Greetings and Peace to You in the Name of Jesus Christ!
Celebrating 125 years and Beyond. We give thanks to God for the beauty and mystery of the
journey of faith.
We are getting closer to the August 30th date celebrating our 125th anniversary in worship and with a delicious
potluck meal together. I hope you will be able to attend this special occasion.
Former pastors and spouses have been responding that they are coming and we look forward to being with
them.
Our banner designed by Betty Morita indicates that we embrace celebration, renovation, continuation and
reconciliation as a church.
We have put our arms around renovation with Dave Handwerk leading us on the trustees. Recently, one of
our bathrooms was remodeled and made accessible for wheelchairs. The sanctuary has new carpeting and a
hearing system that works directly with worshipper’s hearing aids. Now we are planning for the big and rather
expensive project of tuckpointing the parapet around the community house. Next we will be working on
improving the windows in the gym and improving or replacing the gym floor. People have already contributed
to these projects and we are very appreciative of everyone’s’ contributions of time and money. We are still in
need of financial support and welcome your contributions too.
We have celebrated with a beautiful 125th anniversary concert featuring church members Eriko and Kimiko
Darcy on June 7th. Many thanks to their parents, Alex and Yuko, for their dedication and leadership for this
event. The concert raised over $1,200 going toward the budget of the church.
We journey on the path of reconciliation with members of the LGBT community and with our American Indian
brothers and sisters. We have voted to become a reconciling congregation and signage in and outside our
church will reflect that commitment to love as Jesus loves. On July 12th we will worship outside (weather
permitting) and have an ice cream social for our community as well as receive donations toward supporting
American Indian Missions in our annual conference.
We continue to work together as a church to follow Jesus. Our building is beautiful and we know the
importance of keeping it up as it benefits our community. People of all ages are inside Sunday through
Saturday getting physical exercise, meeting together for support, eating, packing books for women in prison,
rehearsing for dramatic presentations, visiting the Midori Market, practicing martial arts, being married, having
their children baptized, singing old and new hymns, saying goodbye to loved ones, sharing the bread and cup
at Holy Communion, giving musical concerts, making meals for others, and care of the beautiful Hiroshi
Kaneko garden. Longtime member Janet Ayers commented: “This church represents my extended Family. I
appreciate our emphasis on local community outreach as well as national and international needs. I’m happy
to be part of this dynamic group.”
We continue to reach out into the community with school supplies, cleaning buckets for those affected by the
storms, the conference program for immigration, justice for our neighbors, providing garden space for
neighbors, serving in the food pantry at St. Matthew UMC, serving food with youth at Broadway UMC,
connecting with Urban Pooch to show our love for animals, serving delicious food at our many fundraisers,
being a site for the Ravenswood Art Walk, and holding a wonderful rummage sale every year.
All of these activities require hard work. Many people work very hard, and we strive here to remember that in
the midst of the activities of working and serving we do not lose sight of why we are doing what we are doing.
We are not working and serving to gain recognition but rather to experience the presence and power of God’s
love and God’s sustaining spirit in us and through us. We desire to experience God as well as serve God. We
give thanks for God’s grace and look forward to the future.
Celebration Renovation Continuation Reconciliation
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Pastor E. Stanley Ott writes the “church is alive not because it is busy or has lasted a long time; the church is
alive because God is alive”. Thanks be to God for his grace and guidance on the beautiful and mysterious
journey of faith here at RFUMC.
Linda