Via de Cristo Faith Community

09/25/2019

Via de Cristo has discontinued Sunday services. Please consider visiting one of our sister progressive Christian churches listed on our webpage viadecristoaz.org.

08/31/2019

This Sunday (Sept. 1) , join us on the campus of Beatitudes Church at 11:30 as we welcome as guest speaker, ellie hutchinson with message, "Spokes of Love", touching on the common ground of theology and justice.

ellie (and yes, she prefers not to capitalize her name) currently serves as Community Outreach and Development Coordinator at First Church UCC Phoenix. Founding director of la Phoenikera Writers' Guild (laPWG), she brings a wealth of experience as an educator, community collaborator, writer, grass-roots organizer, and theologian.

08/17/2019

What a great Sunday to visit!! This Sunday Only, 10:00 combined, Via de Cristo led service in Nelson Hall on the Beatitudes Church campus, 7th Avenue and Glendale!! Check out

Church of the Beatitudes, a progressive Christian church in Phoenix Arizona, affirms that every person has worth as a unique creation made in the image of God.

08/10/2019

Join us for the 11:30 service on Sunday, August 11 in Britt Chapel at Beatitudes Church at 7th Avenue and Glendale. Familiar Via de Cristo service order, music, and content. See ya there!

08/02/2019

Is there "Life Beyond Worry"? Join us this Sunday in joint 10:00 service with Church of the Beatitudes. The following Sunday (August 11), meet with us in the 11:30 service in Britt Chapel on the campus of Beatitudes Church at 7th Avenue and Glendale Avenue in Phoenix.

07/24/2019

We meet again this coming Sunday July 28, as the new and distinctive 2nd Service of Beatitudes Church. Service time is 11:30, in Britt Chapel.
In the two months of July and August, we will meet on 2nd and 4th Sundays (sort of soft-startup as we work out the wrinkles in our new setting).
Then in September, plan is that we will resume weekly services.
It was ever so good to begin meeting again in service together two weeks ago. And we look forward to you this new thing with us this coming Sunday!!

07/12/2019

Well, …It’s finally upon us!!! July 14th is next Sunday, and preparations are underway for our first service as part of Beatitudes. The big screen is here, tested, and ready to go! And so are we!!

Service time is 11:30, in Britt Chapel.

We are in Phase two of our trajectory of full integration into the Church of the Beatitudes as the nucleus of a distinctive 2nd service.

In the two months of July and August, we will meet on 2nd and 4th Sundays (sort of soft-startup as we work out the wrinkles in our new setting).

Then in September, plan is that we will resume weekly services.

OH, IT WILL BE GOOD TO BE IN SERVICE TOGETHER AGAIN!!

07/06/2019

IMPORTANT! SET THESE DATES ASIDE!
Beginning the 2nd and 4th Sundays of July (and August), the people of Via de Cristo will begin meeting again together as the nucleus of an ll:30 second service of Church of the Beatitudes (7th Ave and Glendale).

This represents a remarkable and unexpected continuation of the progressive Via de Cristo legacy; same musicians (Erin and Nick, …and occasionally their friends), …a familiar service format and (importantly) engagement with the world around us.

The new ingredient is the pastoral continuity in the person of Tony Minear, Lead Pastor of Church of the Beatitudes, a growing voice of progressive Christianity in North-Valley area.

Please put these July and August dates on your calendar, if you are able. Together we can make a real difference for folks taking a fresh look at their Christian roots and commitments.

Plus, we’d love to see some of our friends that we’ve been missing for a while, whether it be for a few of these soft-start weeks, …or perhaps longer!

06/07/2019

Big Changes Afoot!! Good things happening! New location and time, and a fluid schedule for the next few months.
For now, from June 9 through July 7, we invite you to join with us in the 10:00 worship service of Church of the Beatitudes, at Glendale and 7th Avenue.
Look at our website, http://ViaDeCristoAZ.com and the About Us page for further information and our anticipated expanded schedule.
We will, at that point, resume services as a part of Church of the Beatitudes, the nucleus of an alternative and distinctive 2nd service on the Beatitudes campus identified as the Via de Cristo gathering.

05/29/2019

DON'T MISS! This week (June 2), we welcome as guest speaker Rev. Tony Minear, pastor of Church of the Beatitudes, Q&A with Tony in Page 2.

This Sunday marks the beginning of an important transition for Via de Cristo, as we explore a path of integration into the work of the Church of the Beatitudes as the core of a new, alternative 2nd service on Sundays.

Follow us beginning June 9th to our new location on the campus of Church of the Beatitudes at 7th Avenue and Glendale Avenue. [more at ViadeCristoAZ.com]

Pastor Tony Minear studied theology first at Southern University of Seventh Day Adventists, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Theology in 1987. This was followed by a Masters of Divinity from Andrews University in 2008, and PhD in Biblical Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada.

His continuing studies ultimately led him to seek a church community that was a better fit with his evolving beliefs, the United Church of Christ (UCC).

Tony says, "the motto, 'God is still speaking', resonates strongly with me. To be free to explore where my mind and the Spirit leads, and actually have that valued by a community is refreshing. Yet I also recognize the importance of allowing others the same freedom. Therefore, I operate from the premise expose but not impose."

In the Page 2 hour, we will have an opportunity to converse with pastor Tony to get better acquainted with him and with the work of the Church of the Beatitudes.

05/25/2019

This week (May 26), we once again welcome back Rev. Deborah Kehle. She brings with her a message, “Ordinary People” drawn from Exodus 1:8-22.

In this story, an Egyptian king, fearing a future uprising among his Hebrew slaves, orders the Hebrew midwives to kill all of the male newborns. But once again, things didn’t quite work out like it was expected.

Instead, the efforts of some “ordinary people” working together, significantly altered the trajectory of their people into the future.

We might be reminded that things in our lives often seem to work out in ways different than we might have anticipated. And yet, …..

Rev. Deborah is a Phoenix native. For 24 years, she served in Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) churches in Pueblo, CO and Sun City, AZ. Most recently, she pastored in the Santa Barbara area.

Returning to Phoenix 3 years ago, she made a career change. Now Board Certified as a professional chaplain, she currently serves as a chaplain for Hospice of the West.

IMPORTANT: In the Page 2 hour, we will turn to a time of questions and conversation regarding our proposed association with the Church of the Beatitudes.