"Building the Beloved Community" Worship

Growing and constructing the community that God calls us to create takes steps as disciples to care for and grow the kingdom.

Jan. 15th: "Baptizing is the start of kingdom building" John 1:29-42

Jan. 22nd: "Curiosity in Jesus develops the kingdom" Matthew 4:12-23

Jan. 29th: "Gathering people together creates the kingdom" Matthew 5:1-12

Feb. 5th: "Building the kingdom with what we have." Matthew 5:21-37

Feb. 12th: "Following the commandments builds the kingdom" Matthew 17:1-9

Feb. 19th: "Knowing when to leave our ancestor's ways grows the kingdom" Matthew 4:1-11

Lent starts Feb. 22nd (Ash Wednesday): "Seeking: Honest Questions for Deeper Faith"

Church Council Meeting

Fellowship Hall | January 21st  | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Reconciling Ministry New Statement: Straw Poll Vote

January 22nd & 29th 

Details noted in the Social Justice section below

Reconciling Ministry Discussion 

Fellowship Hall | February 5th & 12th | Following Worship 

Reconciling Ministry New Statement: Final Vote 

February 19th & 26th

Details noted in the Social Justice section below

Ash Wednesday Open House

February 22 | 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Morning & Night Volunteers for the Winter Hospitality Overflow Shelter for a Week 

St. Andrews | March 19th- 23rd | Shifts, 6:30- 9:30 AM and 6-9:30 PM

Holy Week Worship Services

April 3-8 | 7:00 PM

Every night from Monday to Saturday we will do a devotion preparing our hearts for Easter.

Easter Worship

April 9th | 10 AM

All Church Retreat & Ocean Park Retreat Center | Spring 2023

Look for dates and details in February Sower

Adult Christian Education 

Sunday Mornings | 9:00- 10:00 AM | Fellowship Hall

Come and join our group to explore the Bible, spirituality, and prayer with each other. It’s a drop-in group, so join whenever you would like! During the beginning of November, we're covering Brother Lawrence's “The Practice of the Presence of God.” for questions contact Deb Burlingame at debbgame@gmail.com

Centering Prayer Life Group

Tuesday Evening | 6:30 - 8:00 PM | Zoom

Starting on January 10, we will begin the first half of Season 1 of the Center for Action and Contemplation's podcast Turning to the Mystics as our discussion starters. This podcast series is available here and elsewhere: https://cac.org/podcast/turning-to-the-mystics/?season=tttm-one#season-details Here's a tentative schedule for the first half of the series. We'll see how it goes and adapt as needed:

• January 10: Discuss Introducing James Finley, the first part (about 27 minutes)
• January 17: Discuss Introducing James Finley, the second part (about an hour)
• January 24: Discuss Instructions for the Practice (27 minutes)
• January 31: Discuss Turning to Thomas Merton (52 minutes)

We'll plan to listen to these on our own prior to the meeting, and then discuss them when we're together. However, these are just conversation starters. I think you'll find it easy to join in the conversation even if you don't have time to listen to the episode ahead of time.

Our Life Group meets Tuesday evenings from 6:30 - 9:00 via Zoom. Please feel free to join us. Contact Rod Allen at rodallen42@gmail.com for the Zoom link or if you have any questions

Thursday Afternoon Life Group

1:00 PM- 3:00 PM | OUMC Fellowship Hall

This group is picking up on learning more about parables and their place in our faith formation. Join this group in discussion and checking in with one another! Contact Sharon McConnell with any questions ds.mcconnell@comcast.net

Heart & Soul Crafters

January 19th | 6:00 PM- 8:00 PM | Fellowship Hall

If you're looking for a place to work on your current crafting project and great fellowship? Join the Heart & Soul Crafters! If you have questions contact Sherry Hibbs at (360) 518-998

"Stepping Stones" Volunteer Training with PeaceHealth Hospice 

PeaceHealth Hospice is looking for volunteers to help support children, teens, and their families during the grief process. There is additional training needed to be completed online and a year commitment to the program.

The next volunteer facilitator training is: 

January 26th (Thursday), 9 am- 4 pm 

5400 MacArthur Blvd., Vancouver, WA 

Please call (360) 696-5120 to register and/or ask questions

Friends of the Carpenter Volunteer Support for Laundry and Showers

Wednesdays, 10 am - 2 pm

Looking for volunteers to help with checking in people for the shower or laundry services in their new trailers. Call (503) 750-4752 or email tod@friendsofthecarpenter.org

We've been working for the last five years on becoming reconciling and welcoming LGBTQIA+ people in our families and community, over this journey of becoming official we've hit some speed bumps. This means in 2023 we have the opportunity to re-examine and reaffirm our commitment to welcoming all people. 

We have edited our original statement that the church council created over 4 years ago to include language about the intersectionality of accessibility and race to become an official member of the Reconciling movement in the United Methodist Church. This means that our newest statement of reconciliation means that it will be longer but intentionally names groups of people who have been historically marginalized within our church communities. 

This newest statement has been approved by our Church Council, but now needs to be read and approved by the Orchards UMC community. We will be taking time to ask questions about the statement and what it means for us as a church. We will be taking time to listen to ideas and concerns about what this change could look like, sound like, and feel like for us as Orchards.

Finally, this gives us the opportunity to be curious and wonder about what our growing edges are as a community trying to care for and support one another. Resuming our reconciling journey will help us to understand our families, friends, and community better. 

Here are the dates around the next round of voting and education opportunities: 

• Jan. 1, 8, and 15: Mission Moments about becoming Reconciling
• Jan. 22 and 29: Straw Poll about adopting the new statement 
• Feb. 5 and 12: Questions, Concerns, and Discussion about the new reconciling statement 
• Feb. 19 and 26: Final Vote on the new reconciling statement

Office Hours

Starting January 16th the hours that I am physically in the office will be inconsistent due to my having surgery on the 16th and the recovery period. I'm so appreciative of everyone that has volunteered to help in the office while I'm unable to be there. I will be working remotely thanks to the power of the internet and technology, hooray! If you need anything please do not hesitate to reach out as I will still be available via e-mail at orchardsumc.office@gmail.com

Deidra White