Praying for Charleston

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I write you from Helena, Montana, where the Yellowstone Annual Conference is in session. Yesterday we heard the devastating reports of the murders of Christian brothers and sisters gathered in prayer at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. It is apparent that these murders were motivated by racial hatred of a kind that has no place in our nation, and certainly not within the Christian Church.

Rev. Kelly Addy (Huntley (MT) UMC) led prayer this morning:

Dear Lord,

We come to you as your children, seeking your wisdom and patience in the midst of our bewilderment. You have made humankind so magnificently and so powerfully, but we lose our way before we can arrive at the kind of love with which you made us. We know it is there because we are the work of your hands and we ask your gentle hand to guide us to it and place it at the center of all things and nations, and races and peoples.

We gathered to learn of the riches of your abundant love, which overcomes all the violence the world, can muster. And then shots rang out across this great land of hope and freedom, infecting people with fear and suspicion.

We turn to you and to you alone, as we cry out once again that we are love because you are love and we are from you. How can anyone hope to love anyone if they do not love everyone?  How can anyone seek to overcome darkness with darkness?  How can anyone hate anyone without hating everyone?

Turn our hearts to neither the left nor the right, but only to you. We read your Word and hear your love in it even when people in Egypt and Syria and South Carolina die for it.

We lift up:

Our sister Tywanza Sanders, 26
Our brother, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41, pastor and state senator
Our sister, the Rev. Sharonda Singleton, 45

Our brother, the Rev.DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49
       sister, Cynthia Hurd, 54
       sister, Myra Thompson, 59                                                    
       sister, Ethel Lance, 70
Our brother, the Rev. Daniel Simmons, Sr., 74
       sister, Susie Jackson, 87
     
And our brother, the suspected shooter, Dylann Roof, 21.

We pray for peace. We lift up those who suffer violence anywhere in the world and we do not look down on them, but up to you.

Give us your peace. Give us your love. Give us your will, abundantly as we trudge onward and upward and homeward together to you.

And when we go back into the world from this place may our light so shine that other would see the Christ in us and be led in the Way, by the Truth, to the Life Everlasting. Amen.

This Sunday please pray and lead your churches to pray for peace among the peoples of our nation and of the whole world, for the family and church family of those whose lives were taken, and for our sister denomination, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which has worked for God’s vision of racial harmony and justice for 200 years.

Serving Jesus’ promise that all might enjoy abundant life,

Elaine JW Stanovsky

Conference news - day 1

2015 Yellowstone Annual Conference Highlights: Day 1

Go to www.yacumc.org/annualconference2015 to view and download the latest schedule, Daily Proceedings, the Nominations Report, the Statistician's Report, petitions, and more. Be sure to check the website throughout the day for updates.

See photos from the first day of the 2015 Yellowstone Annual Conference on Facebook.

Watch the Yellowstone Annual Conference live! Click here.

	Episcopal Address Bishop Elaine J. W. Stanovsky delivered her Episcopal Address at the 2015 Yellowstone Annual Conference session on Thursday, June 18. She highlighted three main points: The 2016 General Conference, discussion of the Mountain Sky Shared Futures Committee and the theme of "God is Speaking ... Renewal of Creation."
	Memorial Service and Holy Communion Clergy and laity who have passed away since the last Annual Conference were remembered during a memorial service. Stories about each person was read, highlighting their faith and their ministry in The United Methodist Church. A Holy Communion was then held following the memorial service.
	Keynote by Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker The Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker spoke about Paradise and the Tree of Life during her keynote June 18. Drawing from early Christian art, Parker analyzed the symbols used to depict abundance and enjoying the fruits of creation. "Remember this is God's world. All of Earth's ecosystems give glory to God," she said.

	Clergy and Laity Sessions The morning of Annual Conference opened with clergy and laity sessions. Candidates for the General and Jurisdictional Conferences spoke about why they are running for election. During the laity session, Don McCammon was introduced as the incoming Conference Lay Leader for 2016 and certificates were presented to certified lay servants.
	UMW Luncheon The Yellowstone United Methodist Women's luncheon was held at Covenant UMC. The featured speaker was the Rev. Calvin Hill, of the Blackfeet United Methodist Parish. Hill talked about his vision for the area and working to improve relationships with the community and the Blackfeet nation. "How can we create a Christ-centered community?" Hill asked.
	Missions Picnic The first day ended with a Missions Picnic at Covenant UMC. The picnic cookout featured a blues/jazz band, along with a bounce house, dunk tank, and a "Tug-o-Love" to raise money for Angola Pastors and the Blackfeet United Methodist Parish (BUMP). Youth, conference staff, and district superintendents were all game to be "dunked" in the tank and the team for BUMP won the "Tug-o-Love" competition. Money raised during the picnic: Angola received $4,594.55; BUMP received $2,875; and Nepal received $408.

Loaves and Fishes plea

The Loaves & Fishes fund is perilously low, down to a mere $20 as of Tuesday.  This fund is an important outreach effort of our congregation and is carefully disbursed through Pastor Charles.

Please consider helping to restock the Loaves & Fishes fund this week.

We're ready for YAC!

We're excited to be attending our second gathering of the Yellowstone Annual Conference in Helena!  AC is a combination of family/school reunion, business meeting, and worship services!  

Of course, Pastor Charles is happy because at the registration table he got his first button!  Stay tuned for regular updates from Montana's capitol city.

There will be regular posting on the Conference Twitter and Facebook pages.

Rummage sale is Saturday!

Don Nelson places the sign while Don Henry supervises

Don Henry and Don Nelson were out this morning putting signs out announcing this Saturday's church-wide rummage sale. While they were placing one sign at Super 1, a couple stopped and asked about the sale, advertising pays!

Last Sunday of Spring

Wired Word group considers the day's topic

Juliie was today's hostess

Emma helps Aiden sign the gift book

Our last Sunday of spring was filled with such a joyful spirit!  The weather could not have been better, the fellowship more genuine, or the worship more spirit-fed!

Cassidy Pearson was recognized as one of our two graduating high school seniors (the other is Jenna Lockman) and was presented with a New Testament (from the Shepherding Team).  During the fellowship time, members of the congregation side a copy of "Oh, the Places You Will Go!" for Cassidy to take on her journey. She'll be attending Montana State in the fall and will also be enrolling in Air Force ROTC.

We were blessed this morning with the return of Mary Costello, Lisa Menery, and Marcia Prather who returned on Friday from their medical mission trip to Tanzania.

Pride: The first of the seven deadly sins

Hieronymus Bosch,"Pride" from "The Sevens Deadly Sins"

Our summer sermon series on "the seven deadly sins" begins in earnest next Sunday (June 21st) with a look at Pride.  

The scripture lesson will be Genesis 3:1-7 & Proverbs 2:3-11.

"I do not believe that any peacock envies another peacock his tail, because every peacock is persuaded that his own tail is the finest in the world." - Bertrand Russell