CONNECTIONS
UPUMC
• Conversation about Our Vision, Sunday, January 23, immediately after church, Sanctuary.
• Women’s Spirituality Group meets, Thursday, January 27, Judy Griffen.
• All-Church Potluck and Forum, featuring Ann Duffy, Volunteer Coordinator of the Children’s Relief Nursery, Sunday, January 30, 11:30am, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Paint and Clean the Parsonage Weekend, February 5 and 6. Please sign up.
• Education Committee meets with lunch Sunday, February 6, 12:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Ash Wednesday Service, 7pm, Wednesday, February 9, Sanctuary.
THE CONNECTING MISSION
• An Evening in Cambodia: Food and Entertainment, 6pm, Saturday, January 29, Rose City Park UMC, 5830 NE Alameda. $10 in advance, 503-281-1229.
THE LARGER CHURCH
• Community of Welcoming Congregations Steering Committee meets at UPUMC, Monday, January 24, 7pm, Errol Stephenson Hall. Everyone welcome.
• Metro District Leadership/Enrichment Event, Saturday, January 29, 9am-3pm, Portland First UMC.
THE COMMUNITY
• TCAP [now, Portsmouth Neighborhood Association] Board meets Tuesday, January 24, 7pm, Columbia Cottage.
• Portsmouth Neighborhood Association Forum, Tuesday, February 1, 6pm, Columbia Cottage.
• Food Security Workshop, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2005, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at St. Andrew Community Center, 4940 NE Eighth Ave., Portland.


FUTURE EVENTS, FOR YOUR CALENDAR
• Methodist Federation for Social Action Spring Event, March 5, 2005, Portland First UMC.
• Unchartered Waters: Connecting with Emerging Generations, Monday-Wednesday, March 7-9, Salem First United Methodist, $69. See brochure on Announcements board.
WEEKLY AT UPUMC
• Choir practices Sundays at 9:30am, Tuesdays at 6pm, Sanctuary.
• Men’s Group. Tuesdays, 10am, Narthex.
• Let’s Go Walking, Wednesdays, 1pm, Narthex.
• Morrison Center for Child and Family Services, Errol Stephenson Hall and Nursery, Tuesdays, 1-4pm.
• Alcoholics Anonymous, Narthex, Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays at 8pm, weekly.
• Overeaters Anonymous, Wednesdays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm.

THE NURSERY IS STAFFED DURING WORSHIP

THE GIVING BASKET
The Giving Basket is in the Narthex after church. Take whatever you’d like to have. Leave whatever you’d like to give. No junk. It’s that easy.

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To Dream The Impossible Dream
Isaiah 49:1-7, Psalm 40:1-11, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John 1:29-42
January 16, 2005
Rev. Marcia J. Hauer

About a week ago, I needed to go to the Metro District office which is located at Hughes Memorial UMC, on Failing St., just a block or two west of Martin Luther King Avenue. When I got there, the kids and their teachers from the Head Start program that is in the building were just getting back from a Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration. They had signs. They were chanting, at least the adults in the group were chanting, “Dr. King had a dream. Keep the dream alive!� The kids were having a great time and most of them probably didn’t have a clue about what they were doing and the importance of it. Watching those kids, though, gave me something to think about. “Dr. King had a dream. Keep the dream alive!� What is it that I dream, that we dream together that might have the same sort of impact that Dr. King’s dream has had?

I spent some time reading some of Dr. King’s sermons and other writings and found myself doing a bit of translating for our day and time. The problem of racial segregation and equal rights hasn’t been solved and continues to be a major problem in our society and there are other issues which people of conscience need to address, so my reading added some of those issues to his words, and they fit amazingly well. We have a long way to go to make his dream a reality and a still longer way to go if we are to add our own dreams to the mix.

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RESOLUTION, ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL OF UNIVERSITY PARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH,
JULY 12 2004



We are United Methodists who believe that our Christian faith demands social justice and equality. We oppose any state or federal constitutional amendments or laws defining marriage as being only between one man and one woman. Such amendments treat same gender couples as less than equal, denying them equal protection under the law. This discrimination violates God’s command that we love our neighbors as ourselves and denies our convictions that all humanity, including gay men and lesbians, are created in God’s image. We urge the defeat of these constitutional amendments or laws at the state and federal level.



We ask for no response from you other than that you consider, together, where God might be leading you. Thank you for your consideration of this question.



Sincerely,



Joel Sundstrom, Administrative Council Chair

Dotti Swenson, Lay Leader

Rev. Dr. Jeanne Knepper, Pastor

Rev. Marcia Hauer, Pastor

Stephanie Thompson, Ministry of Music

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WHERE EVERYBODY’S WELCOME

Isaiah 42:1-9; Acts 10:34-35,
44-48a; Matthew 3:13-17

January 9, 2005

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Bobby.  Bobby loved church.  He looked forward to Sundays, laid his clothes out the night before, wanted to be a part of it all, Sunday School and Church and coffee hour and meetings.  While the other kids his age went through Confirmation classes with some sense of “have to,� Bobby was there with a smile on his face, and a much larger grin in his heart.  And so, Bobby would have been puzzled and hurt to know that some of his peers, and their parents, were talking privately with their pastor, making the case that Bobby should not be confirmed into the
church when the big day came.  Bobby, you
see, had Down’s Syndrome.  And so, they
said, he didn’t really understand what it meant to be a member of the church, and never would.  Yes, these naysayers argued, he does love to be here, and he’s cheerful enough, but he will never understand the mysteries of the faith; he will never be able to discern between good doctrine and bad. 

So it was that Bobby’s pastor sat down to talk with him one afternoon.  “Bobby,� she asked, “why do you want to join the church?�

“So I will belong to the family,� he replied, “to the church family�.  When she asked what he meant, he went on,   � When
I was a baby, my Moms adopted me.  Before they adopted me, I was just visiting, and I didn’t belong.  When they adopted me, then I belonged to them, and they are my Moms for always.  I want to belong to the church family too, not just as a visitor, but for always.� 

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Spiritual Community Responds to Disaster
Associated Press Online - Top News
Sunday, January 2, 2005 - 01:37:57 AM

Spiritual Community Responds to Disaster

By CHRIS TOMLINSON

Alan Bernard first learned that a giant tsunami had struck the Indian coast when thousands of terrified villagers began rushing into this spiritual community dedicated to promoting world unity and helping others.

For Auroville, a town that was created in 1968 by followers of an Indian guru and has since grown to 1,700 people from 33 nations, the tsunami disaster gave a chance to turn their mantra into action.

Bernard and other Auroville residents immediately went to work setting up tents and a field kitchen that, within four hours, was feeding 1,100 victims.

"Lots of people came up and we knew something had to be done," said Bernard, 63, originally from Paris.

Residents of the town took tents and a field kitchen _ normally used for a children's summer camp _ and set up an ad hoc relief center.

The tsunami struck at about 8:30 a.m., and the first meals were served by noon. The field kitchen worked throughout the day. By nightfall, the group was feeding 1,200 in the relief center and sending 300 meals to another camp, he said.

As the extent of the disaster became clearer and it was obvious more was needed, Auroville quickly swung into action.

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