News
Bi-Weekly Outdoor Communion Service Announcement
Sundays @ 2 PM
FUMCCV Quad
July 15 will mark 130 days since the last time the Sacrament of Holy Communion was celebrated by our spiritual community….that is a very long time. As Methodists we are encouraged to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion as often as possible, and yet, here we are on a fast of 130 days . The Covid19 pandemic has changed many things about life and a significant one is the inability to gather. The Sacrament of Holy Communion is to be celebrated together (read the Gospel, Acts and Corinthian accounts) and only in special circumstances, such as for the infirmed, do we extend the table for individuals.
Beginning July 15th there will be two opportunities every week to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion (Wednesdays @ Noon and Sundays @ 2:00 pm.). These services will take place outside in the Quad and will last only about 10 minutes….welcome, prayer, liturgy, & commune. Here are some important Do’s and Don’ts.
DO
- Self screen for Covid19 symptons before arriving to church (fever, cough, shortness of breath)
- Park nearest the Sanctuary and enter the Quad at the southwest corner
- Be screened by ushers
- Let the usher know if you need a chair or can stand or sit on the grass for the 10 minute service
- Wear a mask (if you don’t have one we will give you one)
- Stay socially distanced
DON’T
- Come to campus if you are experiencing any of the Covid19 symptoms
- Violate the social distancing standards (if found in violation this experience could be shuttered)
- Park under the solar panels and pass through the Preschool area (especially Wednesdays). We are adhering to very strict licensing guidelines for operating the Preschool and we do not want to jeopardize these operations with non-essential people entering the Preschool space.
- Expect a full worship service….this is a simple time of prayer, liturgy and receiving of the Sacrament
There are lots of “new normal” ways of life to which we will need to adapt. For the time being, this is the new normal of celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Communion together…all are invited, come as often as you so desire to receive this means of God’s grace.
Making Amends
Youth Daily Devotional Blog: 06/16
Jesus reminds us that all arguments and conflicts are worth confronting, dealing with, and forgiving. Whether they are the big arguments that feel heavy or the small conflicts that we think we can just ignore, Jesus encourages us to speak to those that we have something against or that have something against us so that we can reconcile with them. In this passage, Jesus says that we shouldn’t even participate in certain faith practices before we make things right with those who we are in conflict with.
The Call to Self-Care
Youth Daily Devotional Blog: 06/09
I imagine that Elijah must have felt very much the same way in this passage. Here, the prophet Elijah flees from persecution from the reigning queen of Israel, his home nation. After his life is literally threatened by the queen, Elijah escapes to the wilderness, and as he is filled with this overwhelming emotion, he asks God if he would be allowed to die. And, seeing him in his exhaustion and spiritual drain, God shows a kind of personal care that can only be described as familial and intimate. An angel comes to Elijah, helping him get up and eat. For forty nights, Elijah is carefully cared for by this angel. “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you”, the angel says (1 Kings 19:7 NRSV).
We are all on long journeys, both individually and on a community level. God sees us in our exhaustion, and knows that we cannot make the entirety of the journey alone. In that, God asks us to rest, eat, and drink, that we may make the journey well.
A History of Protest
Youth Daily Devotional Blog 06/04
After all, the man, Jesus of Nazareth, was one dark-skinned man in a long line of dark-skinned men slaughtered by an institution of political oppression and violence.
We cannot divorce ourselves from that history. We cannot separate ourselves from the political implications of Jesus’s life. And just as heaven wept at Jesus’s murder, I imagine it weeps for every unjust murder that takes place today.