Edmonds United Methodist Church

Tomorrow Night! (Tuesday, Sept 24) Curious? come check it out!

MONDAY MUSINGS WITH PASTOR JEREMY

"For The Birds...By The Birds"

Dear Edmonds community,

Monday Musings are leftovers from Sunday, or thoughts on the week ahead.

On Sunday, Edmonds UMC hosted a glorious concert "For the Birds" which interspersed climate justice affirmations and poetry with a jazz ensemble's offerings. It included a pop quiz to test our creation care knowledge - I missed two, so I also learned something new! I'm so thankful to Gayla Shoemake and her team for hosting.

One factoid I learned was about how birds breathe: they do not inhale and exhale like humans, but they only inhale air, and their high-metabolizing bodies process twice as much air as humans do with each breath. That makes them incredible fliers, but it also means they are susceptible to forest fires and smoke that seem to be more ever-present in our warming world.

This should matter to us. In the Genesis story, God puts "ruah" (breath or spirit) into humans and we become made in God's likeness. Breath matters to us. As multitudes of birds die from wildfire smoke, or starve from changing migration patterns due to smoke, they are again serving as "canaries in coal mines" to warn us of dangers ahead.

We are called to pay attention to the marginalized and susceptible who suffer as a result of our overconsumption and preoccupation with ourselves. Our mistakes and misdeeds, large and small, may not hurt us first, but the harm done will be visible to us if we open our eyes to it. May we widen our gaze to the horizon and see the birds, and be led by them to steward creation as if our last breath was God-breathed.

Blessings on your Monday, and see you Sunday. - Pastor Jeremy

MONDAY MUSINGS WITH PASTOR JEREMY

Dear Edmonds community,

Monday musings are leftovers from Sunday, or reflections on the start of the week ahead.

I recently attended a history conference that had a presentation on Japanese-American and Christian relationships during the Japanese incarceration leading up to WWII. Part of the presentation talked about the Seattle area, so I leaned forward with interest.

The presentation centered on a white pastor, when part of his congregation was sent to the incarceration camp, made the laudable decision to move his family to just outside the camp and continued to be in ministry with his flock. That’s amazing and everyone at the presentation thought so.

But I couldn’t help wondering why we lifted up the white pastor instead of Japanese pastors that were incarcerated with their congregations. Pastors like Rev. Thomas Machida from the Seattle Japanese Methodist Church (now Blaine Memorial UMC), who was sent away with his congregation and led worship in the camp. The two pastors were doing the same types of Christian leadership, but one was white and the other was Japanese, and both relocated to the camp by choice.

I am sensitive to the white savior complex that academic historians, pastors, and church members can fall into. I certainly want to celebrate the ministry of solidarity that the white pastor did—and to which we are called. But it should be held in context alongside that Japanese pastors made the same choice AND had to live in deplorable conditions within the camp walls.

Matthew 25 says we should be in care for the ones who are being marginalized. But more than that, it says that when we are in care for the marginalized, we are in care for Christ himself. It’s a very Eucharistic image! Ergo, we should center the marginalized and allow them to lead the privileged, because by doing so, we allow Christ to lead us in a mysterious way.

I’m grateful to now be part of our Edmonds United Methodist community that is good at - and learning how to be better at - using our privilege for others. My hope is that we can do so by supporting more than replicating, and choosing the background rather than the foreground whenever possible.

Your turn: In your life, what's an example of a time where the privileged centered themselves rather than the marginalized persons doing the exact same thing? How did you feel when you realized it?

Blessings on your Monday, and see you Sunday! - Pastor Jeremy

Tomorrow! Monday Sept. 16 - 7-9:00 pm. Have you ever met a follower of Jesus from the historic Christian community in Bethlehem that extends back nearly 2,000 years? You are invited to come meet, hear, and learn from Zoughbi Zoughbi, a Palestinian follower of Christ, who is internationally known for his ministry of peacemaking and reconciliation through The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center in Bethlehem.

Peacemaking in Bethlehem — Holy Trinity Edmonds Have you ever met a follower of Jesus from the historic Christian community in Bethlehem that extends back nearly 2,000 years? You are invited to come meet, hear, and learn from Zoughbi Zoughbi, a Palestinian follower of Christ, who is internationally known for his ministry of peacemaking and reconc

September 22, 2024 | 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Edmonds United Methodist Church | Sanctuary

This concert is hosted by Interfaith Climate Action and the EUMC Environment Team, and it is more than just a concert. The performance is by the Nelda Swiggett Band and engages the power of artistic expression—live music, spoken words, images, and poetry—to connect audiences deeply and emotionally to the scientific realities of climate change. Ultimately a story of hope, individuals leave the performance feeling empowered to take meaningful action.

Why Birds? Birds are a part of our daily life experience, and an inspiring connection to the natural world. But climate change is having a significant and alarming impact on many bird species, and this should be a wake-up call for all of us.

Tickets are $10 - $20, and children under 12 are free as are students in environmental clubs and climate committees in local middle and high schools. Click here to purchase tickets online, or you can purchase tickets at the door!

MONDAY MUSINGS WITH PASTOR JEREMY
Dear Edmonds Community,

Monday musings are leftovers from Sunday, or thoughts on the week ahead. Last Monday was Labor Day, and Tuesday Musings rhymes just too much, so thank you for a week off. 😃

My youngest daughter and I took an inaugural trip on the new transit line, with new stations that opened up near Edmonds in Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace. It was super fun. She enjoyed the rushing by of scenery and I enjoyed whizzing by the stopped traffic on I-5. See a photo below.

To get to the station, we had to cross the infamous Highway 99. I only know 99 by life at the Seattle end of it, which anyone would agree is rather dramatic. But what struck me is the My Edmonds News reporting of the new transit line that it originally was slated to run up 99 rather than I-5, but was moved to the east just 10 years ago.

Wow. Wouldn’t THAT have been a change? The increased property attention and care for the community hubs would have been on 99, which continues to struggle with those qualities. Just choosing to invest in a place could have had dramatically different types of investment the past 10 years that I-5 areas got but 99 did not.

While the new line solves a transit problem, it could have been used to solve the community problems as well. I know I don’t have the whole snarled political story, but I do know that investment in communities matter.

In scripture, Jeremiah instructs the people of God to put down roots and invest in their communities, even though they were in exile and didn’t want to remain that way. But they did go “all in” (for better or worse) so that they could transform the world into reflections of God’s beloved community. Places matter because people matter, and troubled places have people that deserve dignity and neighborly attention too.

I celebrate the new transit and the transformation of affordable accessibility and mobility it will have in our region. And I can also commit to being advocates for our Highway 99 neighbors that once again has been passed over.

Blessings on your Monday, and see you Sunday! ~Pastor Jeremy

Joyful church today! Welcomed Nick Davenport, new Director of Family Ministries. Learned about the Housing Hope Madrona Highlands volunteer project - stocking the emergency supplies pantry. And welcomed many new faces at our church today.

For the community of Apalachee High School in Winder, GA, we pray.

o God, we are filled and overflowing with grief.

hosanna – save us – from the death cult of our own making.

protect us from our own hand.
deliver us from our own fear.

give us Christ-like decency to value human life over the cold, false comfort of our toys of mass murder.

call us to remember,
today and in november,
that our children and our neighbors deserve the chance to grow old.

Always wanted to play in a Bell Choir? Join ours. Rehearsals start on September 10.

Interfaith Climate Action and Edmonds UMC present "For the Birds" a live performance that engages the power of artistic expression — live music, spoken words, images and poetry — to connect audiences deeply and emotionally to the scientific realities of climate change. Ultimately a story of hope, individuals leave the performance feeling empowered to take meaningful action.
Why birds? Birds are a part of our daily life experience, and an inspiring connection to the natural world. But climate change is having a significant and alarming impact on many bird species, and this should be a wake-up call for all of us.
Tickets at: forthebirds.eventbrite.com

VOTE NO on I-2117 in November to protect our streams, lakes and rivers. Lots of folks gathered after church to hand write postcards to go out throughout the state. Good job Environment team! VOTE NO!

Finding JOY Inside - sermon series by Pastor Jeremy Smith

There’s a lot of fear being peddled in our media and politics today, but people of faith are called to find joy that transcends and transforms society. The biblical letter to the Philippians shares guidance for how to find joy amidst our strivings for a more just society. Join in a September series each Sunday at 10:00am.

MONDAY MUSINGS WITH PASTOR JEREMY
Dear Edmonds community,

Monday Musings are the leftovers from the sermon on Sunday, or thoughts on the week ahead as we head towards next Sunday.

Back in 2013, the president of Duke University went on the comedy show "The Colbert Report" where comedian Stephen Colbert criticized a report President Brodhead had contributed to, saying the 88-page report had huge margins on each printed page, and would likely be only 8 pages if it had reasonable margins. The president deftly replied, "All serious readers know that margins are to keep your notes in."

As we complete our series on "Credible Sources" yesterday, this brings up one last thought for the fourth source: experience. The margins of a bible or book are where you put in your experience: the notes from your life or accumulated knowledge, the underlines that have meaning to you. The margins are where you make the impersonal content personal, where your life intersects with the text.

I hope you write in your Bible or a book of meaning to you. Yes, a perfectly pristine book is satisfying, but a well-loved one, I daresay, is more so.

But more than that, I hope you go to the margins in life as well. Serve those who are less fortunate, be present to support justice movements led by those affected, look off of main street's beauty to those who only have the veneer of having it all together.

Jesus looked to the margins in his life and ministry, and we are called to go to the margins even in solitary study, as that intersection of inspiration and experience is where God will meet us too.

Your turn: Consider your Bible at home. The Bible on my desk at home doesn't have big margins in it, as I use it more for devotional and centering reading. The Bible at church has decent margins for study and preparation. What kind of Bible do you have at the ready?

Blessings on your Monday and see you Sunday!
~Pastor Jeremy

Saying goodbye to Karin after a fantastic year leading our church Children, Youth, and Family program. We wish you all the best!

Dear Edmonds Community,

On Thursday morning, an individual was discovered unresponsive in the parking lot of Edmonds UMC. Edmonds Food Bank staff called the police, who preliminarily determined the person died of self-inflicted harm. We don’t know any other details at this time.

The church and the food bank are places that provide hope and care for each person. We lament this tragedy and take seriously the opportunity to respect their final moments with care and prayer. .

Please be in prayer for the family and circles of the person who died, and for the communities of Edmonds UMC, the Edmonds Food Bank, and all those who seek hope in the most trying of times.

- Pastor Jeremy

For more resources for you or loved ones, visit wa988.org

Monday Musings with Pastor Jeremy

The Third Rail
Hello Edmonds community, as usual Monday Musings are leftovers from the sermon or thoughts on the week ahead.
Seth Godin is an author, business consultant, and brilliant marketer. In a recent blog in July, he wrote about the difference between boundaries and limits. Think of an electrified train track. The fence or yellow line by the track is the boundary, the line which you ought not cross. But the third rail? That's the limit - you touch that, you are toast. Limits kill, but boundaries are suggestions.
So many evangelical Christians grow up being told that to think differently than their pastor, or to explore authors and concepts not aligned with their faith of origin, were limits—if you do these things, you'll burn for eternity. Women are taught in high demand religions to not trust their intuition and that thinking and leading are only for men, and if they do not comply, their family's salvation is in jeopardy. Free thinking in both is called limits: you do them, you are done.
But for “exvangelicals” and folks who escape cult-like experiences, they may find that to think differently is actually not a limit, but a boundary placed by powers protecting their own authority. What they thought would do them harm actually does a world of good. What we once thought were eternal limits are actually boundaries to be evaluated.
I wonder how many mainline Christians also mistake boundaries for limits. United Methodists have good unyielding limits (such as “safe sanctuary rules” that mandate proper behavior around children and vulnerable adults), but we are more arbitrary around other boundaries. But saying we can't think that, or teach that, or use that room for that, or rent to that group, or drink coffee in the sanctuary—are not actually limits but boundaries.
Paul's letter to the Romans calls us to a "renewing of our minds" which I believe asks both exvangelicals and traditional-minded United Methodists to examine what they see as a limit rather than a boundary we can explore, push, and maybe even break for the sake of the Gospel. And what if we create better boundaries that improve our relationships, our discipline, and remove limits that block creativity? We will find out together.
Your turn: What is something you have begun to rethink in recent years about your faith? Let me know in the comments or send me an email.
Blessings and see you Sunday! ~Pastor Jeremy

This Sunday. Join us in our sermon series on "Credible Sources"

Adult Ministries: Anti-Racism Book Study

Dear Edmonds Community,
Monday musings are leftovers from the sermon on Sunday, or thoughts on the week ahead.

A few months back, I attended a church safety seminar that detailed the different types of medical interventions available to help people on church property. From first aid kits to heart defibrillators to Narcan drug overdose nasal spray, it was overwhelming the amount of training and equipment needed for all the possible scenarios.

One of the new-to-me items was a “stop the bleed” kit. The trainer said: "A 'stop the bleed' kit gives the ambulance time to arrive. It doesn’t fix the cause of bleeding. It doesn’t heal someone. It stops the bleed so that help can arrive."

Interesting. Some types of intervention don’t fix the problem. They stop the bleeding until something better can happen in the future.

In May 2024, the United Methodist Church had an intervention not unlike a "stop the bleed" kit. At the General Conference, our worldwide gathering to revise or rewrite our doctrine (not unlike the USA Congress that writes laws) finally removed the harmful language from our book of polity against LGBTQIA+ persons. After 52 long years, there no longer was that harmful language left in our polity.

But what was not done, in most cases, was that harmful language was not replaced with affirming language. Instead of removing "marriage is between a man and a woman" and replacing it with "we celebrate marriage for couples of all genders", it instead now says "marriage is between two adult persons of consenting age." I may be splitting hairs, but the result was a more neutral acknowledgement than the celebration I'd hoped for.

While I certainly think the conference could have voted for more affirming language, the goal was to stop the bleeding, set the polity back to neutral, and give the worldwide denomination a more blank canvas to build better beliefs next time. Sometimes you have to slow down and stop before you can go in a better direction.

I'm thankful for the ways medical interventions "stop the bleed" to save the lives of people, and how an ecclesial intervention stopped the UMC's bleeding to save the church from itself. And I'm thankful for you whenever you choose to make harm stop in your life even if you aren't sure of how to heal it yet.

Your turn: When have you "stopped the bleed" in your life by stopping the harm being done? What did it look like before you began to heal? Sound off in the comments or an email to me.

~ Pastor Jeremy

Join us tomorrow for this important discussion on Human Trafficking.

VBS Day 5! So much laughter and fun!

Correction - getting ready to set up the power exchange. Actual powering from solar panels later in the month. Stay tuned.

Howard Carr, EUMC member featured in Edmonds Beacon this week. Proud of you Howard.

Fit and active – at 80-plus - Edmonds Beacon Gloria Anderson has been playing pickleball at Harbor Square Athletic Club three times a week for the past 10 years. Anderson is 84. She recently played doubles with Howard Carr and Betty and …