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, 20^th 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.”

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

You are invited to the Sunday Service on May 17, 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.

Seventh Sunday of Easter
Sunday, May 17, 2026, 10 am

Children’s Time                “I am happiest when…”                Pastor John

Special Music: Marina Thomas, Piano Solo
Clair de Lune
by Claude Debussy, a French composer (1862–1918)

Message          “The Miracle of Resurrection continues…”       Rev. John Song

This Sunday is the last Sunday of Eastertide. As we come to the close of the Eastertide season, still carrying the joy and meaning of the resurrection of Jesus Christ celebrated on Easter, I will be sharing a resurrection story of my own. About a month ago, I had a powerful dream that resonated deeply in my body and stirred my soul for days afterward. I have been reflecting on it and continuing to work through its meaning. 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.

“For me to be a saint means to be myself.”
~ Thomas Merton

“It’s never too late to come home to yourself.”
~ John Song

When you change yourself from within, your actions change
and you become an integral part of healing the world
through your own “everyday radius.”
~ Hoffman Institute

Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…”

Philippians 1:6
“He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion…”

You are invited to the Mother’s Day Sunday Service on May 10, 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.

Mother’s Day Sunday
Sunday, May 10, 2026, 10 am

Mother’s Day Celebration This Sunday May 10, 10 am

Come and celebrate Mother’s Day Service where our mothers will be sharing “Mothers Stories” by Lorrie Rubio, Michelle Stewart, Joan Culbertson, & Marieta Flores​. 

Moreover, our men will be cooking and serving good old-fashion breakfast during Coffee Hour to celebrate mothers, grandmothers, and women of our church.

Bring your neighbors and friends!

Choir Anthem
Thank You Lord, For Mothers Dear
Words and Music by Joe E. Parks
Music: Howard S. Savage

Message: “Mothers Stories”
Lorrie Rubio, Michelle Stewart, Joan Culbertson, Marieta Flores​

Deuteronomy 32:11-12
God described as a Mother Eagle 
“Like the eagle that stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young, 
God spreads wings to catch you, lifting them into the air, teaching them to fly.”

On Children
by Kahlil Gibran from The Prophet published in 1923

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts, 
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, 
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, 
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Norman Rockwell “Parenting Challenges”

You are invited to the Sunday Service with Holy Communion on May 3, 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.

Fifth Sunday of Easter with Holy Communion
Sunday, May 3, 2026, 10 am

Children’s Time              “The Hidden Gift of Defeat”               Pastor John

So you lost… Now what? Children will learn the hidden gift of defeat.

Message             “A Meditation on W. H. Auden’s Poem”         Rev. John Song

The More Loving One
by W. H. Auden, 1957

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.

 “God so loved the world…”
~ John 3:16a