinth, Philippi, and Thessalonica, but it has a much wider application, calling the church to stand up 

I leave you with some of his words, inviting us to renew and deepen our understanding of Christ’s call to love our neighbor:

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.

For years now I have heard the word “wait.” This “wait” has almost always meant “never.” We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” 

I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; …who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.

May all Arizona Disciples be counted among such coworkers with God!

Dios les bendiga!

Rev. Dr. Jay Hartley

You can find a list of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day events across the Phoenix metro area in this article from the Arizona Republic, or information about the Tucson celebration on Facebook.

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 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 Reflection: Obra Hispana Bi-Annual Asamblea

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

Recently I had the pleasure to join 50 other Arizona Disciples at the Obra Hispana bi-annual assembly. Obra Hispana is the name of the fellowship of Hispanic Disciples in our denomination, and it is made of of 9 convenciones and about 230 congregations. Overall, over 250 Hispanic Disciples attended the event from the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Arizona Disciples played a huge role:  12 worship dancers, ranging in age from 7 to about 50-something (I didn’t ask), made the 24-hour journey by van to Kansas City, complete with 4 different liturgical dresses, flags, and banners.  Arturo Laguna Jr. and Ally Salgado from Casa de Adoración were part of the worship band – as they will be at our Regional Assembly in October. Our Regional Moderator, Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea, led a workshop. And, of course, Rev. Lori Tapia was the leader of it all, which included her re-election as National Pastor of the Obra Hispana. Congratulations, Pastor Lori!

The title of the Assembly was based on the Obra Hispana theme for the year: “Generaciones,” or “From Generation to Generation.” Much of the Assembly focused on the development of leadership among the younger generations, as well as the appreciation of the leadership of older and middle generations.  The 12 worship dancers from Arizona were a perfect example of that, as was the worship band. It is beautiful to see the large amounts of young people involved in worship and spiritual development. It reminded me that somewhere around 70% of Disciples under the age of 30 in Arizona are Hispanic.

I was also reminded that the term “Hispanic” is one that Euro-Americans invited to group all Spanish-speaking peoples into one group, as if they all have something in common. In reality, “Hispanic” people are just as varied and diverse as any group. Some prefer speaking English, some Spanish, and some are equally comfortable in both. Some of the diversity is based on culture – Disciples come from Puerto Rico and Mexico and Central America and South America and, of course, the United States. They eat different foods, use different vocabulary, have different accents (in Spanish, let alone English), and have different ways of worshiping. They also have a variety of approaches to theological thinking and biblical interpretation.  Never make the mistake of thinking that “all Hispanic people are _______.” 

It was also a joy to realize that our General ministries have made a concerted effort to hire Spanish-speaking staff in order to better serve our whole church, with staff from DCEF, CCF, NBA, Pension Fund, Week of Compassion, Disciples of Christ Historical Society, and several of our seminaries. I enjoyed introducing many of our clergy and young people to some of the General ministries of the Disciples.

In short, the Assembly was much like a General Assembly, though mostly in Spanish. It was a joy to join with our clergy and musicians and dancers and lay members from Arizona in a weekend of worship, education, and fellowship.

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 – Shine the Light

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

A clarinet. A trombone. A saxophone. A piano. A guitar. A bass. A tuba. And a congregation holding up their index fingers and singing: “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine …” That was the scene at Foothills Christian Church on Sunday morning at their Epiphany Celebration – a celebration with a New Orleans style brass band, gumbo, and king cake.

Photos curtesy of Foothills Christian Church

Epiphany, of course, is the day we celebrate the light of God’s love. In the words of John 1:5: “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” As Christians, we celebrate that we have seen the light of God’s love in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. We celebrate that into a world of darkness, Christ came.  We celebrate that no matter how dark the world is, that the light of God’s love shines.

And we also acknowledge that shining light is our responsibility, our calling. “YOU are the light of the world,” Jesus proclaimed.  “Let your light shine.” That is our calling. When the world struggles under the dark cloud of violence, we are called to shine God’s light by practicing peace. When the world struggles under the darkness of poverty and hunger and houselessness, we are called to shine God’s light be feed and providing shelter.  When the world despairs, we are called to shine the light of God’s hope.

To me, the basic pattern of the Christian light is simple:  

  1. See the light of God’s love shining in the darkness
  2. Embody God’s love so we can shine it everywhere we go.

My friends, there is indeed a lot of darkness in our world. Perhaps more than ever before, the world needs the church to shine the light of God’s love from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth. Thank you for the many ways you do this. As I travel through Arizona, from congregation to congregation, I am blessed to witness so much light shining. Thanks be to God!

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay
Regional Minister and President

Regional Reflections – ¡la biblia es una BIBLIOTECA!

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

La biblia no es un LIBRO; ¡la biblia es una BIBLIOTECA!  (The Bible is not a BOOK; the Bible is a LIBRARY!)

That was one of many thought-provoking phrases offered by Dr. Jose Morales during the first few sessions of Método Teológico; a Spanish-language course on Theological Methods the Region is offering during October and November.  Dr. Morales is pushing us to thinking deeply and critically about our theological foundations – why we think what we think. 

The truth is … many of us learned about God in our 2nd grade Sunday School classes and haven’t done too much thinking about God ever since. We were taught the basics by people who loved us, people we trusted.  We often didn’t realize, however, that they were teaching us age-appropriate understandings of God, and that learning the ways of God is a life-long journey. As we develop critical thinking skills, as we have more life experience, we need to continue to read scripture and develop our understanding of who God is and who/what God is calling us to be/do. So I am excited that 25 Spanish-speaking members of our Region have signed up to study with Dr. Morales for this course on theological methods.

Now, if you are wondering about the significance of our opening phrase, I invite you to reflect with me. A book is usually written by one author, from one point of view, with one consistent message. A library, on the other hand, contains the writings of several different authors, from several different points of view, often having conflicting messages.  If you visit a shelf in the library that deals with literature from 1940’s Germany, you might find writings by Nazi propagandists alongside The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoffer.  Same shelf, same library, same country and time period – TOTALLY different messages. 

To view the Bible as a library is to acknowledge that the Bible was written by many different authors who did not always agree with each other.  Why do we have four gospels instead of just one?  Why do we have 1 & 2 Chronicles basically retelling the stories in 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings – except with a slightly different perspective? Why do we have 2 creation stories, one of which tells of God creating humankind an in “his” image, male and female, and the other tells the story of God creating man first and woman being a derivative? If we learn to read the Bible as a library, learn to identify different voices and perspectives, we learn to wrestle with the complexity of life, and we grow in the humility of knowing that “for now, we see in a mirror, dimly.”

I invite you to continue the life-long journey of studying scripture, thinking theologically, and talking about the challenges of faith with your pastors and fellow Disciples. And I commend our 25 Arizona Disciples who are taking Dr. Morales’ class.  May we all continue to grow.  Paraphrasing Romans 12:2, may we not be conformed to what we’ve always thought, but may we be continually transformed by the renewing of our minds.

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

22 – Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer led by Pastor Sandy Flores

29 – Arizona Saints and Congregations that have come before us

November

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

12 – Larkspur Christian Church led by Pastor Job Cobos

19 – Thanksgiving Special Offering and our Disciples Affiliated Colleges, Universities, and Seminaries

26 – Saguaro Christian Church led by Pastor Kelley Dick

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

Regional Reflections – General Assembly

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

I bring you greetings from the entire Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada!  What a joy it was for over 3000 Disciples to gather for the first time in four years, as we celebrated the Kindom of God at our General Assembly in Louisville just a few weeks ago. Over 30 Arizona Disciples joined the fun, worshiping every evening, attending workshops and bible studies and ministry reports during the day. 

Some of the highlights for me included: 

  • The Opening Roll Call, during which Arizona Disciples held our bilingual banners high and wore our Unidad Profetica/Prophetic Unity t-shirts from Regional Assembly
  • Hearing William Barber preach on Sunday morning at Beargrass Christian Church, offering an inspiring call to witness to God’s love in the world. It was also exciting to see that the early service at Beargrass featured the preaching of our own Rev. Kelley Dick of Saguaro CC.
  • Staying at Beargrass for Don DeWeese’s funeral Sunday afternoon, presided at by our own Rev. Trish Winters (new interim at Community CC in Tempe). About 5 minutes into the service, a friend leaned over and whispered in my ear: “She’s GOOD!” 

  • The re-election of Rev. Terri Hord Owens as our General Minister and President for the next 8 years.
  • WRIM Reception on Monday night – over 100 Disciples from the Western Regions in Ministry (WRIM)  — Arizona, Central Rocky Mountain, Northern California/Nevada, Northern Lights, Oregon/SW Idaho, and the Pacific Southwest Regions – gathered for drinks and desserts and a time of fellowship that was simply marvelous. 

In addition to these highlights, the Assembly also offered me the invaluable opportunity to have face to face discussions with several of our General ministry staff on issues important to congregations and the region of Arizona.

I was especially delighted that several Arizona Disciples were attending their first ever General Assembly. I hope you will hear their stories – and maybe join them in two years for our next General Assembly, July 12-15, 2025 in Memphis, TN. 

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.

August

20 – Desert Heritage Church led by Pastor Derrick Elliot

27 – East Mesa Christian Church led by Pastor Charles Dubbs

September

3 – First Christian Church in Globe let by Pastor Al Beasley

10 – First Christian Church in Mesa in a time of transition

17 – First Christian Church in Scottsdale led by Pastor Jenny Wynn

24 – End to Racism and the Reconciliation Ministry Special Offering

Fruit of the Spirit

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

In the immortal word of Mark Line (FCC Mesa): “CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMP!!!!”

This Saturday, I will drive to the Loch Leven Camp & Retreat Center in the San Bernadino Mountains east of Los Angeles. Loch Leven is the Pacific Southwest Region’s (PSR) church camp, and for the second year in a row the Arizona Region and the PSR are teaming up. Over a dozen Arizona Disciples have already attended church camp this year, and next week the camping season concludes with our CYF Camp for high school age youth.  I am excited to be there with 6 Arizona high school aged Disciples.

As those who have already attended can tell you, this summer’s camp celebrates the “Fruit of the Spirit.”  If you’ve got a camper at home, ask them if they can name the nine fruit of the Spirit that Paul lists in Galatians 5:   Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, & Self-Control.  These are characteristics that emerge when human beings are connected to and filled with God’s loving Spirit.

I find it amazing and wonderful that both Paul and Jesus use the metaphor of fruit to talk about the life of faith. As Jesus begins to conclude his “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7), he says: “You will know them by their fruits.”  Jesus is trying to help his disciples know how to evaluate different messages they hear.  Look at their actions, Jesus says.  Do they radiate joy? Are they kind?  Do they practice self-control?  You can tell about someone’s faith – and they can tell about OURS — not by their words, but their actions, their attitude, their manner of relating to their neighbor.  “You will know them by their fruits.”

I have always found Jesus’ words here helpful when thinking about how to relate to other world religions. There are those, of course, who cite Jesus saying in John 14 “No one comes to the Father except through me” as grounds for insisting that Jesus is the only path to God. But I find that Jesus in Matthew and Paul in Galatians suggest something different. If “You will know them by their fruits,” and if the “fruit of the Spirit are love, joy, peace …,” and if “no bad tree can produce good fruit,” then what does that suggest about someone whose practice of Hinduism or Buddhism or Islam leads them to be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, etc.?   It suggests that their practice is of God because it has produced the fruit of the Spirit.  For God’s Spirit is one, and God sends it to all of Creation, and I believe that God and Jesus both celebrate whenever anyone receives, embodies, and shares in God’s loving Spirit.

I hope you all have a great week.  I’m off to “CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMP!!!!”

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.

July

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

23 – Coolwater Christian Church led by Pastor Rick Gates

30 – General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

August

6 – General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

13 – Desert Dove Christian Church led by Pastor Michael Malone

20 – Desert Heritage Church led by Pastor Derrick Elliot

27 – East Mesa Christian Church led by Pastor Charles Dubbs

Arizona Disciples Border Initiative

Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me. – Mathew 25:40

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

I am excited to announce the Arizona Disciples Border Initiative (ADBI), a three-year pilot project between the Arizona Region and Week of Compassion. The ADBI seeks to address the immediate needs of asylum seekers in Arizona, beginning with the Tucson area and expanding out to other parts of the state. The ADBI will be coordinated by the new Border and Immigration Ministry Team, chaired by Lori Bryant of First Christian Church in Tucson, with help from Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea, our Enlace Regional. If you would like to become involved with this ministry team, please contact me for more information.

The ADBI has two main areas of focus:  education about immigration and border issues, and care and development for asylum seekers. 

Part 1:  Comunidad Limen Christian Church and First Christian Church in Tucson, will offer the Caminantes Border Immersion program, an experiential trip for Disciples and other interested groups from around the U.S. and Canada to travel to Tucson to experience and witness the militarization of the border through the eyes of immigrants.

Part 2: Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. who pass through a port of entry legally are required to have a sponsor who will house and care for them until they are able to do so for themselves. Occasionally, a sponsor falls through, or fails to meet their obligations, and a family is here legally, but they are stuck with no safety net. The ADBI will focus on such families. First Christian Church in Tucson, is opening a “hospitality center” to provide short-term shelter to such families until they are able to care for themselves. Saguaro Christian Church’s “Sol Food Ministries” is working to develop programs to help such families develop food business opportunities. We have hopes that some of the families will eventually qualify to live in the affordable housing being developed by Desert Dove Christian Church. We look forward to discussions with any other congregations that want to be involved in this developing ministry.

Thank you to all of you Arizona Disciples for the various ways you act out of compassion and love to serve our neighbors, offering Christ’s love to our needy world. 

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay
Regional Minister and President

Regional Calendar of Weekly Prayers

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

June

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

25 – Chalice Christian Church led by Interim Minister Vernon Mayer

July

2 – Community Christian Church in Marana led by Pastor Dave Hedgepeth

9 – Community Christian Church in Tempe led by Pastor Trish Winters

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

23 – Coolwater Christian Church led by Pastor Rick Gates

30 – General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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

General Board

Greetings to all in the Love of Jesus Christ:

I send you Greetings from the greater Cincinnati area where your Regional Moderator, Rev. Pedro Ramos-Goycolea, and I have spent the last few days at the General Board meeting.  These have been valuable days of meeting with General ministry staff, other Regional Ministers, and a number of wonderful leaders across our denomination. I want to share with you some highlights from our time here.

We officially recommended Rev. Terri Hord Owens for another six-year term as our General Minister and President, to great applause from the entire board.

Much of the discussion was around proposed changes to the Design, the governing documents of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, which will be voted on at the General Assembly this summer. Among the most notable changes:

  • having an in-person General Assembly every THREE years instead of every two years
  • allowing each congregation to have THREE voting representatives instead of TWO
  • having on-line Assemblies as needed where all three voting representatives will be involved learning about and discussing any issues

We also discussed a number of Resolutions that will be brought to the General Assembly this summer. Among them are Resolutions which deal with:

  • Israel/Palestine
  • Food waste, food insecurity, and environmental justice
  • Indigenous peoples
  • Faith-based investing
  • Christian Nationalism

We will soon be sharing the finalized texts of these resolutions with all of our congregations and encourage all Disciples to discuss these resolutions. Be looking for an opportunity to have a Region-wide discussion via zoom about these resolutions.

I also was able to have invaluable face-to-face conversations with the presidents of several General Ministry presidents, including DCEF, CCF, Pension Fund, Christian Unity and Interfaith Ministry, Treasury Services, Week of Compassion, National Benevolent Association, and with our General Minister and President, Rev. Teresa Hord Owens.  

Finally — there is much excitement across our denomination over the Church Narrative Project.  We were blessed to hear four wonderful stories on Sunday night that ranged in topic from “why not to wear a cheap bra” to “what happens when your husband is kidnapped.” We celebrate that Arizona will be the next Region to participate – April 28-29. I hope you all can join us for that event at Foothills Christian Church – you can register here.

Dios les bendiga!

Pastor Jay

Regional Minister and President, Christian Church in Arizona

Regional Calendar of Weekly Prayers

April

23 – Saguaro Christian Church led by Pastor Kelley Dick

30 – Sun City Christian Church led by Pastor Brett Winters

May

7 – Templo Cristiano Central led by Pastor Job Cobos

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

21 – New Church Ministry and the Pentecost Special Offering

28 – New Church Ministry and the Pentecost Special Offering