At 9745 W. Palmeras Drive in Sun City, Arizona, Sun City Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) brings Disciples worship and practical service together in a friendly congregation. The church says, “Serving God and community in Sun City, Arizona,” and its rhythm is easy to see: worship every Sunday at 9:30 a.m., a weekly Bible study, a sustained partnership with Valley View Community Food Bank, and a women’s ministry that turns sewing, quilting and shared lunches into care for neighbors. The congregation also welcomes people who want to learn more about its activities or have someone accompany them to their first worship service.
That work has a long Sun City history. The first gathering was held on November 3, 1974, in a Sun City Recreation Center. More than five decades later, the church continues to gather at the same weekly hour in its Palmeras Drive building, carrying forward a story shaped by worship, study, fellowship, food collection and handmade gifts.
From Recreation Center to Palmeras Drive
Founding Pastor Dr. Hartzell Cobbs led the first worship service on November 3, 1974, at a Sun City Recreation Center. During the next four years, the congregation committed itself to building a church, purchased a lot and broke ground on April 2, 1978. The first worship service in the Palmeras Drive building took place on May 6, 1979. Those dates trace a move from a shared recreation space to a congregation with its own home in Sun City.
The building has a practical role in church life beyond Sunday worship. The narthex holds the sign-up sheet for Pastor’s Bible Study and designated tables for Valley View food donations. The library is the setting for Wednesday morning study. Cobbs Hall welcomes the Disciples Women’s Ministry for its monthly service morning, potluck lunch and devotion. Together, these spaces support a regular pattern of learning, fellowship and giving.
Sunday at 9:30, Gathered in Person and on YouTube
Sun City Christian Church worships in person every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. The church’s invitation is direct: “All are welcome.” Visitors are also invited to stay for refreshments after the service, making the time after worship an ordinary part of the Sunday rhythm rather than an added event. The service can be joined remotely through the church’s YouTube livestream. Recordings are then shared through the church’s YouTube channel and Facebook, giving those who cannot attend in person a way to hear the service and its sermon.
People who want an introduction to the church can ask the office to arrange for someone to accompany them to worship. A recent order of worship is also available, giving first-time visitors a view of the shape of the gathered service.
The Friday Sun City Shine carries church and Disciples news, congregational updates and Sunday service replays, extending the church’s communication beyond the gathering itself. Its weekly arrival connects people with the life of the congregation and with news from the wider Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
The Chalice at the Center of Disciples Identity
Sun City Christian Church identifies itself with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), whose roots lie in two Protestant movements that took shape in the early 1800s in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, with roots in Ireland and Scotland. The two movements formally joined efforts in 1832 after recognizing common ground and holding camp meetings. That history helps explain the name behind the red chalice and white Saint Andrew’s cross used by the congregation.
The chalice represents Communion’s centrality to church life. The cross reminds the church of each person’s ministry and the importance of evangelism, and it recalls the denomination’s Scottish Presbyterian ancestry. The symbol was designed in 1969 and has become a simple identifier for Disciples of Christ churches through signs, letterhead and other forms of publicity. At Sun City Christian Church, that imagery points to a worship tradition in which the table, the congregation’s shared service and the call to evangelism remain visible.
For the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), historic creeds are minimized as tests of faith, the Bible is regarded as sufficient guidance, baptism by immersion is practiced, Communion is celebrated every Sunday, and the laity has a pivotal role in congregational leadership. Together with the 9:30 gathering, these convictions define the congregation’s worship and its emphasis on shared ministry.
Learning Together on Wednesday Mornings
Pastor’s Bible Study meets every Wednesday at 10 a.m. The group gathers in the church library, and people who cannot attend in person have the option to join by Zoom. A sign-up sheet in the narthex lets participants register; those joining remotely can include an email address so the church can send the Zoom link. This regular study gives the church a midweek rhythm of teaching, discussion and participation that complements its Sunday worship.
The church also preserves a substantial collection of sermons and worship services. Entries are organized by year and month and include messages from Luke, Acts, Matthew, Romans, Philippians, Psalms and other biblical texts. Titles such as “The Church Gets Weird,” “Forgiveness,” “The Power of the Resurrection,” “The Kingdom of God: Within Us, Among Us” and “There’s No Map for This” reflect a broad scriptural range. The sermon collection allows the church’s teaching history to remain available beyond a single Sunday.
Rev. Brett Winters serves as pastor. He preached his first sermon at Sun City Christian Church in December 2022, following Pastor Gary Luallin’s final sermon in November. The sequence is preserved in the recordings, which also include guest preachers and ministers. Their contributions broaden the voices represented in the church’s worship history.
Alongside study and preaching, Fellowship and Support Groups are part of congregational life. The Disciples emphasis on the pivotal role of the laity is especially visible in practical work: members collect food, sew and crochet items, deliver donations, prepare shared meals and work on service projects for community organizations.
Seventy Thousand Pounds of Food for Valley View
One of the church’s clearest ongoing ministries is its relationship with Valley View Community Food Bank. The partnership began in May 2011. Since then, Sun City Christian Church has contributed more than 70,000 pounds of food for distribution to people in need in the community. Rather than treating hunger as a one-time project, the church supports the food bank every month by choosing a staple that is in short supply and placing collection tables in the narthex.
Valley View founder Jesse Ramirez describes the shared aim: “Ending food insecurity in Arizona continues to be our goal. With the help of individuals, organizations, and faith based communities in the West Valley we have come a long way toward meeting that goal. Every year we have moved forward, providing more food to more people. Each can of food counts as we work together to end hunger.” The church’s monthly collections give that principle a regular local form, joining its members to the food bank’s wider effort in the West Valley.
Hands of Love for Memory Care, Families and Homeless Neighbors
The Disciples Women’s Ministry, also called the Service Group, meets on the fourth Monday of each month from 9 a.m. in Cobbs Hall. The morning combines service projects and crafts with a potluck salad luncheon and a devotional. No quilting or knitting experience is required; the church specifically welcomes both seasoned makers and people who have never knitted a stitch. The group’s purpose is closer fellowship and spiritual enrichment while using what it calls its “Hands of Love” to provide specific items to charitable organizations.
One long-running set of projects supports Benevilla C.A.R.E.S. Members have delivered “fidget sleeves” and baby or lap quilts for Benevilla’s memory care and family programs. Other deliveries have included knitted bears, crocheted and knitted baby blankets, and fidget mats for adults and families with young children. The ministry responds to specific needs through handmade comfort items and practical support.
A second set of projects centers on sleep mats for people experiencing homelessness. Caring Angels, a volunteer organization, collects recycled plastic bags, cuts them into strips and turns the material into plarn, a plastic yarn used for crochet. Members of the congregation contribute bags, cut strips and crochet the mats. Rev. Brett Winters has blessed the finished mats, which are placed in backpacks with water, personal hygiene supplies and snacks. Each crafted mat becomes a small package of practical support.
The ministry’s giving list extends to several other organizations. Banner Boswell Rehabilitation receives crocheted and quilted lap robes. Sun View Care Center receives tray favors. Child and Family Resources receives crocheted baby blankets and baby caps. Thompson Ranch School receives school supplies, nap quilts and stocking caps. Valley View receives the church’s monthly food contributions, and the church also maintains an annual Christmas toy drive. These projects range from warmth and comfort to food, school supplies and toys.
The monthly gathering also has a strong social dimension. Members work alongside one another, share food and spend time in devotional conversation. For newcomers who enjoy making things, the group provides an entry into both service and fellowship without requiring previous experience with its crafts.
One Congregation, Many Forms of Service
Sun City Christian Church’s story joins a specific building with a broad rhythm of ministry. The 9:30 Sunday service gathers worshippers in person and on YouTube; the Wednesday Bible study opens another weekly gathering in the library; the narthex receives food; the Disciples Women’s Ministry assembles in Cobbs Hall; and the sermon collection preserves years of biblical teaching and changing voices within the congregation. Rev. Brett Winters serves as pastor, and the church’s identity remains centered on the chalice, Scripture, Communion and the active participation of its people.