Our Summer semester of Small Groups has began! Attached below is the PDF of the Small Groups flyer. Take a look, fill out the last page and email it to Rev. Jeremy to register!

Group Ministry Summer Term PDF

The Sabbath is to the week what the line break is to poetic language. It is the silence that forces you to return to what came before to find its meaning. We have to remember to stop because we have to stop to remember.

It is indeed difficult to stay connected with our own spirits and to remember ourselves as spiritual beings if we never take the time to stop. If we never find, or create, those “line breaks” in time it is easy for one experience to flow into the next, one day to merge with the next, and one life to become hopelessly muddled in the routine of every day.

This is so important to the life of faith that Rev. Jeremy and I have planned a whole month of sermons to focus on Sabbath. During the month of July (when it’s “summertime and the livin’ is easy”…) our sermon series, “Give Me A Break!” will look at what it means to take the gift of Sabbath time seriously. Because we all need those breaks – from work, from the world’s demands, from our technology systems, from endless activity.

But don’t wait for July! You can begin right now to inspire and to claim your own Sabbath time – even a few minutes at a time. Trust me – it will be time and energy very well spent!

Grace and Peace,
Rev Donna

Join us this week for worship at 10:30.

Scripture: Matthew 22:36-40 and Acts 2:1-6, 14-18
Sermon: ”God’s Beloved Community” - Guest Preacher Amory Peck
Focus: Justice and inclusivity of God’s love

Worship will include an original congregational hymn “With Every Voice”, written by lay member Paul Nickell for this occasion – the 20th anniversary of 1st UMC’s decision to be a Reconciling Congregation.  We will reaffirm our commitment to Reconciling Ministries during worship as well.  Following worship there will be a Forum in the Fireside Room and viewing of a film sponsored by Reconciling Ministries.

This Week’s Music

• Prelude: Fughetta, Sigfried Karg -Elert; Jonas Nordwall, organist
• Anthem: Jubilate Deo, Benjamin Britten; The Chancel Choir, Erick Lichte, conductor
• Offertory: Like As The Hart Desireth The Waterbrooks, Herbert Howells; The Chancel Choir, Erick Lichte, conductor
• Postlude: Praise the Lord with Drums and Cymbals, Sigfried Karg -Elert

We extend a special welcome to our visitors. Portland First United Methodist Church declares that we will be an advocate for peace in our local communities and world. As a Reconciling Congregation, members of this congregation have pledged to welcome and support all who want to worship with us, regardless of race, gender, class or sexual orientation.

Visit the Coffee Hour after worship today for a tasty treat, good coffee, and lively conversation. It is a great opportunity to learn more about the people and programs of First Church.

Come join us for a potluck supper on Friday, May 17th in the Fireside Room beginning at 6:30 pm if you are blessed with children in their 20-somethings.

We will share our joys and our challenges of learning what it means to have young adult offspring, and how we are “growing up” as parents for this new age.

Call Rev. Donna at 503-228-3195 if you have questions.

Everyone is invited to come share ideas and to help one another with our iPads and iPhones.

Paul Adams guides the group through these very informal Q&A sessions every month.

Who should attend? Everyone who uses an iPad or iPhone, anyone who is thinking about getting one, and folks who just want to join us and hang out.

If you do have one already, bring it along! Much of the discussion will be “hands on”. Email Paul at adams@cliffdweller.com to ask questions or for more information about topics to be covered.

Grace always evokes the answer of gratitude. Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth. Grace evokes gratitude like the voice of an echo. Gratitude follows grace like thunder follows lightning.

That has certainly been my experience this week as I have been on retreat at the Oregon coast. I happened to choose exactly the right week to come away for a few days of prayer and reflection undergirding my work of worship planning and sermon preparation for the next six months! The weather has been truly amazing. The sun has shined every single day, and today there is not even a breath of wind!

Because there has been much work to do, I have remained fairly disciplined in this time. However, about every three hours the view of blue waters and white waves just outside my window has colluded with the eager expectancy of my dog to bring me outside onto the beach for another walk.

As always I have been surprised and delighted by the gifts of grace I have encountered along the shore. The immensity of the water brings to my mind the abundance of God’s powerful love. And the rocks and little bits of shell seem to adorn the sand as if placed intentionally by a master artist. It is all beauty wherever Maggie and I turn.

So I walk and I pray and I am overcome by an awareness of grace – that freely given, unmerited and unlimited love of God. And I discover again that Barth was right, as gratitude wells up to echo the grace and to lead me back inside to plan some more, to create more opportunities for us all together to see the grace and to share the gratitude.

Rev. Donna

Introducing the Scripture:

The book of Ruth is an Old Testament story hundreds of years before Jesus that contains hidden ironies known only to native Hebrew speakers. It begins with a famine covering Bethlehem, which means literally “the house of bread.” Naomi marries into a tribe of Ephrathites, meaning “fruitfulness” and yet the whole tribe dies out without any fruit—children—to show for it. They die leaving Naomi to fend for herself and her two daughters in law Orpah and Ruth.

And more than that, it is a story of Ruth, who is a detested Moabite, which is what Ducks fans are to Beavers fans, and Beavers fans are to Ducks fans. And yet she exhibits a faith surpassing the Hebrew people. The final irony and lesson for us is that even an outsider to the beloved people of God can be incorporated into God’s plan for God’s people—indeed, only four women are mentioned in the Geneology of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, and Ruth is one of them. Listen now as Cheryl reads the Scripture for us about Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth.

Scripture: Ruth 1:6-18

Sermon

I have a confession to make to you this morning. I’m in my thirties but I’m pretty sure I’m turning into a curmudgeon.

Because I find that holidays disappoint my expectations. The more you read about holidays, their origins, and their current forms, it seems that every holiday is watered down in some way from its original intent.

• Obviously Christmas is made to be more about gifts bought for each other than about Jesus’ birth.
• Easter is made to be more about bunnies that lay eggs rather than Jesus
• Thanksgiving is made to be more about meals and turkeys rather than enemies seeking reconciliation for however short a time.
• Martin Luther King Jr Day, Veterans Day, and Fourth of July are more about having a day off than honoring our fallen heroes. Worst of all is Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts is more about a day off to run the Marathon and go to a Red Sox game than to honor our veterans. Perhaps after this year, they should rename it “First Responders and Police Officers” Day.

And today being Mother’s Day, we have strayed far from its original intentions, though to be fair, its original intentions did not even last as long as its originator was alive.

The original Mother’s Day proclamation in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe was not a rhyming poem on a greeting card, rather these are sections from it:

“Arise then…women of this day!

Arise, all women who have hearts!

Whether your baptism be of water or of tears! Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.

We, the women of one country, Will be too tender to those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

Mother’s Day in this country began as a cry for peace. This proclamation is more than tender reverence for mothers; it is a cry of protest amid a violent nation. Mothers everywhere are called to say no to violence and yes to peace, called to reveal God’s love for humanity in a resolute stand against the world’s warring madness.

The other name most associated with Mother’s Day is Anna Jarvis. She lobbied for Mother’s Day but then a decade after its creation she turned against her own invention.  She wanted Mother’s Day “to be a day of sentiment, not profit.” She crashed meetings, protested florists and greeting card industries, and got arrested to stop the commercialization. It’s said that when she went to eat at a restaurant and they had a “Mother’s Day salad” on the menu, she ordered it, paid her check, and then threw it on the ground in a huff. To her, Mother’s Day had been taken over and she fought its recognition for the rest of her life until she died at 84 years old…the bill for her final arrangements paid for by a group of appreciative florists.

I have a theory this morning. My theory is that holidays begin to fall short of their intent when we focus more on the word FOR rather than the word WITH.

It seems that the word that epitomizes Holidays is “for.” We cook Easter Ham “for” our family, we buy presents “for” others at Christmas, we offer to do chores “for” our mother on Mother’s Day…all to say we lay ourselves down “for.” But there is a problem here. All these gestures are generous, and kind, and in some cases sacrificial and noble. They are good gestures, warm-hearted, admirable gestures. But somehow they don’t go to the heart of the Holiday problem. Doing things for other people isn’t nearly as important as doing things with other people.

What if holidays were more about who we spent it with rather than what we bought for them? What if the national holidays were days were we spent time with our wounded veterans  and working with those seeking justice and equality rather than time set aside for a day off? I suspect we would turn back the clock and restore such holidays to their intent as being not for the named persons but with the named persons.

I’m convinced of theory because in the Scriptures, God is lifted up as “with” us not just “for” us. Today’s scripture is of a mothering spirit between Naomi and Ruth. They were not related by blood—Ruth had married one of Naomi’s sons. The sons and the father were all dead, and the three unrelated widows including Orpah were left on their own. Naomi tells the daughters to go back home and to leave her—there is no Jewish prohibition against widows leaving one another or a daughter in law abandoning a mother in law. Orpah obeys her mother in law and returns home. Ruth refuses and pledges that “where you go, I will go” and eventually changes Naomi’s mind. Orpah chose to do something “for” Naomi and satisfy her wants, but Ruth chose something “with” Naomi to satisfy her needs.

The simple truth is that “for” is not the way God relates to us. God does not simply do things for us. God does not simply shower us with good things. “For” is not the heart of God.”

Theologian Sam Wells writes that in Matthew’s gospel, the angel says to Joseph, “‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us.’” And then in John’s gospel, we get in a single sentence the Cliff Note’s succinct statement of what the Christian faith means: “The Word became flesh and lived with us.” With us. “The Word was with God. The Word was in the beginning with God. Without the Word not one thing came into being.”

“With” is the most fundamental thing about God. Jesus’s very last words in Matthew’s gospel are, “Behold, I am with you always.” In other words, there will never be a time when I am not “with.” And at the very end of the Bible, when the book of Revelation describes the imagined end of the world, this is what the voice from heaven says: “Behold, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them.”

Throughout Scripture, God said unambiguously, “I am with.” Behold, my dwelling is among you. I have moved into the neighborhood. I will be “with” you always. My name is Emmanuel, God “with” us. Sure, there was an element of “for” in Jesus’ life. He was “for” us when he healed and taught; he was “for” us when he died on the cross, rose from the tomb, and ascended to heaven. These are things that were done FOR us, certainly. But the power of these things God did “for” us lies in that they were based on his being “with” us. God has not abolished “for.” Doing things FOR others is fine. But I’m convinced that doing things “for” others follows a commitment to be with others. That is the good news of the incarnation.

On a day like today, it is perfectly appropriate to describe God as “with us” while lifting up the motherly images of God.

One of my clergy friends in New England wrote the following: Scripture after Scripture describes God not as a conquering king but as a loving mother: God is a woman in labor whose forceful breath is an image of divine power; God is a mother who does not forget the child she nurses; God is a mother who offers comfort with her children; God is a mother who births and protects Israel; God is a mother who gave birth to the Israelites. The early scripture writers understood the ways in which the Divine is known to us through our mothers and those who offer a mothering spirit to us. Through this human love we come to know divine love in God, as we are birthed, fed, nurtured, comforted and cared for.

Lest you think that Mothering is all about soft-focus pastels on the Lifetime channel, God’s love as mother is also portrayed as fierce. In scripture we read of God as a Mother eagle and mother bear, fiercely protecting their young against life-threatening situations. Jesus himself is described as a mother hen who gathers with her brood, shelters and cares for them, to instruct and teach them in the ways of the world.

The Good News for us today is no matter what our gender is or what our family looks like, we can live into this mothering spirit of being present WITH one another rather than simply doing things FOR one another. And in doing so, we live into that fierce protective spirit found in the Bible as God cares for the marginalized and the oppressed.

I spent some time in the Library this past week reading old sermons. For at least the latter years of Dr. Ray Balcomb’s tenure here, he would do biographies on Mother’s Day, outlining the life of a courageous woman who exemplified a mothering spirit even if she wasn’t a biological mother to anyone. People like Eleanor Roosevelt, Anna Howard Shaw, Susan B. Anthony, and others. And in each one, I was started to become critical (a curmudgeon, remember? Don’t cut my mic off, Gene) because there was no sermon intro or conclusion, no wrapping up their lives in scripture or prose, but simply outlining their service alongside the marginalized and allowing their lives to stand alone as testimony to the God who is with us.

We live into both the biblical narrative and our historical traditions when we choose to serve with and alongside one another rather than simply doing things for one another. This Church 20 years ago began a Shelter for homeless families. And there were concerns! We were inviting people to be here and to eat meals with them and spend the night with them. How much less scary it is donate a canned good for someone or donate clothes and items for someone. But this church persevered and now service with and alongside the marginalized is part of our DNA, passed down to every person who comes through the door, choosing to name each one as a beloved child of God. We rose to the occasion.

Twenty years ago this year, our church was in the midst of many transitions not only with the Shelter. The church voted to become Reconciling 20 years ago, we’ll celebrate that milestone in two weeks. Your senior pastor Larin Hall died a few months after leaving the pulpit, embodying what it meant to be a suffering servant. The new wing and Chapel were built to invite even more of the community to be here with us. I’m convinced that if you were here during those formative years of 1992-1994 that there’s something grafted onto your spirit that recognizes the value and strength of ministry with one another.

The challenge from scripture and elder stateswomen and men of our past is to respond to the marginalized in society. We are great at “for” we have successful offerings for groups and individuals and sometimes all they need is what we can give for them. That’s fine. But in what way will you choose to serve with? Will it is be serving in our Shelter? Will it be advocacy for marriage rights for all? Will it be reaching out to that family that you’ve never spent time with? What will it be?

The choice is yours. And the Good News is: you are not alone. God with us, Emmanuel, is with us. Glory be to God. Amen.

Join us this week for worship at 10:30.

Scripture: John 14:8-17; Acts 2:1-21
Sermon: A Wild Dove, Rev. Donna Pritchard preaching
Focus: Gift of the Holy Spirit in the life of the individual and the community

This Week’s Music

• Prelude: Alle breve pro organi pleno, J. S. Bach; Jonas Nordwall, organist
• Anthem: The One Hundred Fiftieth Psalm, Howard Hanson; The Chancel Choir, Erick Lichte, conductor
• Offertory: The Call, Ralph Vaughan Williams; Benjamin Bell, soloist
• Postlude: Psalm 19, Benedetto Marcello

We extend a special welcome to our visitors. Portland First United Methodist Church declares that we will be an advocate for peace in our local communities and world. As a Reconciling Congregation, members of this congregation have pledged to welcome and support all who want to worship with us, regardless of race, gender, class or sexual orientation.

• Download the Bulletin

Visit the Coffee Hour after worship today for a tasty treat, good coffee, and lively conversation. It is a great opportunity to learn more about the people and programs of First Church.

This Summer, First Church will hold three special worship services in the evenings to exhibit different styles of worship and music.

More info coming soon…check your calendar and save these dates!

• Sunday, June 16th at 5:00 p.m.
• Sunday, July 21st at 5:00 p.m.
• Sunday, August 18th at 5:00 p.m.

A light dinner and child care will be provided at all the above events.

Watch this space! You won’t want to miss it!

• 9:00 – 11:30 AM The Oregon Food Bank, Portland Location (Ages 16+)
  7900 NE 33rd Drive, Portland, OR 97211
• 9:30 – 11:30 AM The Children’s Book Bank (Ages 6+)
  728 NE Glisan St, Portland, OR 97232
• 9:30 – 11:30 AM All-Family Goosehollow Family Shelter project, FUMC (All ages)
  1838 SW Jefferson, Portland, OR 97201

Change the World Weekend is a global Rethink Church event. United Methodists in over 1,500 locations will venture out and get involved in their local communities.

Our First Church projects will conclude with a deli style lunch in Collins Hall, beginning at 12:00 PM. All Change the World participants are invited to come, eat, and share their stories from the morning.

Register here for one of the projects in the Change the World Weekend, and plan to meet us at the worksite to do the work!

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Oregon Food Bank Children's Book Bank Goosehollow Family Shelter

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