May 19th, 2016 Sunday School – YES! @ 9:30 Jr. High room 138 and Sr. High in the Youth Room (end of the hall). Youth Group – YES! PLEASE TRY TO BE THERE, especially if you plan to be a part of the June 12th Youth Led Worship Services. We’ll do a quick lesson, quick game…
General Conference May 17, 2016 So I left you with the thought that something was going to happen, and it has. Tuesday morning at the 7 am Jurisdictional meeting, five of our bishops joined us and shared on the explosion that occurred on social media about the UMC splitting. They assured us that the media was once again printing …
Looking Forward June 2016 The arrival of summer is always a time of excitement. We love the warm weather and the opportunity to get outside once again. It is also a great time for travel, adventure, gardening, or whatever activity brings renewal to your spirit. The church staff team will be using the summer months to continue conversations about the process of…
Every morning there is a lot of information and special presentations that occur. This morning John Street UMC in New York City was highlighted as we celebrated its’ 250th Anniversary. The early history began with a card game and a woman from Ireland interrupting that game by throwing the cards into the fire. She was…
Discipleship is such a big word that we use all of the time in our Christian walk, but what does it really mean? What does it really mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? I grew up in the church, and so the amount of times I have heard the word “disciple” or “discipleship” are too many to count, and it…
Greetings from Portland and the General Conference Proceedings, My roommate had an insight last night of the UMC in relationship to the biblical story of Jacob and his struggles with the angel of God before meeting his brother Esua (Genesis 32:22-32). Her insight was that our divided UMC is like Jacob as we struggle to go forward. Liberal versus Conservative, both sides…
I can’t believe I’ve been here for four months already! Time is flying by – we must be having fun! It’s been so great to meet so many of the youth. We had 13 graduates at PUMC this year and we wish them all good luck for their future plans. Those students are: Jessica Baumbach Ellie Furuta Franceksa Gilsdorf Erin Hill Michael…
UMCOR health kits as part of our blessing bag mission. These health kits will be a blessing for many as they provide basic necessities to people who have been forced to leave their homes because of human conflict or natural disaster. Health kits are also used as learning tools in personal hygiene, literacy, nutrition, and…
Greetings from the General Conference at Portland, Saturday was a full day of legislation after the 7 am Jurisdictional meeting, the 8am worship service, and the plenary where all the current reports and announcements were shared, and then the full Young People’s Address was given. It was a very inspirational message. By 10 am we…
Greetings on this Friday May 13, 2016 Yesterday morning the decision was made on the “Rule 44”, or utilizing Christian Conferencing, for certain petitions that the conference will be working on. This decision is probably the best one at this time, as there is a real need for training and educating on how to facilitate…
Sunday, May 15th Sunday School – Yes! @ 9:30 Jr. High room 138 and Sr. High in the Youth Room (end of the hall). Youth Group – YES!! ALL YOUTH MEETING AT 5 PM THIS WEEK!!! We have a special speaker, dinner in the middle and a game at the end. Come on out and…
Took some time to look around more this morning as the conversation and legislation on Rule 44 bogged down…again. There are many reasons why this rule is having difficulty being passed. Christian Conferencing works when people speak the same language,but here we are working with language and culture barriers, technological problems and fear of doing…
Thought I would comment to you on the worship service this afternoon. Bishop Warner Brown gave a rousing sermon on “Jesus, We Are Here”, wonderful music in various languages (interpreters for nine languages is simultaneously going on for the 864 delegates from around the world), and a greeting and drumming from the Indigenous Peoples of…
May 10, 2016 Arrived in Portland last evening, was greeted by several UMs and helped to the correct light rail train for my hotel. This morning at 7am the Western Jurisdiction delegates and reserves met and began to plan legislative actions. I will be monitoring Local Church legislation. As a reserve delegate, I will not be in…
Published February 29, 2016 Submitted by Betsy Keyack Rocky Mountain Conference Board of Global Ministries Our annual Bridge of Love offering sponsored by the Conference Board of Global Ministries at Annual Conference will benefit three programs/agencies that minister with people on the margins: 1. ADVANCE #3022144 – UMCOR Global Refugee/Migration – around the world there are millions of…