Church & Society Response to migrant deaths in San Antonio

Scan the QR code to read immigration in the US Faith and Facts Card

Connecting through texting

Each morning at 7 o’clock for more than a decade, Amy Lax, a member at Fairfield United Methodist Church, has sent a text message with an inspirational song, often a short devotional, and always a pink heart emoji. Within minutes, Lax’s phone lights up with text replies, some sharing prayer requests, others checking in with a “Good morning,” but all ending their texts the same way, with a specific colored heart. 

Lax and those in her text group are among a growing number of United Methodists who have found texting to be a way to both encourage and be encouraged, as well as develop their faith alongside others, frequently in real time, and regardless of location.

“Reading the text is how I start my day,” says Sharon Hennis, a member at Sedge Garden United Methodist Church who is in Lax’s text group. “It’s part of my routine to listen to the song and read the devotion.” The routine also includes responding with a red heart emoji.

Read more at this link.

Prayer shawl ministry update

 

Members of Fowler UMC's United Women in Faith unit came to St. Paul's yesterday to deliver thirty-one prayer shawls to St. Paul's. These shawls were knitted and/or crocheted these shawls which will be available for people who might benefit from knowing the church is praying with them during times of grief or joy.

Serenity in bloom

The Serenity Garden is showing itself to be an oasis of calm as summer gets underway along the Front Range.

Church responds after mass death of migrants

After the deaths of at least 50 migrants in San Antonio, United Methodists are responding with lament, prayer and renewed efforts to follow Jesus’ command to welcome the stranger.

“We grieve their loss and will continue to work for justice through our United Methodist connection,” Bishop Robert Schnase, whose area includes San Antonio, said in a statement. He leads the Rio Texas and New Mexico conferences, or regions, of the denomination.

The bishop said The United Methodist Church as a whole and the Rio Texas Conference in particular “have a long history of working with partners throughout the connection and the border to provide safe and welcoming places of care and dignity.”

Read more at this link.

Happy birthday, John Wesley

On the campus of Wesley Theological Seminary
Washington, DC

John Wesley was born on this day at the Rectory in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England. Wesley was born on June 17, 1703, while England was still using the Julian calendar. England adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752 which added 11 days, thus he always considered his birthday as June 28 after the change.

In 1771, he wrote in his journal, "This day I entered the sixty-ninth year of my age. I am still a wonder to myself. My voice and strength are the same as at nine and twenty. This also hath God wrought."

This week @ St. Paul's UMC

Monday:

9:00 AM, Office hours

Tuesday: John Wesley's birthday

9:00 AM, Office hours

1:00 PM, Justice Talks webinar

6:00 PM, Flute recital

Wednesday:

9:00 AM, Office hours

9:30 AM, Wednesday Weeders

10:00 AM, Wednesday Zoom Fellowship

Thursday:

9:00 AM, Office hours

3:00 PM, Women's Summer Book Club

Saturday:

5:00 PM, Bishop Oliveto on Facebook Live

Sunday: Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

10:15 AM, Worship

12:30, BBKC

Scripture lessons for July 3

A week from today will find us celebrating our nation's 247th birthday. Before we get to the festivities, we will gather for worship and the start of the Summer Sermon Series. During the month of July, Pastor Charles will be turning to a selections from "Stories That Sneak Up On You" by John Duckworth which will give us plenty to think about!

The first story is "I don't read the cookbook anymore." Our lessons will come from Isaiah 55:10-13 and 2 Timothy 3:14-17.   

A bounty of pastors

(L-R); Rev. Dan Daniels, Rev. Janeen Hill, Dr. Charles Alkula,
the Rev. Tom English and his wife, Lil English

We were blessed this morning with three special visitors, retired UMC pastors the Rev. Janeen Hill and the first pastor of St. Paul's UMC (1965-1971), the Rev. Tom English and his wife, Lil.

June 26 @ St. Paul's UMC: Prayers

Joys:

+We give thanks for our visitors this morning, retired pastors the Rev. Janeen Hill and the first pastor of St. Paul's (1965-1971), the Rev. Tom English and his wife, Lil.

+We give thanks for the work of UMCOR in response to last week's earthquake in Afghanistan and for the devastating flooding taking place in India and Bangladesh.  

+We celebrate this week's birthdays: Betty Herrell & Michelle Matthews               

+We give thanks for those assisting in worship this morning: Belinda Alkula (video), Austin Cooper (usher), the Coopers (flowers), the Daniels (flowers), Ben Glancy (liturgist), Etta Levitt (Zoom usher), Kathy Lloyd (Zoom host), and Marcy Roberts (piano).

Concerns:

+Michele Matthews asks for prayers for her mother who is having health concerns.

+We lift up in our prayers the people of our divided nation.

++We join with so many in mourning the 260 killed and 537 injured through gun violence this last week.

June 26 @ St. Paul's UMC: Announcements

+Wednesday Morning Zoom Fellowship meets here every week @ 10:00 AM. 

+Women's Summer Book Club gathers via Zoom here each Thursday, 3:00 - 4:00 PM. This summer's book is "All My Friends Have Issues" by Amanda Anderson.

+Boulder continues to be in a high Covid transmissions state and we will continue to wear masks during worship.

+Social Media @ St. Paul's is the place to go for news, information, and just plain fun! Be sure to visit our blog, Facebook page, @boulderstpauls, Flickr photo album, website (which includes our up-to-date calendar), and our  YouTube channel.

+The next installment of the General Board of Church & Soceity Justice Talks series will be held next Tuesday, June 28 at 1:00 PM. Join General Secretary Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe and our newest Church and Society staff to hear how to activate hope through advocacy during difficult times. Register now at this link.

+In response to the ruling by the Supreme Court on the issue of reproductive rights, Pastor Charles placed on the church blog (see this link) statements in response from the General Board of Church and Society and from the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women as well as a link to the official stance of The United Methodist Church on the subject of abortion.

June 26 @ St. Paul's UMC: Worship

 

Third Sunday after Pentecost

Today’s Meditation Verse: “Christ has set us free for freedom. Therefore, stand firm and don’t submit to the bondage of slavery again.” —Galatians 5:1 (CEB)

Welcome... Pastor Charles

Prelude... Marcy Roberts / “O, How I Love Jesus”

*Call to Worship... Ben Glancy

Leader: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. People: Behold our God is a Creator. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Behold our God is a Redeemer. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. Behold our God is a Holy Spirit. Let us worship the God who is one in three, three in one, who heals our brokenness and gathers up all our meanings.

—Reprinted by permission of the publisher from Touch Holiness, ed. Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi. © 1990 The Pilgrim Press.

*Hymn... “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want” (UMH #136)

Morning Prayer... Ben Glancy—To be read responsively

Father, Creator of all, thank You for summer! Thank You for the warmth of the sun and the    increased daylight. Thank You for the beauty we see all around us and for the opportunity to be outside and enjoy Your creation. Thank You for the increased time we have to be with our friends and family, and for the more casual pace of the summer season. Draw us closer to You this summer.   Teach us how we can pray no matter where we are or what we are doing. Warm our soul with the awareness of Your presence and light our path with Your Word and Counsel. As we enjoy Your creation, create in us a pure heart and a hunger and a thirst for You. Amen.

Gospel Lesson: Luke 9:51-62... Ben Glancy

*Offering/Doxology (UMH #95)

Community prayer requests, concerns, and celebrations

Pastoral Prayer / The Lord’s Prayer... Pastor Charles

Second Lesson: 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14... Pastor Charles

This is the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. 

Sermon... Pastor Charles / “One wild ride”

*Hymn...“The Gift of Love” (UMH #408)

*Words for the Journey... Pastor Charles

*Postlude... Marcy Roberts / “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”

UMC bishops bemoan US Supreme Court's decision on abortion

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Council of Bishops [COB] of The United Methodist Church says the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn Roe v. Wade has denied the sacred worth of women who face “the tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion.”

In a statement released today by COB President Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton, the bishops said the decision serves to create a further divide between persons of privilege who have the means to seek necessary health care and those who lack this privilege due to their current economic condition, their disproportionately affected lives, or the color of their skin.

Bishop Bickerton noted that the overturning of Roe v. Wade is a call for the church to rise above the fray to offer words of support and hope in the midst of emptiness and despair and to advocate for women who are unjustly affected and unfairly harmed.  

“I call all United Methodists to a time of deep reflection, prayer, and mobilization as we continue the struggle to stand in the gap with intercession, advocacy, support, and grace for such a time as this,” said Bishop Bickerton. “In the midst of our diversity of opinion, may we be one in our response to those who are broken and to world that is divided.”

Click here to read the full COB statement on Roe v. Wade.

General Board of Church & Society Justice Talks webinar

The next installment of the General Board of Church & Soceity Justice Talks series will be held next Tuesday, June 28 at 1:00 PM. Join General Secretary Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe and our newest Church and Society staff to hear how to activate hope through advocacy during difficult times. Register now at this link.

In light of today's news from the Supreme Court

From John Wesley:

"Before a child is born into the world, he has eyes but sees not; he has ears but does not hear. He has a very imperfect use of every other sense. He has no knowledge of any of the things of the world, or any natural understanding. To that manner of existence which he then has, we do not even give the name of life. It is then only when a man is born, that we say he begins to live."

-from a sermon entitled ‘The New Birth’

What is The UMC position on abortion? -- see this link.

A statement from the General Board of Church & Society -- see this link.

A Response of Lament by The General Commission on the Status and Role of Women -- see this link.

You Belong

We in the Mountain Sky Conference welcome you.

If you dream. You belong.

If you try. You belong.

If you love. You belong.

See the video at this link.

Virtual “Mission u” for Adult Learners

Consecutive Wednesday evenings (7:00-9:30 p.m.), July 13, 20, 27, and August 3. The study book is “Bearing Witness in the Kin-dom: Living into the Church’s Moral Witness through Radical Discipleship,” by Darryl W. Stephens. 

Questions about it may be directed to Belinda Alkula, Assistant Dean, Mountain Sky Conference Cooperative Mission.

Wednesday Zoomers!

 The Wednesday Zoom Fellowship is a wonderful gathering each week at 10:00 AM. Join us next week at this link.

UMCOR Appeal

In Afghanistan, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake has killed more than 1,000 people and left thousands more injured. In Bangladesh and India, millions of people are displaced from continuous rains that have produced severe flooding.

Join us in prayer for God’s provision in the midst of the destruction of lives and homes and the upheaval of whole communities.

UMCOR is reaching out to partners in these countries and assessing ways to offer relief in response to these disasters.

Support the work of international disaster response: https://umcmission.org/advance-project/982450

A thought for today

 

Prayer for the First Day of Summer

The Flatirons in summer

May you walk with God

This summer

In whatever you do

Wherever you go

Walking with God means...

Walking with honesty

And with courage,

Walking with love

And respect

And concern for the feelings of others

May you talk to God

This summer

And every day and

In every situation

Talking with God means...

Praying words of praise

For the beauty of creation

Saying prayers of thanks

For friends and good times,

Asking God's help

In all your decisions

Expressing sorrow

When you have failed

May you talk with God

Every day. Amen.

- Author unknown

This week @ St. Paul's UMC

Monday:

9:00 AM, Office hours

Tuesday: First Day of Summer

9:00 AM, Office hours

Wednesday:

9:00 AM, Office hours

9:30 AM, Wednesday weeders

10:00 AM, Wednesday Zoom fellowship

Thursday:

9:00 AM, Office hours

3:00 PM, Women's Summer Book Club

Saturday:

8:30 AM, United Women in Faith virtual breakfast

5:00 PM, Bishop Oliveto on Facebook Live

Sunday: Third Sunday after Pentecost

10:15 AM, Worship

12:30 PM, BBKC

Scripture lessons for June 26

"Elijah Went Up by a Whirlwind into Heaven"
Shlomo Katz, Jewish Chapel @ USAF Academy 

We bring June to a close next Sunday with scripture lessons from Luke 9:51-62 and  2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14.

June 19 @ St. Paul's UMC: Prayers

Joys:

+Terri Himes gives thanks for her parents, Joan & Austin Cooper, who are celebrating their 67th anniversary this week.

+Pastor Charles gives thanks for the virtual experience of the Mountain Sky Annual Conference.

+During Annual Conference, Rev. Dan Daniels was recognized as being among those who have offered sixty years of ministry and Pastor Charles was recognized as being among those who have offered thirty years of service.

+We give thanks for the fathers among us this morning and for those whose memory we hold dear.

+Pastor Charles gives thanks for being reappointed to St. Paul's for a fourth year.

+On Juneteenth, we remember the end of slavery in this country and the ongoing  work to end racism in our time.

+We lift up those with birthdays this week: Zach Nunnery & Betty Herrell

+We give thanks for those who shared their ministries with us this week: Belinda Alkula (video), Austin Cooper (usher), Etta Levitt (Zoom usher), Kathy Lloyd (Zoom host), Christopher Wahl (piano), Joey & Jim Vander Vorste (flowers).

Concerns:

+Sandi Cook's step-cousin, Justin Bryan, passed away Monday night. Please pray for his mom, Lyneva, brother and sister, Jeremy and Jennifer, and their families as they deal with this loss. 

+We lift up in our prayers those affected by the devastating flooding in Montana.

+We mourn with so many this week for the 190 killed and 468 injured in gun violence in the last seven days.

June 19 @ St. Paul's UMC: Announcements

+Wednesday Morning Zoom Fellowship meets here every week @ 10:00 AM.

+Virtual Women's Summer Book Club gathers via Zoom here each Thursday, 3:00 - 4:30 PM. This summer's book is "All My Friends Have Issue" by Amanda Anderson.

+Boulder continues to be in a high COVID transmission state and we will continue to wear masks during worship. There will not be a fellowship time while we are in a mask status.

June 19 @ St. Paul's UMC: Worship

Flowers from the Vander Vorstes

Chris offers the prelude

Father's Day photo display

Don & Peg check out the display

 

Second Sunday after Pentecost / Father’s Day

Today’s Meditation Verse: “Return home and tell the story of what God has done for you.” —Luke 8:39a

Welcome... Pastor Charles

Prelude... Christopher Wahl

*Call to Worship... Ben Glancy

Our relationships with our fathers are complicated. For some of us, our father’s love is like God’s love -- too deep, too long, too wide, too strong to measure. Some of our dads are here; some were never here. For some of us, God’s love fills in the empty spaces our fathers left behind. All of us are shaped by the relationship or lack of relationship with our fathers. On this day when we remember what it means to have a father or be a father, we recognize the importance of fathers in our communities. We pledge as a congregation to love and nurture the fathers among us so that they will manifest the love of God in all that they do.

*Hymn... “Faith of Our Fathers” (UMH #710)

Litany of Peace for Father’s Day... Ben Glancy

Loving God, we lift this day our gratitude for the loving men who have brought us the precious heart of Your Father Love. We give thanks to You this day. 

For those who have shown us kindness, For those who have shown us courage, For those who have shown us generosity, For those who have shown us truth, For those who have shown us compassion, For those who have shown us faith, For those who have shown us love.

Blessed be the name of all sons and brothers and fathers who reveal a glimpse of Your loving presence on earth. O God, You inspire Your people in the ways of kindness that lift our world from its disgrace.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer. For every son, brother, father, grandfather, who has suffered and endured. 

We lift a stone from the streambed of Living Waters to the forehead of the men and boys in our lives, touching each forehead with the sign of Your healing... for every broken heart hidden from view, for every secret shame buried in darkness, for every untold story of regret and alienation.

We touch with this stone the brow of every man who has suffered for those he loved; we touch with this stone the forehead of our ancestral fathers who sacrificed their very lives... inviting You to heal the wars and woes and wickedness   within, inviting Your everlasting peace, that the world might know Your peace.

Hear our prayer, O God, for this broken world. We pray for peace this Father’s Day.

For wisdom and equity in the hearts and minds of those who lead us.    For justice with mercy that seeks equitable access to the earth’s resources. For passion and power in our churches to influence public   policy for good. For a new day when justice will roll down like waters   across this land. For the revelation of Father Love that never leaves nor forsakes. And we lift Your hope of healing for all sons, brothers,   fathers, grandfathers who live in mystery as Your creation, who are entrusted with the life and struggles of manhood. May they grow in Father Love to Your glory.

Hear our prayer, O God, for this broken world. We pray for peace this Father’s Day. Amen.

*Offering/Doxology / Community prayer requests, concerns, and     celebrations

Pastoral Prayer / The Lord’s Prayer... Pastor Charles

Epistle Lesson: Galatians 3:23-29... Ben Glancy

Special Music... Christopher Wahl

Second Lesson: 1 Kings 19:1-15a... Pastor Charles

Pastor: This is the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Sermon... Pastor Charles / “What Elijah heard”

*Hymn... “In Christ There is No East or West” (UMH #548)

*Words for the Journey... Pastor Charles

*Postlude... Christopher Wahl

This morning’s Call to Worship is “Call to Worship” by the Rev. Dr. LaGretta Bjorn, UMC of Spring Valley, Spring Valley, New York. “Litany of Peace for Father’s Day” © 2009 is by the Rev. Jane Sommers. Posted with permission on the Discipleship Ministries website. 

Prayer for Father's Day

Let us praise those fathers who have striven to balance the demands of work, marriage, and children with an honest awareness of both joy and sacrifice.

Let us praise those fathers who, lacking a good model for a father, have worked to become a worthy and virtuous father.

Let us praise those fathers who, by their own account, were not always there for their children, but who continue to offer those children, now grown, their love and support. As well, let us pray for those fathers who have been wounded by words and actions of their children.

Let us praise those fathers who, despite marital discord, have remained in their children's lives.

Let us praise those fathers whose children are adopted, and whose love and support has nurtured a thriving life.

Let us praise those fathers who, as stepfathers, freely choose the obligation of fatherhood and earned their stepchildren's love and respect.

Let us praise those fathers who have lost a child to death and continue to hold the child in their heart.

Let us praise those men who have no children but cherish the next generation as if they were their own.

Let us praise those men who have "fathered" us in their role as mentors and guides.

Let us praise those men who are about to become fathers; may they openly delight in their children.

And let us praise those fathers who have died but live on in our memory and whose love continues to nurture us.

- Prayer of Kirk Loadman adapted by Debra Mooney, PhD    

Ordination Service at Annual Conference

Annual Conference choir

The opening of the service

The class of 2022

Reading the Historic Questions

The sole order of business on the third day in Helena was the ordination service as the Mountain Sky Annual Conference wrapped up today.

For those who came before the Annual Conference and Biship Oliveto, it was the culmination of years of effort and is always the high point of the year in the life of the Conference.

Commissioning for the Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner:   Stephen Holz-Russel (Denver Public Schools) & Kimberly Lewis (United Way of Yellowstone County - MT)

Presentation and Examination of Missionary Candidates: Daniel Randall & Courtney Randall

Commissioning of Provisional Members: James Robert Atkins, Jerry Butler, Samuel Scott Beaves-Fisher, Paul Curtis Grossman, & Alison Skilman 

Examination and Ordination of Elders: Zachary Lee Bechtold, Candace Danielle Boyd, Rebecca Dunagan, Patricia Eileen Walker Genevieve, Lauretta Anne Lundquist, Mina M. Nau Mahe, Emily Lyn Rettinghouse, Anna Viehland, & Nicole Rohret-Navin 

Annual Conference Day 2

The 2022 class of Provisional Elders

The 2022 class of Elders

Reading of appointments

Memorial Service

The second day of annual Conference began with the clergy and laity meeting in their respectives sessions to conduct the business of the day. 

In the clergy session, nine were approved for ordination as Elders and full members of the Annual Conference and five for comissioning as provisional Elders. Ninenteen Elders and Deacons were approved for retirement with a combined 523 years of service.

Also in the clergy session, the Rev. Dan Daniels was among those recognized with sixty years of ministry service and Dr. Charles Alkula was recognized as having thirty years of ministry service.

During the business portion this afternoon, Pastor Charles was appointed by Bishop Oliveto to serve at St. Paul's UMC - Boulder for a fourth year.

The highlight of the second day of Annual Conference each year is the Memorial Service which this year recognized the twenty-four clergy (retired and active) who have died in the past year.

Annual Conference is underway

Pastor Charles is ready for AC 2022

Communion is served

Baptism at Annual Conference

In-person @ St. Paul's UMC - Helena, Montana

The 2022 Mountain Sky Annual Conference began this morning with a rousing worship service and the beginning of the business part of this annual gathering. 

Pastor Charles & Belinda are attending (virtually) the 2022 session of the Mountain Sky Annual Conference. 311 clergy, 281 laity, and 51 guests are participating either in-person in Helena, Montana or virtually.

Watch the excitement at this link.