Leadership
Rev. Susan Valiquette
Pastor
In grade 10, on a church youth retreat, she sensed a calling to ordained ministry. After high school, she completed her Bachelors of Art degree in Religion and Communication. She furthered her studies to obtain a Masters of Divinity and was ordained in the United Church of Christ (UCC). She was hired as an Associate Minister of a large 1500-member UCC congregation before she completed her studies.
Susan then applied to be a mission co-worker with Global Ministries. Susan was then seconded to serve as the Chaplain of Inanda Seminary, an all-girls secondary boarding school located in a township in Durban, South Africa. Inanda Seminary was started by Congregationalist missionaries in 1869. She served as the school’s Chaplain for 18 years.
Susan has two children, Micah and Madeline and she loves to cook, travel, practice yoga and hike the desert mountains. She believes that the church has the potential to heal the world and she feels called to be a vessel used for healing.
Carol Turpen
Administration Moderator
Carol has been active in a faith community since a very young age and has always felt called to serve God and people through her community involvement. She has been involved in the UCC denomination since 2018 and a member of First Church UCC board of directors for the past three years. She brings to her moderator role over 15 years as a non-profit board director in higher education settings, Head Start, Human Relations Commissions, and business associations. She also currently serves as the Chair of the Personnel Committee in the UCC Southwest Conference.
With over 15 years in corporate business, Carol is passionate about people, process, and purpose or the who, how, and why of things. Carol received her bachelor’s degree in English from California State University, Los Angeles, and her master’s degree in African Area Studies / Sociolinguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a PROSCI change practitioner and certified as a Human Capital Strategist and Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). She has a DEI Master Class certificate from Neuroleadership Institute.
Carol loves to sing, read and write poetry, travel and try new food, and spend time with friends and family. She currently resides in the greater Phoenix area.
Teresa Blythe
Spiritual Director
Teresa has been working as a spiritual director with individuals, groups and organizations since 1997. Teresa works with people from a variety of faith backgrounds as well as those who are in-between, searching or from the "it's complicated" category.
In addition to running the Phoenix Center for Spiritual Direction and serving as spiritual director for First Church, Teresa is Director of the Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction at the Redemptorist Renewal Center at Picture Rocks in Tucson. She is a published author, blogger for Patheos (Spiritual Direction 101) and the Southwest Conference of the United Church of Christ, frequent public speaker and a full-time advocate for the practice of spiritual direction.
An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC), Teresa received her Master of Divinity and Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 2000. She is a member of First UCC Phoenix and Spiritual Directors International.
Gordon Street
Commissioned Minister
Gordon focuses on helping people find their own spiritual connection. He grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, moved to Phoenix in 1988, and has been a member of First Church since about 2000. Gordon has served in many capacities in First Church leadership over the years and has worked with other churches and non-profit groups.
Gordon’s thirty years of recovery and working with others gives him special insight into the common struggle (in and out of recovery) of finding a genuine experience with God, which is the essence of spirituality instead of religion and dogma. Gordon likes to say his ministry is a gift from the recovery community back to the wider church. He currently facilitates a weekly spiritual connection group for anyone interested in exploring spiritually of any religious and non-religious tradition. He also is available for one-on-one meetings.
In Gordon’s spare time, he frequents too many coffee shops, enjoys life with his husband of 24 years and their furry children, two beagles. His fondness for beagles exemplifies his attraction to stubbornness and endearing bad behavior.