Community Groups are a key aspect of our church identity. Each group meets once a month for good conversation, mutual support, and a healthy dose of laughter, and general good-times. Currently, all groups are functioning as Virtual Community Groups, meeting once a month via ZOOM. If you haven't signed up for a group yet, go to (fumcbellevue.org/groups) and sign up!

The FUMCB Book Group will meet on Wednesday, March 17th at 1 pm via Zoom. Please let Darlene P. know that you will be attending. We are reading, “Warriors Don’t Cry” by Melba Pattillo Beals this month. Melba was one of the nine students selected to integrate the Little Rock, Arkansas High School September 1957 – May 1958. The book was originally published in 1994 and reissued in 2007 with a new introduction. If you have questions, please contact Darlene H. or Phyllis B.

LECTIO DIVINA: Mondays from 4 - 5:30
Join here. Lectio Divina is a contemplative method of reading the Bible with ‘the ear of the heart’ so as to be transformed, more than simply informed, by the text. We hope this group will help us focus on how the Bible can help to navigate this cultural moment and uplift us with needed hope in this season of upheaval.

SACK LUNCHES FOR WOMEN IN RECOVERY AND THEIR CHILDREN
Saturday, March 27, 1 - 3 pm, Fellowship Hall
A live event with masks, social distancing, and lots of ventilation. We'll work together, in shifts, to make lunches for women in recovery, and their children, housed at Hope House, a part of the Seattle Union Gospel Mission. ALL are welcome to help! Click here to sign up for a specific task at a specific time. If you can't help but would like to support the project financially, click here. Thanks for being willing to help! 

And, if you are curious about our sack lunch promise to Friends of Youth, they are not forgotten! The Subway store closest to the youth shelter has been making and delivering sack lunches every Sunday for us for a year now. Friends of Youth is only accepting food made in licensed commercial kitchens, so we can't do it ourselves.

2021 Financial Support
Thank you to all our faithful givers who have provided a 2021 Estimate of giving. The total of your estimates is just over $171,000 and 33 families have indicated their support. There are 3 new families offering support this year.

A second Paycheck Protection Program grant has been secured, which helps us meet our operating costs. We will continue our programs to support our community in 2021. Our new church rhythm helps our members and the community engage and stay connected. Additional giving is always welcome and will help us meet the financial challenges we may face later.

Your continued financial support along with volunteers, prayers, and creativity allow us to fulfill our mission of transforming the world in the name of Christ.

Thank you for your support!

NEWS-WORTHY HAPPENINGS IN THE GREATER UMC
General Conference (GC), the UMC decision-making body, which was originally scheduled for 2020 has been rescheduled again, to September of 2022 because of COVID concerns.  There will be a brief electronic General Conference in May to pass 12 pieces of legislation to enable the postponement while providing for the continuation of the work of the church.

1. Because of these postponements, several groups within the church are changing (Liberation Methodists) or readying for change (The Traditionalists, Black Methodists, and our bishops). Read More 

2. The Traditionalists have announced the name of the new denomination they hope to launch after GC 2022: Global Methodists. They have prepared their Book of Doctrine and Discipline as well as a book of Judicial Practices and Procedures. For more information click here.

3. The Progressives are also busy, looking toward the day when the Book of Discipline of the UMC can be changed to take out the anti-LGBTQ+ language.

• The Western Jurisdiction is doing a year-long series of events called ‘Where Love Lives, Creating a Fully Inclusive United Methodist Church’. Monthly themes and information about their vision will center on the faith values that undergird the jurisdiction’s long-term commitment to a scripturally based fully inclusive ministry. “The United Methodist Church is and will be safe, secure, open, and built on faith in God, trust in one another, and with love for all in all we do.”  For periodic updates google GNW UMC News or click here to subscribe to their newsletter.
• Liberation Methodist Connexion (LMX), a new Methodist denomination, launched in November.  This is a radically egalitarian denomination devoted more to righteous practices than orthodox theology. LMX’s consensus decision-making process “pushes against the Western white patriarchal” way of conducting church ministry. For more information check out their webpage here.

• Taking Black clergy away from Black churches by offering higher salaries and connectional positions elsewhere.
• Selling church properties in predominantly Black cities and towns, with the annual conference getting the money instead of using it to minister to those left in the community.
•  Charging the same percentage of apportionments from Black and white churches, despite Black income and wealth being significantly lower than that of whites.