TRACINGS

A LETTER FROM OUR PASTOR, WES AVRAM

Dear friends in Christ, This edition of Vistas is seasonal, delightful, and eclectic. You’ll find reflections on the season in worship, with an article on the Good Friday Requiem by our Director of Ministries in Music and Arts, Ilona Kubiaczyk-Adler. On theme, each of the traditional “Seven Last Words of Christ” receive a brief meditation by one of Pinnacle’s pastors and by three pastors or pastorally-trained members of our congregation— Bob Claus, Ben McConaughy, and Margo Walter. How blessed we are to have Margo, Ben, and Bob give voice to one of these words.

You’ll find a group of articles inviting you to think about Haiti, but differently than just about what the news is telling us. Those articles include a review and update on Pinnacle's mission connection in Haiti with Harmony Ministries. Also included is the story and update about the ongoing support Pinnacle members have provided the Cadet family, for more than a decade. Now members of our church family, the Cadets survived the Haitian earthquake, their son Michael's leukemia (which brought them to Phoenix for treatment, when post-earthquake Haiti had no medical resources for him), the integration of three and then four children into American culture, the cancer and subsequent death of the family’s father, Gustave, and their life since his death. The Cadets have been our friends, our inspiration, and part of our family. Member Anne Foley tells the story. And rounding out these articles, Pinnacle member James Lipscomb tells us about a very personal mission he's been called to in support of an extraordinary school in the village of Henche. James was most recently in Haiti and can help us unpack the complexity of what’s happening there.

And that’s not all! You'll read thoughts on parenting from our Associate Pastor for Family Ministries and Congregational Life, Rev. Leah Quarles. You’ll read member Mike Conklin’s account of member Mark Steel’s work with the Red Cross and how disaster assistance has become an expression of Mark’s faith. And you'll read a testimony about why they have included Pinnacle in their estate planning from Terry and Katherine Coult.

And if that wasn’t enough, we couldn't let pass the delightful event of three generations of one family being ordained into ministry at Pinnacle— as elder and deacons: Mary Kuenstler, Michelle Rogers, and Lily Rogers. The church at work!

But what's the through line of all of this, you ask. Well that’s the through line—everything. There are so many ways to think faithfully, act faithfully, and remember faithfully—all making us church together. We’re bound to each other, and to sisters and brothers across the generations and all over the world. And so from the fire of worship, the flame of mission, and the warmth of community, we experience Christ.

May what remains of Lent for you be rich and deep with those very things— worship, mission, and community. May you tell your stories well. And may Christ be with you and yours, on this way to Easter.

See you in church!

Wes