Community Church members gathered for pizza and a Q&A session with their pastors.
Margaret Falkowski
On June 4 members of Community Church at SaddleBrooke met at the Vermilion Room for an event that has become a summer tradition. The Pizza and Pastors dinner was conceived as a way to get to know our pastors and their wives better and as a summer social gathering for the year round residents. This was the fifth year for this event and there were 82 attendees. Guests of honor were Pastor Ron Gannett and wife Susie, Pastor Steve Wilson and wife Terri and Pastor Gary Williams with his wife Susie.
Pastor Gary got us started by showing us what he had in his pockets. He had planted some magic tricks there and entertained us all while the wait staff brought out 25 pizzas, all cooked in house: great food and they have such a great variety we highly recommend it! After dinner the pastors sat as a panel and responded to questions from the audience. Pastor Steve was asked if NFL refs have to run a 5.0 second 40 yard dash and was he coming out of retirement. He responded that refs are not timed and he would not want to be showing up the highly paid athletes, so he will stay retired. Pastor Gary was asked how many Tucson area schools are named for relatives since his family has been in the area for generations. His answer was two. Pastor Ron was asked what he fishes for in Canada and his response was Walleye, Pike and Pickerel. One question to all pastors; when was your last manicure or pedicure? No response—just the sound of crickets. The wives then joined the panel and were asked if they get embarrassed when they are mentioned in a sermon and do their husbands discuss that beforehand? They were also asked how they met. Gary and Susie said they were engaged within ten days of meeting. The evening closed with each pastor sharing his vision for a future church ministry. Pastor Gary shared his heart for the grieving, aging population and his intent to bring forth a grief sharing ministry. Pastor Steve shared his heart for outreach projects, similar to his Souper Bowl Sunday that benefitted the TriCommunity Food Bank with 1800 cans of soup. One project would benefit Gospel Rescue Mission with new clothing (underwear) for their clients. Pastor Ron and Susie shared their passion for further men’s and women’s Bible studies throughout the community and extending to SaddleBrooke Ranch. We feel blessed to have such a great pastoral staff and are thankful for their willingness to be transparent and a vital part of our community. We look forward to next year’s Pizza and Pastors.
Community Church at SaddleBrooke meets every Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. at the DesertView Theatre. We are a church of Grace and all are welcome.