MESSIANIC DOCTRINE CLASS
I was born in Tucson in January of 1964 to Sidney and Georgianna Taiz and lived in the Dodge and River Road neighborhood that is now home to the Tucson Jewish Community Center. I attended Catalina High School and then went on to the University of Arizona where I received a BS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. After graduation I worked as a professional biologist for a small consulting firm for seven years spending time in remote places in Arizona, California, and Texas. In 1994 I signed on with the USDA Forest Service as a Wildlife Biologist where I am currently employed as the Wildlife Staff Officer in my 25th year with the Service. Among my roles and responsibilities at the FS, I am fortunate to have been elected as Southwest Regional Coordinator of ACROSS (Association of Christians Reaching Out in Service and Support) which is an employee service organization serving approximately 600 Forest Service employees. I sit on the board of this Association and am blessed serve over 60 members in the Southwestern Region of the Forest Service.
He is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, retiring in October 2005. For most of his career in the Air Force he was an A-10 Pilot. After retirement he started an Accounting Firm in Tucson and continues to practice today. He has 5 employees and approximately 1,000 clients; the office provides Accounting, Payroll, Income Tax and Consulting Services to individuals and small business owners. He is married to Sheri Jones. They have two married sons and six grandchildren
Phil spent the next 20 years studying and teaching the Bible coming to a conviction of the importance of sound doctrine, a Biblically based world-view, and the central place of Israel and the Jewish people in God’s plan of redemption for His Creation.
Phil has a passion for worship and has served on Worship Teams since 1988 playing various instruments before finding his gifting as a drummer/percussionist.
In January of 2007 Phil came to Congregation Beth Sar Shalom finding the Grace, Comfort, and Love of Messiah that was lacking in his previous fellowship. Phil began serving the Congregation as a drummer/percussionist and later as Worship Team Leader. In 2009 Phil was appointed as Chaplain after being called to prison and nursing home ministry. Later that year Phil was appointed “Advisor to the Elders” and joined the Congregation’s Leadership Team. In 2010 Phil became the Tucson Coordinator for the March of Remembrance, a national organization to remember the Holocaust and support the Nation of Israel through annual remembrance services and prayer walks, and in 2015 appeared as a delegate representing Tucson, AZ at Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, where the March of Remembrance received the Friend of Israel award. Phil is a founding member of the Congregation’s Ambassador Board and in 2017 was appointed Elder of the Congregation.
Phil also serves the community as a natural gas service technician with Southwest Gas Corporation and with his German shepherd dog Tovah as a K9 handler for Catalina K9s Search and Rescue Team. Phil and Tovah are a Nationally Certified Search and Recovery Team with the International Police Work Dog Association.
Phil and his wife Lisa have been married since 1989 and enjoy spending time with their animals.
