My colleague, Stan Norman, has said it better than I can.
-Pastor Carl
Dear Friends,
If you weren't raised in the United Methodist Church, and even if you were, you may find it strange that geographic areas are defined in temporal terms. For example, all of the United Methodist Churches in Washington and the northern ten counties of Idaho are officially part of the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. The name Annual Conference honors our heritage. In the early days of Methodism, it was the practice of John Wesley and other leaders to gather all the clergy together annually, or more often, to worship, conduct church business, and enjoy the fellowship of colleagues in ministry. At the end of the conference, pastors and preachers were told which churches, or groups of churches, they would serve in the coming year. Pastors used to be assigned to groups of churches called "circuits", hence the prominent image in Methodism of a pastor astride his horse, riding from one church in the circuit to the next; reading, writing, studying, and even sleeping, in the saddle. Today we call groups of churches served by the same pastor a "charge", and a car or truck has replaced the horse.
From June 18th through June 21st, our Bishop, Grant Hagiya, will convene and preside over the 128th annual meeting of the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. The theme of this year's conference is "Everyone Fed." There will be reports from all of the annual conference agencies and organizations. There will be legislative committee meetings to consider and act on petitions from United Methodists across the annual conference. There will be votes on Constitutional amendments recommended by the General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2008. There will be a ministry fair, a basketball game to raise funds for Nothing But Nets, part of our global initiative to combat malaria. There will be meetings in the morning, meetings at night, and meetings "at suppertime". There will be offerings, and networking, and socializing, and even a Cokesbury bookstore.
But, our favorite part of annual conference is the worship! The worship services that begin and end to describe or underestimate the spiritual experience of 1000 voices raised in celebration of God's amazing grace, and Christ's unbelievable love. One of our favorite songs puts it this way: "amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree."
Amidst all the excitement and activity that is annual conference, amidst all the business and busyness, amidst all the turmoil and stress, let us remember that
this is an opportunity for "Holy Conferencing". Let us never forget that Christ is at the Center of all that we do, say, and are. Let us ensure that "Everyone is Fed".
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Carl: Thank you very much for my Bible. I can't wait to read it over the summer.
-Angelina Schmidt
A big thank you to Jack Shimek, Sunny Day Thompson, and Rebecca and Cole Stolberg for agreeing to help with the usher duties on Sunday mornings!
Our sympathy is with Polly Firor on the death of her mother on May 28th.
Congratulations to Mary Bynum on the birth of her great-grandson, Cale Joseph Goe, on May 31st.. Cale joins parents Aaron and Shawna Goe at home in Hood River, Oregon.
We also rejoice with Don and Carolyn Wilson on the birth of a great-granddaughter, Lillian Butterly, born on May 27th.
Karen Peacock welcomed a new grand-daughter, Leilani Peacock, on June 5th. Parents are Kevin and Jamilia Peacock.
Congratulations to Linn and Donna Sampson on the birth of their grand-daughter, Emery Sampson, June 1st. Parents are Nat and Marty Sampson.
Welcome to Don Sundgren, who joined the church on May 31st!
On Sunday, June 7th, we welcomed our Confirmands into full church membership. They were: Dan Ritz, who also received Christian baptism that day, Matthew Nicol and Emily Vasquez. Welcome to all our newest members!
Paul and Connie Sweet have moved and their new contact information is:
3752 W. Jump Off Joe Road
Valley, WA 99181
Phone: 509-258-6843
8:15 a.m. Worship
9:00 a.m. Adult Nooma Study
10:00 a.m. Worship
The Church Office will begin its summer hours on June 15th.
The office will be open from 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m
Monday-Friday during the summer.
CALLAO, Peru (UMNS)-Peruvian Methodists want to be able to train their pastors in the spirit of John Wesley. When Seminario Teológico Wesleyano opens in August, they will achieve that goal. Based at Colegio America, a Methodist-owned school in the Lima suburb of Callao, the seminary represents a partnership between the Methodist Church in Peru and the Wesley Heritage Foundation of North Carolina, with support from the United Methodist boards of Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry and Methodist churches in the region. Seminary students will have access to a library, computer lab and "state-of-the-art" classrooms at the school. The seminary also will help address the need for more ordained Methodist pastors in that region of Latin America.
May 30th was the grand opening of the United Methodist Committee on Relief's (UMCOR) West Office and Depot in Salt Lake City. The event started with a noon lunch, followed by a consecration service, relief supplies workshop, and tour of the 22,000 square-foot warehouse. The Rev. Brian Diggs, the office's director, expressed appreciation for the "awesome" support of local church members in getting the facility up and running. "There has been a constant flow of volunteers faithfully coming in to paint, clean, provide administrative support and organize supplies," he said. Kathy Kraiza, who manages the operations in both UMCOR's West and the Sager Brown Depot in Louisiana, said that the facility "will provide new mission opportunities for groups, especially those in the Western Jurisdiction."
Are you familiar with The Salvation Army of Spokane and the various programs and services available in the Spokane area?
Please join the MIDIS on Saturday, June 13, at 6:00 p.m. for a potluck social and our guest speakers, Kyle and Lisa Smith, Corps Officers. (Don't forget to bring along your own place setting.)
Captains Kyle and Lisa Smith currently serve as Corps Officers of The Spokane Salvation Army, giving leadership and oversight to the Army's many programs and services throughout our area. This includes the spiritual ministries of the Corps Community Center, Family Resource Center, Emergency Homeless Family Shelter, Transitional Housing, Emergency Foster Receiving unit and Camp Gifford at Deer Lake.
Kyle was born and raised in New Zealand while Lisa hails from the Western side of Washington State. They met when both served The Salvation Army in Rwanda after the 1994 war and genocide. They served together in Hawaii as Corps Officers and in California as Youth Ministry Leaders. before coming to Spokane last August.
Come and hear Captains Smith speak about their experiences in ministry with The Salvation Army, especially their current work in Spokane.
Hosts for the evening are Dori Young and Estel and Joanne Harvey. See you on the 13th!
Summer Fun: June, July and August
Super
Sunday
Cinema
Spectacular
The children will be having movies and snacks during the 10:00 a.m. worship time in the summer beginning June 14th. Be sure to bring your friends!
July 13-17
5:30 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. Audubon Park UMC "Bread of Life Café" is serving a simple supper.
6:15 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. Vacation Bible School and Adult Study
The items we are needing for VBS are:
Small, white hand towels - new
Heart shaped soaps
Sheer curtains (will not be returned)
Clean, brown burlap
Remember, we are still needing volunteers for this summer's Vacation Bible School
(July 13-17 from 6:15-8:15 p.m.) and for summer's WOW NOW! to be held during the 10 a.m. worship time.
Do you have flowers in your garden you would like to share with the church on Sunday mornings? Please use the Flower Chart, located by the water fountain in the Narthex, to sign up for altar flowers on any given Sunday. It is a great way to share beauty with your church family!
July 24-27, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA.
Where is DARFUR? Is it related to violence in the Congo Rwanda?
Why is food so important to us? What's the relationship between food and faith, food and hospitality?
What can we learn from Native American traditions and beliefs? Can they apply to us?
These are the subjects of the three study courses offered at the Cooperative School of Christian Mission this summer. One of the purposes of United Methodist Women is to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church. Without knowledge of the needs and troubles around the world we cannot participate in missions and the Mission School is one of the primary ways to provide this knowledge.
Everyone will participate in this study. Study Leader Paul Jeffrey, a contributor to Response magazine, has been there and written about it and photographed it. The study explores an overview of history that began in Bible times; the country's main ethnicities, religions and languages; touch points and possible causes for the wars; the way Sudanese women are contributing to the peace process and to the culture as a whole; a critique of the severe impact of colonialism and current challenges; and some ways in which people of faith can embrace and affirm the Sudanese people.
This study is about how our faith is nurtured, strengthened and enhanced by food and all the ways food touches our lives. It is no accident that our most profound sacrament, Holy Communion, is food. This study explores the ways food creates community, offers hospitality to strangers, and expands one's concept of "neighbor".
Native American traditions teach us that creation includes all that comes from God and all that comes from the heart and mind of God is sacred. Native traditions call on its people to value life as God values life. To be created people is to be relationally connected to all people everywhere, as well as to all God has created.
Other sources of information about the mission programs are the RESPONSE Magazine, the reading program, and the District and Annual UMW meetings.
I strongly recommend this opportunity and encourage you to attend. This is not restricted to UMW members. Our local unit has budgeted a line item for help with funds for those attending from Audubon. Contact Karen Peacock 869-5741 or myself at 326-0258 for information. But don't delay as time is getting short.
Yours in Christ,
Melva Lohstroh, Inland District President
Father's Day story is the tale of realization of the need for a Father's Day festival primarily by Ms. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd of Central UMC, Spokane. The story narrates Sonora's unflagging struggle to officially set a day to honor all fathers.
Sonora was born to William and Ellen Smart at Jenny Lind, Arkansas, in 1882. The family moved west in search of a better life. When Sonora was 16, her mother died while giving birth to her sixth child. Sonora watched her father take care of the children with devotion and making endless sacrifices so that his children could live better.
Fairly mature at the age of 27, Sonora listened to a Sunday sermon on Mother's Day in 1909, wondering if there is a day to honor mothers why not a day to honor fathers. Sonora soon began her campaign for the official recognition of Father's Day. Sonora received the support of the Spokane Ministerial Association and the YMCA, and Spokane celebrated its first Father's Day on June 19, 1910.
Observing the popularity of the day, President Woodrow Wilson approved the idea of celebrating Father's Day in 1916, and by the time Sonora's father died in 1919, Father's Day was a popular occasion in the U.S. In 1966, after decades of struggle, President Lyndon Johnson signed a Presidential Proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father's Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father's Day. Ms. Dodd - the Mother of Father's Day!
-Reprinted from "Inland Steeples", the Inland District Newsletter
A gentle reminder that the Lamplighters for the next weeks are:
June 14 Mike and Iva Jean Gilbreth
June 21 Marcia Phillips
The following people are scheduled to have this sweeping duty in the coming weeks:
June 14 Doug Smith
June 21 Don Wilson
Below are the ushers for worship in the upcoming weeks:
June 14 George Hartman
June 21 Ralph and Lois Penick
June 14 Evelyn Gould
June 21 Mary Bynum
June 14 Phyllis Todd
June 21 Homer Todd
The Audubon Park Nite at the Spokane Indians Baseball will be Sunday, June 21, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $9 a piece; please contact Steve Whitford for tickets! (489-7235)
UMW has an ongoing project collecting aluminum pull tabs. These are given to Ronald McDonald House and the many groups involved throughout the area collect enough that Ronald McDonald raises approximately $500 a month. There is a deposit for the tabs in the parlor on the bookcase by the fireplace. We are also continuing to collect Campbell Soup labels which are sent to the McCurdy School in New Mexico which is a Methodist sponsored mission. They also can be left in the same can as the tabs.
Peace with Justice Sunday supports programs that advocate peace and justice throughout the world. Half of the special offering goes to the Board of Church and Society to help fund U.S. and global work in social action, public-policy education, and advocacy. The other half stays in our Conference to fund local Peace with Justice programs. Please give generously June 14th!
Regular Stated Meetings at Audubon Park: (All meetings are open to anyone except for Staff/Parish Relations Committee. Meeting days are subject to change.)
Trustees 1st Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Mike Gilbreth, Chair (327-8225)
Missions 2nd Monday 4:30 p.m. Carroll Krupke, Chair (796-2375)
Finance 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Paul Agather, Chair (466-4869)
Worship 3rd Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Joanne Harvey, Chair (327-6912)
Staff/Parish 4th Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Ralph Penick, Chair (466-8448)
Church Council 4th Monday 7:00 p.m. Linn Sampson, Chair (327-4515)
Lay Leader David Banks (325-2026)
I can give you life, but only you can live it.
I can teach you things, but only you can learn.
I can give you direction, but I can't be there to lead you.
I can allow you freedom, but I can't account for it.
I can take you to church, but only you can believe.
I can teach you right from wrong, but the choice will always be yours.
I can buy you beautiful clothes, but I can't make you beautiful inside.
I can offer you advice, but only you can accept it.
I can teach you to share, but only you can be unselfish.
I can teach you respect, but only you can show honor.
I can advise you about friends, but I can't choose them for you.
I can advise you about sex, but I can't keep you pure.
I can teach you the facts of life, but I can't build your reputation.
I can tell you about alcohol, but only you can choose to be sober.
I can warn you about drugs, but only you can say no.
I can tell you about lofty goals, but I can't achieve them for you.
I can teach you about kindness, but I can't force you to be gracious.
I can warn you about sins, but I can't make you moral.
I can pray for you, but only you can choose God.
I can teach you about Jesus, but only you can choose Him as Lord.
I can tell you how to live, but I can't give you eternal life.
I can love you unconditionally all of my life, and I will.