Welcome to the United Church of Sun City
Pastor's Post
All are welcome at United Church each Sunday at 10 am
for the worship and praise of God.
Greetings,
There are, on occasion, people who
seem to have the ability to garner
the admiration of just about everyone around them. Dolly Parton was one such person, and that admiration reached far beyond her home in the hills of east Tennessee to people all around the world.
Her accolades are abundant. For more than 50 years, she was celebrated for her songwriting, singing, acting, and performing. Her musical playlist is long, and we all have our favorite tunes. “Islands in the Stream,” with Kenny Rogers, would be mine.
So, while it was her celebrity that brought her so much attention, I sense that her legacy is about more than her stardom. I think it is found in the ways she sought to do good and help others.
Perhaps the most visible example is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program dedicated to cultivating a love of reading by gifting books, free of charge, to children from birth to age five. Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly started the Imagination Library in her home
county in 1995. Today, more than three decades later, the program reaches children in five countries and has given away more than three hundred million free books.
Dolly once said that when she was growing up in the hills of east Tennessee, she knew her dreams would come true. But she also understood that children everywhere have dreams of their own - of becoming a doctor, an inventor, a minister, or a writer - and that “the seeds of those dreams are often found in books” (Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library).
There is something deeply meaningful about that. Dolly had achieved extraordinary success, yet she never seemed to forget that her success could be used to help someone else discover a dream of their own.
And perhaps that is why, as I listened to some of the tributes pouring in following her death, from the famous and not-so-famous alike, one comment made by a man on the street talking with a reporter really spoke to me. He simply said, “She was a wonderful human being” (CBS News).
Shouldn’t that be the goal for us all?
I give thanks to God for Dolly Parton’s life - for her remarkable gifts, her generosity, her willingness to help others, and for the opportunities we all have to be wonderful human beings.
Peace,
Pastor Brady
United Church of Sun City, a congregation of the United Church of Christ, has the distinction of being the first church to be established in a Del Webb retirement community. Organized in 1960, United Church has been serving Sun City and the surrounding area since at the current location of 107th Avenue and Sun City Blvd.
Today, with an atmosphere of inclusion and care and with respect for diverse theological thought, the goal of United Church is to create a church family, while nurturing individual and collective spiritual development through meaningful biblically based worship, music, education, fellowship, and involvement of members and friends. United Church strives to provide wider community service, social justice, and responsible stewardship.
Senior Pastor Rev. Brady Abel, the United Church staff, and the entire congregation extend a special invitation to everyone for Sunday worship. All are welcome!
We're a lively congregation where age is a number and life is a gift.
- a fabulous music program
- a varied and stimulating activities program
- meaningful mission and creative outreach
- thought-provoking sermons and wonderful worship
New to United Church of Sun City? Check out our Visitors Page or watch to a recent sermon. Read our ONA statement.
In short, we're a community where people come to be part of family who worship, work, and have fun together.
The United Church of Sun City was the first church established in Sun City, Arizona. We have a well-deserved reputation for excellence in programming and warmth in our welcome. But we aren't stuck in the past! We know God is still speaking, and we are still listening! Come see for yourself.
Wherever you are on life's journey, you are welcome here!
United Church of Sun City
United Church of Sun City
11250 N. 107th Avenue, Suite 105
Sun City, AZ 85351-4002 MAP
(Corner of 107th Ave. & Sun City Blvd.)
Phone 623-933-0058 Email office@uccsc.com