| a ministry of southwest cba |
May 2012 |
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CONNECTION Links
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Pastoral Search
Remember to keep our churches that are searching for new pastors in your prayers. Click on a link below to see their website or to get an email for more information.
Calvary Baptist, Tempe
FBC Arivaca
FBC Benson, Youth Associate
FBC Mammoth
p/t worship pastor
Trinity Baptist, Mesa
to invest in the
ministry of SWCC |
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Director's Column
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Dr. Bert Downs
Regional Director |
This past weekend Pastor Fred French of Valle Vista Community Church (Kingman) told Alice and me that every time he reads something from us we've been visiting another church. Generally, those visits are a big part of the joy in what we do. Why? Because we get to meet such amazing people . . . men and women like you're going to meet in this edition of Connection Magazine.
 They are dreamers and workers, tough and compassionate, skilled ministers yet never complacent in their skills . . . they're teachers, coaches, preachers, encouragers, correctors and friends . . . faithfully excellent at living out who they are in Christ. And very aware of their own frailties and need for grace. Now wouldn't hanging out with those kinds of people bring joy to your life, too?
Well, you get to . . . sort of . . . in this CM. A B Blair will show you what it's like to serve long and faithfully . . . and to stay youthful doing it. Ryan Nunez of Palm Valley Church will introduce you to the social media and how to use it effectively to build community. You'll see what our great camp team has planned for their busiest summer ever, and how the Southwest Church Connection and Prescott Pines are partnering up to tackle one of today's growing issues, bullying. Pastor John Caprine will help us understand how to handle adversity with faith. And Pastor Gene Willey shows what it means to keep the faith and to see a dream fulfilled.
Mostly you're once again going to see what happens when men and women trust Jesus together and are willing to go the distance for Him. These are people worth knowing, emulating, praying for and investing in . . . these are the Godly influencers in our Southwest network of churches. May the family prosper . . . and increase! Enjoy your reading and viewing . . .
Bert |
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AB Blair. . . Veteran Pastor with Youthful Dreams
Usually our dreams kind of match our season of life. Not so with Pastor A B Blair of First Baptist Church in Benson AZ. A B - that's his name by the way, but that's another story - has a legacy of dreaming big and seeing those dreams become real. Like the time as a young pastor, he asked a group in another town to contribute an unused church building for his congregation and got one of his deacons to agree to cover the cost of moving it . . . and it happened. Throughout his four decades of ministry he seems to have been able to see the potential in a given place and circumstance, and to guide congregations to reach in faith for that potential.
Born in Texas, Pastor Blair developed his Arizona roots when his parents moved to Clifton AZ. In his words, they were poor . . . lived in a tent with a dirt floor when they first moved. But there was work in Clifton and with the large family pulling together theirs became a success story of eventual business ownership and influence. Along the way, he began attending First Baptist Church of Clifton where soon after a young pastor, barely older than A B, came to serve. That connection with then a young Wes Darby was to be a key to A B's life in ministry. Pastor Darby took him and several others under his ministry wing and nurtured their development. Pastor Blair believes that at least ten young people from those days ended up in full time ministry, largely because of Darby's mentor role.
Blair has served three churches in Southeast Arizona: FBC - Sierra Vista, Golf Links Baptist (now River of Life) in Tucson and currently FBC - Benson. The Tucson and Benson ministries started as interim pastorates; the first "interim" lasted over two decades and he's now in his second decade at Benson. His wife Roberta insists there will be no more interims! When asked what characterizes his ministries, he quickly points to two things: he's a builder and an evangelist. Every place A B has served affirms those qualities. But we think there's another: youthfulness. How else do you describe a man who waited until his 70's to get a pilot's license? And who says one of his commitments is to give his church a "new pastor" every three years or so. How? By becoming that new pastor himself . . . by always growing and becoming new in the Lord and in ministry.
 | | AB Blair - SWCC Heritage Series |
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Building Community through Technology
February's Annual Growth Conference was rich in its display of the gifts, knowledge and experiences that reside within the leaders of our churches. The 2012 AGC was unique in that every part of the event featured our region's homegrown leadership. One of the most attended seminars of the day focused on using today's technology and tools to build community. Ryan Nunez of Palm Valley Church (Goodyear) led his attendees on a journey through the ways that social media tools, often seen as impersonal, can be very personal and effective in building a church's community.
Pastor Nunez organized his student's thinking around three broad areas of communication: the external communication of a church - that is how do you best reach people who aren't in church yet and what are the important aspects of the message; second, the internal communication of a church - how you keep your growing community effectively connected to one another and the ministries of the church; and lastly, communication management - the use of church management software to effectively manage the various facets of communication from data bases to attendance, prayer requests, ministry involvement and the like.
Ryan's central point was that the tools and the message have to work together to accomplish a few key things: to reach new people and make it easy for them to come to church (website the primary tool). All outreach should drive people to your primary tool for capturing them. Next, once people are attendees, your communication strategy moves to how you keep people effectively connected. For Palm Valley its Facebook; Ryan explored the effective use of this massively used connection tool. Lastly, you've got to have a way of managing the facets of your communication to maximize effectiveness, eliminate potential gaps and assure yourself that the communication that has been planned really is happening, is current and having effect . . . that all your tools are working together and effectively. Bottom line: know what your communication is supposed to do, select the best tool to do it, keep the message simple and focused and measure your results. BCT was a powerful seminar, and as you'll see through the video, Ryan's teaching is still making a difference throughout the region and beyond.
 | | Building Community Through Technology |
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Summer Camps at Prescott Pines
Author: Danny Barreras
Program Coordinator
Prescott Pines Camp
Summer is nigh! And with Summer (in my opinion, the greatest time of the year) comes Summer Camp. Our staff have been working like madmen to prepare the camp for this joyous season, and preparation will continue all the way up to the eve of our first campers' arrival.
Our Building and Grounds department, headed by the venerable Paul Clark, has been laboring intensely on projects in every far-flung corner of our expansive grounds, from the construction of the all-new Hilltop 2 to the remodeling of our Frontier Village girls' bathroom. Paul, our paragon of plywood, has been aided by an unprecedented number of volunteers, including dozens of SOWERS. Projects are being accomplished at an astonishing rate, and we are further along in our preparations for summer than we have ever been at this point in the year.
My summer staff recruiting has also proceeded at a record pace. We currently have nearly every spot filled, an occurrence I have not seen since my first summer as summer staff! Included in our roster are both battle-scarred veterans like Johnny Ringo, and fresh recruits, many from Arizona Christian University. Our recruiting program at ACU was a great success this year, and 6 of our counselors are ACU students.
 This summer, our Frontier Village Program is entitled "Showdown: Will You be Able to Stand Up?" When a mysterious stranger comes to town with an offer that seems too good to pass up, will the townsfolk be able to do the right thing? . . .
Click Here to READ MORE |
Cross the Line - Taking Steps Toward Empathy and Self  Respect Workshop
Author: Sandra Maki
Communications / Social Media
Prescott Pines Camp / SWCC
The headlines are rampant with them. News of bullying-related issues in schools has increased exponentially over the past few years. The saddest of all is when those headlines connect teenage suicide to bullying. The documentary "Bully" recently released in theaters has drawn much needed attention to the issue and exposed its evil. Schools are stepping up and government has stepped in forcing mandated training and school wide policy. So the question is, what is the church doing about it? Could this be a place where the body of Christ can bring healing, love, grace and peace?
Prescott Pines Camp offers a bullying workshop in its Outdoor Education Program. With its effectiveness, the invitation came to bring the program to Hull Elementary, a public school in Chandler. Jalin, a sixth grade participant, said this of the workshop, "I've done things to other people that I didn't even know it was bullying. All of the people I've insulted I've apologized to. If you wouldn't have come, I would have still been being rude and harsh. Thank you for you really made an impact on my life." Emily also shared, "I will always help stop bulling from happening from now on. I have learned a lot about respect and empathy. The bullying around sixth grade has mostly stopped. I am trying to help teach the younger kids now."
At the end of this month, SWCC and Prescott Pines Camp will be putting on an initial training session for youth pastors and children's ministers to equip them with the program. They will be taught how to facilitate the "Cross the Line -Taking Steps Towards Empathy and Self-Respect Workshop" and how to implement it in their youth groups and Sunday schools. The hope is that with God's favor they will be able to then take the program into their local schools. This first training will take place on Saturday, May 19 at Palm Valley Church in Goodyear from 9am to noon followed by a pizza lunch. The special tuition is $10 paid at the door and covers the seminar, materials, and meal. If you are interested in attending, please call or email Heather at Prescott Pines Camp as you must pre-register, heather@prescottpines.org or 928-445-5225. This timely seminar at this introductory price will fill fast and registration will close at 20. With the success of this first training, we look to have more in other regions as well. We hope that through this program the church will be able to be His Light in such darkness.
"The anti-bully workshop was not only educational for our students, but also transformational. Our 6th grade students walked away with a better understanding of themselves and of their peers and were able to be more empathetic and understanding to one another. The presentation really connects with students on their level and is highly impactful. The tradition is one we hope to continue each year at science camp." - Frank Hendricsen, Assistant Principal Gateway Pointe Elementary
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Thankfulness in all Circumstances
Author: Pastor John Caprine
Summit Ridge Church, Las Vegas
We had an interesting weekend last week when we discovered that our trailer was stolen off of the school property where we keep it. Yes, they used a plasma cutter to cut through the trailer hitch lock and cut off the cable that went through the tires on the side. Amazing! It took them about 20 minutes to complete the job - and they did it at 7am Saturday morning... 30 minutes before we got there to set up for Sunday service. Amazing! (We have a video of the event because of the school's video system - but not enough detail to catch the thieves.)
What was taken was all of our chairs, our outdoor signs, the drums and the pulpit. No sound equipment was on the trailer so we are blessed! We have insurance and it should be kicking in soon. We have numerous things to do to replace the items, and work through. Numerous phone calls. Planning. Communication. Waiting. Inconvenience. On and on it goes. But I am not writing to complain. Actually, it's quite the opposite. What I wanted to draw our attention to is how great our God is!
Look, we all have frustrations in life. We have areas that we aren't happy about and we complain and grumble over a mountain of issues. For example, we complain about the traffic, gas prices, the government, we grumble about our kids teachers, the youth of today. We complain about our jobs and our bosses. We have a tendency to bring it into the church as well. We grumble about there being too many songs, not enough songs, it's too loud, too quiet, bad song choice, sermons are too long. We complain about the people - they are not friendly, too "this" too "that", what they wear. I had someone once tell me my shirts aren't ironed well enough. Gesh! Really? . . .
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Firehouse Forms Answer for Pastor's Burden/Dream
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Chaplain Gene Willey |
Ever feel a burden to reach people outside of the four walls of the church you attend?
Even pastors - like Gene Willey - have dreams like that! In Gene's case he realized that pastors like him often don't have many friends outside of the church environment, something he very much desired. But it's one thing having the dream and another figuring out how it might get fulfilled.
And then he drove past a fire station being constructed and the plan - God's plan - began to come together. Why not a chaplain at that station? To make the picture clear, Gene had been praying for something like this a long time; so long he didn't think it would happen. But it did . . . connection made . . . fire chief on board . . . it all comes together.
Rev. Gene Willey is now also Chaplain Willey . . . mentor, friend, coach, pastor, teacher, and general encourager . . . in that fire station that caught his eye on what otherwise was an uneventful drive. Open doors? Absolutely. Gene has learned that when God opens them, you need to move through them quickly. A key to opening doors? Compassion. Willey says that, "Compassion doesn't go unnoticed, and people like it when you take the time to care about things that are important in their lives."
Most of the things that Gene does at the station are outside his responsibilities at First Baptist Church of Nogales where he serves as an Associate Pastor. The men at the Men's Round Up know Gene as the bass player in the worship band. He now has a whole new band he serves and loves . . . firemen. With that band, he's learned that hanging out, recognizing achievement, listening well, being yourself, coaching with love, celebrating the little and big things, being a friend and being patient . . . all of that opens doors and hearts in a world of ministry that until a few months ago was only a dream. |
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