News & Events

Vista to Celebrate All Saints Day

Posted on Oct 23, 2019 in General |

On Sunday, November 3, Vista UMC celebrated All Saints Day, a day of remembrance for the saints, with the New Testament meaning of all Christian people of every time and place. We celebrate the communion of saints as we remember those who have gone to the Church Triumphant. Members and friends purchased Mums that were placed at the front of the sanctuary in memory of those loved ones who, by their inspiration have helped us on our way. Many also brought picture(s) of loved ones that were displayed in the sanctuary.

Building Progress Making Great Strides!

Posted on Oct 8, 2019 in General |

Photo courtesy of Larry Montebello, Concord General Contracting

Photo courtesy of Larry Montebello, Concord General Contracting

Photo courtesy of Larry Montebello, Concord General Contracting

Construction Update Photos

Posted on Sep 26, 2019 in General |

September 23, 2019

Vista Joy of Song Chorus

Posted on Aug 29, 2019 in General |

The Vista Song of Joy Mini-Chorus consists of three groups: the memory impaired, caregivers and support singers. Each group brings not only singing but other skills and virtues as well. The memory impaired have a much needed and rare ability to love that can be described as beautifully and readily available. Their exquisite long term memory, stimulated by music is remarkable. The caregivers’ unconditional love is a constant source of inspiration and serves as a model for the rest of us. The support singers’ commitment to the project is unwavering. They never ” call in sick”, but are always faithful. Underlying all of this is a common belief that God has called us to this project. The result of the gathering of the people of God of similar faith, varied talents and virtues with a common mission, is a Christian community of Joy.

New members are invited to join the chorus, but must do so by October 18 in order to participate in the Christmas Concert on December 15. We would be delighted to welcome the memory impaired and caregivers to join us in our joyful venture! We will meet for rehearsals for our Christmas concert every Friday at 10 am, beginning on October 18. Please call Jane if you wish to join.

Jane Stump, Director, The Song of Joy Chorus

(520) 288-6840

Grief Support Group

Posted on Aug 14, 2019 in General |

GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP

Many people who are grieving wonder if they would benefit from joining a support group. Each individual grieves in his/her own way but many have found that learning about grief and what to expect and discovering that others have the same feelings they do helps them gain insight into their own grief and learn ways of coping. Most people find that besides receiving support, giving support to others benefits them as they go through their own grief journeys. If you have questions or wish to join a group, call Pastor Fred at 825-1985 or Gerry Alberts at 825-4642. Non Vista people are welcome.

Adult Christian Ed Classes

Posted on Aug 14, 2019 in General |

Adult Christian Education Classes

2023

NEW ADULT EDUCATION CLASS STARTING THIS WEEK – July 12, 2023

Teachers: Linda and Jim Galka

Time: 10:00 AM Wednesdays in the Elizabeth Room of the Admin/Education Building

FIRST PERSONS

Fictional Accounts of people who witnessed incidents in the life of Jesus By Ronn Kerr

First person narratives have a unique power in teaching. These six fictional stories are grounded in the Gospel teachings of the Bible. Join them to be introduced to The Wine Merchant, The Potter’s Wife The Zealot,

The Cloth Maker, The Centurion and The Street Woman. The preparation for this entertaining and

insightful class will be all from the Gospels as follows:

Week 1: The Wine Merchant: Matt 3:1-17, Mark 1: 1-11, Luke 3: 1-22, John 1: 15-34

Week 2: The Potter’s Wife: Matt 13: 54-58, Mark 6: 1-6, Luke 4: 16-30

Week 3: The Zealot: Matt 26:17—29, Mark 14: 12-26, Luke 22: 7-23, John 13: 1-30

Week 4: The Cloth Maker: Matt 21: 1-13, Mark 11: 1-11, 15-19, Luke 19: 29-48, John 2 13-17, 12: 12-19.

Week 5: The Centurion Matt 27:11-37, Mark 15: 1-26, Luke 23 1-34, John 18: 28-19:34

Week 6: The Street Woman: Matt 27: 38-61, Mark 15: 27-47, Luke 23: 35-56, John 8: 2-11. 19: 25-42.

Each week is taught independently to accommodate those of us who travel more during the summer.

Before Church Sunday School (on Summer Break – will return in the Fall)

Sunday 8:45 AM—9:45 AM Led by Mel McIntyre St Matthew Room

The Wired Word will be offered before church Sunday morning. The Wired Word applies Biblical principles to current events. Mid-week you will be emailed the lesson including – In the News, Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope with Discussion Questions. Check out the wiredword.com for more information and a sample lesson.

After Church Sunday School

Sundays 11:20 AM—12:45 PM Led by Dottie Lou Colby St Matthew Room

This class has been meeting for some 20 yrs. There have been a variety of teachers. Currently, Linda Whitington is the teacher now for over 8 yrs. The class has a wonderful opportunity to pray, watch a meaningful video study with discussion following & fellowship.

This ongoing class provides a welcoming atmosphere for everyone and especially enjoys including new members.

To join, please contact Donna Boring. For questions, please contact Linda Whittington.

Lectionary Bible Study for Women

Thursdays 10:00 AM Via ZOOM

This class has been in weekly session for over 2 years. It uses the Upper Room Lectionary study entitle Disciplines, A Book of Daily Devotions. The class includes daily Bible and devotional readings which are discussed during the class.

UPDATED 07.08.2023

Vista Sun Wheel

Posted on Jul 19, 2019 in General |

The Vista Sun Wheel
(a medicine wheel).

The Vista Medicine Wheel was constructed on our church property to honor the ancient people nearby who also built just such an observatory. Theirs was larger and more complex, tracking rising stars as well as the equinox and solstice.

The Vista Sun Circle is 63 feet/19.2 meters in diameter thus 197.8 feet/ 60.2 meters circumference. The circular edge and central cairn are made of broken limestone, 4 to 12 inch random. The bed is decomposed ½ inch granite with fines, standard landscape material for southern Arizona. The center post is marked by a sandstone block about 30inch/75cm tall. That post is nearly buried due to recent addition to the mass of the cairn.

The solstices and equinox are indicated very well. This site has irregular horizons (mountains) and this is compensated for by the 6 U shaped viewing stations. Note, this will make most sunrise “late” and most sunset “early”. Our truest level view and most accurate sunset time is during sunset, winter solstice. We work with what we are given! Amen.

Suggested visiting times: 1 hour before sunrise to 1 hour after sunset and all daylight hours. If the office is open check in as a courtesy.

Sturdy shoes are best to walk the gravel path. In warm weather wear a hat, bring water and watch for desert denizens! The toughest creatures I have seen in the time of construction were several horned toads and one gecko. These are a blessing from nature, live closest to the earth and see all. Please remain in the graveled area, do not go into the brush. Church policy does not allow overnight tenting/camping/RV parking on church property. Thank you for your consideration.

Photo Credit: James Bleess

Construction Progress Photos

Posted on Jul 16, 2019 in General |

August 13

August 13

July 26, 2019

August 9

Vista Church – San Manuel

Posted on Jan 16, 2019 in General |

Join us at Vista Church San Manuel at 4 pm every Sunday and experience faith, fellowship, food and fun! There will be Sunday school for the kids, as well as nursery care. We look forward to seeing you there! You’ll find us at the Community Presbyterian Church, 801 McNab Pkwy in San Manuel.

Livestreaming over the internet and the ability to record and play back a worship service at any time and any place has given us wide possibilities to get out the message of Jesus Christ. Once the initial investment of equipment has been made, the cost of sending out our worship service for the world to join with us is virtually nil.

We have been Livestreaming our worship services for almost two years and have people joining in worship every Sunday from across the United States. We have had people join us from Australia to Switzerland. There is a regular group of people (between 25 and 50) who join us every Sunday. “We” are Vista de la Montana United Methodist Church of Catalina. Vista Church is much shorter, so I will use that name in the future.

In June of 2017 as I was walking and praying it occurred to me, we could use the Livestreaming of our services to start and support Satellite Fellowships of our church in the smaller communities of Arizona. A “local church” start or the beginning of a Fellowship as it is currently done in our denomination is an enormously expensive proposition. With land, building and personnel, it can easily run a million dollars over a 3-year period. Land, buildings and personnel is not what church is all about! The church is about the message of God’s love revealed to us in Jesus. It’s about groups of people drawn together by this message of love who work to live out that message with each other and their community. Christianity is as much about belonging as believing.

So, Vista Church and a grant is taking care of all the costs of starting Satellite Fellowships. Our intention is not to own any property, but either rent or borrow space. Our intention is to bring together people who would like to help us grow this new way of being the church and worshiping God in the age of the internet.

We will be gathering Sundays at 4pm starting January 20th, at the Community Presbyterian Church at 801 McNab Pkwy in San Manuel. We will be practicing what I call the “4fs”: food, fellowship, fun and faith. I encourage you to watch us online at vistaumc.org. You can join us live on Sundays or join in previously recorded worship services. Watch for future articles.

Some have asked what is the difference between a “Satellite Fellowship” and a “Local Church” besides the location? The modern phenomena of “Home Churches” opening up “Satellite Churches” is one in which I believe the Home church remains in a closer relationship with the Satellite Fellowship. Rather than starting a fellowship with the intention that the Satellite Fellowship becomes at some point a total separate local church, the two or more worshipping communities share a common ministry and mission only separated by location.

In a Home Church/Satellite Fellowship the members of the Satellite Fellowship are members of the Home Church and vice a versa. The precedence for this in our Denomination, which is United Methodist, is that when you become a member of a Local United Methodist Church you are a “United Methodist”. From that point on when you move from one UM Church to another you simply transfer your letter of membership to the new Church.

We as Methodists are really big on “Belonging and Believing”. We believe that when God calls us into a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, God calls us into a relationship with other believers to strengthen our belief and join with them in ministry and mission. We believe we can do more together than we can do separately. There is more power in our common ministry and mission than we can exercise as individuals.

These two words, “ministry and mission” are often used interchangeable, but here is where I see the difference. “Ministry” is what the local church does for itself. Examples are: worship, Bible Studies, Sunday School, potlucks and fellowship events etc. Mission is what we do for others outside our local church. Examples of mission for Vista Church is that we support Family First, The Community Food Bank, Impact, and our work in Agua Prieta Mexico with the Fuente de Vida Methodist church along with many others.

A crossover of ministry and mission is our “Prayer Shawl Ministry”. These prayer shawls are crocheted and prayed over by a group of women in our church and then they are consecrated and blessed in our worship services. The “Prayer Shawls” are then distributed to members and friends both within and without the church who are in hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation and hospice situations. Several people in the past two years have gone home to God, either wrapped in a prayer shawl, or covered by one and in a real sense covered by our prayers as God accepts them home. You don’t have to be a member to be involved in such a ministry/mission you just need to know how to knit or crochet and like to pray as you work.

I and Vista Church Catalina are looking forward to working in partnership with the people of San Manuel as we begin worship there on Sunday January 20th at 4pm at the Community Presbyterian Church 801 McNab Pkwy in San Manuel.

In Christ, Rev. Fred C. Baum, Vista Church

Facebook