Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! I pray this weekly Enews finds you healthy and at peace, filled with the Holy Spirit and the love of God through our Lord, Jesus Christ! I have been encouraged this week as it appears that we have begun to have fewer cases of Covid-19, which is a good thing. This time apart continues to be difficult and each week we reduce the number of cases and deaths brings us closer to meeting face to face again. I encourage everyone to practice good health measures to help get Arizona back on the right track.
While we continue to practice good social distancing, the needs of our community continue as does our mission and ministries. We continue to support Café Justo! Charlotte shared the following:
SCVUMC Coffee Mission goal: address poverty and migration by supporting the Just Coffee small farmer cooperative in Mexico.
Ordering and delivery will be slightly different because SCVUMC is not currently meeting in person. So, please make arrangement to prepay when you make your order (Zelle, Pay Pal, personal check). Pick up at Charlotte Crawford’s home in Green Valley, or make other arrangements with Charlotte as you make your order.
Contact Charlotte Crawford, our coffee mission coordinator, by text (520-400-5531) or by email (charlotte@crawfordenterprise.com) to order your fresh current crop coffee.
Regular coffee is $10 & decaf coffee is $11 per pound (full 16oz), beans or ground, dark or regular roast. Consider ordering coffee for your worksite, for the teachers at San Fernando School, or to give a pound as a gift. For more information about this mission, go to www.justCoffee.org.
Make & prepay your Just Coffee order by Sunday August 23 (delivery available Aug 30)
I received a request for volunteers this week from the Sahuarita Community Food Bank. They are having an increased need due to the higher unemployment due to Covid-19 and with the ending of the additional unemployment stimulus checks they anticipate the need will continue to grow. This food bank serves our local community and your time volunteering would be so beneficial. I stopped by the food bank and they were doing an excellent job of practicing proper health standards to reduce the possible transmission of the virus, although there is always some risk when interacting with others. If you would like to volunteer, please call Carlos Valles at 520-400-6192 for more information and to volunteer. Carlos assures me they are very flexible on work hours and work tasks.
You should have received an invitation from me today to join me for “Church During a Pandemic: A Conversation with the Pastor.” I divided up the church in three smaller groups and scheduled three conversations about how we can navigate what it means to be church during a pandemic. The sessions will be held Friday and Saturday, August 13 & 14th. If you did not receive an invitation, please let me know so I can include you.
WORSHIP: Communion will be celebrated this Sunday. Plan ahead and have some bread and juice with you before service starts at 10 a.m. This Sunday we continue with our sermon series, When Christians Get It Wrong, inspired from a book by the same name by Rev. Adam Hamilton. The six-week series will discuss how being Christian, we sometimes get things wrong. We try to do right but are challenged when try to make sense of our world. Below is the schedule for August:
Aug 2 Week 4: Brand Loyalty!
Scripture References: John 10:1-18, John 14:6
Aug 9 Week 5: Biblical Authority vs. Biblical Interpretation
Scripture Reference: Acts 10:1-34; Leviticus 20:13
Sunday afternoon at 11:30 following church, you are invited to watch the movie: “For the Bible Tells Me So Documentary,” about five Christian families, each with a gay or lesbian child. The 2007 film shares the stories of the families, their reactions, and their understanding of their children over time. The documentary includes the fundamentalist perspective countered by scriptural and biblical scholarship of a more progressive Christian perspective. We will watch on Zoom at 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Following worship grab your lunch and come back to join us as we watch together.
Aug 16 Week 6: When Christians Get it Right
Scripture Reference(s): 1 John 4:11-21
Click here for Zoom Worship: https://dscumc.zoom.us/j/95803016505
Or by phone: 1-253-215-8782 then enter the meeting ID: 958 0301 6505
NOTE: We have added a password: 1549
You are encouraged to share this link with family and friends who are seeking a worshipping community. Invite your friends to worship!
We will be receiving new members on Sunday, August 16 during worship. There will be a membership preparation class on Friday, August 7 at 10 a.m. on Zoom. If you are not a member of our church and would like to be please let me know.
We are looking for two volunteers to help with the hosting of our Zoom worship services. Gina Poczulp has been hosting us for the past 8 weeks and we would like to have two more people so that they can rotate. Training on Zoom will be provided. Please speak to Pastor Sandy if you are interested in learning more about this vital role in our Sunday worship service.
Our Mission & Outreach team is hosting a food drive for the students at San Fernando School in Sasabe. Vern & Wanda will be receiving your donations on Saturday, August 8th from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and Sunday, August 9th from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Please bring nonperishable food items to the church and let’s continue to support this community. The principal reported that she has 17 students currently registered with an expected start date of August 17th. Preparations are also underway to provide backpacks and school supplies. We will send masks also for the students.
This Tuesday, August 4 our church will host the primary elections. We are looking for 5-6 volunteers who would be a greeter to those coming to vote. It would require being at the church for several hours, wearing a mask for protection and being the “face” of Santa Cruz Valley United Methodist Church. Voting will take place from 6 am to 7 pm. Signup with Marilee Taber if you can volunteer a few hours. Call or text (520-429-7490) or email (marileebud5@msn.com) if you would like to volunteer during the election. We need 3 more people!
New Book Study will begin on Friday, August 28 at noon on Zoom. The group will read the book, “White Fragility: Why it’s so Hard for White People to Talk about Racism.” The study is designed to give space for discussions on race and racism in the United States and learn about institutional racism that is pervasive in our culture. As a result of the study we plan to formulate a response, how we, as Christians, can support our African American sisters and brothers and work to end this oppression. Please purchase a book (kindle editions are available) and be prepared to discuss the first chapter at our first session. Please RSVP either on Facebook or send me an email. Join us on Zoom at https://dscumc.zoom.us/j/92014912546; password: 1549
Devotions with Dottie: A devotion group that meets weekly for anyone who wants to continue their pursuit of a life lived wholly in the grace of God. With the regular support of a few faithful friends, the gift of God’s love in Jesus Christ becomes a lifestyle of Christian discipleship through the threefold discipline of piety-worship, study-our devotions, and action-our ministry. We meet weekly at 8 am (Tuesday) or 5pm (Thursday). The meeting consists of persons’ sharing of any devotion (magazine, book, online, poems, etc...) while others listen to one another, celebrate the grace of God, find ways the devotions apply to each person’s life, and reinforce each one’s core commitment to living in union with Christ in all facets of daily life. It is a Wesleyan process that celebrates our love of Christ and our support for one another. Morning Devotions: https://dscumc.zoom.us/j/97861767758?pwd=dUs0V1pnMFFVemh4UGlyS0pSY0ROUT09 Password: 1549
Evening Devotions: https://dscumc.zoom.us/j/122906893
Password: 1549
In Christ’s service,
Pastor Sandy
702-461-2590
pastor@scvumc.org