By Christina Dillabough, Director of Communications
Barbara Rogers and granddaughter, Mikayla, at the 2014 Desert Southwest Annual Conference.
Barbara Rogers, Cokesbury Resource Consultant for the Desert Southwest Conference, recently announced her retirement. How will church leaders access quality ministry supplies and publications?
For over 18 years Barbara has partnered with churches of various denominations to allow people to connect through shared faith and values with Cokesbury resources. While reflecting on her years of service she shared these heartfelt sentiments,
“When I am at Annual Conference, a worship service, or a funeral and I watch clergy process in their robes I am profoundly thrilled that many of those robes were those of which I helped tailor and fit for our clergy. Many of them as they graduated from seminary or just before they were ordained would come in to get fitted for their first robe. The most rewarding ministry for me has been to be a resource to our clergy, laity, and members of the congregations. It’s been such a joyful relationship.”
Not so long ago, four generations of Rogers were actively participating at First UMC in Phoenix with Grandmother Barbara Rogers as the stronghold that directed the family in their faith journey. Barbara moved her mother-in-law to Arizona to help care for her and brought her to church on Sundays. Barbara’s son, Rev. Todd Rogers, first attended First UMC as a youth member. Today he serves as the Youth Pastor and his two children are active participants in youth ministries. This year his daughter Mikayla was a delegate from First UMC, Phoenix at Annual Conference.
Barbara is excited about retirement and is looking forward to volunteering, staying active at her church, and growing as a leader in a Conference board or committee. For that reason she says, “I don’t want to say goodbye, in regards to our relationships I’d rather say to be continued.”
Cokesbury has not left us in the dark. They will continue supporting the Desert Southwest Conference in a variety of ways. Through their website, www.cokesbury.com, we can enjoy an improved search function, a new online chat option, and greater shopping cart functions that will make ordering online as comfortable as working directly through an in-person representative. If questions or ordering over the phone is more comfortable, dial 1-800-672-1789 to use their free customer contact center. Teaching and learning resources can be found over the phone through Curric-U-Phone at 1-800-251-8591 as well. Barbara’s specialty was custom products for the individual. Specialized support for this area is available by contacting a Custom Sales Representative at 1-800-237-7511.
Barbara’s retirement is a celebration because it opens up time for her to spend with family and to grow as a leader at her church and in the Conference. Churches, leaders, and church members can rest comfortably knowing that Cokesbury is not gone and quality resources are still just a website or phone call away.
Editor’s Note:
In addition to the wonderful resources available through Cokesbury, every church in the Conference has a paid membership to access video resources from the Regional Media Center at no cost except for shipping which is usually about $7 per item. Check out the online catalog at www.regionalmediacenter.org and contact them at media@regionalmediacenter.org to request to be added to their monthly e-newsletter subscriber list or give them a call at 1-206-870-6813. Resource highlights and recommendations are available on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rmcumc .
Did you know that unlimited downloads from www.theworkofthepeople.com are also available through our affiliation with the Regional Media Center? Contact them to find out how to access this free resource.
