Highlights from January 26

Our District Superintendent, Erin Martin, joined us in worship on Sunday, January 26th offering a great message on Unity and taking questions from the congregation in each of our two Sunday morning worship settings about the process, what we can expect to happen, when we might know who is coming, etc.  

Here's what Erin communicated about the process being followed:  

In January, Westside went on a list of churches that will be "open" as of July 1, 2020. This list goes out to our Annual Conference (so all the churches in Oregon and Idaho), in addition to all those in the Pacific NW Conference (all of Washington and N. Idaho) and to the Alaska Missionary Conference.  Every clergy person within those areas then can put in their name for consideration with their District Superintendent. 

Beginning in January the Appointive Cabinet (made up of all District Superintendents from all the above-listed areas, plus other representatives of the Greater NW area) began meeting with the Bishop every month for a three-day meeting, as well as weekly for an hour Zoom call to look at appointments and begin to discern who goes where. 

They begin with what are termed "Strategic Appointments."  These are the larger congregations, such as those in the Salem Cooperative, Portland First, Seattle First, etc.  Once those appointments are decided, then this narrows the list as they look to make appointments for other congregations.   

When they uplift a congregation, the DSs then bring those names forward of those who have requested to move to that place and others whom the cabinet felt led could serve there.  The cabinet prays over these names and seeks to discern who should be the one they believe may be the best choice for this congregation at this time. The person they select as their first choice will then be introduced to that congregation's Church Council.  After this meeting, the Church Council will then discern if they agree with the discernment of the cabinet. If the Church Council has red flags, then the next person from the cabinet's list would be brought to them.  This is the regular process of appointment.  Once selected and announced that the bishop intends to appoint this person to that place, that sets the appointment.  

This is the process used.  In our case, there is a name already raised as an excellent candidate for us.  There may be other names that are brought to the Appointive Cabinet. And the cabinet will be discerning who is best to send here.  This is the reason we have asked that you be praying for this person, whoever it is!  May God bring the person best suited for us this season.  

The question was asked when we might know, to which Erin said hopefully by March. 

On this Sunday one member of the congregation brought forward this thought -- "We have to trust that this is a good process, for it brought us you."  This was such an encouraging thought.  We often speak of the mistakes made in the last time of appointment change -- miscommunications, misguided asides, etc which left many feeling jerked around-- but it might be good to remember the good part of all that was this:  it brought us together.  And this has meant a marvelous growing season for us all! 

Also, on that same Sunday when Erin came, we gathered with members of Christ and Aloha UMCs to hear about the protocol which is to be brought before General Conference 2020 and the state of the UMC.  Ric Shewell shared with us from his position on the team of 10 that directs our Jurisdiction through this season.  He has his ear to the rail on the legislation forthcoming.  He shared and then opened it up for questions regarding the process the UMC is in as to whether or not to separate into more than one denomination. This was a good start for conversation and something that needs to continue as we move toward General Conference.  

A favorite moment was when towards the end, Susan Brehmer asked, "How many here love Jesus?"  Every hand went up.  Then she said, "There is our unity."  Amen.  

Join the Journey, 2.2.20

Question: What is the good news about this: “God is with us”?

Answers:

1. Gives me hope for a better future for everyone.

2. We can trust that God is in control and is taking care of us.

3. I am never alone.

4. That He never forsakes us.

5. God is with us! What a comforting thought! what an assurance that we are supported and loved!

6. We always know someone has our backs. That all is for a reason.

Brian's Blog: This Thing is REAL

The freight train hit me on Sunday.  That’s what it felt like. “Five months from today will be my last Sunday.”  

I was sitting there, minding my own business, listening as Erin preached a great message on Unity, when it hit.  It nearly threw me off my chair. It was one of those earth-shattering, soul-shattering moments. I didn’t quite know what to do with it.  So, I swallowed. The fact remained in my heart, if this month was any clue, the next five months would go quickly. 

There were two kinds of realities for me in that moment. 

On the one hand, the fact of departure from this place and you all is accompanied by an immense feeling of loss.  This has been such a great journey of growth and transformation for me, for us. That came on Sunday -- I will miss you.  Alongside that was the fact of hearing a message and not delivering it. I didn’t expect it, but there was loss attending to that as well.  I’ll still be preaching places, but it won’t be here. It was something like a gut punch.  

Then, on the other hand there was this fact:  before July 1 hits I need to have this other gig that Jesus is leading me into more up and running than it currently is.  Both of these knocked the wind out of me. I sat there, breathless. Astounded.  

Later that evening, Gabri asked how I was doing and I shared this with her with the tears that accompanied the revelation.  This is quite a journey for me -- It is a new kind of Camino.

The only way through a transition is to walk it and feel it.  We must all face the loss that is in the transition. Certainly, I’m not dead, so we will see one another again.  But, still, we cannot pretend that nothing will change. In a transition there are feelings of “shock, anger, denial, fear, sadness” that are all normal emotions. If you are familiar with the stages of grief, you might recognize that some of those are in that list.  We must feel the feelings. I think some of you have been feeling these along the way, and others may not have many feelings.  

Sunday was one of my “feel this thing” days!  

The second stage of transition includes what is called a neutral zone, that feels unsteady, and might be accompanied by feelings such as a sense of confusion, feeling displaced, disoriented, skeptical, even apathetic.  Like feeling that depressed “what does it matter” kind of drag.    

In any time of transition, we need permission to feel whatever is there, in order to take the steps God has for us in order to actually enter new beginnings.  The goal for the transition team is that by the time I actually pass the baton and you have a new pastor, that you can be ready to experience the feelings of such a new start of excitement, joy, energy, commitment, and acceptance.

You might notice that the Church Council team put these into their goals for this year, so this idea is literally “on the walls” as we make this journey.  

But we have to feel it as the feelings come.  The key in this season is to come, come to worship, stay in community, feel the feelings around one another.  

Sunday was such a crazy day with the conversation during worship, the Chili Cookoff (congrats to the winners!), where we were joined by friends from Christ UMC and from Aloha UMC for the gathering time centered on what might possibly be happening at General Conference. That was a lively and good conversation, but for me ended with many people from both of those congregations coming up to me. Some of them lamented my decision to leave, for they would miss me.  They asked questions and wanted me to tell what was going on for me, again, and again, and again. 

By the time I left I was fully in the feeling level of transition!  What was I doing? What did God have for me and for us? I needed to read and re-read what God has been saying, to come back to a firm foundation!  

On Sunday it also became clear that not only are we at Westside in transition but the whole church is as well.     

There were many bright moments in the midst of the gut punch Sunday, one of which was when Wendy Fedderly came up to me and said, “Even if some of the process was poorly handled back in 2009, when you came, we can be confident in the process itself, for it did bring us you.”  What a clear note of hope and glory that was! And if Jesus can handle even the messy processes of the UMC, then, it is clear, He can handle all of this for me, for us and for the greater church. God is IN this. We only need to read some of what God spoke to the members of Church Council last June at our meeting to be assured of that.  God is in this.  

May that reality uphold you too as you process transition, feel what you need to feel, and share this with others.  We are not meant to do any of this alone, we are together for a reason.  

King of Refusal

What would you do if you were king?  Your small nation is being ganged up on by two other nations because you refused to join them in warfare against an even stronger nation.  What would you do when you heard the news of their plans to decimate your nation, kill you, the king, and place another on the throne? How would you respond to such news, knowing you did not have the ability to fight them?  

I’d love to hear your answer. For what this king did might surprise you.  Although his story comes from Biblical history, he didn’t turn to the prophet nor to God in prayer. Indeed, he did not turn any of the directions you might assume, instead, he allied himself with the superpower nation against whom his former friends (now enemies) had asked that he align with them to battle!  

Then God came to him through the prophet and had words.  

This king was King Ahaz.  His story is filled with words that God spoke into his life about the One coming who would be faithful and true, the Messiah, who would be the true savior.  In contrast to what we heard Jonah say in his book, “My Salvation comes from the Lord,” this King instead said, in essence, “My Salvation will come from Nineveh!”  Interesting contrast in choices!  

When God said, “Ask for a sign and I will give it,” this king refused. 

When God said, “Do not be afraid, do not worry,” this king worried and feared. 

When God said, “Stand firm,” he didn’t.  

Yet, in the middle of this king’s faithlessness came God’s promises.  Into his life God spoke the promise of a child, Immanuel, a foreshadowing of Another, and foreshadowing something also in Ahaz’s time.  And God named the character and calling of the Messiah who would be light in the midst of darkness.  

Have you ever felt faithless in the light of enemies lined up against you?  To whom did you turn? Come listen to Ahaz’s story and find confidence of your own to return and turn to the Lord.  He is real. He is faithful and, best of news, He is Immanuel, God with us.

Ground Up PDX

Julie Sullivan-Loos, Dave and Sally’s daughter, and her business partner, Carolyn Cesario, were featured recently on the “Today” show!

Their Portland company, Ground Up Nut Butters, provides a stepping stone for women facing barriers in the business world, due to homelessness, mental illness, or other challenges. They call it a “not-just-for-profit” business.

Visit the “Today” show website and watch the inspiring video to learn more. And then visit the company’s website, https://grounduppdx.com and shop, try a recipe or two, and order their new cookbook!

And the Winners are...

The top three chilis in last Sunday’s Chili Cookoff were prepared by:

• Neil Flanagan

• Wendy Pursinger

• Cindy Loayza

Congrats to all!  Great chili!

Thanks to all who participated!

Revitalization

The Columbia District Church Extension Society (CDCES) funds local church projects. Among those in 2019 were:

• Oak Grove UMC - neighborhood project collaboration

• Great Spirit UMC - facility renovation to increase opportunities for Native gatherings

• Fremont UMC - chairs for the Joyful Noise service

• Faith UMC - parsonage renovation for community gatherings

• Rose City Park UMC - support for re-imagining mission

By participating in their annual meeting, you can help Westside access financial resources for new ministries, revitalization projects, or capital improvements. Besides all that, each church that is represented by the pastor and at least one member will be entered to win a $500 ministry grant!

The CDCES meeting is Tuesday, Feb 11, at noon at Oak Grove United Methodist Church, 14700 SE Rupert Dr, Oak Grove. Lunch is provided. Let Pastor Brian know if you can attend this free event and register at https://www.umoi.org/eventdetail/13131678.

Join the Journey, 1.26.20

Question: In what one way is God working in your heart in this season of transition?

Answers:

1. God is helping to fill my mind and heart with focusing/seeing the good. There is always good if we look for it.

2. Let go, let God.

3. I’m so curious to see how the LGBT community is welcomed or repelled by our church.

4. To be more trusting and fearless.

5. May all my grandkids find the spirit of Jesus.

6. Flexibility.

7. Accept with joy the changes.

8. Making me brave.

9. He is reassuring me that “He’s got this.”

10. Direction.

Brian's Blog: Hamilton and the UMC

This week I finished reading the book entitled Hamilton:The Revolution which describes what went into the creation of the play that has become an international sensation.  The book describes the history of the play, the many people that went into making it a reality, the achievement of it, and the power of the statement it continues to make to many about what it means to be an American.  

Truly, that most of the roles of the nation’s founders are played by people of various ethnicities alone was impactful.  The actors themselves spoke of the power this had on their own sense of “belonging” in this nation. And audiences were left with a challenge to “not throw away their shot” at becoming an answer to the divisions experienced in our nation.  Indeed, it helps that the story of Alexander Hamilton is the story of an orphaned immigrant, who ought to have died either in the hurricane that had hit the island where he was born or of the same illness that took his mom’s life yet he lived to change this nation.

The quotes and tweets of actors, the director, choreographer, costumer, set designer and author add power and heart to the challenges faced to produce this first-ever play of its kind.  That every line is sung and in rap alone is remarkable. It was all written by Lin-Manual Miranda and evokes the emotion and power of that and this era of history.  

Before every show, Chris Jackson, who played George Washington, would gather all his castmates and arrange them in a prayer circle beneath the stage.  “Hey, every great team has a huddle, right?” he’d quip. He would tell them to breathe and breathe again, and then would offer a little benediction, half pep talk, half petition to the Almighty.  He’d say, “Let’s be sure, that no matter what happens out there, I’ve got you. Let’s agree that for the next 2.5 hours this is the most important thing we will do in our lives. He closes with the hope that everyone in the audience, on the stage and in the orchestra pit would leave the theater a better person than they walked in.”   

Lin-Manual Miranda says of his friend Chris, if he had wanted to be a pastor, he would have a megachurch.  

Through a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, thousands of high schoolers came to see the production and left impacted by the lives depicted.  Their teachers gave them various assignments to follow up on the experience. One teacher asked the students to debate various topics by using poetry and rap not prose as the medium.   The teacher said the result was powerful as the students‘ creativity was placed on display.  

The effort to produce this magnitude of a play took weeks of intense rehearsals.  Reading this I was astounded at how malleable the entire project was right up to the critic performance on Broadway after which they could not make other changes.  

But the thing which stood out the most, other than the genius behind it all was this one fact: this play illustrates that it was not through one person but through the combined work of many that this nation was built.  It was not built through all one race and gender, but through the actions of all, working in unity that brought the nation (and the play) into being. Indeed, the unity of the nation is heightened by its diversity.  

This one reality spoke to my heart as I read the book.  

The UMC as a global denomination is facing division.  We are needing to hear this message:  

We need each other.  

We are instantly impoverished when we cut off one viewpoint.  Who has the corner on God or Jesus? Would any of us audaciously claim that our thinking is the only thinking possible on any one topic?  Could it be this difficult journey of the UMC is an opportunity for us to rediscover the importance of each person, of each of us? I know that here at Westside we are richer because we have a breadth of theological understandings within our congregation.  All of us have unique experiences with Jesus. And all of us have unique testimonies to share.  

None of know what will happen in the UMC.  On Sunday 1/26 we talked some about the possibilities.  However, we don’t know what’s Coming.  

We do know: God is good and that the church is of God.  So the church is not in danger due to any human action. And we do know this too — we need to stick together to achieve anything.

Come This Sunday and Let's Talk

Have you got it all figured out yet?  This life? 

This mystery of a life where one day both children and the husband of a family are snatched off a rock by a sneaker wave at the Oregon Coast leaving a grieving, lost wife and mother behind and on the same day a couple got married, and in another location, more children were welcomed into life?  It’s a mystery. There are not enough answers to all the whys we might ask, however, we have confidence in the One who is there with us in the middle of it all. 

Jesus was with those children and that husband/dad swept off that rock into eternity. 

Jesus is with that grieving mom and widow.  

Jesus was with that couple making their vows. 

And Jesus was there welcoming those new lives.  

Jesus is in the middle of the suffering and all the rejoicing.  

The only real answer for the big questions of life is Jesus.  And I don’t mean to sound simplistic.  

He’s an answer because he came as the Way in this life.  He is the answer for He alone is the Truth over and against every lie. Indeed, He IS Life. He is the answer, for before all the mishaps, tragedies and celebrations, He had offered Himself up for all people, to draw all people to the God who loves them, so, HE is in the middle of all suffering, all hurt, all loss, all unanswered questions, and all celebrations.  Yes, Jesus is the One we can turn to. 

This Sunday, we are welcoming our District Superintendent, the Rev. Erin Martin, to Westside to preach and share with us and for us to share with her, as we journey together into the unknown that awaits us.  Transitions can feel more unnerving if unanticipated. And we are not only in the midst of this pastoral transition but the whole denomination is in transition.  

For both, we are seeking to be very clear in communicating together. So talk.  Talk more. And talk more about how the anticipation of transition is working on your own heart. What causes you the most fear? In what are you most confident?  How is God working in your heart through this time? These are the questions we need to continue to process together so that throughout this season of saying goodbye, our hearts can be readied to step forward into welcoming whatever awaits us in the next season.  

As Erin shares the call of Jesus upon us the church for unity, God’s best vision for now and the future, in the midst of divisive times, do come to worship so that this part of transition can be experienced by you. 

Affordable Housing Forum

Come learn about innovative ideas for developing affordable housing on land owned by faith and community-based organizations.

This event, sponsored by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon and Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, will present the results of three case studies funded by a grant from Metro, which provided consulting services for design and financing work.

The consultants will present options they developed for three organizations. Representatives of the three organizations will also share their visions. You will have the opportunity to ask questions and to network with lenders, developers and city staff.

Where: Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Fellowship Hall)
5828 NE Eighth Ave., Portland
When: Thursday, January 30, 2020
from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

This event is free but your RSVP is requested.

Join the Journey, 1.19.20

Question: When has mercy been hard to take?

Answers:

1. Sometimes I think by holding on to guilt and rejecting mercy, I will motivate myself.

2. When my superego says the right thing to do is to punish myself for whatever I think I may have done to offend/sin against God or neighbor.

3. It’s harder for me to give mercy than to accept it.

4. When I feel undeserving, unworthy.

5. When I know how badly I messed up.

Brian's Blog: Last Things

It was Maundy Thursday 1983. That is the service before Easter Sunday that celebrates the last night Jesus spent with his disciples. I was sitting in the choir at St. Mark United Methodist Church in Santa Barbara, California. Jimmy Gibson was preaching. 

Jimmy was an Irish-born evangelist then in his 70s. He’d retired to Santa Barbara and served as the minister of evangelism at St. Mark church. He was a unique and beautiful guy. When he talked about Jesus, or heaven, or just about anything connected to Jesus, he would get so excited that he would stand on his tiptoes and lean out towards the congregation.

He did that lots in the sermon he was preaching that night. His title was “The Importance of Last Things.”

He told of saying goodbye to his mom in Ireland as he set sail for America. He told of the last goodbyes to friends dying. He told of Jesus’ last night with his disciples. God used that message to awaken a move of God in my life.

There’s something clear about last moments. There is a special quality to those times in life.

I was saying goodbye in August 2000 to my mom at the care facility before I left to head back home to Oregon. Mom and I both knew this was our last goodbye. Sometimes you just know.

Mom had had ten years of Parkinson’s disease at that point. She was doing ok, just with some dementia, but still we knew. I leaned over her bed, kissed her and said, “Bye mom. I love you.”

She had been incoherent at points during the conversation we had just had, so I wasn’t certain she was even seeing who I was. But as I leaned over her, she reached up, placed her right hand on my left cheek and with a completely lucid expression on her face and in clarity of voice, she said, “Lord, bless my son.”

There we were. Mother and son bonded in a touch. 

It was like the moment when Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph in Genesis 45. It was this clear moment of loving affirmation and grace. And then the lucidity vanished. And she was speaking to people I couldn’t see.

I walked out staggered at that moment. She died a week later to the day, while two nurses supported her, one on each side, to walk her to lunch. On one side of her room’s doorway she was alive, on the other side, she’d left.  Gone from here.

Last things.

 As we have exited a decade and I’m in this last six months of pastoral ministry, I’ve been thinking a lot about last things.

Last summer I led my last Hagg Lake Baptism Service. 

I participated in my last Camp Iwannabe here with our partner congregation. 

I also went on our missions trip to the DR for the last time. 

And, I just walked through my last Advent and Christmas celebration. 

It was my last Christmas Eve service to celebrate as a pastor. 

Each of these has felt particularly unique it its own way. But Christmas Eve was poignant.

With all my love / hate relationship with that service still, for me, it was the best year.

It was simple, stunning, and moving. And the coolest thing happened. Because we finished early, I was able to make the 30-mile drive from my church building to Karen’s and attend her service! 

So in the same night I led my last and participated in my new first Christmas Eve service. And it made the ending less painful. 

Not that I won’t grieve the endings, but I discovered that just because something ends doesn’t mean there’s nothing good awaiting us around the corner. For I so enjoyed just attending the service, hanging with friends there, laughing and being.

I totally didn’t expect that.

You too are experiencing and have experienced “Lasts” -- not only with me, but within other areas of your own life. And each of these too must be noticed, grieved, and released, in order to greet what next might come. Together we will walk this journey in order to prepare our hearts to welcome what may come.  Thanks for being here and walking in this journey with me, as I get to walk it with you. As Kari Suppes reminded us, 2020 can be applied to 20/20 vision, and this new year can be one full of vision. In the middle of the new things to welcome, we remain rooted in the old, long-term, real, substantial faith we have been given, into which we have been welcomed, in which we find life and hope.  In this faith, we can face any future, together, united, filled with hope. Grace and peace.

God's Love...or Your Anger?

One of the places you can tell that the Book of Jonah is not a created story is from the ending. There is no way that someone who was writing a fictional story would place his hero in such bad light throughout and even more so at the end, where the hero argues with God because God is too merciful and forgiving. This just underlines the veracity of the account. Truth is stranger than fiction. And you got one strange tale here.

The prophet Jonah is so committed to the hatred of the enemies in Nineveh that he wanted them to die more than he wanted them forgiven. His anger also can get under our skin too. God asks such a penetrating question: “Do you have any right to be angry?”

It is a powerful question for often when we are angry, like Jonah, we would stomp our feet and say back, “Yes, I have every right to be this angry.” Yet, the next day, when looking back, or if we heard a recording of the interaction, might be able to say: “Phew, I was out of control.”

There you have it. We see 20/20 in hindsight but not in the situation, especially when glazed over by anger.

God makes no comment on the prophet’s rashness, except to ask the question and to follow the first up with a second, “If you can change your mind about the plant, you did nothing to create or nurture, then can’t I also change my mind about these 120,000 people…”

Prior to this Jonah had left the first conversation with God to sit on a hill, overlooking the city to hopefully watch God destroy it. Instead, redemption came.

How well do you understand God’s heart of redemption? How well have you acquainted yourself with how much God loves others including you? How much does your behavior -- your speaking, your thinking, your acting -- put God’s kind of mercy and love on display? How might you pray this week to grow in that?

Then, don’t miss worship with all those who spent the night sleeping on the chairs!

An Update on KIVA

Thanks to you, Westside has been able to loan over $700 to small business owners in the Dominican Republic!

Through KIVA, the loose coins and small bills that you drop in the change bucket on Sunday mornings are being put to good use. We have contributed to ten different loans. Three are already in repayment status. As they are repaid, we are able to fund new loans.

KIVA has a 97% repayment rate and, through 1.8 million lenders, has loaned over $1.4 billion dollars in 77 countries. Visit KIVA.org to learn more.

Join the Journey, 1.12.20

Question: What do you need to tell God the truth about today?

Answers:

1. My relationship with James.

2. Sometimes I resent being a caregiver 24/7.

3. I fail so often at not making judgements about people without knowing all of the information and background.

4. Good spiritual health is important.

5. That I am weak.

6. That I need his strength and help. I’m struggling and feel broken.

7. To release, and unforgiveness.

Brian's Blog: Because of You

Dear Friends,

What a year!

“Could I stay here with Brian instead of going to church,” the 17-year-old Family Promise guest asked his dad.  Later he told me, “He never says yes to that request.”  So, instead of church that night, this young man and I talked about scripture, about the story from Daniel of the three Hebrews in the furnace, about faith and about life. Then, he taught Abby Hawkins, the other evening host, and I how to play a video game using his setup.  We also got to hold another guest’s infant.  Had you walked in, you would have found us simply caught up in joy, crying with the laughter.  Later this young man said, “I’m going to ask my mom if you could come pray through our house to bless it after we get one.”  I was staggered. 

It is because of how you give that such ministry opportunities happen here.     

Jamie, at 71, was referred to me for counseling this year and after a couple initial times we have met monthly.  Together we have seen Jesus work miracles through deep healing, so that she is set free in so many areas of heart and life.  She has begun to live again.  Jesus loves to heal.

And you all are part of that healing, because of your generosity.

Tim Gibson, the team leader of the 2019 missions’ trip to the Dominican Republic told us that money brings aid but relationships bring hope.  The community of Rio Grande has been transformed by the relationships built with teams over the past eight years so that child prostitution has ended and those children now have a vision for a future as doctors, teachers and forensic scientists.  The workers who staff the projects that the teams join, have met Jesus and had their lives changed.  All this happened because of your willingness to create a place where missions matter and relationships matter both here and there. 

Your giving makes such mission possible. 

Because of your overwhelming generosity…  we have hosted Family Promise four weeks, started monthly HomePlate meals, participated in reaching 40 kids with Jesus’ love at Camp Iwannabe; continued food distribution through the Free Food Tents to around 1000 people a week both at the site and through local pantries; experienced the Holy Spirit moving at the women’s retreat; built all the interior walls of a house with Help Build Hope and our friends at Christ UMC; took weekly, hot meals out to the Migrant Camp and built ongoing relationships there; participated in the WFWA outreaches; distributed Christmas Food boxes; gathered weekly to praise and worship God, hear the Good News, advance the Kingdom, and experience the transformation that occurs as we follow Jesus by being part of a community.  

All that and more because of you! 

Then we reached December and almost as if to say, “Well, that’s not quite enough,” you stepped up to the plate, accepted the challenge and gave in an overwhelming way so that we had a Christmas Offering that totaled $37,605.46!  Seriously! 

So, because of you, we have been able to give:

$3940.55 to Family Promise of Beaverton

$6000 to help us build two homes June 20th with Help Build Hope and Christ UMC

$1000 to assist one delegate from the Alaskan Missionary Conference to come to this year’s joint Annual Conference

-AND-

$26,664.91 to pay down the principal on one of our mortgages!  This will shave a full three years off those payments! 

This is all because of you…  Relationships do bring hope.

I have such deep hope because of all of you.  Thank you for changing my life, too, these nearly 11 years.  You are an incredible congregation.  I am richly blessed to have served here and am so excited to see whom God will bring for the next season of Westside Journey’s life in ministry for I know God has GREAT PLANS for you and through you. 

Thank you again for giving and changing so many people’s lives!

We are rejoicing to join you in serving Jesus Christ –

Pastor Brian and the Stewardship and Finance Teams 

Condolences

Westside just got word that John Shaw passed away on January 7.  It was sudden and quick, “like he wanted,” his daughter said.  Prayers for Ann, his wife, and his entire family.  John and Ann were members of WUMC for many years but, due to health concerns, moved to California to be closer to family. 

Are You on the Run?

We are journeying in the Whale of a Tale -- the best fish story ever, and one that changed the course of history for a lost people. As we do so we find that Jonah hit the “bottom” and turned around.

Sometimes it takes this very thing in our lives for us to make a turn around as well. We have to come to the end of our own efforts to save ourselves, our own efforts at impressing God, in order to surrender to God fully. In Jonah’s prayer in the second chapter, we encounter a prophet willing to let God be God and yet also declaring his confidence that he will yet live and praise God anew. This turn around is sufficient. Jonah is spat back onto the shore.

It seems incredible that this prophet really intended to thwart God’s call by fleeing, but God would not be thwarted. What might we learn about the character of God from this account of someone’s attempt to RUN only to find God ran faster than he could? What might this tell us about our own attempts to run from the identity and calling upon our own lives? What might we learn from this story about confession? What does it look like to Jonah and therefore to us? We are deep in the belly of the whale. This is our three-day visit to the tomb. It was to this very place that Jesus compared his own encounter with death. “Just as Jonah…” “so the Son of Man” Jesus said. This is that time period. Let’s not miss what God might like to do with the darkest moments of our lives. Let’s not lose touch with how God is at work. God won’t waste anything. And God plans to use everything.

Rock Voices

This Sunday, January 12, you have the opportunity to hear a community rock chorus with a professional backup band. Rock Voices has groups across the country that perform to raise awareness and donations for charitable organizations.

Your attendance will benefit the nonprofit Youth Music Project, which provides outstanding music education to thousands of low-income kids in Oregon. Ticket prices range from $8 to $15 and may be purchased at https://portlandjan12.bpt.me/

The 4:00 pm concert will be held at Lake Oswego High School, 2501 Country Club Rd in Lake Oswego.

To learn more about Rock Voices, visit www.rockvoices.com.