Beloved Community

It would have been easier in Tucson, Randy says. But it's more meaningful in Green Valley / Sahuarita.

So if you've read and retained these blogs (no reason you should, there won't be a test) you know I went to Arizona because of my colleague, Randy Mayer, pastor of Good Shepherd UCC.

Randy and I overlapped at seminary, but didn't know each other very well. I knew he'd been called to ministry in Arizona and I'd read he brought water into the desert for immigrants; I learned more when he had a booth at the UCC Synod in 2013, where I was a delegate. But I didn't know much.

Now I know a little more. And I want to be Randy when I grow up (not that he's all that grown up himself, in the best way). He is a visionary leader, but collaborative and down-to-earth. He works hard, but somehow always has time for a meal or music or to help somebody out. Randy gets people and projects started and then lets them go or even sends them away, so that the seeds he helps plant can flourish in the world. He is my favorite blend of cynical and idealistic.

On my first full day in AZ I scored a car ride with Randy, and immediately started picking his brain to understand the context of his community - and the work I'd get to do with them - a little better.

Green Valley and Sahuarita are two separate towns often lumped together (UCCB folks, think Acton - Boxborough). Green Valley is a 55+ community (80% of the housing is age restricted), one of the largest active retirement communities in the world. I couldn't tell any of that just by driving / walking around - but I did notice golf carts are legal on the streets! Most people in Green Valley are from somewhere else; either "snowbirds" coming to AZ for the winter or retirees who have moved here permanently.

By contrast, Sahuarita has more "locals," people born and raised in the general area and working for Border Patrol, the military, Raytheon, etc. Sahuarita, then, is more diverse in age and ethnicity, and lower on the economic scale than Green Valley.

Both communities tend to be conservative in political and religious affiliation, especially compared to an urban area like Tucson (and certainly compared to my communities in MA).

Good Shepherd UCC is on a street with a bunch of other churches. It is far and away the most "liberal" of the bunch, theologically and on social issues like being open and affirming to GLBTQ+ people. And Good Shepherd is really the only church in GV / Sahuarita actively involved in supporting immigrants and refugees.

Good Shepherd ends up being a sort of magnet for folks seeking a "progressive" faith community in the region. I was surprised how many congregants I met who chose to retire to Green Valley in large part because of Good Shepherd.

Let's be clear; I'm forcing towns and churches into some pretty narrow categories here. People and places are way more complicated than any label can capture. But my purpose is to highlight those categories for a moment.

I asked Randy what it was like to be a "progressive" pastor / church in a "conservative" community. That's when he said it would have been easier in liberal Tucson, but it's more meaningful here. His own neighbor works for Border Patrol, and so they discuss what each of them sees. The diversity means people have to have conversations where they build understanding, not just hang out with people who agree with them. He knows some border groups have a more militant approach, but he'd rather build relationships with hope for transformation.

This is exactly what my sabbatical is about practicing: how do we encounter each other, with all our differences and commonalities, and have difficult conversations about the things that matter to us, and to the world? That, for me, is what "beloved community" is - a place where we can honestly, compassionately, safely share our truths and be heard and held, as we work to bring God's kin-dom to the world.

I expect (and in fact hope) that some people reading my thoughts and experiences on the border will disagree with what I write. And sadly a blog isn't a good resource for dialogue - a comment at the bottom doesn't give us a chance to look into each other's eyes and truly hear each other (but please feel free to leave comments anyway!). But I'm hoping these posts will be fodder for future conversations, at my local church and beyond. So together we can continue to Build the Beloved Community.