Welcome to the first President's Perspective! In an effort to increase and improve communication between the congregation council and congregation, I was encouraged to write a letter in our monthly eNews letter on a periodic basis.

We are writing in response to the letter to the editor, published in the June 21 issue, which expressed sadness and disappointment regarding expressed prejudice against transgender persons in the Fountain Hills community.

New Journey Lutheran (ELCA) in Fountain Hills packed 200 lunches on Monday, June 26 in the first of three scheduled packs for Phoenix’s Grace Lutheran Church’s Heat Respite program and – in a new initiative, will add 15 additional lunches per future sessions for I-HELP at nearby City of Grace Church.

On Pentecost Sunday, we named before God the nations of the world, pleading for mercy and healing for those places and peoples torn by ancient animosities or terrorized by new fears.

Towards the end of April, I joined eight of my first call colleagues at Spirit in the Desert retreat center for our bi-annual and mandatory First Call Theological Education (FCTE) event.

Thank you to Denny Rubenow, Gwen Rubenow, and Kris Bartanen for working together to bring Food 4 Kidz back after a 3-year hiatus. A big thank you to all the friends and members of New Journey Lutheran Church who worked together to organize and support this community event, and to our financial partners: Church of the Ascension and Shepherd of the Hills.

At the end of March, I had the distinct privilege of participating on a “Philosophy of Religion” panel hosted by the Congregation Beth Israel in Scottsdale for their midweek teen education program.

Thanks to the generosity of 225 volunteers, the March 2 Fountain Hills Food Pack for Food for Kidz provided 72,000 meals for hungry neighbors near and far.

New Journey SewJourners received the below thank you note from foster children in response to the quilts we provided.

New Journey Lutheran Church members gathered a substantial collection of kitchen items, as well as additional furnishings, to join with ELCA churches of the Northeast Valley Consortium in preparing three apartments for newly arriving Afghan refugee families. Phoenix area apartments were set-up on February 2, 8 and 15 for families of 6, 7, and 13 members, respectively, in partnership with Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest, which has welcomed eight Afghan families in February.

On Sunday, February 12, we said “Godspeed and Farewell” to Crystalle Ebbinga. Tears of gratitude and love were shed. Though the Farewell did not happen how we hoped, we continue to give thanks to God for the many gifts and contributions Crystalle has made to our shared life and mission at New Journey Lutheran Church.

What is Lent, exactly? Well, Lent marks a forty-day period leading up to Easter, and mirrors Jesus’ forty-day wilderness stay. Observing the season of Lent became a practice during the 4th century as a way for Christians to prepare for the holiest days in the church calendar.

Mark your calendars to volunteer for the Fountain Hills Food Pack, which will be held on Thursday, March 2 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center. We are in need of 200 volunteers to pack dehydrated meals.

On Sunday, January 22 we blessed and set apart for the glory of God a stained glass art piece and Bibles, gifted to New Journey Lutheran Church by Hosea Harkness in memory of his beloved wife, Lily Harkness. We are grateful to God for the generosity of Hosea and for the opportunity to remember Lily in worship.

I really enjoy developing goals. It has taken me years to figure this out, but I need to develop goals because I am easily distracted by possibilities and new ideas. I love new ideas. My imagination goes wild when someone comes forward and says something like: “Have you ever considered [fill in the blank] before? Might we try that out?”

New Journey Lutheran Church, ELCA, in Fountain Hills is hosting its ninth community food pack. The event will be Thursday, March 2, 2023, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Fountain Hills Community Center.

Merry Christmas, people of New Journey! While many of my neighbors have begun removing Christmas lights from the exterior of their homes and the inflatable Christmas characters are slowly disappearing from lawns, the western church continues to celebrate the joy and the mystery of God come down in the person of Jesus.

“What does it mean to accompany the vulnerable?” is among the questions raised in New Journey Lutheran Church’s 2022 weekly Advent season studies.

The Maricopa County Health Department is reporting elevations in the COVID-19 transmission rate in Fountain Hills.

This November, I traveled to Pinerock Camp and Retreat Center in Prescott, Arizona to attend First Call Theological Education (FCTE) with six of my first call colleagues, Bishop Deborah Hutterer of our Grand Canyon Synod, and Pastor Jacqui Pagel, Assistant to the Bishop for Candidacy and Faith Formation.