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Making a Difference: Pastor emphasizing community involvement, care
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| MARIO AGUILAR | SAHUARITA SUN Ben Barfield, pastor of Sahuarita’s Common Ground Church, and his congregation strongly believe in service to the community. |
By Karen Walenga, Sahuarita Sun
Service to one’s community is the focus of Sahuarita’s Common Ground Church, led by Pastor Ben Barfield.
“Church is not what happens on Sundays,” but what seeps into society during the week, Barfield says.
For him and his congregation, that includes volunteering at local schools, helping area families in need, supporting youth programs and more.
For example, on the first day of classes at Sahuarita’s Anza Trail School, Common Ground members helped direct students to their classrooms.
They also helped paint the new K-8 school in Rancho Sahuarita and painted, reroofed and remodeled a bedroom into a nursery for a local family having their first baby, Barfield says.
“It was awesome,” he notes with a smile.
“I really think it’s important to get involved in the whole community and spend time with kids,” Barfield says.
“A pastor needs to love the community, the people, and help make it a better place” by working with the town, the school district and other churches, he says.
Barfield, 39, grew up in Tucson, graduated from Flowing Wells High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in church music from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
He and his wife Jill, a Sahuarita teacher for the past six years, moved to town in 2006 with their three children, ages 15, 11 and 6.
Barfield worked as a youth pastor in Tucson for 15 years and started Common Ground in January 2006.
Supported by the Baptist Church, Common Ground has “a nondenominational feel,” Barfield says, noting that attendance has grown to about 200 folks on a recent Sunday in March.
The name reflects the congregation’s belief that “everyone is the same in God’s eyes ... and we try to establish common ground with others” and build relationships, Barfield says.
He sees that his work can change lives, as members find more productive ways of living.
For example, two couples with marital problems were able to reconcile with help from the church. They now are living “a better way, with concern” for others around them, he notes.
Some congregation members, he notes, are finding a purpose in life serving others, discovering how “doing for others makes a difference,” as does having Christ in their lives, Barfield says.
Common Ground Church holds services on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. at Anza Trail School.
This month, the church’s current series of programs continues with “Raising G-rated kids in an X-rated World.”
The church also will offer a week-long camp this summer for boys and girls ages 6-12 focusing on life skills and basketball skills.
Making a Difference features folks who help make Sahuarita a great place to live. To recommend someone for this weekly series, call Karen Walenga at 547-9739, e-mail to kwalenga@gvnews.com or FAX to 625-1603.
“Church is not what happens on Sundays,” but what seeps into society during the week, Barfield says.
For him and his congregation, that includes volunteering at local schools, helping area families in need, supporting youth programs and more.
For example, on the first day of classes at Sahuarita’s Anza Trail School, Common Ground members helped direct students to their classrooms.
They also helped paint the new K-8 school in Rancho Sahuarita and painted, reroofed and remodeled a bedroom into a nursery for a local family having their first baby, Barfield says.
“It was awesome,” he notes with a smile.
Barfield himself was a crossing guard at Anza Trail School last year, coaches football there and is an assistant varsity coach for the high school basketball team along with coaching the SHS junior varsity team. In addition, he assists with the Common Ground youth group.
“I really think it’s important to get involved in the whole community and spend time with kids,” Barfield says.
“A pastor needs to love the community, the people, and help make it a better place” by working with the town, the school district and other churches, he says.
Barfield, 39, grew up in Tucson, graduated from Flowing Wells High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in church music from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
He and his wife Jill, a Sahuarita teacher for the past six years, moved to town in 2006 with their three children, ages 15, 11 and 6.
Barfield worked as a youth pastor in Tucson for 15 years and started Common Ground in January 2006.
Supported by the Baptist Church, Common Ground has “a nondenominational feel,” Barfield says, noting that attendance has grown to about 200 folks on a recent Sunday in March.
The name reflects the congregation’s belief that “everyone is the same in God’s eyes ... and we try to establish common ground with others” and build relationships, Barfield says.
He sees that his work can change lives, as members find more productive ways of living.
For example, two couples with marital problems were able to reconcile with help from the church. They now are living “a better way, with concern” for others around them, he notes.
Some congregation members, he notes, are finding a purpose in life serving others, discovering how “doing for others makes a difference,” as does having Christ in their lives, Barfield says.
Common Ground Church holds services on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. at Anza Trail School.
This month, the church’s current series of programs continues with “Raising G-rated kids in an X-rated World.”
The church also will offer a week-long camp this summer for boys and girls ages 6-12 focusing on life skills and basketball skills.
Making a Difference features folks who help make Sahuarita a great place to live. To recommend someone for this weekly series, call Karen Walenga at 547-9739, e-mail to kwalenga@gvnews.com or FAX to 625-1603.
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Mike Brown wrote on May 2, 2008 10:15 AM:
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