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Church News | Superintendant's Update
Light & Life Gatherings Update (8/23)
Light and Life Gatherings has teamed up with Chicanos Por La Causa Bright and Healthy Children in Queen Creek to help families in need. The week of August 7th, six men and youth from Gatherings helped to patch holes, apply flashing, and cement and tar a leaky roof. Also, we were asked to locate a refrigerator for a family that needed one desperately. We are grateful for the chance to work with Chicanos Por La Causa, serving families and making a difference. The highlight of our "leaky roof project" was when the family asked us to share the dinner table with them. What a lovely meal and time of fellowship for all. In addition, Gatherings has adopted a mile stretch of Hunt Highway near Johnson Ranch and Copperbasin located in Queen Creek. With each new community work project we intend to invite our neighbors to come out and help us serve our neighborhood.Jackson Family Farewell (7/23)
Click the play button below to view Pastor Eric Jackson and his family's farewell to Phoenix Light & Life Church as they conclude nearly 12 years of amazing ministry.
Two Gilbert Churches Blend this Summer (7/11)
When New Song Church of Gilbert had to move out of the school where they have been meeting because of renovation and maintenance there, Glenn Lorenz, pastor of our Gilbert Church invited them to meet with our people for the summer. Pastor Paul Gibson and his people accepted the invitation.New Song is a church plant that has been going since 2000, and they have over 100 people. Our group began in 2004, and has about 60 people now. With our congregation meeting in a public library, they have plenty of room to have the two groups blend together for now.
The Pastors will alternate preaching, except that Rev. Gibson will preach while Glenn Lorenz is teaching for three weeks in Africa. The Worship Teams will alternate at times, and other times they may work together and do some special things.
The groups launched the effort with a great pizza party, and plan to have two other major social events during the summer.
The two pastors meet together regular with several other pastors, and have enjoyed fellowship with each other. Pastor Glenn jokingly suggests he may lose some people later on because Paul Gibson is so likeable! No summer slump this year for this enthusiastic blended group!
Glenn Lorenz (7/11)
Glen Lorenz, pastor of our Gilbert Church, will be teaching a module on the Holy Spirit in Mwanza in Tanzania, Africa. He left Sunday evening, July 9, and will return on August 2.Since two congregations are meeting together this summer, Paul Gibson of the New Song Church will be filling the pulpit for Glenn. His wife, Wendy, and their three children will spend the time with her parents in Spring Arbor, MI, while Glenn is teaching in Africa.
Light and Life Gatherings Update (7/06)
We praise God for and are happy to report news from Light and Life Gatherings. We have established a weekly launch team/worship which began in June. We also established a combined youth group of Jr. High through High School students that includes youth from Coolidge and the Johnson Ranch, Queen Creek area. Youth leadership for this group is provided by Daniel Gardner and Sarah Lafler. This group averages between 6-11 youth. The youth group has been meeting weekly since June and was launched with an outreach event.Daniel Gardner is currently in Cambodia with a Free Methodist youth short-term missionary trip. Nancy Gardner was responsible for recruiting six youth from our church plant to serve as youth counselors for AZ Light and Life Children’s Camp. Michael Gardner also served the camp as “the medic.” Also, we helped, along with a matching grant from the City of Coolidge, to send 8 children associated with Nancy’s ministry in Coolidge to camp. Henry, Karen and Isabel have just moved to Johnson Ranch and are setting-up their house to throw parties for Jesus. In addition, Henry has established a website (www.LightandLifeGatherings.com), bank account, and a mail box for Light and Life Gatherings. And, the launch team has developed strategic long-term and short term-goals, as well as ministry job descriptions.
Our launch team/worship attendance is averaging 10-12 people. And, we are planning to separate our launch team/worship meetings in August to accommodate the general public and to be ready to split our house2house worship groups (when the group gets larger than 15 to 20). Our average monthly giving is around $1250.00. We have planned, starting in July, to host an outreach event at our home every other month and in the opposing months we will create work projects to invite people to come help us serve our community. We are planning a larger public worship celebration in October and then again in December, more details to come. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
Worship Leader Needed
The Buckeye Church, currently in a renewal mode, is seeking a worship leader. We need someone capable of leading contemporary worship as well as providing musical accompaniment. If you are new in Arizona, or moving into this rapidly growing area and looking for a Church where you can honor the Lord with your musical gifts, please contact us at (623)386.2774 or (623)386.4759. You may also contact the Pastor, Charles Clayborn, by email at PastorChasC@wmconnect.com.Greetings,
I hope that you are having a good summer. I heard so many positive reviews of the redesigned Annual Conference. Matthew Whitehead and David Roller did an outstanding job as they challenged us toward healthy change.
A few days ago Ryan and Katie Bartlett left Arizona with truck full of furniture bound for Oregon. They are beginning their journey to Africa. Words can not express how grateful I am for the work they accomplished in Prescott. Ryan came at a time when we needed strong leadership in a tumultuous situation.
They leave behind a thriving church with a capable leader in charge. We are going to deeply miss them. Troy and Michelle Powers came to us a few years ago from the United Methodist Church in New Mexico. Little did we know when Ryan moved to Prescott to assist Pastor Ryan that he would soon be stepping into the senior role. Troy and Michelle are deeply loved and valued by the church and will do an amazing job. The people in Prescott are filled with hope for a great future. Troy Powers and Nancy Gardner just finished up a very successful kids campin Prescott last week. I am pleased to report that over 50 children were in attendance! My own son Connor was a camper and had a blast. Good job Troy and Nancy!Cindy Miller has decided to not continue the work in Kingman. We are going to assimilate the core (20 people) into a local CMA Church in Kingman called Canyon Community Church. We will lease the facilty to Canyon Community for one year and review at that time what our next step should be. We are not ready to give up in Kingman so we will not sell the property but only lease for now. Cindy and Wes did a fantastic job in a very difficult situation and they are going to be deeply missed. They are currently looking fortheir next ministry opportunity. I will keep you informed as to where they
end up. Have a great summer and thanks for the privilege of leading the Arizona Conference.Your friend,
Joel