Nurturing care and compassion for God’s creation
· I have made pastoral care a priority since seeking ordination in 2000.
· I answered youth crisis or concern calls, including one where I mediated a high-tension situation with a family and teenager.
· I assist with the annual Blessing of the Pets services.
· I eat red meat only once a week since meat production contributes to climate change, and eating less red meat may reduce emissions of methane and nitrous oxide.
Maintaining a basic understanding of mental health and wellness.
· I represented Desert Palm at a local (Chandler) school board meeting on the subject of youth mental health crisis.
· I Became certified as a Youth Mental Health First Aid guide (2023).
· I completed all four UCC SW Conference Boundary Trainings.
Practicing self-care and life balance
· I work with a spiritual director. This relationship has helped me to reflect most importantly on where I feel and see God working in my life. The most important distinction I acquired was to feel the life-giving work of chaplaincy.
· I have friends not connected to the church and interests outside the church including movies and books in the science fiction fantasy realm and I love to journal.
· I start my day with 30 minutes of meditation and prayer.
Providing hope and healing to a hurting world
· Using a Southwest Conference grant, I Helped organize a youth storytelling workshop at Desert Palm, to address the youth mental health crisis. This, and a follow-up workshop, gave youth a safe space to express their emotions. For me, the workshops drove home the power of storytelling and the need to connect with kids about what’s going on in a world turned upside down by Covid isolation, which continues to have emotional ripple impacts.
Attending to one’s own spiritual and pastoral care including engagement in supervision as appropriate
· I organize two youth outings a month.
· I choose and design Sunday school curriculum for younger kids every Sunday, teach the younger children one Sunday a month, and instruct the older youth twice a month. Through this I have deepened relationships with every single one of the youths and their parents at Desert Palm. Among the youth are several in the LGBTQ community and I have deepened my understanding of the challenges that they face, and the need for church to be a safe place for them to land, whether that be at Sunday school or planned activities.
Stewarding the Resources of the Church
· Establishing and monitoring the budget and resource material for Sunday school and youth activities.
· I paid my way to the 2023 United Church of Christ General Synod in Indianapolis, Ind.
· To maintain continuity, and to be mindful of church finances, I filled in for Rev. Dr. Tom Martinez while he was on sabbatical.
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