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Wednesday Meals Cancelled Until Further Notice

With the ongoing concerns about covid-19, the congregation has made the difficult decision to suspend Wednesday night meals until further notice. As things progress, we will be continuing to evaluate and make decisions as a group. If a decision is reached to suspend any other church gatherings, we will be informing friends and members as early as possible.

Be well, everyone!

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United Protestant Church Weekly Reminders 3/13 – 3/20

Weekly Reminders

 

SUNDAY:

Worship at 10:30. Third Sunday in Lent. A message of
hope in a time of fear. Fellowship downstairs to follow.   

 

MONDAY: Bible Study at 6pm. Join Pastor Paul as
we explore this week’s scripture in the lectionary and bring it into our lives
and faith. Questions encouraged. Stories honored. Eye-rolls for the Pastor’s
tangents accepted. 

 

WEDNESDAY

“Grill’s On!” Community Potluck 5-7pm

Join us in the
Fellowship Hall as we share a community meal together. Friends and strangers
welcome! As always, bring what you have, or just bring yourself. There is
always enough!

 

Choir Practice at 6:00. NOTE: Choir will be meeting every
Wednesday through Lent in preparation for Holy Week. All interests and skill
levels welcome to join us!

 

THURSDAY: AA Meets in the Fellowship Hall, 7pm.

 

 

COMMUNITY:

Sunday March 22nd: Norton Park UMC
Chicken Parmesan Dinner—12-2pm

A number of church folk are attending
this event, and (per Norton Park) we are welcome to bring additional guests
without reservations if we like. Join us! Worried about cost? Contact Pastor
Paul!  

 

 

A Look Ahead:

Holy Week at United Protestant Church 

 

Wednesday, April 8: Easter Egg
coloring (for kids and community), 5-7 pm (during community potluck)
  

 

Thursday, April 9: Maundy Thursday Gathering, 6 pm

A humble gathering and conversation to center us for our
most important story.   

 

Friday, April 10: Good Friday: 

Stations of the Cross Driving Tour (details to be announced)

Good Friday Ecumenical Service, 7 pm Our Savior’s Lutheran
Church, 4831 Grand Avenue West Duluth clergy and congregations will share in worship.
 

Note: Our church will be hosting the first stop on the
“Stations of the Cross” Driving Tour and YOUR CREATIVE ENERGY IS
REQUESTED. 

Want to lend a hand? Contact Pastor Paul!

 

Saturday, April 11: Easter Egg Hunt    Watch
for more details.   


Sunday, April 12: Easter Service, 10:30 am (Breakfast
at 9 am).  Watch for more details

 

 

 

 From Pastor Paul, Toward Sunday:

“…and the doors of the house where the
disciples had met were locked for fear…”

                                                                        –John
20:19 (excerpt)

 

WARNING—PASTOR
NERD WORDS AHEAD: Here’s a fun phrase I don’t get to say very often: “I’m
picking a particular part of a pericope.” In other words, I’m only quoting a
small part of a Bible verse, leaving the rest of the text behind—an exegetical
choice that I normally squint cautiously at because, when combined with
demonstrative proclamation in print or sermon from a so-called figure of
authority, it can run the risk of missing the big picture, in service instead
to nit-picking words in the Bible that justify a particular ideology or notion that
said “authority” wishes to make cultivate and spread. In other words: I’m
thinking that the Bible shouldn’t support what I want to say, rather, I should
support what the Bible has to say to me. We can pick and choose words in the
Bible to justify almost anything we want. Plenty have done it. Plenty have
caused great harm in the name of Christianity. Let us all remember to take the
message as a whole.

 

But hey, back
to “picking particular parts of a pericope”—this time I’m stealing from a
larger narrative of the disciples in the upper room (Jesus appears, Thomas
doubts, etc.) and thought it fitting in this time of the world that we live in.
See: be it “fear of a mob of people that want to hurt you” or “fear of disease
or pandemic”, we often keep our doors locked, and ourselves guarded and wary.

 

I’m not telling
you that fear is not justified now. I’m not telling you anybody is being
“paranoid”—nor that any of this is “all this is blown out of proportion”. I
don’t know. I have taken time to read and listen and learn, that I may share
with the best of intentions and information, but still: I don’t know.

 

I do know that
people are afraid, and that people in fear must be honored, because fear is an
honest emotion. I also know (or at least have learned by way of best intention
and information from study and prayer) that Jesus does not want you to live in
fear.

 

So I’m changing
the church sign today—the sign now once again visible as the snowbanks recede,
with these simple words:

 

WHAT YOU FEAR

CAN TEACH YOU

WHAT YOU LOVE. 

 

I think that’ll
fit. We’ll see. I’ll be sharing more about this on Sunday, so I’ll spare you
too many words here (I already was a nerdy pastor in the first paragraph!),
save to remind you that God has the last word, and that last word is love. So:
it is our good and holy work as Christians to engage in prayer and work
together that we may turn our fear into love.

 

Jesus didn’t
appear in that Upper Room saying: “quit hiding you scaredy-cats!” No. He said
“Peace be with you.” And with peace, comes hope, which is our faith’s response
to fear.

 

So: if there is
enough room and enough tiles, on the bottom of that sign I’ll put:

WORSHIP:
SUNDAY, 10:30

HOPE: EVERY
DAY.

  

Keep in touch,
friends. We have some creative work toward hope ahead of us.

 

Pastor Paul

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Weekly Reminders (March 8-14)

Sunday, March 8:  Worship at 10:30: Second Sunday in Lent. Gospel includes our most familiar passage in scripture. Fellowship downstairs to follow.

Monday, March 9: Bible Study at 6 pm. Join Pastor Paul as we explore this week's scripture in the lectionary and bring it into our lives and faith. Questions encouraged.
Tuesday, March 10: Church Council meets 7 pm; Trustees & Diaconate 6 pm.
Wednesday, March 11:
**History Work Day, 10 am
**"Grill's On!" Community Potluck, 5-7 pm. Join us in the Fellowship Hall as we share a community meal together. Friends and strangers welcome! As always, bring what you have, or just bring yourself. There is always enough!
  
Thursday, March 12: AA meets in Fellowship Hall, 7 pm   
 
From Pastor Paul: Toward Sunday
"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."  ~John 3:17
   'Had one of those grumbly, snarly, bark and bellow moments yesterday…long story short it was one of those auto-renew subscriptions that I thought I had cancelled long ago but the big corporation had no record of it and I could find no record of it, and all of this means I probably never did cancel it, so I wound up spending a year paying for something I never used. 
   "Grr." I said. "Double and Triple Grr." And then: "OK, that's enough."
   And that last line is the one I want to lift up as I write this. This world has enough grumbling and negativity without my contribution. We all have accidents or mistakes that cause us to lose money, and we all have big corporations trying to tempt or goad us into spending  unnecessary money. There's a litany of things that I'd like to gripe about, but to what end?  Here's where faith comes in:
   If God is always present – as I believe – no matter how aware or alert we may be, then every action or expression of emotion is an opportunity to share my life with God.  More to the point: every action or expression in my life is literally shared with God. And in my prayer and study of God through the ministry of Jesus and the Gospel message, I have been guided to believe that God isn't one to give too much weight to the "life stinks" or "everything wicked is here" gripe and grumble. Sure, that's a familiar sentiment, and one many of use have heard taught or preached as a theological conclusion from reading John 3:16, but those that espouse the "this world stinks, only heaven matters" attitude would do well to read on to the next verse, and consider exactly what it was that his "only begotten son" did while he was part of this world. Engage. Embrace. Heal. Preach and teach and model values of love and welcome and kindness. "Not to condemn the world," the next verse reads, "but in order that it might be saved…"
   "…through him." Through the God that is with me every moment and hears all my complaints and reminds me that all my gripe and grumble and negativity should conclude with "ok…that's enough" and I should get back to the matter at hand, which is being a disciple of Jesus, the minister and the Christ.
Keep in touch, friends
Pastor Paul
 
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Weekly Reminders (March 1-7)

Sunday, March 1: Worship at 10:30  We begin our journey to the cross in our first week of Lent, with the sacrament of Communion. Choir will be singing a familiar song. Fellowship downstairs to follow.
Monday, March 2: Bible Study is cancelled as Pastor Paul is out of town. (Sorry!)
Tuesday, March 3: Morgan Park community meeting at Good Fellowship Club, 6 pm.
Wednesday, March 4:
**Women's Fellowship, 1:30 pm, in Fellowship Hall. All women are welcome to attend.
**"Grill's On" Community Potluck, 5-7 pm: Join us in the Fellowship Hall as we share a community meal together. Friends and strangers welcome! As always, bring what you have, or just bring yourself. There is always enough!
Thursday, March 5:  AA meets in the Fellowship Hall, 7 pm
From Pastor Paul: Toward Sunday
"Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him."  ~Matthew 4:11
   …Always wanted to talk to that guy…I mean, I've prayed countless times to him, and received guidance from him enough to consistently say "thank you" and "amen" – but really, I just want to talk to him. Small talk. Chit-chat. "How's the weather?" "What'cha think of (this or that)?" I want to hear him engage in group conversation, or table fellowship. Watch a game together. Head out camping for the weekend.
    In the same sense, I'd love to be a witness to the moment quoted above. He's been fasting. He's been tempted by the devil. He's just about to begin his public ministry. "And the angels came and waited on him." I mean: did they talk? Jesus and the angels…did they banter in the context of their common experiences? "Hey, thanks for lending a hand…by the way, how's Dad doing?" – that kind of thing.
   In my casual approach here, I don't mean to be flippant, and certainly not disrespectful. It's just that in all of my prayer I've learned that to welcome him into my life means to welcome him into every part of my life – and certainly not every moment of my life is laden with the solemnity of intentional prayer.
   Really, I mean, what's Jesus talking to you about when you're, say, cooking dinner…sauteing onions to put on your burger? (I know, I know…but I do eat healthy…sometimes.) What's Jesus say when you're looking for a lost wallet, or taking out the garbage? 
   That's the kind of Jesus that I really want in my life…and of course, he is there.
   Always there.
   I just need to include him in the conversation.
Keep in touch, Friends
Pastor Paul
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Weekly Reminders (February 23-29)

Sunday, Feb. 23: Worship at 10:30.  Celebrating the end of the season of Epiphany with the Transfiguration story. Fellowship downstairs to follow.
Monday, Feb. 24: Bible Study at 6 pm. Join Pastor Paul as we explore this week's scripture in the lectionary and bring it into our lives and faith. Questions encouraged.
Wednesday, Feb. 26: 
**History Work Day, 10 am: Sort and organize photos and other materials.
"Grill's On" Community Potluck, followed by Ash Wednesday gathering:  Join us at 5 pm as we share a community meal together. (Friends and strangers welcome! As always, bring what you have, or just bring yourself. There is always enough!) We'll head upstairs around 6 pm to welcome the season of Lent with our Ash Wednesday service. Jim Larson will be here with his mountain dulcimer.
Thursday, Feb. 27:  AA meets in the Fellowship  Hall, 7 pm.
Community
**Morgan Park WinterFest: Feb. 22, 3-6 pm at Good Fellowship Center for some Winter Fun! Ice skating with skates available in the warming shack. Parks & Rec will have snowshoes with a demo and walking tour. Indoor crafts and assorted board games and when hungry grab a hot dog, chips and hot cocoa! Everyone welcome to this free event hosted by the Morgan Park Community Club . We look forward to a fun day.
**"Winter in the West, West Duluth, Feb. 22-23: More information here: https://allevents.in/mobile/amp-event.php?event_id=200018944162914
**Feb. 27: Community Chili Cook-Off, 4:30-6:30: Our Savior's Lutheran Church, 4831 Grand Avenue (to benefit CHUM West Duluth Food Shelf). Can our congregation take home the trophy?

From Pastor Paul: Toward Sunday
"Get up and do not be afraid…"    ~ Matthew 17:7
    Grumble grumble…pesky good-for-nothing cold or flu or whatever this thing is that I've had for the past two weeks – enough already! I sit here at the desk, humming along to the music, and my voice echoes as if I have my fingers in my ears.
    All of this has meant that the past days have been spent lying down. Luckily, it's been sunny, and the windows are filled with enough light and warmth to keep me from sinking into dull moans and mumbles…but with the down time comes the pesky nudges: taxes and finances, childcare and church matters. The to-do list grows longer.
    Last Monday, in Bible Study, we were talking about productivity…about how we push ourselves and drive ourselves to be at our best at all times and the notion that anything less than our best feels imperfect, or worse: lacking or lazy. And today I'm thinking: Our "best" is just that – a peak performance. What if I am performing my "most ok" or my "good enough" or my "can't complain, could be worse?" I mean: what if I am just getting by? Day by day, is that really something I should be ashamed of?
    "Get up," Jesus says, "and do not be afraid." And I think: Let yourself not feel well, Mr. Paul. Do not fight it. Give yourself permission to not be at your best. Because if you cannot permit yourself to be less than your best, how can you ever tell another that he or she is ok just being who they are?
    So: next Sunday's sermon might not be my best. I haven't had the rigor of study and creativity that I have in my best of weeks. On the other hand, maybe, because I've accepted my limits and capacities, I'll be speaking from a heart and soul that resonates in a clearer and communal way.
    Either way: "Get up," Jesus says, "and do not be afraid." Let the days pass as they will, and welcome them with the best self you can bring, but let us all remember that every day cannot be our best.
Keep in Touch
Pastor Paul