St.Olaf Choir comes to FUMC Pasadena

The St. Olaf Choir, with Anton Armstrong conducting, will perform in concert at FUMC Pasadena on Saturday, February 9th, 2013.

Tickets and more information on the web at St. Olaf Choir 2013 Tour.

ECPAC Weather Shelters

Everyone is invited to help at the Bad Weather Shelter on Tuesday, February 5. Please contact Diane Harris for more information and directions.  Phone (626) 355-4494 or email dmharris150625@gmail.com.

On Tuesday, January 15th, 21 Methodists from our church, and one each from Altadena and Sierra Madre UMC's, plus our District Superintendent joined together to assist the Ecumenical Council of Pasadena Area Congregations (ECPAC) at their Bad Weather Shelter.

First Church has a long standing relationship with ECPAC and provides volunteers at the shelter twice each year, the next date being February 5. Our volunteer service includes providing the food, cooking and serving the evening meal for between 150 and 200 persons, setting up cots and distributing bedding for the homeless, overnight, guests.

The Bad Weather Shelter operates out of the Pasadena Covenant Church gymnasium at 539 N. Lake Avenue, Pasadena. The shelter is open every night in January and February. It is also weather activated (40 degrees or below or 40% chance of rain) from the day after Thanksgiving until the end of December, and from the first of March until the 15th of March. At 7 pm families with children are admitted to the shelter, registered and fed a hot meal by volunteers. They are then transported to another local church where they spend the night. At 8 pm individual adult guests are admitted, registered, and fed. Guests leave the shelter by 7 am each morning.

We want to thank the following volunteers for donating their time and talent at the shelter on January 15th. Jessica Ardo, DS Cedrick Bridgeforth, Nathan Carter, Dr. Ebenezer Dasan, Theresa Dawes, Rev. Adiel DePano, Julian DePano, Jim Doyle, Diane and  JP Harris, Pam Harris (Altadena UMC), Wendy Kendall, Liz Mackey-Peterson (Sierra Madre UMC), Michael Moore, Fred Niemann, Adán and Marian Peña, Karl Peron, Gerry Poulin, Cynthia Quan, Sara Seyedali, Patricia and Steve Zeider and Ann Zeiss.

Breakfast and Bible Stories

First Church begins a Family Worship Experience on Sunday mornings.

We invite you and your family to join us at 8:55 am on Sunday mornings, in the chapel, for breakfast and family worship.

Each Sunday, we will offer a healthy breakfast for parents and children followed by a casual worship service led by our children.  After worship, children join their Sunday School teachers for class time followed by music at 10 am.

We invite you to join us!

FUMC Pasadena presents an intimate reading of 8

First United Methodist Church of Pasadena to Produce Landmark Marriage Equality Play by Academy Award-Winning Screenwriter of Milk & J. Edgar

Pasadena, CA – The Drama Committee and Reconciling Committee of First United Methodist Church Pasadena, with license from the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and Broadway Impact, are proud to announce an intimate reading of “8,” a play chronicling the historic trial in the federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8.  Written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter and AFER Founding Board Member Dustin Lance Black, “8” had its much-heralded Broadway world premiere in September 2011 and its star-studded Los Angeles premiere in March 2012.

The production is an unprecedented account of the Federal District Court trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Hollingsworth v. Perry), the case filed by AFER to overturn Proposition 8, which stripped gay and lesbian Californians of the fundamental freedom to marry.

What: A staged reading of “8,” the landmark marriage equality play by Academy Award-winner Dustin Lance Black.

Who: First United Methodist Church of Pasadena, jointly sponsored by the Drama Committee and Reconciling Committee

When: 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 15 & Saturday, March 16 

Where: FUMC Pasadena, 500 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101 in Fellowship Hall

Cost: Free

FUMC Pasadena Info:  Our cast and crew all have dedicated themselves to giving a performance that you won’t soon forget.  Mark your calendars and get to FUMC on March 15 or 16!  This is a free event, but a free-will offering will be taken with half of the proceeds to go to AFER.  The reading will be followed by a short talk-back session.  Contact the Church Office for more information: 626.796.0157

Cal-Pac Bishop Carcaño to represent UMC Church POTUS address

This message originated from the UMC Cal-Pac office yesterday.  FUMC Pasadena sends it's prayers and well wishes to Bishop Carcaño on this mission of hope.
 

January 28, 2013 Special Update
The White House, upon recommendation of the U.M. General Board of Church and Society, has invited Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño to represent the United Methodist Church at a public address by President Barack Obama tomorrow, Tuesday January 29, in Las Vegas. The President will speak to the proposal reported below. The invitation came in light of the current administration’s recognition of the strong, positive voice that the U.M.C. has brought to the issue of immigration and needed reform. When more news becomes available, it will be posted here and to the Cal-Pac Conference website.
 
United Methodist bishops, social-justice agency welcome step forward on immigration reform
Caution, though, more changes needed to achieve just, workable system

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The General Board of Church & Society of The United Methodist Church welcomes the Bipartisan Framework for Comprehensive Immigration Reform presented by eight U.S. Senators Monday, January 28. This framework offers necessary steps towards policy solutions, particularly regarding a pathway to full citizenship for all undocumented immigrants and the strengthening of the family immigration system, both of which are crucial aspects of any legislation that is both effective and humane.

The framework is being put forward by Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Richard Durbin, D-Ill.; Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

The framework’s principles offer necessary steps towards immigration policy solutions that are just and humane, according to Bishop Minerva Carcaño, episcopal leader of the Los Angeles Area (California-Pacific Conference) and chair of the United Methodist Interagency Taskforce on Immigration. “A pathway to full citizenship for all undocumented immigrants and policies that will allow the reunification of immigrant families are crucial aspects of any legislation that strives to be effective and humane,” she emphasized.

Carcaño said the steps being recommended in the framework help the United States move toward immigration reform, but she cautioned that there is much more work to be done. “One specific area of concern is making a pathway to full citizenship contingent on even stronger and potentially harsher border enforcement,” the bishop said. “We will continue to monitor the plan for implementing these principles for immigration reform. I do, however, applaud our senators for their hard work and look forward to working closely with them in moving these principles toward effective, just and humane legislation.”

The framework contains essential elements such as a pathway to citizenship for young immigrants called "DREAMers" and agricultural workers. It would also reduce waiting times for separated families to be reunited thereby strengthening the family immigration system and would protect the rights of workers with strong labor protections.

Rectify enforcement-first proposals

Unfortunately, the framework also makes the pathway to citizenship for many undocumented immigrants contingent on more onerous border enforcement, some of which could take years or even decades to achieve. "The enforcement-first proposals must be rectified before these proposals can be effective legislation," stressed Bishop Robert Hoshibata, episcopal leader of the Phoenix Area (Desert Southwest Conference) and president of the General Board of Church & Society.
 
Hoshibata pointed out that The United Methodist Church has led in the grassroots mobilization of the faith community across the United States, organizing hundreds of public witness events in support of just, humane immigration reform. “United Methodists are calling for humane and common-sense solutions because they see firsthand how our immigration system tears families apart, exploits workers, and keeps entire communities terrorized under our current enforcement policies,” he emphasized.

The United Methodist Church believes “at the center of Christian faithfulness to Scripture is the call we have been given to love and welcome the sojourner … to refuse to welcome migrants to this country and to stand by in silence while families are separated, individual freedoms are ignored, and the migrant community in the United States is demonized … is complicity to sin” (Welcoming the Migrant to the U.S., 2012 Book of Resolutions).

Moral courage needed by Congress 
Just as United Methodists have led in the struggle to defend and support the rights of immigrants, they are organized and ready to work closely with Congress and President Obama to see the principles in this framework that are just and effective enacted into legislation, according to Jim Winkler, chief executive of the General Board of Church & Society.

We need Congress to show the moral courage necessary to enact immigration reform,” Winkler said. “The framework has created a first step towards just, workable reform, and with some changes, can improve the lives of our immigrant brothers and sisters.

Winkler said immigration reform must be both moral and practical. 

It will secure both the future of the United States and the rights of immigrants and their families,” he said. “We applaud the leadership by the Senators and we urge all members of Congress to work towards enactment of just reform as soon as possible.

The General Board of Church & Society is one of four international general program boards of The United Methodist Church. Prime responsibility of the board is to seek implementation of the Social Principles and other policy statements on Christian social concerns of the General Conference, the denomination’s highest policy-making body. The board’s primary areas of ministry are Advocacy, Education & Leadership Formation, United Nations & International Affairs, and resourcing these areas for the denomination. It has offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and at the Church Center for the United Nations in New York City.

Related Social Principles
162 III. The Social Community 
163 IV. The Economic Community

More Info on the United Methodist Church California Pacific Conference at their website.

January Messenger is here!

The January Messenger is here! 

Just in time for all your mid winter reading.

In the January issue, you will find...

• Enough Light for the Next Step
• Greetings from the Holy Land
• Small Group Meet-Ups in 2013
• Pasadena Methodist Foundation
• Help to Find Focus in the New Year
• News on the Youth Cabaret
• Valentines from the Library
• And a special upcoming Jazz Concert.
• And lots more! 

For now, you can only download the January Messenger directly,  or you can view and down load it from our NEW church website.

Casting Call For Staged Reading of Eight, the Play

The Drama and Reconciling Committees are jointly sponsoring this year's spring drama production - a staged reading of Eight, the play, about the trial of California's Proposition 8.  The performances will be Friday and Saturday evenings, March 15-16.  No memorization is necessary.

Rehearsals are set to begin on Saturday mornings starting January 26th at First Church.  We need a fairly large cast of at least 13, but as many as 21, so please tell family and friends and join us.  If you haven't tried one of our drama productions before, they are comfortable, supportive theater adventures for the actors. 

Questions, please contact Maggie in the church office by phone at 626.796.0157, or by email at office@fumcpasadena.org.  Or, you may contact Pam Marx, FUMC Arts Committee, at pamelamarx@sbcglobal.net for more details.

Jazz and Swing Youth Cabaret in February

Get out your poodle skirts and saddle shoes because this year’s Youth Cabaret is

 

Join the Youth of
Sounds of the Risen Son Choir &
Messiah’s Harmonies Bell Choir
at First United Methodist Church Pasadena

Friday, February 1st
&
Saturday, February 2nd

Appetizers & Silent Auction at 6:00pm
Dinner & Show at 7:00pm

Tickets on-sale after worship or in the Church Office.

Individual - $20, Children $10           
Big Band Donor - $500+
Boogie Woogie Donor -  $200
Jitterbug Donor - $100

Donations for Silent Auction & Ads for Program also being accepted!

See Lydia In or Rev. Allison Mark for more details.

FUMC Pasadena Book Club to meet Sundays

Turn-A-Page book group to beging 2013 meetings on Sunday, January 13 at 11:30am. 

 

At the meeting we will be discussing Viktor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning.  Written in 1946, psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. 

Between 1942 and 1945, Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of those he treated in his practice as a psychotherapist, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and more forward with renewed purpose.

We welcome all newcomers to join with us after worship on January 13, in the church lounge, for light lunch and conversation.

All are welcome to join in on the conversation.

Sunday morning Adult Bible Study

SpiritSeekers Adult Sunday School, invites you to study with them on Sunday mornings beginning at  8:55 AM, in the Church Lounge at FUMC Pasadena.

Beginning Sunday, January 6th, SpiritSeekers begins Philip Yancey’s 8-week study, The Bible Jesus Read, facilitated by Paula Hui.

Jesus didn’t have Paul’s epistles or the Gospels when he meditated on God’s word.  As a Jew, he studied the Hebrew Bible.  Yancey, editor-at-large for the magazine Christianity Today, observes in this study that the Hebrew Bible “portrays the world as it is, no holds barred.  In its pages you will find passionate stories of love and hate, blood-chilling stories of rape and dismemberment, matter-of-fact accounts of trafficking in slaves, honest tales of the high honor and cruel treachery of war.  Nothing is neat and orderly. . . .”  But he also detects in these stories of God’s people a “gradual but certain movement toward grace.”  Yancey offers samplings from Job, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Ecclesiastes and the Prophets  -- not because he expects them to reveal the secrets of life, but as companions on his own pilgrimage.

Join SpiritSeekers on Sunday mornings to track this journey.  Participant’s Guide available in class or at the church office for $9.00; also available in other formats, including ebook and on the Kindle.

SpiritSeekers will interrupt the Yancey series mid-February to join FUMC’s church-wide Lenten Study.  Watch for details.

Sign up for these classes after Sunday service or anytime through the Church Office, or drop in at the church on the day of the class.

Adult Ministries invite you to consider the gift of a spiritually-centered study in your life. It is in settings of close connection with others on a faith journey that we deepen our relationship with God and strengthen connections with one another as the church, the body of Christ. We encourage everyone to consider one or more of these short or long-term commitments, whether as a new visitor, or a new or long-time member.

Confidential scholarship assistance is available to assist with study material fees. See Rev. Adiel DePano or your course leader. Childcare is provided on Sunday morning and for weeknight classes when needed. Please indicate when signing up.


Questions?  contact the church office by calling 626.796.0157 or by email at office@fumcpasadena.org

Invitation to John - Study Group

Join us at First United Methodist Church of Pasadena on Monday Nights beginning January 28th at 7:00PM.  Led by Kevin Lussier, this study group runs through April.

Each of the four Gospels has its own unique interpretation of the life, ministry and meaning of Jesus, but the Gospel of John truly stands apart. 

The last of the Gospels to be written, John, contains many stories and discourses of Jesus not found in the others.  Indeed, John posits a Christology not found expressly in any of the other Gospels:  Jesus is the enfleshed Word of God that existed before the creation of the world that was sent by God to dwell among man in order to reveal God and the way to eternal life. 

This short-term study is an in-depth examination of the often subtle and always deep meaning in this challenging and rewarding Gospel.  Participants will closely read the Gospel, learn its historical context, compare its viewpoint to that of the other three Gospels, and discuss its meaning to them, the church, and our world. 

Materials approximately $11.

Sign up for these classes after Sunday service or anytime through the Church Office, or drop in at the church on the day of the class.

Adult Ministries invite you to consider the gift of a spiritually-centered study in your life. It is in settings of close connection with others on a faith journey that we deepen our relationship with God and strengthen connections with one another as the church, the body of Christ. We encourage everyone to consider one or more of these short or long-term commitments, whether as a new visitor, or a new or long-time member.

Confidential scholarship assistance is available to assist with study material fees. See Rev. Adiel DePano or your course leader. Childcare is provided on Sunday morning and for weeknight classes when needed. Please indicate when signing up.