November 25 INSIDE: Dedication Ceremony of Prayer Walk Labyrinth Worship Team Paul s UMC Veteran s Day.

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1 November 2018 November 1 November 4 November 5 November 11 November 17 November 18 November 22 November 25 All Saints Day Dedication Ceremony of Prayer Walk Labyrinth Worship Team Meeting Staff Meeting Charge Meeting, Paul s UMC Veteran s Day Serving Day, 10 am Pledge Sunday & Harvest Dinner Thanksgiving Day UM Student Day INSIDE: Monthly Highlights Pgs. 2 What s Happening Pg. 3 Joyful Moments Pg. 4 People Profile The Coffields Pg. 5 From the Vision Board Pg. 6 *************Weekly Events************** Walking Group 9:30am Men s Coffee 10:00 am For details, contact the church office Mon-Thurs 9am to 2pm by phone or From The Lay Leader Pgs. 7 Pastor s Note Calendar Pg. 8 Pg. 9 Notes, Articles, and Updates to The Messenger: to church@taborheightschurch.org 6161 SE STARK ST. PORTLAND OREGON

2 God s Grace Church Mission: Chuuk 2018 Hello, all! It s Cassi. I thought I could share a little bit of my experience during our mission trip to Chuuk in October. First off, let me just share that Chuuk is home to almost 99% of our congregation. And so, many of us were hoping to see family during this trip. However, what you have planned for yourself and what God had already planned out for you can be two very different things. During the 10 days that we were in Chuuk, our days were very busy. We would start each day at 430 am with fellowship, then we would have breakfast together and then talk about what was scheduled for the day. We visited the hospital and 2 jailhouses, did services at 4 churches in which two of them we had to ride motor boats to get to, prayed over the legislature so that God would be their guiding light, brought comfort and encouragement at a funeral, and shared in fellowship with about 5 families around the main island. The magnificent impact of knowing and having Jesus in our hearts really made a difference in our mission trip. Because we consider ourselves to be strong in faith, everything we did on this mission trip we did to and for God. Everywhere we went, we went with praise and singing from our hearts. It was such an uplifting work. I pretty much felt that God had sent us there to remind the people that He can do anything! We rejuvenated hearts and revived spirits, and we did so because God was with us. We only got to spend half a day with our families but no complaints here. As we headed back home, we realized that this trip was not for us but for God. At the same time, we also knew that the trip had not only strengthened the people we went to see, but also strengthened us! Glory be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!! I hope to share more pictures soon! 2

3 All Saints Sunday, November 4th Our worship service will remember those who have gone before us in faith. We will also dedicate our Labyrinth and extended Rose Garden. Join us as we will have holy communion on this day as well. Worship Team Meeting, November 7pm Members, please be present to discuss future worship service details. Charge Conference, November 11th, 2-5pm This conference will take place at St. Paul s UMC located in Milwaukie, OR. The Columbia District Missional Strategy Team will lead this new format of gathering designed for congregations in the same geographic area to work together. November 11th is Veteran s Day We salute all Soldiers, past and present! May God s protection and grace be upon all those currently serving! Pledge Sunday and Harvest Dinner November 18th Pledge brochures are available to pick up at the bulletin board counter or in the office during office hours. The Harvest Dinner will be following the worship service and we will have presentations from all our church missions. Please come and join us! Thanksgiving Day falls on the 22nd of November. May God bless you and yours and keep you safe and warm as you give thanks for his bounty in your life. May He continue to guide us and provide for us and may we be his hands and feet here in this world. Amen! UM Student Day, November 25th What one person cannot do, we can do together! When you give on UM Student Day, you provide an education for those who cannot afford to. You provide a way for someone else to also serve the world that God loves! 3

4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again rejoice! Philippians 4:4 Your Celebrations are important for us to recognize with our family in Christ: Please do not be reluctant to let us know if yours is missing on the monthly edition of Messenger by sending a note to: church@taborheightschurch.org Wedding Anniversaries Larry & Pat Regan, 8 Birthdays in November Sarah Morrell, 11 Jeff Carpenter, 25 Lorraine Eiland, 25 Sam Buchanan, 28 Delmer Eisert, 30 4

5 The Coffields: Brian, Jolene, and Jack Brian and Jolene have been married three years and have a precious one year old named Jack. Jack is so blonde and blue-eyed that cannot miss him in church. Jolene comes from a small town east of Seattle. She used to teach first aid and CPR. She also has a business as a seamstress (Yay!). She also makes heirloom teddy bears. Brian is a machinist and makes rollers for conveyor belts. Brian is originally from Wyoming. None of their families are around here. In their spare time they like to be outdoors, they really love to go camping and fishing. They fit right in to our Oregon pleasures. 5

6 Your Vision Board Update By: Jim Buchanan Our latest Board meeting was 10/27/18, and gratefully, that included the return of Tom Lohkamp, Board Chair, from recent surgery so we tried to be easy on him. He's looking forward to more personal freedom as he is allowed to his own driving next week. Some actions underway include trailer removal from north parking lot, review of current security process, Harvest Festival dinner, and Christmas Advent preparations. This time of year, we are highly engaged in looking at our year end activities and expenses as we plan for Two of our current Board members, Gerry and Pete, will conclude their commitment this year but names have already been nominated for additions and we will know soon who will be joining us. Our current Board members are listed at the end of this update and will be standing in at the next few Service Sundays so you can more easily seek them out for comments and suggestions. The Board's next meeting will be Sunday, the 11th of November. Most certainly we can expect one more before the end of the year. The focus will be on the 2019 Calendar and Budget and strongest desires on how THUMC can move forward. We live in changing times and understand we need to project how we should do and be better. The Board spends effort not only looking at the short term, basically within the year, but also at where we are going and how to efficiently get there. As one of our members said, it's a guessing game, but lets be sure to put our best guesses out front. Our intent is to share openly and frequently with you, our congregation members, so you can help us help all. We want to stick to the desires of being a 'mission-oriented' church and we give thanks for what's been done, while attempting more or different ways. Let's point out our wonderful UM Women s Group, who do so much through the year but maintain their humility. We can celebrate those essential and delightful programs and the effort put into them. Generally, we desire to communicate more to you and so we have planned to update you at least once a month on the Board's actions and direction Board Members: Arthur, Charlene, Christine, Gerry, Jim, Pastor John, Lou Anne, Leah, Pete and Chair Tom. Tabor Heights United Methodist Church 6161 SE Stark St. Portland OR

7 FROM YOUR LAY LEADER Joanne Dobrinski Greetings all. It is time again for our Annual Charge Conference. This is where we celebrate the past year and look forward to the year ahead. This year we are invited to be part of a new type of gathering called Action Assemblies where we gather in clusters of churches grouped together based on their geographical area in our Columbia District. There are three Assemblies in our district. Tabor Heights is one of twelve churches in the South Cluster, and we will gather on November 11 from 2pm to 5pm at St. Paul s UMC, SE Linwood Avenue, Milwaukie, OR. There will be a roll call, worship, conversation, storytelling, business including the work of the fall charge conference to elect new Vision Board members and Lay Leadership as well as accepting the pastor s salary package, and a call to action. Once again, I am encouraging you to come along with me and the Vision Board members as lay people in our congregation to represent Tabor Heights. As our District Lay Leader, Lydia Henry, says: Imagine how powerful the Spirit of God will feel in a room filled with people joined in prayer and focused on connecting with others to celebrate ministry in our district. Each one of us is invited to be there. Let Pastor John or me know that you will join us that day. 7

8 From the Pastor If your plan is for 1 year, plant rice; If your plan is for 10 years, plant trees; If your plan is for 100 years, educate children. This is said by Confucius. In the 21st century, we the Church are demanded to do revolutionary works for the world. We need to attempt for new answers for the new questions for our human society. It is not about keeping our own traditions, ego, and good old days in a sense of Revival as we diminish and ignore the differences of who we are as children of God. We are from all different cultures, races, classes, genders and social status. Revival is not about changing one form to the other to survive, maintain, or even grow in battling against one another for the sake of the institution. It is not from patriarchal to feministic or from hierarchical to democracy or from bureaucracy to grassroot movement. This wouldn t save the systematic issues of the institution. Rather, it is about the life; how to create a revolutionary answer for the authentic and sincere question of one s life.; how to accept, how to forgive, how to love, how to be graceful, and how to be thankful for the life of each person God has created. So, how do we talk together, walk together, embrace together, work together, and live together, not for the fundamental belief or for the sake of the institution, but for the life God has given to us. Revival may give us an over-night result for its numeric growth and indescribable excitements. Reformation may give us a good and solid purpose for why we have to work hard to change its system, policy and institutional status quo, and it takes some years to see the result. However, Reformation may take all your energy, passion and is even a life-long journey. How many of you know how long it takes for a bamboo tree to make its first shoot from the ground? It takes 5 years! There are some trees that grow fast, but the most valuable trees are slow growing. Wouldn t the church and her ministry be like a bamboo tree? Therefore, let us listen to Apostle Paul s encouragement to the churches in Rome, We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And I pray that Tabor Heights continues her Revival journey to endure challenges in perseverance, to create Godly character among us, and to be the hope for the world which is polarized, divided, and full of hatred. And let us remember we are called to the salt and light of the world in our midst and I truly believe that there we will find Revival for us, the church as well as the community! 8

9 NOVEMBER2018 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY All Sants Day WEEK Men s Coffee Sunday School 930am Walking group 9am Staff Meeting 11am Men s Coffee NEED WEEK All Saints Day Sunday Holy Communion Worship 11am Book Study 1pm Sunday School 9:30am Walking group 9am Men s coffee NEED WEEK Worship 11am Charge Conference St. Paul s UMC Veteran s Day Book Study 1pm Serving Day Sunday School 9:30am Walking group 9am Thanksgiving Day Mens coffee NEED WEEK Pledge Sunday Worship 11am Harvest Dinner 1pm Book Study 1pm Game Night & Potluck 6pm Sunday School 9:30am Walking group 9am Men s Coffee WEEK UM Student Day Worship 11 am Book Study 1pm 9

10 Praise and Prayers: Personal Reflections 10