SACK LUNCHES FOR WOMEN IN RECOVERY AND THEIR CHILDREN
Saturday, March 27, 3 - 5 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!

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.
 

UNDERSTANDING THE RACIAL WEALTH AND INCOME GAP
Sunday, March 28th at 1 pm
Sign up here.

• In 2016 the median wealth of White families was $171,000, for Hispanic families was $20,920 and for Black families was $17, 409
• In 2016 68% of White Americans owned a  home.  Only 46% of Hispanic families and 42% of Black families owned a home. That number matters because owning a home is the primary way that families build wealth.
• Black and Hispanic families have about 50% more student loan debt than Whit families have on average and fewer retirement savings (about 16% of what White families have on average).

UPCOMING CHANGES AT FUMCB
SPRC (Staff Parish Relations Committee) is going to be busy in the coming months. Aren, our sound tech quit last fall, Aya will be moving to New York in May and now Laurie has announced that she will retire in October. Before you panic, Laurie says she will not be leaving us but will take some well-earned time off, make use of their camper, and then return to volunteer like the rest of us.

Wow, that is a lot of changes. As a result, SPRC will look at all of the job descriptions in relation to how they will best support our ministries and mission of the church. We also have hired two interns who will be supporting our core values – deep thinking, spiritual practice, community building, and helping others. Both of these people are currently students in seminary. They will be with us beginning April 6th thru June 1st, 2022.

Jerry Dixon, artistic director at Village Theatre says “Creativity comes to a screeching halt because the body can’t do two things at once – it can’t be in crisis, fending off crisis, and create.” I think our staff and volunteers have done an excellent job of refuting that statement. Look at what has been created during the pandemic – an apartment for one experiencing homelessness, thought-provoking ACT Sundays, the Kaleidoscope model of worship, becoming adept at using the Zoom model of communicating, building a stairway for our neighbors to use, Lectio Devina, finding ways to continue providing lunches for Friends of Youth and preparing a meal for Crossroads. We were indeed creative and we thank our staff and leaders/volunteers for making it happen.

From the Bellevue School District Newsletter:
Andy M. Uses Selfies to Motivate Families to Get the Vaccine

BSD News and Events, 3/17/2021:  COVID-19 vaccination clinics for Bellevue School District educators and staff are underway, and one student plans to help document the process. Andy Mereckis, a ninth-grade student at Bellevue Big Picture School, is compiling selfie photos and video footage as part of a semester-long internship project at the school. He said, “My goal is to motivate families to get the vaccine and to get students excited about going back to the buildings. I hope to compile all of these into one video, which could be made available to the district, students, and families.”

On March 6, Mereckis was on-hand at Sammamish High School to get footage of the clinic, hosted in partnership with Safeway, which provided over 600 vaccinations to BSD staff. “It is encouraging to see our students apply their learning, which has continued throughout the pandemic, to motivate and unify us all to get vaccinated. It is a testament to the work of our educators and Big Picture School leadership,” said BSD Superintendent, Dr. Ivan Duran. “BSD staff and students alike, are working together to return to face-to-face learning, and the vaccine efforts help us move closer to making that a reality — with all of us working together.”

For more information, read the complete article here. 

UPDATED 2021 DIRECTORY
If you are listed in our directory, you should have received an email with an updated copy. Please check your junk and spam inbox if you have not received it. Can't find it? Email the office and Aya will send you one. You can also email her if you'd like a paper copy mailed to you. 

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.

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).
 




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.