Pulling Out All the Stops

No, our electronic organ isn’t a pipe organ and it doesn’t have “stops”, but Easter is Easter and Central United Methodist has many long-standing traditions that seemingly nothing can “stop”!

But first—Palm Sunday Service, with celebratory beginning, moving to somber reflection as we heard again the reading of the Passion of Christ from Luke 22, and ending with the Via Dolorosa where we witnessed the ancient practice of stripping the Lord’s table and sanctuary to show the desolation and abandonment of the long night in Gethsemane. A somber, respectful, reflective, emotionally moving time together.

Then, mid-week, came the monthly newsletter in our mailboxes, in which Pastor Marilyn gave us some Passion Week thoughts (with help from Alice, our office manager (on the left), who somehow printed and mailed it with perfect timing!)

In her writing, Pastor Marilyn encouraged us not to worry too much about what exactly may have happened on one Sunday two thousand some years ago, but rather to focus not so much on an empty tomb but on the resurrection still happening in full hearts of transformed disciples…not so much on the vacant grave as on our spirit-filled fellowship!

THEN, 6:00 pm on Saturday evening---our men gather to prepare a really fabulous Easter Breakfast, as they have for the past twenty-some years! You’re the best, guys!!

 

 



Jan (left) the "Breakfast Leader" and Byard leading the crew

NOW we are finally at Easter Sunday morning, ready for...

--Enjoying completely the sunshine! Easter lilies and a cross of flowers as we enter the church!

 

--Greeting each and all, especially the many visitors!

--Loving the flowers adorning the sanctuary…the sheer beauty takes our breath away!

--Savoring breakfast---food and fellowship!

--Hunting Easter eggs!

 

Playing a little basketball...

 

--Loving our beautiful Easter dresses...

 

--Singing the familiar opening hymn: Christ Our Lord Is Risen Today (“…soar we now where Christ has led…made like him, like him we rise…”)

--Participating in the baptism of Dale and Gail's beloved grandson: "God claims you…helps you…protects you…loves you.”

--Our own Rachelle singing “They Saw but Could Not Understand”

--Hearing once again the words from John 20:18: "Mary Magdelene went to the disciples with the news: 'I have seen the Lord!'"

--Pastor Marilyn telling us the familiar story in a new way, about how the transparency of Jesus’ life establishes that love is stronger than fear and thus death, giving us a whole new perspective on life...reminding us that simple acts of kindness experienced from “the people along the way” are tangible, real life examples of resurrection -- of overcoming death -- happening all around us.

We left the church lifted up, encouraged, cheered...with these words from the hymn Christ is Risen:

"…Drink the wine of resurrection,

Not a servant, but a friend;

Jesus is our strong companion.

Joy and peace shall never end.”

Can’t wait until next year!!!

God Calls Us This Christmas Eve

God calls us this Christmas Eve to become new, to make room for our own nativity, even where there is no room at the inn.

We at Sedro-Woolley Central United Methodist Church wish you and your families a warm, peaceful, and loving Christmas!

Please join us on Sunday mornings at 11:00 for our regular worship service! We love and include everyone as part of the family of God, and welcome you in your faith journey wherever you are.

We hope you will share your own experience of God with us as we move to build a new community of peace and reconciliation.

As United Methodists, we seek to worship God through the guiding light of Jesus Christ, and honor four things that inform us in our faith journey:

Scripture as the light that guides us with its wisdom

Tradition as it has been passed down to us through our parents, our grandparents, the prophets, and the apostles

Experience from your own life journey that has taught you something very personal about God

Reason given to you as a gift from God, and used to carefully study the Bible and thoughtfully discuss theological issues.

 

To learn more about us, please go to our website:

http://www.gbgm-umc.org/cumc-sedrowoolley/

Open Door / Community Kitchen

Central United Methodist joins with Skagitonians to provide help to folks year round, but especially at Christmas time. This very week, Community Kitchen is in full swing in our Fellowship Hall/Kitchen.

Open Door/Community Kitchen has been in operation since 1989. It exists to provide warm meals to folks who, because they are homeless or who are unable, for various reasons, to provide for themselves.

Dee Dugan, a member of Central United Methodist, founded Community Kitchen. Barbara Kehoe is the current overall leader. For the past twenty years, Vickie Newell, with Terry and Vivian Russell, all members of CUMC, have served in various capacities. Together they provide leadership for the CUMC involvement in this important service.


Vickie Newell, 22 years and counting of Community Kitchen service!

About 80-100 meals are served each dinner hour to anyone who needs a hot meal, Monday-Friday, during the last week of the month. The exception is during November and December, when meals are served during the last full week before the holiday.

The meals are prepared in our CUMC kitchen. About half are delivered to homes in the community. The rest are served to folks who gather in our fellowship hall.

Lester stacks up the "to-go" boxes

All food and money are donated.  Some commodities come from the Sedro-Woolley Food Bank. A bread company donates bread. All the money used to buy food is donated. The food is purchased directly by Open Door volunteers.

This is definitely a community effort.  

Of the original founders, Vickie Newell and Terry and Vivian Russell, all CUMC members, are still leaders. Vickie Newell is the “Monday evening manager” with a team of volunteers from CUMC, First United Methodist in Mount Vernon, and Community Covenant Church in Clear Lake.  

Fran from the Sedro-Woolley Catholic Church leads her crew on Tuesdays. Vivian Russell from CUMC leads her crew from CUMC and Sedro-Woolley Bethlehem Lutheran on Wednesdays.

On Thursdays, volunteers come from North Cascade Christian Fellowship, CUMC, and the Master Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi Sedro-Woolley (an international service sorority). And on Fridays, Salem Lutheran Church of Mt. Vernon supplies the crew.

Whew! It takes an army!!



John turns chef one week a month!

Many CUMC members help in one way or another: cooking, serving, clean-up, delivering meals to individual homes, or buying food. We are grateful that our church has been able to take a leadership role in this compassionate ministry for more than two decades.

About 50 meals are packed in "to-go" boxes and delivered to individuals in their homes

Recently, members of the local Boys and Girls Club have also helped out. During October, for example, they brought cute paper pumpkins they had created themselves to serve as table centerpieces and they helped to load the individual food cartons on carts for delivery to individual homes.

We LOVE it when children from the Boys & Girls Club come over to help load up the boxes, bring cute centerpieces, and in general expend their prodigious energy to make things happen!! As the T-shirt says, "Great Futures Start Here."

Meals are packed up for delivery to homes. About 50 or so are served in the Fellowship Hall and a roughly equal number are delivered to homes

"For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matt 25: 35

Swirling Leaves, Swirling People

It’s that glorious time again, when our gingko tree just goes a little crazy and people actually drive by just to see it. And the blood-red maple leaves are rustling…swirling...

The people are swirling a bit, too…so many hurrying in and out of the church doors to do so many things. Not to brag or anything, but as the nice weather disappears and we look back a bit, we’re really kind of proud of a mountain of accomplishments in the past few months!! Collectively, we took it upon ourselves to…

      Install new fellowship hall and kitchen floors

 

     Paint

      Put in new security systems

      Manage rummage sales

      Place new picnic tables

      Wash windows

      Sew new advent banners, sleeping bags for homeless

      Volunteer for committees

      Clear/trench/seed the new bird sanctuary out back

      Garden

      Submit proposals for sanctuary sound improvement and adult education enhancement

      Take food to Food Bank

      Haul in boxes of winter hats & gloves to keep our neighbors warm

      Work in Community Kitchen

      Make music

Yes, we’ve probably forgotten quite a few things…you name it…

As Pastor Marilyn put it recently:

“WE are the swirling leaves, and the church is full of vigor.”

 

Thanks, Marilyn, for putting a lovely metaphor into the mix and reminding us about why we're doing it!

What We at CUMC Are Reading

We thought it would be fun and interesting to give our readers a little inside info about what we are reading!  Besides, we find people are always looking for a good book. We have a small but active church library, under the leadership of Sally Lund. Books, DVDs, and the robust exploration of ideas play a big part in our congregation’s ongoing faith journey.

TUESDAY CONVERSATIONS (11:00 Tuesday in the West Wing)

Our Tuesday Conversations group comes to mind immediately. Yes, it seemed a little unusual to this writer, at first, to attend a “meeting” that consists of sitting informally in a circle and reading aloud to each other from a book, breaking in for discussion whenever anyone has something to say! But, it’s really great. No need for advance preparation, no need to buy the book, and no pressure to read or say anything at all! It’s a Central United Methodist tradition that goes back many years. And, wow...have we covered a lot of territory!  The idea is to enrich our understanding of our faith and explore the ideas of insightful authors on a variety of topics.

Our current book is The Gospel of Inclusion: Reaching Beyond Religious Fundamentalism to the True Love of God and Self by Carlton Pearson (Atria Books, 2006). Bishop Pearson is a leading authority on the modern Pentecostal Church and is known as “a voice of reason in a world of religious extremes.”

So many books over so many years, but a few recent titles include:

 

The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith and Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power and How They Can be Restored, both wonderful books by Marcus Borg.

 Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. This largely secular book gave us a fascinating glimpse into how our human minds really work---the most complex phenomenon in all of God’s creation!

 

Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus by Robin R Meyers. This one challenged us---especially judging from what seemed at first to be a somewhat overly provocative title. But we saw a positive quote from Desmond Tutu whom we admire. And this quote from another one of our favorites, Diana Butler Bass: “With crisply prophetic joy, Meyers calls seekers and believers alike to leave belief about God behind in favor of becoming imitators of Jesus. We can save Jesus from the church, and in doing so, recreate faith communities freed from hypocrisy and filled with hope.” (author of Christianity for the Rest of Us, which is also on our “maybe” list….)

UNITED METHODIST WOMEN

For 140 years, members of United Methodist Women and predecessor organizations have been involved in mission that includes prayer, study and action! The Reading Program is a study opportunity, but it also leads to action.

 

Our local UMW group has selected the following titles to read and discuss from a nationally published list. If you like to discuss books while you are also working together on service projects, such as making quilts for homeless folks, supplying the Food Bank, or helping out with Community Kitchen, or putting together a rummage sale to gather some funds for humanitarian projects, then the UMW is for you! Or if you're just looking for a good read, these are thought-provoking books for men as well as women!

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

 

Outcasts United by Warren St. John.  This book is about refugees in an American town and one woman's quest to make a difference by starting a soccer program for them. 

NURTURING FOR COMMUNITY 

Alone and Invisible No More by Alan Teel, MD. This book describes how to overhaul our eldercare system to create a program that allows them to stay in their homes and live healthier, happier lives. 

SOCIAL ACTION 

Why Africa Matters by Cedric Mayson.   A book about the richness of Africa's peoples, traditions and cultures and why this is good news for the world. 

One Simple Act: Discovering the Power of Generosity by Debbie Macomber. The reader will discover how giving the gift of time, encouragement, hope, laughter, prayer, service and forgiveness can have lasting, life changing impact on the giver and the recipient.

 SPIRITUAL GROWTH 

When Christians Get It Wrong by Adam Hamilton.  When young adults talk about Christianity and the church, they list some behaviors and attitudes they believe are practiced too often by Christians.  The author tackles these issues.  

SERMONS

Pastor Marilyn Kallshian often incorporates ideas from books into her sermons. Among many, she recently has referenced:

Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith by Diana Butler Bass (Harper San Francisco, September 2006).

Numerous writings by Henri J.M. Nouwen, the Dutch theologian and prolific author of books on spirituality and also Fred B Craddock, and Barbara Brown Taylor.

Finding Your Religion: When the Faith You Grew Up With Has Lost Its Meaning by Scotty McLennan (Harper Collins, 1999).  

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell  (Little, Brown & Co, 2008). 

ADULT SUNDAY MORNING DISCUSSION (9:30 in the West Wing)

Dan Gerhard and Rich Ward lead this discussion and reference many books and also DVD’s. Recently, we spent several weeks focused on the DVD series Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity.  This biblically-grounded series was produced by David M. Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy, both of whom serve United Methodist congregations. They envisioned the growing series as a practical resource to retool, re-educate, and equip thinking Christians.

The LTQ series brings together the voices of top Bible scholars and church leaders —including Diana Butler Bass, Minerva G. Carcano, John Dominic Crossan, John L. Bell, Siyoung Park,  Amy-Jill Levine, Brian McLaren, Helen Prejean, Marcus Borg, John Shelby Spong and many others. Most of the speakers are published authors. Any of them make good reading. In fact, the DVD series is accompanied by the book Living the Question, and is available via Amazon or other booksellers.

The class has viewed and discussed books or DVDs featuring Karen Armstrong, the British writer; writings on  historical Celtic Christianity; basic Islam, Roman times during the life of Jesus, and on and on...

And so many more…including, of course, the best book of all, the Bible! All of these titles and authors are readily available through libraries or booksellers.

If you read a book from this list and wish to discuss your ideas, we’re your folks!! Call us and we’ll figure out how to meet up (360) 856-6412 / centralumcsw@yahoo.com.

 

http://www.gbgm-umc.org/cumc-sedrowoolley/

"I Just Love This Place"

“I just love this place,” said Dorothy, gazing at the garden courtyard between our church sanctuary and fellowship hall---a lovely garden in any season, but especially now, in mid-August.   

Knowing Dorothy, who has been with us a long time, her love probably extends beyond the courtyard to include the rest of the landscaping surrounding our church, to the sanctuary from which the garden is clearly visible in all seasons, and surely to us who, call this place “home”, even though we may know next to nothing about gardening!

We asked D. and others who month after month tend the grounds, clean the kitchen, pressure-wash, scrub, organize the storage rooms, fix the drains, paint, unclog pipes, run Cat5 cables, install energy-efficiency systems, replace toilet seats, de-moss the roof, bring tractors and garden tools and even a fire truck (water power there)... a lot of work, after all…

…why do you do it?...

We were hoping for some profound “spiritual statement!” Maybe we have a poet or at least a budding prose person in our congregation that we’d just never noticed?  Possibly…??

Nah... The answers ranged from “nothing else better to do with my day,” to “I don’t see a lot of money around to hire somebody”, to “I don’t have a lot of talents, but this is something I can do”… OK, but hardly poetry!! We think maybe folks are just shy, though, about getting a little too touchy-feely!

Oh sure, there’s the camaraderie, pride in personal skills, and occasional donuts, but we suspect gratitude is the one of the real reasons why we “tend the garden.” We’re grateful to be part of an open, welcoming community. We love the beauty and just plain comfortableness of this spiritual “home.”

These grounds—our “garden”—are a sacred place for us, humble as they are--- and as we are---no matter our lack of articulation!

We can be assured we’re on good footing here with our modest efforts because the “garden” as a metaphor appears frequently in the Bible, beginning with the Garden of Eden in Genesis.

We did a little searching on the Oremus Bible Browser site (http://www.devotions.net/bible/00bible.htm) and found so many really inspiring and beautiful instances. Without citing every reference (you can easily look them up for yourself), we found the garden as a metaphor for perfect harmony, for well-watered places and souls, for goodness and abundance—the opposite of “waste places.” Jesus used the metaphor of the garden in his parables, and at his last, prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And in John 20:15, we read that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene in a garden, where she mistook him for a gardener. And just occasionally we sing “her” hymn—old and sentimental, but judging from the number of YouTube hits, still loved: “I come to the garden alone...”

Marilynne Robinson, in her best-selling novel Home, has her character, Glory, say, as she remembers her father telling her years earlier: “God does not need our worship. We worship to enlarge our sense of the holy, so that we can feel and know the presence of the Lord, who is with us always.” *

As we worship in our sanctuary, with the modest but lovely courtyard and the surrounding landscape encircling the sanctuary (and us) in natural beauty, we’re grateful for the place itself, and for the “presence of the lord” made a little larger, sharper, and fresher by the Bible readings, prayers, hymns, thoughtful articulations from Pastor Marilyn, and the community of fellow worshippers.

Of course, we are all, every one of us, always at home in the presence of the Lord anywhere in all of creation, but we are human, after all, and a special physical space set aside just feels right. And, how could we be welcoming if we didn’t have a place to gather and invite folks into…?

And so, although it’s way far from the glories of, say, the Butchart Gardens, we maintain our “home place,” as best we can, with our rakes, clippers, paint brushes, help from Scouts, tractors, Janicki’s huge machines…with working water and efficient electrical systems, computers, fresh paint, clean kitchen, lovely plants, and we mustn’t forget the fire truck!

*Robinson, Marilynne. Home. 2008, p 110.

Marilyn is our consummate gardener

Rich pressure washes---sorry, spiders, about disturbing you, but...

Thank you, Janicki's, for the REALLY BIG STUFF

we'

Jan and his fire truck---don't ask! We're almost sure he did NOT steal it. And with Joyce there to supervise, all will be well. Jan uses its pressure to flush out the water pipes.

Dorothy, our gardening inspiration!

Don takes on the drains...it's going to rain again soon, for sure...

Dale is determined to find that water pipe. It's gotta be here somewhere!

Becky, our artist, just loves to paint---artistically or as a worker bee!

To the Boy Scouts...Thank you for the "back 40!"

The Boy Scouts…thank goodness they are tasked to do “community projects!” Local Scouts have met in our building for years. Some of our men are or have been Scout Leaders. These Scouts know our church supports their efforts with resources and occasional cash donations for camp, even as their incredibly dedicated local leaders may struggle with national policies, and all the other challenges that community leadership entails, especially when it involves children and youth.

When we asked the boys to help out with our “back 40,” aka “the jungle,”  they responded with gusto! Yes, we will help!

With the leadership of Scoutmaster Jeff Andersen and more than 20 Scouts, together with our own church’s Administrative Leader, Ty Clark, plus other of our trustees, members, and friends, the Scouts helped us with a huge “clean up party” with about 40 people pitching in.

Armed with wheelbarrows, rakes, shovels, saws, etc. they cleared the field behind and on the sides of our church property of debris, trash, and then helped us with lawn maintenance. They loaded at least 5 large industrial trailers with tree pieces, trash, stones, and on and on. Amazing!

Whew! We definitely could not have done it without your help, guys!

The day finished off with folks from the Habit for Humanity homes on our former property providing lots of hot dogs, chips, sodas, and other tasty specialties. In a way, it's sort of their "back 40", too, since they see it every day as they come and go. Thanks you all!

And we were proud when we heard that “our boys” won the top community service project for their quality unit award for this year, thanks in part to this project.

Way to go! Thank you!!!

And thanks, Ty Clark, for your unfailing energy and leadership on all the "big projects." We didn't get your smiling face in this photo, but we do appreciate the apparently HUGE load you are managing to pile on that trailer!