| |
The Presbytery of Grand Canyon
Arizona
The Children’s Program at KEYS Community Center presents a pageant.
Volunteers from Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley reach people of different cultures at the KEYS Community Center, where children of south Phoenix find help and hope.
A regular volunteer is retired educator Bob Small. When he arrives, each of the children demands “Grandpa Bob’s” attention. He patiently helps each child sound out words, and when a new reader reads an entire page, Bob’s face reflects the child’s excited pride. The various lilts of their voices create harmonies in counterpoint to their various cultural backgrounds. “Come to see our play tomorrow, Grandpa!”
“It’s ‘The Three Little Pigs.’” “Grandpa Bob, I’m gonna have a pig nose!” It would be hard to guess who has more fun, Bob Small or the children he mentors.
The KEYS (Knowledge, Education, Youth, and Society) Center focuses on community improvement through strategic partnerships with faith- and community-based organizations. By coordinating with KEYS, congregations can deploy volunteers directly into hands-on ministry, including holiday family celebrations, the Valley Children’s Choir, and the Community Health Fair. A twelve-week class for adults, “Love Thy Neighbor,” is led jointly by pastors
of Southminster Presbyterian and Valley Presbyterian with the director of KEYS, Deborah J. Kidd Chapman. Along with African American theology, perspectives, and spirituality, participants collaborate on still more ways of ministering together.
The Presbytery of Grand Canyon has 70 congregations and 7 chapels with 15,644 members. Cook School for Christian Leadership and Montlure Presbyterian Camp are within its bounds.
Elder Mary Lynn Walters, member, GAMC
Presbytery Staff
The Rev. Ken Moe, executive presbyter
The Rev. Renato Alvarez, director, ministry to the rural poor
The Rev. José Olagues, associate executive for congregational resourcing
Robert Lewis, interim associate executive for Native American ministries
Richard Coffelt, stated clerk
Linda Bailey, assistant stated clerk, manager, records and publications
Marcia McCabe, office manager
Paul Frieling, accounting coordinator
Starr Luteri-Hicks, clergy spouse ministry
Don Swanson, administrative property manager
Kate Wilmoth, director, resource center
Mission Volunteers in the U.S.A.
Young Adult Volunteers, YAV Tucson Borderlands, Arizona: Anthony Damelio, Staci Imes, Rachel Pacheco, Sarah Parsons, Daniel Portice, Jessica Rigel, and Diana Stapp
Great Spirit, Creator of this land and Author of every story, we long for you to sweep like a cooling wind over the deserts and mountains of our souls. Wash us with the rains of justice, restoring the withered roots of our faith, breaking open the seeds of our hope, and raising up the green shoots of long-awaited peace. Amen.
Ps. 63, 149 Ps. 125, 90
Micah 7:11–20
1 Peter 4:7–19; Matt. 20:29–34
|
|
