New District Administrative Assistant for West and North Districts
Cynthia Holly will be transitioning to be the single Administrative Assistant for all four districts in the Desert Southwest Conference beginning August 1, 2022. Cynthia has been a District Administrative Assistant for five years serving with the South and East Districts and brings a wealth of experience for this new position.
Welcome New Clergy in South District
Loye Ashton - Desert Skies UMC, Tucson Loye Sekihata Ashton has served as an ordained Deacon with the United Methodist Church since 2005 in the areas of education, music, worship, interfaith dialogue, and information and communications technology (ICT) ministry. He is...
Visit England in 2023!
Have you ever wanted to go to England and visit the sites that impacted John Wesley and helped form our Methodist faith? Now is your chance! Rev. Sharon Ragland and other South District Pastors (Revs. Lynn and Ron Bartlow and Rev. Doug Handlong) will lead a Wesley...
Summer Camp is in Full Swing!
By Patricia Pegram, Camp & Retreat Ministries Summer is full-swing and camps still need your help to fulfill our mission of sending every child to camp who wants to attend; All Play Fundraising is ongoing, so you are still able to donate to our campership...
Visit England in 2023!
Have you ever wanted to go to England and visit the places that impacted John Wesley and helped form our Methodist faith? Now you have the chance! Rev. Sharon Ragland and other pastors from the South District will lead a Wesley Heritage Tour through Educational...
Working Together as Teams
By Rev. Matt Ashley, South District Missional Strategist & Superintendent Is there an equivalent to the Staff-Parish Relations Committee for the South District Superintendent? What are the first steps for a person experiencing a call into ministry? If my church...
Here Comes the Summer (Doo do doo doo!)
By Patricia Pegram, Camp & Retreat Ministries Summer is quickly approaching and camps still need your help to fulfill our mission of sending every child to camp who wants to attend; All Play Fundraising is ongoing, so you are still able to donate to our...
Leadership Talk with Bishop Grant Hagiya
This month’s event Spiritual Kaizen: How to Become a Better Church Leader will be presented by Bishop Grant Hagiya and is based on the book he authored.
Summer Fun at Mingus Mountain Camp
by Rev. Matt Ashley, South District Missional Strategist and Superintendent Late one night at camp I walked to the outdoor chapel for a little quiet time. After a hectic day all the campers were in their cabins, and it was time to catch my breath and enjoy God’s...
A Journey into the Heart of Christ: Spiritual Healing and Justice (September 18-23, 2022)
This year’s Five Day Academy for Spiritual Formation is a response to two of our greatest needs: a desire to deepen our life with God and a longing for justice. Too often, the Church is split between those who pray and those who march. The reality is that the...
Easter Tidings & Spring Cleaning
By Patricia Pegram, Camp & Retreat Ministries There's much to do to as we prepare for Easter and get our DSC Camps ready for summer campers and adult retreats! We want to ensure every camper who wants to come to camp can do so; we continue to raise...
When Life is Untidy and Complicated
March Madness! I’ve got my brackets printed off, ready to decide which men’s and women’s college basketball teams I think will win in this year’s NCAA Tournaments. My interest is renewed this year with the resurgence of my hometown Arizona Wildcats. Last year University of Arizona’s women’s team went all the way to the championship game. This year the men’s team is rated #2 in the country and was just awarded the #1 seed in the South Regional. Bear Down, Arizona! 68 teams in the men’s NCAA Tournament. 67 games spread over three weeks. 67 teams will lose their final game and be eliminated. One team will win all their games and be the champions – a storybook ending to someone’s dream season. It’s so nice and tidy, the NCAA Tournament. 68 teams know their task – win all their games. No doubt, no wondering what the goal is, no lack of clarity – just win.
The Benefit of One-to-One Conversations
The Lewis Center for Church Leadership recently published the article "How One-to-One Conversations Reintroduced a Church to its Neighbors by Travis Norvell. Travis Norvell, pastor of Judson Church in Minneapolis, describes the blessing and insight that flowed from...
Leadership Talk – April 11, 2022
This month’s event Leading Local Church Committees/Herding Cats presented by Mr. Daniel V. Boring, a lifelong Methodist and active member at Vista de la Montana UMC, is based on his over 50 years of hands-on experience leading both large and small Methodist church groups.
April 2 District Leadership Webinars
In this webinar, Cat Holbert, DSC Director of Camping & Retreat Ministries will talk to us about the theories of group dynamics and how to form strong connections in the building of diverse relationships.
Spring: Time to Play!
By Patricia Pegram, Camp & Retreat Ministries With Winter Camps wrapped up and the first day of Spring ahead, we have so much to do to get ready for spring retreats and summer camps at both of our DSC Camps! We want to ensure every camper who wants to come...
Strength, Encouragement and Courage in Hardship
Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home;
Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.
Imagine how these words sounded when enslaved people working the cotton fields in the Old South poured out their hearts in song. Black spirituals developed organically as heartfelt expressions of pain, longing, and hope in the face of intolerable cruelty and torture. They are among the many treasures we celebrate during Black History Month.
“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” is found in the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal (#703). The hymnal lists its scripture reference as 2 Kings 2:11. The passage describes the final conversation the prophet Elijah has with his protégé Elisha, before “a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven.”
Hybrid Evangelism: The New Reality for Congregations
The Lewis Center is offering "Hybrid Evangelism: The New Reality for Congregations" on Tuesday, March 1, noon-1:30pm Eastern Standard Time. In this webinar you will learn practices for adapting relational evangelism to hybrid ministry. To learn more about this timely...
How We Lead Matters – Leadership Talk
This month’s event “How We Lead Matters” is based on the book with the same title from Marilyn Carlson Nelson features Rev. Dottie Escobedo Frank, senior pastor Paradise Valley UMC, on Monday, March 14 at 7:00 PM.
For the Love of Camp
By Patricia Pegram, Camp & Retreat Ministries February is here and that means Winter Camps, Summer Staff recruitment, and spring just around the corner! We have quite a lot to offer from both of our DSC Camps, so be sure to take a look at each camp website for...