Watsonville First United Methodist Church Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida de Watsonville

Watsonville, CA

Thank God it’s Resurrection Time

“When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’” Mark 16:1-3

The question on the mind of the women that first Easter morning was, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”   As one preacher puts it, it’s one thing to get up.  It’s another thing to get out. 

The problem was—they were scared.   

And they’re not the only ones.  Often, we’re scared of life!  There’re plenty of reasons to be afraid in the world, especially these days.  Are we beating COVID yet?  Will enough people get the vaccine?  Are we—and our neighbors—doing what we need to do to stay safe?  Believers like us—who play it safe—still want to leave at least some of our fears behind.  We don’t want to be ruled day in and day out by our insecurities and apprehensions.  We seek inner peace, and we yearn to experience the joy of Easter every day, even in a pandemic; especially in a pandemic.  The only question is how to accomplish it.

Back in the ‘80s, when I was a brand new lawyer representing my client at court for the first time, I was very inexperienced and everybody knew it.  Sure, I’d prepared my case, but then we resolved it, and opposing counsel asked me to prepare the settlement documents, right there and then, in my own handwriting!  I had to sneak out of the room and ask an older, kindly attorney what to do.  It was embarrassing.  It took me years to get over my stage fright in front of a judge.  Why?  I knew all too well what I didn’t know, and I felt like a fraud. 

Some of us live our lives as if we’re scared of life.  We lose our authentic, good selves.  We go where we shouldn’t go, and do what we shouldn’t do, and we’re not prepared for the consequences.  We know we need God in our lives to help us find our way, but we don’t know how to start on the right path.  Can anybody relate here?! 

Which is where our website comes in.  In this issue of the Circuit Rider newsletter we’re pleased to offer you a preview of our newly designed church website.  It’s what they call a soft (i.e. still being developed,) opening designed to coincide with Holy Week and Easter Sunday.  We’ve worked over the past several months to streamline and update our website photos, text and usability.  We were gifted with the guidance of Heather Olah of DesignOlah.  She helped us to discern how best to tell the world who we are as a congregation.  Check it out here! 

Like the women at the tomb, we know it’s one thing to get up.  It’s another thing to get out.     

Currently, our church is not officially open to the public, although we’re in the process of getting ready to do so on a limited basis.  As you might guess, our highest concern is the safety of everyone who walks in our doors.  But in the meantime, we are doing the work of the church and focusing on where God is calling us.  We not only want to get up, we want to get out!

Like the women at the tomb, we pray we not only get up, but get out!  See you there.    

In Jesus’ name,

Pastora Robin

It’s Time for Baptism, Confirmation and Membership

“Then [Jesus] told them a story: “A man had an apple tree planted in his front yard. He came to it expecting to find apples, but there weren’t any. He said to his gardener, ‘What’s going on here? For three years now I’ve come to this tree expecting apples and not one apple have I found. Chop it down! Why waste good ground with it any longer?’

“The gardener said, ‘Let’s give it another year. I’ll dig around it and fertilize, and maybe it will produce next year; if it doesn’t, then chop it down.”                                                                      Luke 13:6-9, The Message

Sometimes young people, like older folks, think there are easy answers in life.  They imagine that all we have to do is to be in the right place at the right time, and we’ll win the lottery and strike it rich, or pick our mate out of the air like magic, or successfully and effortlessly navigate a career, have 2.5 perfect children, enjoy the biggest house, drive the fanciest car, etcetera, etcetera.  You get the idea. 

I hate to burst your bubble, but that’s not how life works.  

Jesus knew that, and so do we.  Which is where our Scripture comes in.  Personally, I hope I’m never a tree that gets chopped down.  Maybe some of you can relate.  Which brings us to Lent.   

I don’t know how you feel about it, but I think it’s great that we’re in this time of Lent, the 40 days (less Sundays) before Easter.  Since ancient times, Lent has been an extended time of introspection for Christian people, and an excellent opportunity to consider what God has in store for us and our church.  Such opportunities might seem kind of scary, given the impact of the coronavirus and all, but this Lent as we prepare for Easter, I hope we consider how we might grow together and be renewed in the faith.

And how do we do that?  Through Baptism, confirmation and membership.  It’s time.    

Baptism, that sacred, meaningful sacrament of our faith symbolized by water, is the first step on the road to discipleship.  Baptism is a sign of new birth, the door through which one enters the church.  To become a Christian is to receive a new identity in Christ.  Baptism marks our becoming that new person.  It’s what Jesus did, and we do too!  Is anyone in your family not baptized yet?  We can help with that.  In the Methodist Church, folks of all ages—infants to seniors—may be baptized.  

We’re also offering our first online “Confirmation Crash Course 2021,” which will be held via Zoom on the Sunday afternoons of March.  All ages are welcome.  Learn more about our church and meet some of the people involved. 

And membership?  That’s when we say to God, “I’m all in!” 

Are you all in?

Online Gathering featuring Documentary Film “P.A.N.D.A. No, Not the Bear”

For 2nd Lent we’re hosting documentary film producers and Cinematic Arts & Technology Dept. graduates of Cal. State Univ. Monterey Bay, Nathan Morris and our own Antonio Pantaleón, who collaborated to produce “P.A.N.D.A.S. No, Not the Bear.” Nathan will talk to us about his faith and how it sustains him, and we’ll watch their film together on our YouTube and Facebook pages Feb. 28, 2021 premiering at 10:00 am, and available anytime thereafter. See you there!

Working on final media projects in the “Cave” at the library (left to right)) Eros G. Molina, third year junior, Cinema Arts & Technology Major; Nathan Morris, third year junior [at the time,] Cinema Arts & Technology Major; Jerardo Herrera, fourth year senior, Cinema Arts & Technology Major. Photo by Yollette Merritt.

Ash & Dash

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1

Missing in-person worship?  Missing us?  Missing Communion together in the same room, and now Ash Wednesday?  We’ve got you covered!  We are working out the details to offer you “Ash and Dash” – a COVID safe, drive through option for our church members, friends and neighbors who love Ash Wednesday like we do, and want to start out Lent with a bang.  Wear a mask and stay in your car, and we’ll do the rest, with genuine ashes burned from last year’s palms, and a Lenten take away bag to begin your Lenten journey. 

We miss you too, and let’s do something positive about it!

Here’s why.  What Barbara Streisand sang is true, that, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world….”  Children instinctively know it, and we should remember it, too.  We need each other, and how.  Even in a pandemic; especially in a pandemic.  That’s what relationships are all about!  As Jesus says, “Children are at the very center of life in the kingdom.”  (Mark 10:15)  Oh, to have the perspective of a kid again.  We could learn a lot.     

In answer to the question, “When was our nation founded?”  One little boy wrote: “I didn’t even know it was losted!”  (James W. Moore)  Asked to describe the famous painting of Whistler’s mother, one student explained: “It shows a nice little lady sitting in a chair, waiting for the repairman to bring back her TV set!”  And then how about these interesting answers: “A horse divided against itself can’t stand”!  Or this one: “The death of Thomas Jefferson was a big turning point in his life!”

But here is my favorite: A little girl was asked to define the word “People,” and this is what she wrote: “People are composed of girls and boys and men and women.  Girls are nice.  Boys are no good until they are grown up and married.  My mother is a woman, which is a grown-up girl with children.  My father is so nice that I think he must have been a girl when he was a boy!”

Can I get an amen?!

People need people.  I need you and we need each other, at least, that’s one of the many reasons I belong to this church.  How appropriate that Ash Wednesday this February 17 marks the first step in our 40 day (plus Sundays) spiritual walk to Easter.  The question is, where do we find hope?  It’s all about strong, healthy relationships, beginning with Jesus of course, and on from there.  Believers like us know that being a Christian is a group effort. 

The forty plus days called Lent have changed over the centuries.  Traditionally, the experts tell us that Lent began as a time of purification and preparation.  Most people figure it’s a time to give something up and feel miserable, but we United Methodists don’t approach it quite that way.  Surprisingly, the word “Lent” originally meant “springtime,” and if you think about it, that implies a whole heap of possibilities: new perspectives, opportunities for growth, even change.  All good!

The only question is how to get there!  Won’t you join us in the journey? 

Shalom,

Pastora Robin

UMC Clergy Statement of Solidarity January 6, 2021

We, as United Methodist Clergy in the Central Coast area of California, stand in solidarity against today’s violence at our nation’s capital, and hereby reaffirm the statement of Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe, General Secretary of the General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church:

Today is when the Congress of the United States certifies the votes of the people. This duty fulfills Congress’s constitutional role in the democratic process.

The peaceful transition of power is a pillar of representative democracy.

Even as we affirm the right to peaceful assembly, nothing must disrupt this democratic process.

We condemn the rhetoric from leaders inciting violence and division. We call on all to work for justice and the common good of the country and our democracy.

We continue to pray for the healing of our nation. Join [us] in praying these words from the Prayer in a Time of National Crisis (from the United Methodist Book of Worship, # 517):

May leaders be led by your wisdom;
May they search your will and see it clearly
If we have turned from your way,
Reverse our ways and help us to repent.
Give us your light and your truth, let them guide us;
Through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of this world, and our Savior.
Amen.

We also reaffirm the message of Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño of the California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, who professed:

On this Day of Epiphany, Christians remember that the Magi guided by a divine light visited the Christ Child bearing gifts and their souls.

Let us pray for the divine light of Christ to manifest the fullness of his righteousness in this our moment of darkness.

The protests against the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that have escalated to violence at the US and at the California state capitals are truly an expression of darkness based on deception and fear-mongering.

As people committed to a civil society and a democratic process of governance, this is not the way to express differences of opinion. It certainly is not the way to be as people of faith.

Let us pray for our broken society and recommit to being followers of Christ who is the Light of the World.

Gabriel House (Aptos),

Clyde Vaughn (Boulder Creek),

Luke Ham (Carmel),

Patrick Davis (Morgan Hill),

Hwapyoung Kang (Gilroy),

Karla Lundin (Hollister),

Angel Rivero (Marina),

Sanghyun Lee (Marina),

Steve Lundin (Salinas),

Jay K. Pierce (Santa Cruz),

and Robin Mathews-Johnson (Watsonville)