Gratefulness.org
A website dedicated to grateful living.
Crosswalk.com
Christian news in the 21st century.
“The intersection of faith and life.”
Devozine.upperroom.org
We encourage youth to check out The Upper Room’s Devo Zine, where you can find articles about spiritually active teens all around the world, connect with their social media outlets, post and respond to a live prayer wall, and even contribute articles and devotionals of your own.
General Board of Church and Society
www.umc-gbcs.org
General Board of Global Ministries www.umcmission.org
Methodist Federation for Social Action www.mfsaweb.org
cnumc.org
California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
LIFE AFTER THURSDAY
It’s time for our Potluck and conversation evening again. We will gather on March 6th at 6pm at the home of Jean. Please bring a potluck dish to share for the gathering time or for the meal, your table service and cold beverage. Coffee, tea will be provided. Your choice! We will see you thereat Jean's in Grass Valley. Please call the church office at 265-2797 if you don’t know the way. Time is 6pm Friday, March 6th, 2020.
Family Fun Night resumes on March 29, 2020 with salad, turkey tacos and all the fixings! It’s a relaxed evening of games, conversation, occasional crafts, and just plain FUN, all for $1 per person! Come join us!
Begin your New Year with a Bible study and book study…….
Your first opportunity: Are you interested in an adult Bible class? Pastor Dave is beginning one on Sunday, Feb 2, with the subject of Justice for the Poor, a 6 weeks’ study. Jesus’ teachings and parables will be read and discussed as to our Christian responsibility to our less fortunate brothers and sisters. The class will meet after Worship and Fellowship Time
Your second opportunity: Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White, written by Adam Hamilton, ‘‘invites the reader to climb down from the barricades of the culture and political wars, and discover a Christian faith capable of bringing people together. Everyone agrees that America is polarized, with ever hardening positions held by people less and less willing to listen to one another. No one agrees on what to do about it.
One solution that hasn’t yet been tried, says Adam Hamilton, is for thinking persons of faith to model for the rest of the country a richer, more thoughtful conversation on the political, moral, and religious issues that divide us. Hamilton rejects the easy assumptions and sloppy analysis of black and white thinking, seeking instead the truth that resides on all sides of the issues, and offering a faithful and compassionate way forward.
He writes, "I don't expect you to agree with everything I've written. I expect that in the future even I won't agree with everything I've written here. The point is not to get you to agree with me, but to encourage you to think about what you believe.”
Our pastor will lead a discussion of this book on Wednesday evenings, 7 PM, beginning on February 5. Books will be available (cost is $14.00) and there will be a signup sheet in the Fellowship Hall to reserve your copy.Silent Retreat
A Silent Retreat is scheduled for April 22 -- 26, 2020 at Mercy Center in Auburn. Participants may stay 1, 2, 3, or 4 nights. Each person attending will have a room with bed, desk and desk chair, wardrobe, "easy" chair, and sink. Bathrooms are shared. Delicious, healthy meals are provided.
Our traditional Prayer Shawl Ministry Getaway weekend is fast approaching and it's time to reserve your wonderful accommodations at the Salvation Army Del Oro Conference Grounds located just a few easy driving miles from Nevada City!
This year our getaway dates are Friday, February 28th, Saturday, February 29th, and Sunday, March 1st, 2020. A total of 2 peaceful nights and 3 fun filled days of knitting, crocheting, felting, quilting, puzzling, relaxing, and bonding with a wonderful group of fun and creative women and friends. Don’t forget the wonderful food the dining room provides us!! No cooking stress worries at this camp!!
The cost has increased slightly from last year and will be $165.00 for two nights lodging and 5 meals. The deadline for checks to be submitted to the office or to Donna Davenport is Sunday, February 16th, 2020. This will allow for time to match roommates, dietary needs, and supply and activity accommodations.
We can accommodate only 25 participates so be sure to submit checks and information forms as soon as possible to have the roomy and even the room you prefer if at all possible!! Be assured...you can also invite knitting/crafting friends and /or family to this event.
IFM “Food for Thought “-- by Eleanor Kenitzer, your church representative
Interfaith Food Ministry thanks all of us who contributed to their holiday food fundraiser. From their newsletter…
“With the help of many generous folks and organizations, we were able to meet our holiday fundraising goals and provided approximately 5000 Nevada County families in need during
November and December with regular food and holiday groceries.
In addition, IFM was able to partner up with Nevada County Food & Toy Run for the first time in 2019; feeding 300 additional families, made possible with individual contributions made through Sponsor a Family. We saw a 20% increase from 2018 in the dollar amount of individual donations, proving that when community works together to tackle food insecurity, all things are possible. Each donation helps make Nevada County a healthier and more stable place to live.”
Statistics for 2018 are in: 7,838 individuals fed / average income was $1188 per month/ 100,235 grocery bags filled/ 2030 children served.
The contributions to Interfaith Food Ministry during the month of December totaled $2002.25. For the year 2019 your contributions totaled
$4575.23 plus the $600 from church. THANK YOU!
Box Tops and Labels are still being collected to support our local schools. Information on what to collect is located in an envelope posted on the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall. You can give your box tops and labels to Colleen Godfrey or Dorothy Stone or just put them in the envelope on the bulletin board. This is a free and great help to our schools to help them buy supplies not furnished by the board of education. The teachers always appreciate this help to educate our future generation.
CRAFT COMMITTEE
All crafters are invited to join us at our next meeting on Tuesday, March 3rd at 10 AM in Fellowship Hall. We received some new ideas at our last meeting, but always looking for more ideas and more crafters. Come check us out!
CRAFT FAIRE CORNER STORE
EASTER AND SPRING
Sunday, March 29th and Sunday, April 5th during Fellowship time.
During troubled times of sickness, loss of a family member or friend, or other tragedies, we call on loved ones and our church family for support. One way of showing that support is by offering our prayers. This is where you can reach out to our church's prayer chain for that support. We have a list of members who will be notified by email of the particular request and they will follow up with that request by offering prayers. So, if you are in need of a prayer or would like to join the list of church folks on the Prayer Chain contact list, please let us know and we will add you to the list . Our prayer chain contact person is Anne Holst. Her listing is in our church directory.
Contact Anne Holst at anne-holst123@gmail.com.To all who were so generous with your gifts and money and time for our Christmas Outreach. Holy Trinity Church purchased gifts for 30 families and we here at NCUMC had 51 families, which included 80 parents or guardians and 113 children. Not all were “adopted” so our Santa helpers were also busy shopping and wrapping many gifts.
This document shares the proposal of a diverse group of United Methodist bishops and other leaders.
View it here.
Excerpts from www.umnews.org at:
https://www.umnews.org/en/news/panel-offers-peek-behind-scenes-of-separation-plan
Downloadable PDF: Comparing plans headed to GC2020
It was love of The United Methodist Church that brought 16 — sometimes hostile — people to a point of agreement for a path forward for the worldwide church.
Even though the agreement is to split, participants still talked about loving each other in a livestreamed discussion Jan. 13 to explain how the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation was formed.
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Front and center of the group was famed mediator Kenneth Feinberg, who helped the United Methodists representing strongly held, diverse viewpoints, get to a yes.
Feinberg said the question he posed to the group was, “What is the alternative to decades of strife, tensions and stress?"
Feinberg, who donated his services to the denomination, said he knew from the first day that he had the right group of people in the room. He also said he also had two secret weapons: Rick Godfrey and Wendy Bloom of Kirkland and Ellis, a Washington and Chicago law firm.
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The Rev. Keith Boyette, representing traditionalists, said, “By agreeing to leave, the traditionalists have chosen to set the church free from this conflict.”
At the end of the 2019 special General Conference, the traditional side won the vote, but the conflict did not end, he explained.
Progressives and centrists made it clear that they would continue to resist and were not willing to leave the denomination.
The group had to agree on restructuring proposals, governing proposals and finances. The work unfolded over six two-day sessions.
If the protocol is adopted, the process for deciding where someone would affiliate is similar for clergy, annual conferences and local churches, explained Bishop Thomas Bickerton.
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“If this or a similar plan does not pass, it will be catastrophic,” said Bishop John Yambasu, Sierra Leone. Yambasu called the first meeting of traditionalists, centrists and progressives together after the 2019 General Conference.
He left the 2019 conference filled with concern, he said,
“Going back home, I heard a voice say to me, ‘John, you’ve got to do something.’”
