Spirit of Joy is a mission congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Our first worship service was held in what is now the Clemenceau Museum on October 3, 1993.
Since that time, we have purchased 5 acres of land (Old Jerome Highway & Scenic Drive in Clarkdale), paid off the loan, and are currently raising funds to eventually build a suitable building on that property. In the meantime, we are renters. Our Office and Worship Center is located at 101 S. Main Street in Cottonwood.
We are committed to reaching the Verde Valley with the joyous news that Jesus Christ came to set us free from our sins and give us eternal life.
Please join us! All are welcome to participate in worship, including the Holy Communion meal. Visitors are not only welcome among us, they are expected.
Share with the Spirit
We are a congregation dedicated to giving of our time, our talents, and our finances.
We give locally to Old Town Mission and Central Arizona Food Bank.
Beyond our community, we give financially to: World Hunger, Beyond Poverty, the Grand Canyon Synod of the ELCA, Rock Point Navajo Mission, and House of Prayer Lutheran Church at Rock Point. Additionally, we sell and use Equal Exchange coffee, tea, and chocolate which is fairly traded to benefit farmers in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
Our high-tech Prayer Chain shares prayer concerns via e-mail with prayer warriors in our congregation and friends around the world.
Embrace the Joy
We are an active congregation offering a variety of opportunities for members, friends, and visitors:
MMOG- Men’s fellowship & Bible Study meets the first Monday of each month at 8:00am at Hobo Joe’s.
W/ELCA - Our active Women of the ELCA group meets for a monthly business meeting, a Bible study, and frequent opportunities for service.
Adult Forum meets at the Worship Center on Sundays at 9:45am. All are welcome to this lively study and discussion group.
Sunday School meets at the Worship Center each Sunday at 9:45am (no Sunday School in June and July).
Several Small Groups meet throughout the year.
History
Spirit of Joy was started as a preaching point October 3, 1993, with 20 families; these families primarily had been attending Christ Lutheran in Sedona. After a short time holding worship services in the Clemenceau School building, Spirit of Joy arranged to rent the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Cottonwood for worship services.
SoJ had several interim pastors, starting with Pastor Bud Roufs of Sun City, attending to the congregation through May of 1994. Pastor David Harr started June 26, 1994, followed by Pastor Jeff Johnson. On October 1, 1994, Pastor Peter Rose-Kamprath arrived in Cottonwood to minister to SoJ; at this point worship size at SoJ was approximately 40. Pastor Rose-Kamprath was installed as Pastor of Spirit of Joy on August 13, 1995.
The Living Charter for SoJ was signed January 29, 1995, and the congregation was recognized as an ELCA congregation in the Grand Canyon Synod April 23, 1995.
Pastor Rose-Kamprath resigned, and interim Pastor Ed Petersen of Mesa began serving SoJ in November of 1997, followed by Pastor Scott Haasarud of Phoenix. In 1999 the congregation called Pastor Bob Jones, and he began serving SoJ in May of 1999. Pastor Jones resigned in the fall of 2004. Pastor Rick Alpers served as a long-term interim for almost two years while the Call Committee was diligently seeking a full-time pastor for SoJ. The Reverend Dr. Mari Larson was called, and she and spouse Gary Werbowski relocated from Minnesota to Cottonwood in January 2007.
SoJ purchased for $150,000 five acres of land in Clarkdale in 2000. This is a prime site for a church, and with some energetic fundraising the mortgage was paid off three years later. Our “Readiness to Build” paperwork was approved in 2009 and we expect to erect a building on the site (Scenic Drive and Old Jerome Highway) in 2011.
In 2010, we relocated from the Seventh Day Adventist Church and an office building to our own space at 101 S. Main Street in Cottonwood. Our office is in Suite D, Suite E is the Fellowship Suite, and Suite F is the Worship Center. This is the first time in our history that our office and worship space are located in the same building!
Our Communities
Cottonwood is a rural mid-Arizona community, and considered a commerce center for the Verde Valley. Towns/communities from which SoJ draws are: Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Verde Village, Jerome, Lake Montezuma/Rimrock, Clarkdale, and Cornville/Page Springs. There is very little industry and few large employers in the area. The majority of jobs are in low-paying service-related employment. There is a large and growing retired population in the Verde Valley, and most members of SoJ are retired or semi-retired.
Total population of the above towns/communities totals 40,050, per the 2002 census.
