Church Calendar Dates -- Great Resource!

 

Justice for our Children

The Native American International Caucus invites United Methodists to observe a special time of prayer and action from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6, as they remember the atrocities associated with tribal children once taken from their families and placed in boarding schools.

​“Justice for our Children: Healing for Our Communities” is the theme of this year’s observance, which pays particular attention to those children who died at the schools and whose bodies were buried far from their homes. The observance also marks the “spiritual deaths” of hundreds of Native children whose culture and spirituality were taken from them.

To learn more about U.S. Indigenous Boarding Schools and this year's Justice and Healing Observance please review these resources:
+The Disturbing Truth Behind Indigenous Boarding Schools (VIDEO) 

+Unseen Tears:  The Native American Boarding School Experience (VIDEO)

Return to Angola with the MSC

In recognition of the Mountain Sky Conference's 20-year relationship with Angola, a team is being recruited to go to Angola in the summer of 2023. The exact dates have not been set but will be sometime in July or early August. Pastor Sue King will be leading the team. Sue has led five previous teams to Angola.

The team will be staying at Quessua United Methodist Mission Station in Malange. This will provide an opportunity to visit churches and pastors and continue to learn and understand ministry in East Angola. Time will also be spent with Kutela Katembo, witnessing his ministry in agriculture. We will help in ways appropriate to skills and needs as identified by Angola leaders. Staying at Quessua also offers the opportunity to visit the hospital which UMCOR grants support, schools, and seminary.

Details are still being put together, but these will be required: passport, visa, yellow fever vaccination, and COVID vaccination. The deadline to commit to the team will be December 1, 2022. Please email Sally McConnell, sbmcconnell06@gmail or Sue King, sistercircuitrider@gmail.com with questions or if you’re interested in joining the team.

New website initiative

From Adam Hamilton, Lead Pastor at The UMC of the Resurrection (Leawood, KS)

Over the past few months, I’ve been sharing updates with you on the future of our denomination. You may know that about 15 to 20% of the churches in the UMC are anticipated to be leaving. Some will join a new denomination called the Global Methodist Church, others will be independent. 80% of the UMC’s 30,000 churches in the US – 24,000 churches – will remain in the UMC.

The leading figure in the formation of the Global Methodist Church, a pastor from the Houston area named Rob Renfroe, produced a series of six short videos aimed at persuading churches to leave the UMC. I recently watched all six videos and recorded a brief video response to each, correcting what I believe was misinformation, and describing why I’m #proudtobeumc – proud to be a part of the United Methodist Church.

I’d love you to watch each video, which starts with the conclusion of Renfroe’s video. My videos range from 5 minutes to 18 minutes in length and cover who we are as United Methodists, how we read the Bible, our commitment to and faith in Christ and the historic essentials of the Christian faith, our love of scripture while also believing it is important to rightly interpret scripture, our denominational divisions of human sexuality and the future of the UMC. My aim was to be gracious, but to also speak clearly to what I see as misinformation in Renfroe’s videos.

The videos, along with other helpful resources, are on a new website called Proud to Be UMC.

We are also inviting individuals and churches who are remaining United Methodist to indicate that on the website. You can do so here.

Eventually those whose churches are leaving the UMC but who wish to remain UMC will be able to search for those churches that will remain UMC in their community. Please sign on if you are committed to remaining UMC and share this site with others. We anticipate 80% or more of UM’s across the US will remain UMC.

Baseball icon Jackie Robinson's Methodist faith

Besieged by death threats, racial abuse and physical danger, somehow Jackie Robinson never publicly lost his composure during the 1947 Major League Baseball season, when he integrated the league. 

It was an amazing achievement, given Robinson’s reputation in the Negro baseball league as having a “temper like a rattlesnake,” said Michael G. Long, co-author with Chris Lamb of “Jackie Robinson: A Spiritual Biography.” 

Robinson had a little-known ally helping him stay stoic and perform well through the ordeal. He had faith. 

After a tense day at the ballpark, Robinson would head to his bedroom, get on his knees and pray for strength and courage, his wife Rachel Robinson told Long.

“His faith acted as a source of comfort, but also a challenge,” Long said. “(He was) comforted when he felt tension. It also challenged him to … not fight back.”

Read more at this link.

New UMCOR grant to Mines Advisory Group will help Ukrainians deal with threat of landmines

As the borders of war zones in Ukraine shift and change, some residents are returning home to find their neighborhoods and farms littered with mines and unexploded cluster munitions hidden to do the most harm.

A new $2 million grant from UMCOR - United Methodist Committee on Relief to the MAG (Mines Advisory Group) will help demine reclaimed ground, enable MAG teams to identify the exact location of unexploded ordnances and provide Ukrainians living in or returning to these areas with education to enable them to adopt safe behaviors to reduce the risk of accidents.

Read more at this link.

Wednesday with the Wesleys

 

Pray for Florida's Gulf Coast

Join us in prayer for the people of Florida as Hurricane Ian makes landfall as a potentially catastrophic category 4 storm. Hurricane Ian is the first major hurricane to make a direct hit near Tampa since 1921. Pastor Charles grew up in Pinellas County where he still has family and friends.

UMCOR is in close contact with the impacted United Methodist conferences and their conference disaster response coordinators. You can help by donating to UMCOR U.S. Disaster Response for this and other disasters throughout the United States.

World Communion Sunday - October 2

Holy Communion joins us in Christian unity. This sacrament invites us to focus on the holiness of communion with God and one another. On World Communion Sunday - United Methodists, in conjunction with other denominations and believers worldwide, participate in communion to recognize our unity in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  This universal and inclusive connection is the foundation of the special offering for World Communion Sunday.

Your donations support racial and ethnic students in achieving their educational goals and transforming communities. In 2021, World Communion Sunday offerings awarded 242 scholarships and grants. Your generosity continues to provide scholarships, grants, mentoring and training for leadership development. The needs exceed what we can fund and your gifts can further growth and success. Learn more about the racial and ethnic scholarships and grants here. 

Fifty percent of the offering provides scholarships for graduate students from the U.S. and other countries. Thirty-five percent supports racial and ethnic scholarships for students pursuing ordained ministry (deacon or elder) and includes a mentoring program. Fifteen percent funds Ethnic-In-Service Training Grant for leadership development, recruitment, training, and retention of ethnic United Methodist persons in leadership positions in every level of the church and its ministry. 

The United Methodist Church, the world and our communities are in a time of transition. Now, perhaps more than ever, we are called to extend healing and hope which will guide us to becoming a new creation in Christ. Through our gifts and support, we can invest in talented, qualified students from around the globe to transform the world as witnesses for Christ! 

Need more information about World Communion Sunday? Click here to find out about our rich and long history of generosity. Our hope is to inspire you to learn more about the work we accomplish together through the ministry we call connectional giving. 

Read stories about the impact you are making with your gifts. 

Give Now!

To give by mail:

Send checks to: GCFA
P.O. Box 340029
Nashville, TN 37203

Please put name of Sunday in note section.

This week @ St. Paul's UMC

Monday: 

9:00 AM, Office Hours

Tuesday:

9:00 AM, Office Hours

6:30 PM, MSC Mental Health webinar (Link)

6:30 PM, NextGen & Inclusiveness Webinar (Link)

Wednesday:

9:30 AM, Wednesday Weeders

10:00 AM, Zoom Fellowship

7:30 PM, Choir Practice

Thursday:

9:00 AM, Clergy Orders Retreat (Pastor) - Lander, WY

7:00 PM, "Tranforming" virtual book study 

Friday:

9:00 AM, Clergy Orders Retreat (Pastor) - Lander, WY

Saturday:

9:00 AM, Clergy Orders Retreat (Pastor) - Lander, WY

5:00 PM, Bishop Oliveto on FB Live

Sunday: World Communion Sunday

8:30 AM, Bell practice

8:45 AM, Adult class

10:15 AM, Worship

11:15 AM, Fellowship Time

12:30 PM, BBKC

Next Sunday @ St. Paul's UMC

We begin the month of October at St. Paul's with World Communion Sunday with guest preacher, the Rev. Ashley Murphy, Director of the Wesley Foundation at CU. 

September 25 @ St. Paul's UMC: Prayers

 

Joys:

+We give thanks to Pastor Janeen Hill for bringing the message this morning.

+Pastor Charles & Belinda were happy to be able to share his mother's 91st birthday with her in Georgia last week.

+The Peaks Pikes Peak District of the Mountain Sky Conference United Women in Faith had a virtual meeting yesterday. It was a blessing to participate via Zoom.  Belinda Alkula provided the program, and Pastor Charles led Communion.

+Pastor Janeen Hill is happy to be with us today.

+Claudia Mills is happy to have had the first gathering of the Rebecca-led book study last Thursday with Ben Glancy and Lily Berlin being special guest speakers.

+Belinda Alkula looks forward to Wednesday's Salad Lunch with the United Women in Faith at Mountain View UMC

+We celebrate this week's birthdays: Steve Matthews, Braden Nunnery, Sienna Pulaski, and Joey Vander Vorste

+We are blessed by those who served this week: Belinda Alkula (video), Steve Bainbridge (usher), Louise Cook (fellowship), Tim Cook (adult class), Pastor Janeen Hill (sermon), Etta Levitt (Zoom usher), Kathy Lloyd (Zoom host), Michele Matthews (fellowship), Heiji Park (piano), Ron Revier (choir), and Amy Abshire (liturgist).

Concerns:

+Joey Vander Vorste asks for prayers for the family of her brother, Roger, who passed this past week.

+Bishop  Oliveto asks for prayers for those recovering from Hurricane Fiona's wrath in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Turks and Caicos. Adding to those prayers are prayers of safety for the Maritime Provinces in Canada that were hit this weekend by the storm.

+We join with many across the nation is mourning the 228 deaths and 487 injured in gun violence this past week.

September 25 @ St. Paul's UMC: Announcements

+The United Women in Faith at the Mountain View United Methodist Church (UMC) invite St. Paul's UMC women to a Fall Salad Potluck Luncheon, Wednesday, September 28. Plan is to gather in Barker Hall at 11:15 a.m.; lunch to begin at 11:30 a.m. Program: Neighbors Embracing Afghan Refugees. Please R.S.V.P. intent to attend to Belinda Alkula today. (Cell: 303-916-2349 /    Belinda.Alkula@gmail.com).

+Ladies Lunch Bunch -- Thursday, October 6, at 11:45 a.m., at the Chautauqua Dining Hall, 900 Baseline Road in Boulder. Please R.S.V.P. by October 4 to Sandy Bainbridge via email or text. sandra.bainbridge@icloud.com / 970-584-0311 (cell phone number). There is handicap parking in front of the hall and other metered parking nearby. It is suggested to carpool from the church lot. Please arrange with each other.

+Church Conference season is here! Please prepare your reports for inclusion in this year's packet that will be presented at our virtual Church Conference, November 19 @ 10:00 AM. The membership, clergy compensation, and lay leadership reports must be pre-approved at the October Church Council meeting. Other reports need to be sent to Pastor Charles by November 1.

+Have you signed up for the Advent/Christmas devotional? Pastor Charles invites the congregation to participate in the creation of the fourth annual Advent and Christmas devotional. The theme for this year’s devotional is sometimes called a crèche, Nativity set, or manger scene. St. Francis of Assisi created the first crèche in 1223, in an attempt to bring the focus of Christmas back to the birth of Christ and away from material, gift-giving customs. 

It’s simple! 1) Select a person, an animal, or an element of the Nativity that speaks to you. You can also describe a Nativity set that you have in your home that is special to you. 2) Write a short reflection (one to two brief paragraphs) on what that that person, animal, element, or set means to you. 3) Submit your devotion to the office by November 1 either in writing or via email. 

+Dear friends and family, Alzheimer's isn't stopping, and neither am I. I'm participating in the 2022 Walk to End Alzheimer's®– 2022 Walk to End Alzheimer's - Boulder, CO to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer's care, support and research. I'm committed to making a difference in the fight to end Alzheimer's, and I hope you'll join me. There are two ways you can help: 1. Join my team–For the Mommas and the Poppas and walk with me on 10/01/2022. 2. Help me reach my fundraising goal by making a donation on my Walk page. I would be so grateful to have your support. Together, we can end Alzheimer's. Sincerely, Sandy Bainbridge

September 25 @ St. Paul's UMC: Worship

Rev. Janeen Hill delivers the sermon

The choir offers their voices to God's glory

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

YouTube video of the service

Today’s Meditation Verse: “Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD; praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time on and forevermore.” —Psalm 113:1-2

Welcome... Rev. Janeen Hill

Prelude... Hyeji Park / “The God Who Protects You,” arranged by Sungsil Jung

*Call to Worship (Book of Worship #449)... Amy Abshire

Trust in the Lord and do good. May the Lord give strength to the people!       O taste and see that the Lord is good! God is our refuge and strength.

*Hymn... “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (UMH #)

Prayer of Confession (BOW #490)... Amy Abshire

O merciful God, we confess that we have not acknowledged You as the source of our successes, our substance, our selves. We have been far more ready to complain when things go wrong than to praise when all is well. We have fed our bodies a rich diet while neglecting to feed our souls. Power and wealth have assumed greater importance to us than sensitivity and service. We have allowed religious words and forms to substitute for living encounters with the persons You have called us to love. Forgive us, compassionate Redeemer, and grant us the opportunity to start over again. Keep us from repeating the mistakes of the past or from new evils that could mislead or destroy. In the name of the Christ, we offer our earnest prayers for pardon and deliverance. Amen.

*Offering/Doxology (UMH #95)

Community prayer requests, concerns, and celebrations

Pastoral Prayer / The Lord’s Prayer... Rev. Hill

First Lesson: Numbers 11:4-6,10-26,24-29... Amy Abshire

Choral Anthem... “Sing a New Song to the Lord,” by Douglas  Wagner

Gospel Lesson: Mark 9:38-50... Rev. Hill

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

Sermon... Rev. Hill / “Who Is on Our Side?”

*Hymn... “We Gather Together” (UMH #)

*Words for the Journey... Rev. Hill

Postlude... Hyeji Park / “Day By Day,” arranged by Greg Howlett 

District United Women in Faith meeting

Women of the Peaks Pikes Peak District of The United Women in Faith met this morning in-person and via Zoom from across the area. 

The business meeting portion of the gathering included election of officers, budget, and a memorial service. Belinda Alkula led the program and Pastor Charles celebrated the sacrament of communion with the gathering.

Worship with us tomorrow

Join us for worship tomorrow morning @ 10:15 (in-person or by Zoom) as we gather for worship. Our guest preacher will be the Rev. Janeen Hill, a retired pastor from the Mountain Sky Conference.

Renewing waters: How United Methodists understand baptism

Water sustains life for humans, animals, and plants. We clean with warm water and relax in cool water. We find peace listening to the roar of the ocean or taking a stroll in the rain.

Water is also important to our life in the church. 

In the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, "We are initiated into Christ's holy church, … incorporated into God's mighty acts of salvation and given new birth through water and the Spirit," the Introduction to the Baptismal Covenant says. "All this is God's gift, offered to us without price." 

Former director of worship resources with Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church the Rev. Taylor Burton-Edwards explains, "Baptism is the ordinary means of rebirth and initiation into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Read more at this link.

Prayer for the first day of autumn

O God of Creation, You have blessed us with the changing of the seasons.

As we embrace these autumn months,

May the earlier setting of the sun

Remind us to take time to rest.

May the crunch of the leaves beneath our feet

Remind us of the brevity of this earthly life.

May the steam of our breath in the cool air

Remind us that it is you who give us

Your breath of life.

May the scurrying of the squirrels and the migration of the birds

Remind us that You call us to follow Your will.

We praise You for Your goodness forever and ever.

Amen.

– Author Unknown

(sistersofthedivinesavior.org)

Wednesday with the Wesleys

 

Trustees on the road

The Trustees met tonight via Zoom with wide-ranging topics being discussed. Pastor Charles & Belinda attended the meeting from their hotel room in Georgia!

Mountain Sky UWiF Annual Conference

Plan now to join the United Women in Faith (formerly UMW) in the Mountain Sky Conference for the Annual Conference October 7-8 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. 

This will be a "hybrid" meeting, in-person or via Zoom. The online registration form is available at www.mtnskyumw.org  or by contacting Lora Fulton.

UMCOR responds to Puerto Rico disaster

Please join us in prayer for the people of Puerto Rico as they experience severe flooding and a total power blackout as a result of Hurricane Fiona making landfall on the island.

We are in contact with the local conference disaster response coordinator and will share more information as it becomes available.

In the meantime, if you'd like to support UMCOR response efforts for this and other disasters throughout the U.S., you can donate here.

This week @ St. Paul's UMC

 

Monday:

9:00 AM, Office Hours

Tuesday:

6:00 PM, UMARC webinar (Link)

6:30 PM, NextGen & Inclusiveness Webinar (Link)

6:30 PM, MSC Mental Health webinar (Link)

7:00 PM, Virtual Trustees meeting

Wednesday:

9:30 AM, Wednesday Weeders

Thursday: First Day of Autumn

7:00 PM, "Tranforming" virtual book discussion

Saturday:

9:00 AM, PPP District UWiF (UMW) @ Broomfield UMC/Zoom 

5:00 PM, Bishop Oliveto on FB Live

Sunday:

8:30 AM, Bell practice

8:45 AM, Adult class

10:15 AM, Worship

11:15 AM, Fellowship Time

12:30 PM, BBKC

Scripture lessons for September 25

Next Sunday we will welcome retired UMC pastor Janeen Hill to St. Paul's UMC as she brings the message. The scripture lessons will be Numbers 11:4-6,10-26,24-29  and Mark 9:38-50.

September 18 @ St. Paul's UMC: Prayers

Joys:

+Joan Cooper is thankful that Austin has made significant progress in his recovery and has returned home!

+Angela Baker is thankful that George is on the road to recovery.

+Steve Matthews is thankful that BUMMP is selling salmon again this year.

+We are blessed to have Ruth Campesi visiting from Arizona, her daughter, Nikki, and grandson, Ethan in worship this morning.

+Belinda Alkula gives thanks for the wonderful time at the women's retreat yesterday at First UMC - Boulder.

+We give thanks for this week's birthdays: Steve Matthews, Jessie Muckle, and Pat Muckle

+We are blessed this morning by the following church servants: Amy Abshire (liturgist/fellowship), Belinda Alkula (video), Steve Bainbridge (usher), Tim Cook (adult class), Etta Levitt (Zoom usher), Kathy Lloyd (Zoom host), and Hyeji Park (piano). We were also blessed by Amy Abshire, Sabrina Bishop, Kathy Lloyd, & Suzanne Polacek (bell quartet).

Concerns:

+We lift up Jerry Beaber as he transitions to his new apartment @ Morningstar.

+We pray this morning for those church members who are absent from worship.

+We join with many across the nation in mourning the 190 killed and 531 injured in gun violence last week.