News

Tulare UMC Celebrates Sanctuary 100th Year

By Gerry Soults The public is invited to attend an open house with docent led tours of the sanctuary of Tulare United Methodist Church on Saturday, June 29, from 3 to 6 p.m. The church is located at 228 West Kern, Tulare, Calif. 93274. For more information, call (559) 686-8523, or e-mail tulareumc@sbcglobal.net.             In 1880 when Tulare was only eight years old, a small group of Methodists arrived in Tulare and began to hold their...

Nevada City UMC Holds Gospel Music Festival

The Nevada City UMC recently held its first annual gospel music festival. The festival featured area gospel artists, including Inheritance, Karen Westbrooks and Zamar, The Gospel Motivators, The Bethel AME Choir, Scott Hickman, and Grass Valley's Paige Anderson and The Fearless Kin. Southern-style food was served. The event partnered with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and proceeds will help to provide fresh water for villages in...

Churches Merge for Missional Purpose

*By Dr. Larry R. Hygh, Jr., Director of Communications On Pentecost Sunday, Good Shepherd and El Cerrito United Methodist Churches (UMC) came together for worship in what will become the newly formed Open Door UMC. After a year and a half of discernment, the two churches unanimously voted last December to merge. "From this point on, we move forward together as Open Door United Methodist Church…we join together for our first service today and celebrate the heritage of both of these...

Lake Park UMC and Faith Community UCC Launch a New Health Ministry in Oakland

Lake Park United Methodist Church and Faith Community United Church of Christ have joined together to launch a new Health Ministry focused on both healing and preventative health. It will serve residents of the East Bay region. J-Sei, an East Bay non-profit organization that serves the older adult population, will also partner with the two churches. Diane Wong, the Executive Director of J-Sei, said, "As a community based organization that serves families in the East Bay, J-Sei is thrilled...

Victorian Tea

  The United Methodist Women (UMW) of First United Methodist Church, Point Richmond, will present a Victorian Tea on Saturday, June 8, as a fund raiser. Seating is available at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Dress for tea or come as you are. Children are welcome. Cost is $20 for adults, $12 for children, and $10 for children under age 12. The church is located at 201 Martina Street, Point Richmond, Calif.  For reservations, contact Doreen Leighton at d3leighton@icloud.com, or...

Methodist Tour Choir Presents Two Local Concerts

Prior to embarking on their Goodwill Tour of Northern Italy, 34 singers from First United Methodist Church (FUMC) of Santa Rosa will present two similar local concerts in a program entitled, "Best of the New Millennium: Sacred American Choral Music." On Friday, June 14, 8 p.m. the choir will perform at St. Vincent De Paul Church, 35 Liberty St., Petaluma. On Sunday, June 16 at 4 p.m., the choir will perform in the Sanctuary of their home church, First UMC, 1551 Montgomery Dr.,...

Cambodian Leadership Development Training in the Cal Nevada Annual Conference

  Elk Grove, Calif.--On May 11, seventy United Methodist Cambodian laity and pastors gathered at Point Pleasant United Methodist Church in Elk Grove for a Leadership Development Training. The training was sponsored and organized by Lake Park United Methodist Church. The funding was provided by a grant from the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM). The purpose of the Cambodian Leadership Development training was to strengthen and empower the Cambodian Churches and its members. The...

Chrysalis Retreats

The next set of Chrysalis retreats will take place at Carson Valley United Methodist Church in Gardnerville, Nevada, June 27 to 30 (for girls ages 15 to 19), and July 11 to 14 (for boys ages 15 to 19). The retreat weekends are designed to bring a person closer to God through prayer, discussion, worship, singing, and creative expressions.   Applications are due three weeks before each retreat: June 10 for girls and June 24 for the boys. Contact Lynette Grandison at...

Hosanna Arch

On Mother's Day, the First United Methodist Church in Reno, Nevada celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Hosanna Arch, an architectural icon gracing the sanctuary located at 209 West First Street in Reno. Dedicated on Mother's Day in 1943, the Hosanna Arch features the sculpted likenesses of 52 children who attended the church in the early 1940's. The children's faces, along with palm leaves and lilies, were sculpted by San Francisco artist Alice English, working from photographs...

Fiji and Tonga Mission Journey

On Saturday May 18, from 3p.m. to 7p.m. the First United Methodist Church and First Tongan United Methodist Church of Palo Alto, 625 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto invite folks for fellowship, music, dancing, and food as they  prepare for their journey to Fiji and Tonga in July. They are raising money to send approximately 20 United Methodist Volunteers In Mission (UMVIM) missioners for a cultural immersion experience and for an educational service to the middle school at Houma, Tonga, and the...

Mom to Mom

  In April, Salem United Methodist Church in Lodi began a program called "Mom to Mom" which takes place every Wednesday from 9 to 11 a.m. Counselors, school teachers, and others provide information and advice to mothers focusing on tips on how to raise a Christian family. Women from around the community are invited to share stories. One of the speakers has been the local school principal. Health tips are given, as well as reading to kids and sharing dinners together. There...

Cinco de Mayo Celebration and Meeting of Monterey Bay Church Extension Society

  On May 5th representatives from United Methodist Churches on the Northern California central coast came to worship together for the annual open meeting and celebration of the Monterey Bay Church Extension Society/Sociedad para la Extensión de la Iglesia de la Bahía de Monterey.    The Monterey Bay Church Extension Society (MBCES) was incorporated as a non-profit by the Methodist Church in 1946. Its purpose is to coordinate the work of the Methodist Church...

Presentation on Palestinian Christians and Muslims

Concord United Methodist Church Race and Religion committee will host the Rev. Will McGarvey, who will be sharing a presentation on the issues facing the people of Palestine, their land, water, and olive crops. He serves as Pastor of Community Presbyterian Church in Pittsburg, California and is a member of their Interfaith Council. He has also worked with the Israel-Palestine Committee of the California-Nevada Conference and has been to the Holy Land three times and has lead two peace...

50 Ways to Welcome a New Pastor

WASHINGTON (UMNS) — Paul Simon sang about 50 ways to leave a lover. The Rev. Bob Crossman, minister of new church starts and congregational development in the Arkansas Annual (regional) Conference, offers advice for a far happier scenario: 50 ways to welcome a new pastor. This essay is offered by the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at United Methodist Wesley Theological Seminary. Read list here.  ...

Nevada City Gospel Music Festival

The Nevada City United Methodist Church will hold a Gospel Music Festival on Saturday, May 25, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Proceeds from the festival will benefit the United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR) efforts to provide fresh, running water for the Old Mutare Hospital in Zimbabwe, Africa. Artists include the Bethel AME Choir, The Gospel Motivations, Karen Westbrooks and Zamar, Paige Anderson and The Fearless Kin, and Inheritance. Suggested minimum donation is $15 for adults and $10...

Church Started by Lay Couple Celebrates 10th Anniversary

*By Dr. Larry R. Hygh, Jr., director of communications   OAKHURST, Calif.—"Ultimately people don't start churches, it's the spirit that starts churches," said Ken Gudger. Gudger and his wife, Debbie, began what is now New Community United Methodist Church (UMC) ten years ago. Debbie Gudger says, "Other than having children, it was the most important thing we have ever done in our life."   The lay couple approached retired Bishop Beverly J. Shamana in 2001...

Elverta UMC Gets Excited about Building a Bridge of Love to Angola

Elverta United Methodist Church decorated a bucket they are using to collect offerings for the clinic in Bom Jesus, Angola. Pictured with the bucket are Robin Marose, the church's financial secretary and pianist, and Belinda Helms, the lay leader. Marose and his family decorated the bucket. The congregation is enthusiastic about contributing to the effort to restore an important part of the United Methodist Church's mission in Angola. The special mission project, "Building a Bridge...

Storytelling Event to Benefit Bridge of Love to Angola

"The Village: A Community of Storytelling...Stories to Take you Far and Away" will feature Kirk Waller, an award-winning performing artist, who will take the audience on a journey of storytelling, music, drama and song on Sunday, April 28, at First United Methodist Church, Lodi, at 2 p.m. The storytelling will be followed by ice cream floats on the lawn of the church.   The event is free, but free will donations will benefit "Building a Bridge of Love to Angola." The...

GBGM Missionary to Speak at Elk Grove UMC

Elk Grove United Methodist Church will host a program featuring Katherine T. Parker, a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) of The United Methodist Church, who is beginning a new assignment later this year as a member of the Health Team of the United Mission to Nepal, focusing on water, sanitation, and hygiene. She previously did similar work with the Community Health and Agricultural Development program of the Methodist Mission in Cambodia.  Parker will speak on...

Cultural Competency

"Cultural Competency: A Leadership Skill for Building and Strengthening the Church" a workshop for ALL clergy, is being held at First United Methodist Church, 2100 J Street, Sacramento, on June 18 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost is $85 and covers registration, materials, lunch, and .75 CEUs.   Register online here. For more information download flyer here, or contact Dr. Shan McSpadden, lmcspadden@psr.edu, (510) 849-8250 or (510) 597-0177, or the Rev. Dale Weatherspoon,...