God s beauty on the House of Prayer for All Nations

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1 God s beauty on the House of Prayer for All Nations APRIL 23, 2017 Tabor Heights will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. We will have a special service at 11 am remembering our Dedication Service on April 23, We are inviting those who were here then to return for the day which will include a potluck lunch following the service. The service will include lots of music including choral and instrumental and will celebrate the past 50 years of ministry to the people of Portland. Tabor Heights has always been in important meeting place for groups. We currently have a number 12 step groups, the YMCA Day care Program, garden groups and other groups sharing our facility. We also have a Micronesian congregation. Tabor Heights looks forward to another 50 years of service in the name of Jesus Christ. -Stan Clarke INSIDE: Monthly Highlight Celebrations in February Birthdays Anniversaries Upcoming Events Spring Clean-up Shrove Tuesday Visitation Workshop Peoples Journal Dennis Bridges Jean Vann John & Mia Go Vision Board New Members Budget 2017 Reviews Old Testament Class A Book & A Movie *Monthly Calendar can be found in the church website or in the office. Tabor Heights United Methodist Church has been creating a safe, secure and sacred space for ALL GOD S CHILDREN. It is now for us to join in looking forward to God s vision and desire for another 50 years through our worshipful gathering in Spring. Notes, Articles, and Updates to The Messenger: to church@taborheightschurch.org 6161 SE STARK ST. PORTLAND OREGON 97215

2 Monthly Highlight Joseph Inelus Is our first family member of the year 2017 It is a true joy for us to receive an individual who is willing to commit his life to the Body of Christ, the Church. Joseph, in his 30 s, is passionate of learning and growing in many ways to glorify God. He has recently joined the choir, singing bass with Gerry Eichelberg and Pastor John. Birthday: May 23rd Contacts: jorgeninelus@gmail. com Find more spontaneous pictures and events information on the church Facebook page: Tabor-Heights-United-Methodist- Church Joseph s fiancé, Camise Jean Baptiste in Haiti, now raises their one month old baby, Kiara Britney. He is hoping to see both his fiancé and his baby daughter in near the future. Welcome, Joseph! Photo Description: A new member of Tabor Heights family If you re considering joining Tabor Heights United Methodist, we invite you to an informational session where you can hear for the first time the values and beliefs of United Methodist Church and Tabor Heights Faith Community. You re welcome to have Coffee with Pastor John by contacting him with any membership questions you may have at or pastorjohngo@gmail.com

3 Wedding Anniversary Jim & Carolyn Douglass Feb. 19 Pastor John Go & Mia Park Feb. 24 February Birthdays: Al Bailey Feb. 4th Steve Sloan Feb. 6th Your Celebrations are important for us to recognize with our family in Christ: Please do not reluctant to let us know if yours is missing on the monthly edition of Messenger as sending a note to: church@taborheightschurch.org Jean Vann Feb. 11th Sadie Eisert Feb. 12 th Dona Larsen Feb. 18th Dennis Bridges Feb. 24

4 February 18, Saturday 10:00~12:00 Bring gardening tools, gloves, pruning saws/loppers, and anything else you might want to use as we work together to beautify our church grounds. TO DO LIST OUTSIDE Trim roses, shrubs and plants Pick up debris and leaves Cut branches and load them on a truck TO DO LIST INSIDE * Clean walls in Fellowship and Kitchen areas * Attention to Carpet stains, Spider webs, Windows, Dusty areas (*bring cleaning rags) * Sanitation of toys and furniture in Nursery Also, don t forget to join us for coffee and donuts at 9:30am! Questions? Tabor Heights Faith

5 COME JOIN WITH US! SHROVE TUESDAY THE DAY BEFORE ASH WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 28, P.M. TABOR HEIGHTS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 6161 SE STARK ST. PORTLAND OR Before the penitential season of Lent, related practices, such as indulging in food that one sacrifices for the upcoming forty days, are associated with Shrove Tuesday celebrations. Before commencing the fasting and making a special point of self-examination through upcoming Lent, join us for a fellowship dinner and b e prepared to have some fun and eat Louisiana fare. * Please bring something for our SNOWCAP barrel! FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: CHURCH@TABORHEIGHTSCHURCH.ORG /

6 Featured Speaker & Discussion leader Rev. Dean Yamamoto is a hospice chaplain with 14yrs of experience and has been a United Methodist ordained elder of Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference since He has lectured both locally and nationally on patients at end-oflife and those with dementia. Anne Kister has a background in speaking and education and has been with Providence Hospice since 2004 She spent many years providing support to people who were actively grieving the death of a loved one. In addition, she offered educational presentations on how to support a friend or loved one facing serious illness or loss. She currently serves as the Community & Clinical Education Coordinator. March 11(Sat) 2017, 10am-2pm Sponsored by CareTeam of Tabor Heights United Methodist Church This is a gift to each of you and your congregations during this season of Epiphany. Many of you are skilled in visiting but are ready to learn more for use in different situations. We d like to share new solutions for pitfalls you may have experienced. The workshop can provide comfort for those visiting and those being visited. Come and join with us in an inspirational workshop for your vital and lay-driven ministry of the faith community! Workshop registration fee ($10 per individual, $25 for the church group) will cover your lunch and hand-out materials. For the registration, please contact Joanne Dobrinski, our church office, visit our church website and click on the link to send us your contact information by February SE Stark St.

7 Dennis Bridges wash born at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago at 11:04pm on February 24th, He grew up in a quiet neighborhood just west of Midway airport. He was an honors student taking several college level classes in his senior year and ranking 26th in a class of 926 students. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Industrial Engineering worked at R.R. Donnelley and Sons, a large commercial printer, while obtaining a masters degree in Marketing from DePaul University. He attended many Chicago Bulls games and had Chicago Bears season tickets. He also enjoyed skiing and camping with the ski club at work and met his wife Linda on a ski trip with the Sanctuary Ski Club. They were married on March 17th, They already had a ski trip planned to Whistler, BC when he proposed so they planned their wedding and honeymoon around that trip. Allison was born three years later and Laura followed two years after that. Dennis and Linda continued attending Bears games and stubbornly taking Allisyn and Laura on week-long ski trips every year. The girls started in the Kid s Corral but each began skiing as soon as they were old enough. The Bridges family found Tabor Heights in 1994 after Dennis transferred to the Portland area for work reasons.

8 Jean Vann was born in Minneapolis, Minn. Brrrr! She came from a very close Swedish family. The first time she saw a brown eyed person, she was stunned. She thought everyone was blonde, blue eyed, and spoke Swedish. That was when she learned we are all different. Jean started school when she was only four years old. It was a little one room school. One day a little boy came to school with measles and everyone caught them, even the teacher. By the time Jean recovered they found out that the measles had caused her to lose the hearing in her left ear. When she was eleven years old her father was transferred to Portland. She met Lydge when she was only sixteen and he eighteen. Soon her family relocated to St. Louis. They lived very close to a school for Occupational Therapy which is what she always wanted to do. And she has worked at it for many years between Jean and Lyge had written and kept in touch while she was in St. Louis. When she finished school she came back to Portland. She and Lydge became engaged and went on to marry. They had four children and now have four grandchildren and five step grandchildren. Jean is a dear, kind lady who is always ready to help. Happy Birthday, Jean!

9 John and Mia met at a college in Young-In city in South Korea. I knew him as a colleague who was serving in the military, which is a mandatory for young Korean men. He visited the college campus I was attending in my sophomore year while he was on vacation from the service. We introduced ourselves to one another, but we didn t have any further conversations. We worked on a committee in our club known as the KCCC (Korean Campus Crusade for Christ) for one year after he returned to the school from his two years of military duty. However, I didn t think we would ever engage in a personal relationship because our personalities were so different. Nonetheless, John had different thoughts and asked me if we could start dating. I was absolutely stunned; however, we agreed to take a month to pray that God would direct us as we begin to date. After two weeks, I knew my feelings were drastically changing. Another week passed and I strongly and confidently knew he was the one for me. We started dating during the last semester of college while I was preparing for a job, John was preparing for graduate school. We married in 2001 while he was working towards his Master of Theology degree, and I was working as a social worker. As soon as John finished his degree, he prepared to study abroad in the United States. He left South Korea in July 2002 and started studying English as a second language and applying for graduate schools in WI; however, I was still in Korea hoping and praying he would quickly return home. Several months passed and I realized that my husband s ambition and passion was not what I could stop. I came to an unknown place with uncertain future. I experienced cultural shock

10 of the greatest degree, mostly compounded by the language barrier after moving to this unfamiliar country. Afterwards, we moved from Wisconsin to New Jersey when John was accepted into a seminary. He studied hard and worked three part-time- jobs and I contributed by working many part-time-jobs, too. Although he worked extremely hard and finished his degree he was not assigned to a church when he graduated from the seminary. He took off one year from studying and he worked as a youth pastor during weekends and began working for a dry cleaner in the area for 12 hours every weekday. During this time, he walked in the wildness discerning God s call; unfortunately, I began to experience postpartum depression as a brand-new mom. Afterwards, he started another level of graduate study, but after six months he was assigned two churches in the OR-ID conference. We drove all the way from NJ to ID with our 18-month old toddler and daughter, Grace. The time in ID was wonderful and as God gave us another beautiful gift Gloria. After five years of living in Idaho, John shared with me that he felt it was time for us to move on. We started another chapter in our lives as we moved to Portland and became a part of Tabor Heights. Moving is always harder for me than it is to John, but I always realized, All things work together for good for those who love God. (Rom 8:28) We will celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary soon, yet separately, for the first time; however, this experience makes us appreciate each other that much more. It has been a very exciting and wonderful time with him for the last 16 years and as we move together in the future, I know our marriage will provide us with many more memorable moments. - Mia Park, Jan

11 Vision Board Marilyn Reihs O n Saturday, January 21, the Vision Board of THUMC began the work of visioning for 2017 and thereafter. The team consists of 9 members of the congregation. The Vision Board came into existence one year ago under the leadership of Tom Lohkamp. The primary work of your Vision Board is to look toward the future and be visionaries. As Helen Keller was quoted to have said, The only thing worse than going blind is having sight but no vision. This is true in all aspects of our lives. Our church has a Vision statement as well as a Mission statement. In the business world and in personal development, it is common to promote goals. In Christian circles the usual way of describing a vision is setting one s mind and heart on a desired future outcome. Scripture tells us Without a vision the people will perish. Proverbs 29:18. Our mission statement, which we repeat together each Sunday, is To Express Christ s Love to ALL God s Children. Our Vision statement reads as follows: We are a community of people earnestly seeking relationship with God through the example and teachings of Jesus and the Bible. We seek to grow through innovative worship, disciplined study, participatory small groups, and outreach to the community. The Vision Board is committed to fulfill our missions according to our statement of Core Values. We are to seek to be a vibrant thriving church, to be a warm, loving, welcoming congregation that is diverse and multi-generational, to be a safe, sacred and secure space for worship, study and support, and a community where people are known and can express themselves, discuss and ponder and bring peace to all God s creation. Although the Vision Board works primarily to accomplish these missions, it also works on policy, funding, budgeting, pastor/parish relationships, building usage and maintenance, and understanding and complying with the Oregon/Idaho Conference and the United Methodists as a whole entity. You are welcome to speak with Tom Lohkamp, chairman, or any member of the Vision Board if you have thoughts or concerns about anything you might be questioning as you think about your own personal visions for our church. Scripture also tells us the following in Acts 2:17: Your young men will see visions, your old men dream dreams. Whether yours is a dream or a vision, you are a part of this family of God.

12 Newsletter for finance: Budget 2017 Revenues: Tot.$206,666 Pledged Non Pledged YMCA God's Grace Church Community Groups Income from assets Operating Fund (to make up difference) :$33,944 Expenses: Tot. $206,666 Roof loan pay down Shared Ministry(Apportionment) Utilities/Occupancy Office operations Payroll & tax expense Ministry expenses( & programs) Last years giving exceeded our forecast by $15,000. Our total expense was down by nearly the same amount. The 2017 pledges are higher than the last years. The expenses will be nearly the same as Thank you Tabor Heights it's great to have some positive reports from our finance. At the same time I want to remind you that several years ago a loan was taken out to re-roof the annex. That loan is secured by money in our building repair fund. Several have given to help retire this obligation, but there is still a way to go. The amount owed is 19,000. Each month we pay interest on the amount owed and the money backing it is not available for our use. *Monthly financial reports are available in the Church Office if you would like to see the details of our Revenues and Expenses

13 Classroom & Reviews From the Fireside Classroom "The Old Testament", truth or fiction, fact or myth, all or part? The Bible is the foundation document of Western thought. It is the basis for our laws and is intertwined in our daily lives, inspiring us to be champions of social justice and human dignity. It influences our literature, art, music, theater, film, and dance. It is read in synagogues, temples, and churches and cited in our courts of law. It is replete with genres ranging from myth and saga to law and proverb, containing dry political history and erotic love poetry, informed by a world view much different than our own. It is a compendium of a people's sacred story. Professor Amy-Jill Levine, Vanderbilt University Divinity School, has oriented her 24 lectures toward historical context and literary import and does not avoid raising issues of religious concern. She believes the goal of an academic course in biblical studies should not be to undermine religious faith, but to provide members of faith communities with richer insights into the literature that forms their bedrock. It should enhance rather than threaten faith; any consideration of the text as divinely inspired should include appreciation for the times, places, and peoples wherein and to whom the inspiration occurred. The academic approach should give believers, agnostics, atheists, and those whose religions fall outside the biblical purview all a deeper understanding of the text. All are invited to join the Fireside class on Sunday morning as we begin a new lecture series about the Old Testament. It is not a book by book, verse by verse offering, though we do begin with Genesis (assignment: read Chapter 1). Since some members have worship service commitments, we try to begin at 9:30. Come earlier if you want to grab a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy fellowship before the DVD lecture begins. Open discussion follows the lecture. We hope you catch our excitement! It isn't life threatening, but life enhancing. Movie Review: LaLa LAND As you all know we spent much of January snowed in, therefore I didn't get to the movie so this will be a little different. I am going to tell you about a movie I haven t seen but would like to. The movie is LALA Land. It stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. To prepare for the movie, Gosling quickly learned to play the piano. (I didn t know you could do that.) The movie resurrects the musicals of the past. Reviews say the music and dancing are fantastic. This is the story of Mia, an aspiring actress and Sebastian, a dedicated jazz musician trying to make ends meet while pursuing their dreams in a city known for destroying dreams and breaking hearts. With modern city Los Angeles as the backdrop, this musical about everyday life explores what is more important; once in a lifetime love or the experience of stardom. LALA LAND has received nine Oscar nominations. It is rated PG-13 and playing in theaters now. It sounds good to me. * Send your favorite movie review to Marilyn Reihs for the March Messenger. For your Calendar Feb. 28 Shrove Tuesday March 11 Visitation Workshop March 25 Planning Meeting April th Anniversary

14 Book Review: True Vine In 1899, Willie and George Muse were 6 and 9 years old working long hours in the Virginia tobacco fields. They were albinos, born to African-American parents and had pale watery eyes which did not tolerate the sun well. Their features were African-American, and skin and hair very white. They would get sunburned very easily. A showman from a small circus took them away and told them their mother was dead, a lie of course. They had many years as sideshow exhibits, billed sometimes as Sheep-headed cannibals from Ecuador, Wild Men of Borneo, or Ambassadors from Mars. They become quite accomplished musicians on Guitar and Banjo. They were not paid for their work. Over the years they were part of large circuses, including Barnum and Bailey and The Ringling Brothers. When the brother were in their thirties their mother found them when the circus came to Roanoke, Virginia, a daring and difficult task for a black woman in those days. She brought them home, where they stayed for a while, then returned to the circus, being paid for their work. The author, Beth Macy interviewed hundreds of people and did 25 years of research to write this book. Lots of American history about race relations and information on circuses and carnivals is given. It is an interesting book. BIBLE VERSE OF THE MONTH: Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5 HYMN OF THE MONTH You are my hiding place You always fill my heart With songs of deliverance Whenever I am afraid I will trust in You I will trust in You Let the weak say I am strong In the strength of the Lord You are my hiding place You always fill my heart With songs of deliverance Whenever I am afraid I will trust in You I will trust in You Let the weak say I am strong In the strength of the Lord Songwriters: MICHAEL JAMES LEDNER Contacts for Reviews s: mareihs@comcast.net, hairbender55@gmail.com Phones ,