CONNECTIONS
UPUMC
• All-Church potluck and forum, featuring Lisa Jean Hoefner talking about camping in the Oregon-Idaho Conference, today, 11:30am potluck, Noon forum.
• Baby Shower for Jennifer Herbach and Darrell DuShane, Sunday, April 2, 12:45pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Education Committee meets Monday, April 3, 7pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Finance Committee meets Sunday, April 9, 12:45pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Staff-Parish Relations Committee meets Monday, April 10, 6:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Administrative Council meets Monday, April 10, 7:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Outreach Committee meets Tuesday, April 11, 7:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Maundy Thursday meal, service and Easter eggs, Thursday, April 13, 6:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall and sanctuary.
• Easter Breakfast, Sunday, April 16, 8:30am, Errol Stephenson Hall.

THE LARGER CHURCH
• Annual Meeting, Community of Welcoming Congregations, Sunday, March 26, 3-5pm, Morningside UMC, Salem OR.

THE COMMUNITY
• Portsmouth Neighborhood Association Board meets Tuesday, March 28, 7pm, Columbia Cottage.
• Portsmouth Neighborhood Association Forum meets Tuesday, April 4, 7pm, Columbia Cottage.

FUTURE EVENTS, FOR YOUR CALENDAR
• North Portland Candidate Forums co-hosted by UPUMC and the Portsmouth Neighborhood Association, Tuesdays, April 18, 25, and May 2, 7-9pm, UPUMC sanctuary.
• All-church potluck and forum, featuring Rev. Ron and Diane Ray, former pastoral family and missionaries in Kenya, Sunday, April 30, 11:30am, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• The Laramie Project at Southridge High School, May 26, 27 and 28, $7. www.southridgetheatre.org
• Third Annual All-Church Retreat at Camp Magruder on the Oregon Coast, Friday-Sunday, September 15-17, 2006.

WEEKLY AT UPUMC
• Choir practices Sundays at 9:30am, Tuesdays at 6:30pm, Sanctuary.
• Morrison Child and Family Center program, Mondays, 4-6pm.
• Men’s Group, Tuesdays, 10am, Narthex.
• Alcoholics Anonymous, Narthex, Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays at 8pm, weekly.
• Overeaters Anonymous, Wednesdays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm.
THE NURSERY IS STAFFED DURING WORSHIP FOR CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN SCHOOL AGE. SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN ARE INVITED INTO THE SANCTUARY UNTIL THE ‘PASSING OF THE PEACE’; THEN THEY GO TO SUNDAY SCHOOL.

PLEASE DON’T GO HUNGRY. WE HAVE FOOD IN OUR PANTRY, LOCATED IN THE HALLWAY LEADING TO ERROL STEPHENSON HALL, TAKE WHAT YOU NEED.

A BABY SHOWER
Carolyn Hammett and Barbara Sawyer invite you to a shower to welcome Jennifer Herbach and Darrell DuShane’s baby Brett Philip DuShane into the world. The shower will be at UPUMC on Sunday, April 2, at 12:45pm [after Sunday School] in Errol Stephenson Hall. Jennifer and Darrell are registered at Target and Walmart, for those who might like gift suggestions.
STAYING IN TOUCH
Edna Riddle, Sunrise Adult Care Center, 11945 SW Butner Rd., Portland OR 97225; 503-841-1295 [a new number]

Harriet Bonhorst, Pioneer Tower, 515 P Street #202, Sacramento, CA 95814; cell phone: 503-330-6915

Elmina Nath is staying with her son. She can be reached at her previous phone number, 503-285-1973, which will ring there.

ATTENDANCE IS GROWING!
Attendance, March 19: 39
Attendance, February average: 45
Attendance, 2006 year average to date: 41
Attendance, 2005 year average: 37

OUR BUDGET, IN BRIEF
Budget, 2006, total: $112,469.00
Needed monthly, all sources: $ 9,373.00
Received March, to date: $ 6,112.00
Received 2006, to date:
donations $ 13, 385.00
building use $ 2,878.34
investments $ 3,190.83
fund-raisers $ 47.23
Conference support $ 3,080.00
other $ 268.97
Total received to date: $ 22,850.37

ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING
Today we take the annual One Great Hour of Sharing offering, which benefits the programs of The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). When there is an earthquake, flood, hurricane or any other sort of disaster, UMCOR is there to offer assistance, and 100% of all designated donations to UMCOR are given to the specified project. However, there are administrative costs for running those efforts. The annual One Great Hour of Sharing special offering is where those administrative costs come from so that all of the relief efforts around the world can continue to happen. I challenge everyone to look in their pockets, change purses or wherever you keep your change and at the end of each day take that change and set it aside for this offering. You’ll be amazed at how much you have in your pockets and you’ll be even more amazed at how easy it is to do. Thanks for your generous support. --Marcia

PICTURES TAKEN ON APRIL 17
We are in the process of creating a new church directory with pictures. A photographer from Olan Mills will come on April 17 to take pictures of everyone. There will be no cost to have your picture included in the directory, and you will get a free portrait and a directory if you have your picture taken. You will also be offered the opportunity to purchase whatever pictures you want to have, but there is no requirement. Please sign up for a sitting time. We'll need some people to help on the day of the shoot. Let Marcia know if you could volunteer some time that day. Thanks.--Marcia

ABOUT THE LORD’S PRAYER
In the beginning of the bulletin each week, we see the words, At University Park United Methodist Church, we appreciate and celebrate that we do not all think and speak alike. Sometimes, you might like to modify the words of songs or readings to better reflect your comfort or understanding of God. Sometimes, you might like to sing in a language other than English. Go ahead! It’s okay to speak, or sing, with your own voice. The differences we hear will only enrich our common understandings of who we are together as a people of God.

How we pray is important, for us as individuals and as a community. I’ve heard lately that some folk wish we’d stick with the tradition of “Our Father� and are uncomfortable with the use of alternative openings for the Lord’s Prayer [I often use, “Our Father and Mother God�] while others are thrilled that the prayer can include male and female aspects of God’s presence and being. One person has suggested that we pray to “Our Creator.� All of these are good and faithful approaches to a God we can never fully understand. I encourage us to make space for each other. I know it can be confusing to know what you should say, but I ask us all to live in our own comfort zones while granting others the freedom to live in theirs. Perhaps we can make space for our differences by beginning our prayer with the word “Our� and welcoming our various names for God before going on together with the phrase, “Hallowed be thy name,� and the rest of the prayer. And in the process of graceful waiting and cheerful differences, I believe that we will live out the later petition, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.� Let us be the people of God, diverse and beloved, together.--Jeanne

RON AND DIANE RAY ON APRIL 30
Former pastor Ron Ray and Diane Ray will be here on April 30 to speak of their experiences and work in mission work in Africa. They will be our guests during the pot-luck—wouldn’t it be nice to include ethnic dishes from our many backgrounds?—and will talk during the forum time of their work in missions and with HIV/AIDS. Let’s welcome them warmly.

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