Watsonville First United Methodist Church

Watsonville, CA

Join us for in-person worship this Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 10:00 am

You are invited to Graduation Sunday with Holy Communion on June 7, 2026 at 10 am. The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE.

You can worship live on ZOOM by clicking the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9658816441      Meeting ID: 965 881 6441

You can also watch Sunday services at your convenience by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click YouTube or Facebook. Each Sunday worship will be uploaded on Sunday afternoon for your viewing.

Graduation Sunday with Holy Communion
Sunday, June 7, 2026, 10 am

Children’s Time    “Adventures Are Waiting for You This Summer”    Pastor John

Acknowledgement of 2026 Graduating Students

College Graduates
Nicholas Michael Jones graduated from the University of Michigan Business School (Ross)

High School Graduates
Annie Edelmaier graduated from St. Francis High School
Jaslene Gonzales graduated from Sequoia High School

Elementary School Graduates
Leah Heredia promoted from Ann Soldo Elementary School
Adryan Fernandez Mendoza promoted from Mintie White Elementary School
Arianna Bernabe Gonzales promoted from MacQuiddy Elementary School
Nathan Contreras promoted from Ohlone Elementary School
Damian Alvarez Bernabe promoted from Sherwood Elementary School

Message        “A Message to Graduates in the Age of A.I.”        Rev. John Song

The artificial intelligence is advancing with astonishing speed and power. People naturally ask: ‘What will be left for human beings to do?

The rise of AI should not make us focus on what machines can do better than humans, but on the uniquely human qualities—emotion, creativity, relationships, meaning, and moral judgment—that remain irreplaceable by AI. The rise of AI should prompt people to think less about competing with machines and more about what makes human intelligence distinct that AI cannot replace.

“A machine can write a sad poem, but it cannot weep at a funeral.”
~ Fareed Zakaria from 2026 commencement address at Bard College

In his 2026 commencement address at Bard College in NY, journalist and author Fareed Zakaria argued that society is asking the wrong question about AI (artificial intelligence). The rise of AI should not make us focus on what machines can do better than humans, but on the uniquely human qualities—emotion, creativity, relationships, meaning, and moral judgment—that remain irreplaceable by AI. 

“The earth doesn’t have artificial intelligence.
It’s real and it has an uncorruptible wisdom.”
~ Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Lakota Indian

“The more human you become, the more divine you become.”
~ Teilhard de Chardin, 20th century French Jesuit priest, paleontologist, theologian, & philosopher

Genesis 1:27
“So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female God created them.”

Genesis 2:7
“Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground,
And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and the man became a living being.”

June 2026 Pastor’s Corner

I Would Like …

On the last Sunday of Eastertide, I shared with you my dream that has been a catalyst for my own resurrection of sort. Since then, there has been a noticeable and undeniable shift within me. It feels as though something I have been waiting for all my life is finally beginning to happen. So I wrote this “I Would Like…”

What would I like?

I would like to live a life of freedom and love, wisdom and aliveness,
like the sunflower, turning toward God who deeply nourishes my becoming.

I would like to be at the edge of my knowing and becoming,
present with joy and wonder, to the beauty of life’s emergence.

I would like to live without fear for myself or my loved ones,
extending to all beings, and without causing fear to any living being.

I would like to be very, very tender, and when it’s called for,
I would like to be fiercely powerful in the service of love, life, and the good.

I would like to engage with others with compassion
and with permission to allow what wants to emerge in me and in them.

I would like to engage in my work with a sense of purpose, gratitude, and possibility.

I would like to be a hub for love and life,
letting flows flow through, without needing to hold or grasp on to anything.

I would like to welcome and play with what arises in the moment,
in any situation.

I would like to live free as birds, to love, to be,
as an invitation to infinite things and possibilities.

What would you like? 

John

Join us for in-person worship this Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 10:00 am

You are invited to the Peace with Justice Sunday Service on May 31, 2026 at 10 am. The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE.

You can worship live on ZOOM by clicking the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9658816441      Meeting ID: 965 881 6441

You can also watch Sunday services at your convenience by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click YouTube or Facebook. Each Sunday worship will be uploaded on Sunday afternoon for your viewing.

Peace with Justice Sunday
Sunday, May 31, 2026, 10 am

Peace with Justice Sunday is celebrated on May 31, 2026. The day honors The United Methodist Church’s commitment to global reconciliation, calling congregations to engage in advocacy, peacemaking, and community actions that address the root causes of conflict and inequality. An offering is taken on this Special Sunday to support programs and ministries to educate, equip and mobilize actions in support of Economic justice, Health access, and Gender inclusion.

Children’s Time: “Peace Pilgrim Story” by Pastor John

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”
~ Matthew 5:9

Special Music: Let There Be Peace
Words by Kennedy; Music by Irish Melody; Arr. By C.D. Abenoja for SATB
Piano accompaniment collaboration with Marina Thomas

Message            “Social Justice Over Pelvic Theology”           Rev. John Song

Pope Leo XIV’s first landmark teaching document published on Memorial Day, June 25, titled “Magnifica Humanitas,” or “Magnificent Humanity” in the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.” But the subject has remained overshadowed by the absolute moral law regarding sins of the flesh.

Dedicating his first encyclical to social justice would show how much Leo, like his predecessor Pope Francis, is trying to shift Catholicism away from the near fixation on “pelvic theology,” or sexual morality, that has come to define Catholicism, especially in Leo’s home country, the United States.

The concern is that decades of focusing on “sins below the waist,” as Pope Francis memorably put it, has fueled the church’s culture war agenda and driven many people away from the central teachings of the Gospels. It has also left workers and the marginalized with a weakened moral voice against the structural economic injustice that perpetuate human suffering.

Leo was more explicit last month. When a reporter on the papal plane returning from a trip to Africa asked him about a controversy over the blessing of gay couples by priests, Leo said: “We tend to think that when the church is talking about morality, that the only issue of morality is sexual. And in reality, I believe there are much greater, more important issues, such as justice, equality, freedom of men and women, freedom of religion, that would all take priority before that particular issue.”

His response dismayed and even infuriated many social conservatives, both Catholics and Protestants. But Leo was not forging some new doctrine. On the contrary, he was articulating an older Christian tradition of placing justice above personal chastity.

Micah 6:6-8
What God Requires of You

“With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O mortal, what is good,
and What does the Lord require of you,
but to do justice,
and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

United Methodist Social Principles 2025: Jesus calls every generation to wholehearted discipleship: opening our hearts to the people we encounter daily; practicing compassion with our families and neighbors; honoring the dignity and worth of all people near and far; recognizing the systems that destroy human lives through poverty, war and exclusion; and advocating justice and care in our churches, communities and social structures. God calls us further to be stewards of creation, caring for the skies and waters, soil and plants, and all beings.

Join us for in-person worship this Sunday, May 24, 2026 at 10:00 am

You are invited to the Pentecost Sunday Service on May 24, 2026 at 10 am. The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE.

You can worship live on ZOOM by clicking the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9658816441      Meeting ID: 965 881 6441

You can also watch Sunday services at your convenience by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click YouTube or Facebook. Each Sunday worship will be uploaded on Sunday afternoon for your viewing.

Pentecost Sunday
Sunday, May 24, 2026, 10 am

Pentecost Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your
faithful. And kindle in
them the fire of your love.
Send forth your spirit and
they shall be created. And
you will renew the face of
the Earth.

Children’s Time                 “What Is Holy Spirit?”                     Pastor John

Special Music                    The Promise                        Jesse Martinez
by Tracy Chapman

Alive in the World
by Jackson Browne

Jesse Martinez is a teddy bear of a guy who gives of himself generously to the community. Jesse is a resident of Aromas, California and an active member of the Aromas Community Grange. He is also the Concert Coordinator for the Aromas Community Grange Hall and a member of the Aromas Grange Performer’s Circle. Jesse is a native Californian and was born in Gilroy, CA. He has been playing the acoustic guitar since 7th grade (about 125 years ago) and enjoys performing folk, Americana and soft rock covers for groups and special events in the Monterey Bay area. 

Message                  Spirit Means Conspire”                 Rev. John Song

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is an invigorating Being coursing through our veins. It is a vitalizing energy of God that renews us every day of our lives. And it conspires to make us more than we are now.

John 20:19-23
Jesus Appears to the Disciples following His Resurrection

“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

“When we commit, the universe conspires to help us.”
~ Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian writer