At well over 6-feet tall, third-grade teacher Cameron Lehman towers over his students at Tempe’s Gethsemane Lutheran School. But the soft-spoken educator gets students’ attention this day by simply saying, “Snowball hands.”

In the beginning there was Ahwatukee, and folks made fun of its name. "Foothills" wasn't yet part of the landscape, and neither was much else. The first homeowners arrived in the fall of 1973 and by the following summer a couple hundred houses, a country club golf course, a retirement recreation center and a construction equipment storage compound were here - but that was it. Streetlights and fire hydrants were still to come. Into this environment The Rev. Ken Johnson, his wife Arlene, and their three children moved. Johnson was leading a Portland, Ore., parish when the Lutheran Church in America identified two young Southwestern communities with growth potential. The church offered Johnson the choice of starting a parish in either Scottsdale or Ahwatukee. Anticipating faster growth here, Johnson relocated his family in August 1974. Those were lonely days for Johnson's oldest daughter Pam, one of only a few teenagers in Ahwatukee. At Tempe High School her classmates laughed at the new community's name, which most had trouble pronouncing. With no churches in the vicinity, Pam's father recruited parishioners by going door-to-door - which, given the sparsity of houses, didn't take very long. One of Johnson's first challenges was finding a suitable meeting place. The Ahwatukee Recreation Center's bylaws excluded young families, and little resembling a meeting place existed between Interstate 10 and Rural Road. Johnson persuaded the Kyrene School at Kyrene and Warner roads to allow his tiny parish to meet in its multipurpose cafeteria room. A lack of air conditioning and a paved road from Ahwatukee made things interesting during monsoon season. While the school had a piano, hundreds of sheep leisurely crossing Warner Road during winter grazing season caused the church's piano player to occasionally miss services. Surrounded by feeder lots and a chicken ranch, the aroma was far from heavenly when the wind blew. The parish held its initial worship service in Johnson's living room in November 1974 . Kyrene's first service drew 65 people in early December, and the church would go on to meet at the school for the next three years. Parishioners submitted names, took a vote, and Mountain View Lutheran Church was born. Ahwatukee's first food store, a Circle K, opened on Elliot Road in 1976. As Johnson searched for a suitable church location, Presley Development Company of Arizona offered land too close to South Mountain, lacking visibility and access, and too close to Circle K, in violation of a county ordinance regarding separation of church and liquor. Then Presley got religion, and a 3-and-a-half-acre site near Fort Ahwatukee, on 48th Street south of Elliot Road, was agreed upon as the bicentennial year drew to a close. When Mountain View's first building was christened in December 1977, Ahwatukee finally had its own meeting place. Johnson fervently believed that Mountain View should serve the community, so all were welcome. Sunday services brought many non-Lutherans into the fold, grateful for the opportunity to attend Ahwatukee's first church of any kind. Mountain View's doors opened to the community, with as many as 40 different groups, ranging from Boy Scouts to adult day care, making the church's facilities their own. Johnson went on to assist the church's Pacific Northwest Synod and was succeeded in May 1980 by The Rev. Donald Schneider, who quickly established himself as a fixture in the community and a driving force behind Mountain View's many outreach programs. Schneider established Ahwatukee Preschool, which counts Arizona State University football players Brent and Zach Miller among its alumni, during his first year in town. And it was Schneider behind that beard for 10 years as Santa Claus arriving via helicopter in the Alpha Beta Plaza to kick off the Christmas season in what has become an annual community tradition. As other religions' parishes sprang up, Mountain View's doors were open to Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians - all had a place of worship during their parishes' infancies, thanks to the generosity of the church. Mountain View Lutheran Church was instrumental in fostering a sense of community in Ahwatukee. From 80 percent seniors in the late 1970s to 80 percent growing families today, Mountain View parishioners currently number just over 1,000. Ken Johnson passed away in 1989, and Don Schneider retired as pastor in 1996. Today, there are some dozen houses of worship in the Village of Ahwatukee Foothills. In the very beginning, there was Mountain View Lutheran Church. Marty Gibson is a 19-year-resident of the community and the author of Phoenix's Ahwatukee Foothills by Arcadia Publishing.

In the beginning there was Ahwatukee, and folks made fun of its name. "Foothills" wasn't yet part of the landscape, and neither was much else. The first homeowners arrived in the fall of 1973 and by the following summer a couple hundred houses, a country club golf course, a retirement recreation center and a construction equipment storage compound were here - but that was it. Streetlights and fire hydrants were still to come. Into this environment The Rev. Ken Johnson, his wife Arlene, and their three children moved. Johnson was leading a Portland, Ore., parish when the Lutheran Church in America identified two young Southwestern communities with growth potential. The church offered Johnson the choice of starting a parish in either Scottsdale or Ahwatukee. Anticipating faster growth here, Johnson relocated his family in August 1974. Those were lonely days for Johnson's oldest daughter Pam, one of only a few teenagers in Ahwatukee. At Tempe High School her classmates laughed at the new community's name, which most had trouble pronouncing. With no churches in the vicinity, Pam's father recruited parishioners by going door-to-door - which, given the sparsity of houses, didn't take very long. One of Johnson's first challenges was finding a suitable meeting place. The Ahwatukee Recreation Center's bylaws excluded young families, and little resembling a meeting place existed between Interstate 10 and Rural Road. Johnson persuaded the Kyrene School at Kyrene and Warner roads to allow his tiny parish to meet in its multipurpose cafeteria room. A lack of air conditioning and a paved road from Ahwatukee made things interesting during monsoon season. While the school had a piano, hundreds of sheep leisurely crossing Warner Road during winter grazing season caused the church's piano player to occasionally miss services. Surrounded by feeder lots and a chicken ranch, the aroma was far from heavenly when the wind blew. The parish held its initial worship service in Johnson's living room in November 1974 . Kyrene's first service drew 65 people in early December, and the church would go on to meet at the school for the next three years. Parishioners submitted names, took a vote, and Mountain View Lutheran Church was born. Ahwatukee's first food store, a Circle K, opened on Elliot Road in 1976. As Johnson searched for a suitable church location, Presley Development Company of Arizona offered land too close to South Mountain, lacking visibility and access, and too close to Circle K, in violation of a county ordinance regarding separation of church and liquor. Then Presley got religion, and a 3-and-a-half-acre site near Fort Ahwatukee, on 48th Street south of Elliot Road, was agreed upon as the bicentennial year drew to a close. When Mountain View's first building was christened in December 1977, Ahwatukee finally had its own meeting place. Johnson fervently believed that Mountain View should serve the community, so all were welcome. Sunday services brought many non-Lutherans into the fold, grateful for the opportunity to attend Ahwatukee's first church of any kind. Mountain View's doors opened to the community, with as many as 40 different groups, ranging from Boy Scouts to adult day care, making the church's facilities their own. Johnson went on to assist the church's Pacific Northwest Synod and was succeeded in May 1980 by The Rev. Donald Schneider, who quickly established himself as a fixture in the community and a driving force behind Mountain View's many outreach programs. Schneider established Ahwatukee Preschool, which counts Arizona State University football players Brent and Zach Miller among its alumni, during his first year in town. And it was Schneider behind that beard for 10 years as Santa Claus arriving via helicopter in the Alpha Beta Plaza to kick off the Christmas season in what has become an annual community tradition. As other religions' parishes sprang up, Mountain View's doors were open to Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians - all had a place of worship during their parishes' infancies, thanks to the generosity of the church. Mountain View Lutheran Church was instrumental in fostering a sense of community in Ahwatukee. From 80 percent seniors in the late 1970s to 80 percent growing families today, Mountain View parishioners currently number just over 1,000. Ken Johnson passed away in 1989, and Don Schneider retired as pastor in 1996. Today, there are some dozen houses of worship in the Village of Ahwatukee Foothills. In the very beginning, there was Mountain View Lutheran Church. Marty Gibson is a 19-year-resident of the community and the author of Phoenix's Ahwatukee Foothills by Arcadia Publishing.

Mesa’s Pilgrim Lutheran School, 3257 E. University Drive, will offer free tuition to a limited number of children in grades two through seven for the next semester only, which begins in January.

Charlie Kuether, the principal at Mesa's Pilgrim Lutheran School, will retire June 30 after 32 years at the school. Pilgrim Lutheran School serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade at 3257 E. University Drive. It opened in 1971, just seven years before Kuether's arrival.

Christ's Greenfield Lutheran Church in Gilbert will dedicate its $7.5 million building project during a celebration noon to 4 p.m. Nov. 2 at the campus, 425 N. Greenfield Road. It includes an expanded sanctuary that has added 300 seats and educational space that includes 10 more classrooms, a youth ministry room and additional parking. The expansion provides more space, as well, for Christ's Greenfield Lutheran School on the campus.

A Mesa congregation, First Evangelical Lutheran Church, marked its 60th anniversary on Sunday with a worship service and program that showcased the life of the church that has a legacy of mission and social justice work.

Devastating. Phoenix Valley Lutheran’s two-point conversion on a fake extra point gave the third-seeded Flames a 22-21 upset win over Tempe Prep Academy in the first round of the 1A football playoffs at Salt River High School in Scottsdale on Saturday.

It was the perfect opponent for Surrey Garden to meet for the 1A state championship.

The race is on for students in far north Scottsdale.

With Arizona's 100th birthday coming up next week, the staff and students at Mountain View Lutheran Church chose to celebrate the milestone with a more hands-on activity.

With Arizona's 100th birthday coming up next week, the staff and students at Mountain View Lutheran Church chose to celebrate the milestone with a more hands-on activity.

Seton rips Sahuarita for homecoming victory:

The Mountain Pointe Pride and the Horizon Huskies clash Friday night Friday night at Mountain Pointe High School in Ahwatukee.

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A proposal that would limit the locations of new private and charter schools in largelot residential areas is creating conflict between advocates for the schools and north Scottsdale residents.