Friends,

Merry Christmas!  This time of year mind mind always turns toward my childhood and the awe of Christmases gone by.  Each Christmas morning my siblings and I went downstairs to see how “Santa” had transformed the family room: Presents crowded out the tree, candy canes hung from its branches, the stockings on the fireplace brimmed with gifts, glass-like candy toys (a Pennsylvania thing) filled a bowl on the coffee table, a fire was blazing, and all the tree lights were on.  Each year as we descended the stairs, we experienced such a momentary sense of wonder and awe—at least until we tore into all the goodies and got on with the festivities of the day.

May we also find a few moments in these twelve days of Christmas to renew our sense of awe as we contemplate the mysteries of the Christmas Story—how God descended from on high and became the Son to give us salvation.  Last week Richard Rohr wrote in his Friday meditation, “Awe is more than an emotion; it is a way of understanding, insight into a meaning greater than ourselves.  The beginning of awe is wonder, and the beginning of wisdom is awe…Awe is a sense for the mystery beyond all things…What we cannot comprehend by analysis, we become aware of in awe.  Faith is not belief, an assent to a proposition; faith is attachment to transcendence, to the meaning beyond the mystery.”

As I have aged I have become more intentional about experiencing the sense of wonder and awe I previously only felt in moments.  If I don’t, I lose myself in all the things I have to accomplish and in the normal tasks of living.  I invite you all to pause this season as well and contemplate the great Mystery of the Incarnation and all the blessings it bestows. 

Grace and Peace,

Co-Pastor Sandi 

Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving!  Professor Emeritus at my seminary, theologian Dr. Christine D. Pohl, is featured in Richard Rohr’s Wednesday meditation on the Thanksgiving topic of gratitude.  Writing about how gratitude impacts our relationships with others, she comments, “When our lives are shaped by gratitude, we’re more likely to notice the goodness and beauty in everyday things.  We are content; we feel blessed and are eager to confer blessing…Expressions of gratitude help make the community alive to the Word, the Spirit, and God’s work.”

I think particularly about the expressions of gratitude we heard from the Foster Your Future young people at both our recent cooking class and Evening in Barcelona fundraising event.  We all felt blessed by them—their journeys, their accomplishments, and their deep sharing with us.  Gratitude, indeed, begets blessing upon blessing—it works in all directions.  Thus far was have raised around three-thousand dollars to continue blessing wonderful young adults who are successfully transitioning from foster care into independent living.  Our donations will continue to support them as we offer cooking supplies and classes so that they may build essential skills for life.  Through it all, may we enjoy the goodness and beauty of new friendships and deeper community!  

With Gratitude,

Co-Pastor Sandi 

Friends,

One of the largest groups at the Church of the Beatitudes is the Arts Council.  Those of you who worshipped there over the past two summers may recall that their narthex serves as an art gallery with rotating exhibits featuring various artists from both from the church and community.  Thirty percent of the sale price of each piece helps fund projects at the Church of the Beatitudes.  Over the past month, their narthex has featured the work of long-time member Melinda Wing, a printmaker whose mediums include tea bag paper and hand dyed Shibori fabric.  Her current collection consists of framed works of fig leaves and crosses.   Last week I received an email from the Arts Council offering Dick and me a piece of our choice from Melinda’s collection as a gift from their church to ours.  Since I was leading Sunday service there this past week, I got to choose the piece, which you can see here.  It is of a beautiful cross entitled Reliquary.  A reliquary is a special container for holding sacred relics, which are physical objects associated with a saint or a religious figure.  

Reliquary is a gift of value given to us by some wonderfully spirited people who have appreciated CCOV sharing Dick and me with them during their long and on-going search for a settled pastor.  They also have enjoyed getting to know our members who worship with them in the summers.  Even more meaningful is that the gift comes from our parent congregation.  Long-time Beatitudes members recall being involved in the planting and building of our beloved church.  We hope to hang Reliquary soon in either our narthex or sanctuary.  Whenever we look at it, may we see a reliquary of loving kinship between our two congregations.

Grace and Peace,

Sandi  

Friends,

So, maybe we see pumpkin spice lattes everywhere in the Valley and mounds of pumpkins at the grocery stores, but as the meme goes, “It’s finally fall in Phoenix.  You know what that means?  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  It’s still 100 degrees outside!”  And yet, in the wake of all the rain last weekend, it was cool enough last night to enjoy dinner on our patio.  I thank God for the blessing of the rain!  I also thank God for the blessing of our return to regular worship, and I am excited about the busy season and the exciting mission projects ahead for our congregation.  Before we know it, the holidays will be upon us—and the assurance of a real cooling trend.

In the meantime, James 5:7-8 offers a good exhortation for fall: “Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming.  See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for autumn and spring rains.  You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”  For the Christian, the Lord’s coming is always near; our God is always breaking into the mundane—in winter, spring, summer or fall.  May God bless you richly this season.

Grace and Peace,

Sandi

Friends,

This Sunday is communion Sunday in our own sanctuary!  While it will be good to be together again worshipping regularly in our own space, I will have fond memories of the summer and our informal worship and fellowship in Hayden Hall as well as the alternate Sundays we spent with the good folks at the Church of the Beatitudes.  

Also, I send out a special thank you to all who have shown up to beautify and organize CCOV during the hot summer months.  You have truly readied it for fall and made it beautiful as well as functional!  I’m excited about all that we are planning including a church bazaar on the morning of December 6, where we can sell unused stuff the church as accumulated.  We welcome donations from your fall clean-out at home too.  More information will be forthcoming.

Council has indeed been busy over the summer months—also planning our new outreach mission project, partnering with Foster Your Future, a local organization dedicated to helping young people transition from foster care into adulthood.  We will raise funds through the same mechanism that worked so successfully for our well project in Kenya—our wine-paring dinners.  Be thinking about folks from the community whom you might invite.  It’s a fine opportunity to meet the good people of CCOV, enjoy delicious food, wine, and music, and the evenings provide a way for the greater community to partner with us.  The first dinner, “An Evening in Barcelona,” is Sunday, November 23 at 5 PM, after we finish decorating the sanctuary for Advent.  We will feature Spanish and some Portuguese wines as well as tapas.  Kudos to Paulan for completing the necessary grant money application (possibly $3000!) the Southwest Conference has offered to get us on the way to our $15,000 goal for this worthy endeavor.  Stay tuned for more information about Foster Your Future.  

I am so glad to be a part of such a wonderful church, which is truly on the move, bringing the Kingdom ever closer!

Blessings,

Co-pastor Sandi

Friends,

As we anticipate fall and pumpkin spice everything, Pastor Dick and I are creating a new sermon series to begin in October based on Francis Collins’ book The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust.  Francis Collins, MD, PhD is a physician-geneticist and the former director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) who served under three presidents (2009-2021).  You may also associate his name with the Human Genome Project as well as the New Your Times bestseller The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.  

In The Road to Wisdom, Dr. Collins, a committed Christian, addresses divisive problems of our time: distrust of pubic health, partisanship, racism, response to climate change, and threats to our democracy.  He presents us with four core sources of judgement and clear thinking: truth, science, faith, and trust.  Our sermons through October and the first half of November will flow as follows:

October 5: Part I, Wisdom for Troubled Times, an Introduction (John 14:1)

October 12: Part II,Truth is Not Negotiable (John 8:32-38)

October 19: Part III, The Limits and Blessings of Science (Psalm 8)

October 26: Part IV, Faith instead of Fads (Hebrews 11:1-3)

November 2:  Part V, Truth without GPS (Psalm 37:1-4)

November 9: Part VI, Specific Hope (Colossians 1:27)

Be sure to join us in worship (or tune in on line) to hear more about how people of faith have been particularly hard hit by misinformation, how we have lost track of our sources of wisdom, and how politics on the left and the right instead became our touchstone.  The good news is that we can indeed reclaim wisdom to help us resolve the dilemmas that we all face in our lives. 

See you on Sunday!

Sandi

       In April 2024, Jaye walked into Congregational Church of the Valley with her mother. Jaye is a nurse at Mayo Clinic and grew up in Kenya, Africa where her mother still lives.

       At the coffee hour, we learned that the village of Ilbisil in Kenya (100 miles south of Nairobi) is in need of a well. People spend half a day going long distances to fetch water to drink and cook. Our people with “world mission” antennas out, said, “Let’s find a way to get a well dug in the village.” 

       We contacted Wells for the World in Michigan. A wonderful Hydro Geologist has been arranging for wells to be dug in Kenya for years. He makes his living in serving corporations here. He exercises his faith by serving the non-profit he began.

       An estimate for digging and getting an electric motor established is about $16,000. Our Hydro Geologist said he has the crew in Kenya and the equipment and will get it done.

       We decided to have two fundraisers under the title TURNING WINE INTO WATER. After two hearty nights of food and wine tasting for our congregation, its friends, and some community members, we have now in hand our $16,000. We have given the green light to get going. They have 3 possible sites and after obtaining all the permits will begin to drill. Most likely this will be a 30 day project to dig 200 meters plus. 

       Upon completion of the well, we will have representatives from the church go to Kenya for the dedication of the well and celebration with the people in the village. 

       A side note: The average person in Kenya needs and uses three gallons of water a day and in this village must drive a long distance to get it. The average American uses seventy gallons a day that is piped into our homes. 

       We are grateful that this need has found the people of Congregational Church of the Valley UCC. Every “need” is our neighbor and provides us with a privilege to serve. 

Rev. Sandi Anthony and Dr. Richard A. Wing, Co-Pastors

Friends,

We have all been so very blessed to have Michelle Conn serve as our church administrator for the past 13 years!  When I came on board as pastor in 2015, she eased me into my position and helped me focus on each facet of my new undertaking with kindness and gentle prompts.  With love and passion always evident in her approach, she has held our church together through much change: additions of pastors, lean times, COVID, and even now as we transition to a new administrator, whom she has prepared well.  Michelle has all of our gratitude, I know, for her lovely presence and devotion to the life of CCOV UCC.  It will be a pleasure to celebrate her service with us with a party after worship on Sunday, April 6.  I am especially glad we do not have to say goodbye to our friend—only goodbye to her employment with us. 

As we say farewell to Michelle’s official role, we heartily welcome our new administrator, Ida Saucedo!  Pastor Dick and I met Ida at the Church of the Beatitudes UCC, where she also eased us into our interim positions and prompted us so that we would find success there.  Because she is part-time at the Beatitudes and desired something more akin to full time, Dick and I thought that she would be perfect to work along side of us at both churches.  Ida’s gifts and graces have been an excellent fit for ministry at the Beatitudes, and we felt that she would slide effortlessly into the life of our own church as well.

Ida has lived in Phoenix since 2017.  Her background is in commercial real estate and communications.  She enjoys spending time with her family: Luis and their darling one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Catalina.  They are active people who enjoy walking, hiking, bike riding, trying new restaurants, events around town, and traveling.  She will be in the CCOV office on Mondays and Fridays but will be available by email, phone, and text through the week as needed.  When you see her, be sure to extend a hearty welcome!  

I’m so grateful for God’s gifts of Michelle and Ida—talented women who are dedicated to God’s mission in this world!

With Gratitude,

Co-Pastor Sandi

Friends,

Last Sunday the ecumenical lectionary had us pass through John 2:1-11.  This passage is our record of Jesus’ first public miracle, turning water into wine.  Although my sermon was already prepared, Pastor Dick sent this poem to me early Sunday morning, and I added it in as an introduction.  Below I’ll share the written poem by Sean Goan from The Sign: Reading the Gospel of John, because it speaks directly to the malady of these days: Some enjoy great extravagance in life and many others do not.  The poem seems especially appropriate this week with inaugural events and our remembering of Martin Luther King Jr.

They have no wine,
It does not seem like much of a prayer,
given the horrors that people face every day.
Broken as we are by our cruelty and hate,
by the injustice visited upon the poor and the weak,
by the illnesses and bereavements that leave us
          desolate and lost.
Yet, we still long to celebrate and not alone but together.
We want not just to drown our sorrows but to lift our souls.
We want to know that we have been heard
and that our longing for Life matters to the One
           Who created it in us.
So, God, we have no wine.
Take the stone jars of our hearts
and fill them to the brim with your joy in us.

While there are many ways to interpret the signs or miracles of Jesus, imitation is the most instructive for our living.  While we can’t miraculously multiply food, magically heal, or turn water into wine, we can emulate Jesus’s spirit behind the miracles.  Like him, we can feed those who come hungry to us, we can offer healing by listening and finding resources, and we bless others with extravagance out of the fullness of our lives.  Indeed, we are blessed to bless.

Peace,

Co-Pastor Sandi

“The season is upon us now, a time for gifts and giving.

And as the year draws to its close, I think about my living.”

~John Denver

Friends,

The week before Christmas, when Clint and I find a block of time, we sit down and write our annual Christmas letter to send to friends and family. We have done this every year since we were married—over 38 years now.  More than anything else, the letter is a chronicle of our life recounting the year’s travels and events, where we are in our careers, a review of our ups and downs, and a naming of our milestones.  We give an update on our cats, our daughter and her husband, and now we get to write about our brand new and beloved grandson Steven, who will experience his first Christmas this year.  Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow, indeed!  I know many of you write Christmas letters as well, similarly punctuated with the year’s most significant photos.  You probably flip back through your calendar or pictures like I do to remember experiences and events, all the while thinking about your living and God’s incredible goodness.

About this time each year, I also reflect on what we did as a church, especially as I prepare the pastors’ report for our annual congregational meeting each January.  As I look back over 2024, I think we have accomplished good deeds together as a small but mighty church.  I am so proud of the local missions we undertake and the global mission project we have just begun—getting a well for Illbissil Town in Kenya.  I am so grateful that many of our maintenance and repair issues have been covered by a very generous donor so that we can focus on worship and mission, all the while gathering in the sacred space of our beautiful and beloved desert church.  I am grateful for all of you who do so many things officially and unofficially to keep us going.  As I think about my living, I reflect on how very dear my church family is in my life and the gift of our deep community.  How I cherish my relationships with you all!

I hope you pause for a moment as well during this busy season, whether it is while writing a Christmas letter or by just being still, to simply think about your living.  In doing so, let us thank God for all the gifts in our lives, especially for Emmanuel, God’s eternal presence with us.

Merry Christmas!

Co-Pastor Sandi