Bolder St. Paul's

Friday, October 20, 2023

Sew What wraps up for 2023

Michele focuses on her project

Joan and Judy share with the group

Belinda and Jovanka are having fun!

The final Sew What of the year was held today at the church today with Belinda Alkula serving as hostess. It was a great gathering with projects being worked on and lively conversation and good food to share.

Our next gathering will be in 2024, stay tuned for more details!

Empowering United Methodists for Inclusive Mission & Ministry

Join by Zoom for the seventh annual inclusiveness conference on Saturday morning, November 18, 2023, sponsored by the United Methodist Association of Retired Clergy & Friends (UMARC). It is free, you just have to register:

Thursday, October 19, 2023

LGBTQ advocates plan for new day in church

The Rev. Michele Johns shares the grief many United Methodists feel in seeing churches withdraw from the denomination.

But the pastor and social worker also shares the joy many of her fellow LGBTQ United Methodists and their allies feel at the prospect that the denomination is becoming a more inclusive and affirming church.

“I have hope, and that hope goes beyond The United Methodist Church, because (LGBTQ) people are here,” said Johns, pastor for congregational care and reconciling ministries at Silver Spring United Methodist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland.

“We are called by God; we are loved by God; we’re in the churches and in the community and always have been.”

Johns was among the more than 280 people who gathered in person — alongside about 100 online — for the Reconciling Ministries Network’s 2023 Convocation. The Oct. 13-15 gathering at First United Methodist Church in Charlotte brought together United Methodists from the U.S., Kenya and the Philippines, as well as Methodists from the first reconciling congregation in Brazil.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Wednesday with the Wesleys

From the Museum of Methodism and John Wesley’s House—

This is a small portrait of Mary Vazeille, usually known as ‘Molly’. She was the widow of a Huguenot banker and merchant. She and John Wesley were married in 1751 after a short courtship. In the portrait, she holds a miniature of John Wesley. Sadly, Molly and John were not well suited for each other, and the marriage suffered from misunderstandings from the start, resulting in separation.

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Jerusalem Heads of Churches urge addressing humanitarian crisis in Gaza

“Our beloved Holy Land has changed dramatically over the past week,” their statement reads. “We are witnessing a new cycle of violence with an unjustifiable attack against all civilians.”

As tensions continue to rise, more innocent and vulnerable people are paying the ultimate price, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches noted.

“The order to evacuate the north of Gaza and to ask 1.1 million people—including all the members of our Christian communities there—to relocate to the south within 24 hours will only deepen an already disastrous humanitarian catastrophe,” the statement reads. “Gaza's entire population is being deprived of electricity, water, fuel supplies, food, and medicine.”

According to UN sources, 423,000 people have already been displaced because of the destruction of their homes. “Many civilians in Gaza have said to us that there are no realistic ways in which they can evacuate to safety in any direction,” reads the statement, which also calls upon Israel and the international community to allow humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza.

“Moreover, we call upon all parties to de-escalate this war in order to save innocent lives while still serving the cause of justice,” reads the statement, which also invites all those of goodwill around the world to observe a Day of Prayer and Fasting on 17 October.

Read the full statement