Ravenswood Fellowship United Methodist Church The Weekly Newsletter | | Message from Pastor Erin Two things. First, I only have a month and half left serving at Ravenswood Fellowship UMC as your Interim Pastor. Can you believe it? Our time together has gone by so quickly! Second, that means we have great work left to do in our short time together. During times of great crisis churches see a perplexing amount of growth and renewal. I believe it is because during times of distress people are looking for the hope we have found in Jesus. And so, while we care for ourselves and neighbor as best we can and continue to shelter-in-place, we also make sure we are able to welcome the strangers who will come to learn more about God and God's faithfulness when we re-open our building.
While I want to be clear, I do not believe we will be returning to our building anytime soon, to faithfully use our time together, we need to start thinking about how to welcome new people into God's community at RFUMC in the future. It will probably be the case that my last Sunday with you all, at the end of June, and your first Sunday with Pastor Mori, at the beginning of July, will be on Zoom. While virtual worship and celebration can be awkward, we can also use these tools and time together in creative ways. And for creative work, I need your help faithfully plan how to care for our community and welcoming new people and for the big party when we can all be together again! I want to invite you to consider joining one of our "After Covid-19 Planning Teams." I need your input on these teams if we are going to successfully welcome people into God's community after all of this is over. And, if you are anything like me, you probably want to know what to expect when you join a team. Good thought! Want to know what to expect if you join a team? - Teams will meet a maximum of five times (no more, maybe less!)
- Weekly meetings will be held on Zoom for 1-2 hours and meeting times will depend team members' availability
- Meetings will be led by me (You get to just show up? Yes, please!)
- You will be invited to share your ideas and collaborate with others
- Some teams will have a little bit of "homework" like reading a document before the meeting (like the re-opening team) or researching things on the internet (like the live streaming team) - maybe an extra hour of your time each week
- Some teams will get you out of the house and working with your hands, if you are into that (like the gardening and cleaning/decluttering team)
- Because some teams that meet in spaces (like the gardening and decluttering teams) will talk about spacing out times to avoid contact with each other
- I recommend that those ages 60+ do not volunteer for the decluttering team (as much as we could use your help!) to protect yourself and others - our church NEEDS YOU around for other teams and in the future. Please read this request as a sign of care for you, and not a judgement of age or ability!
- All the teams will contribute to growing God's kingdom and sharing goodness with our neighbors
- Everyone is welcome and all voices are needed!
Will you consider joining one of these teams? You can read more about the team descriptions below. Express your interest in a team here.
Oh yeah! And Sunday (May 17) at church, we'll practice a form of prayer called body prayer. New spiritual practices can feel weird. Allow yourself to embrace the awkwardness of trying something new. Don't judge yourself or your feelings. Come expecting God to show up in the moment. No materials needed. Just your body. | | After Covid-19 Teams Our church could use your help thinking about how we will re-opening in phases our worship in-person, help making our space hospitable for when we do re-open, and help beautifying our garden. - Do you want to get outside and get your hands dirty? Sign up to help the in church garden.
- Do you get deep satisfaction from clearing things away and seeing progress of a clean space? Sign up to help us declutter sections of the church.
- Do you love thinking about the technological details? Sign up to help us prepare to continued live streaming of our service.
- Do you have lots of creative ideas about how to safely re-open our space for worship? We wanna hear them! Join the team.
- Do you think people could use a message of hope now? Help us think about creative ways to do outreach now and after the pandemic is over by joining the outreach team.
We need your help. Yes, you! Read this message and think some else will sign up? Maybe. But they won't list their name until they see that others, like you, have put your name on the list. Be brave. Be the first to express interest and welcome others to join you. Express interest to help here or email Pastor Erin with questions and ideas. | | Community Links Coffee Hour with Pastor Erin. Miss talking with your friends from church? Need to get all the latest news and hear how everyone else's life is going? Join Pastor Erin (and other RFUMC folks) for coffee hour on Tuesdays at 1 PM at this link or call at 312.626.6799 (Meeting ID 896 3613 2612). Pastor Erin will bring a thoughtful question for us to ponder and discuss.
Craft Group. We share our updated craft projects, get creative, and pray together. If you want to fellow project makers during this quarantine, please email Yuko Darcy at yukochcago@gmail.com or join the Craft Group on Wednesday at 5 PM at this Zoom link.
Young Adult Virtual Happy Hour. Calling all 20-30-somethings! Tired after a long day of staring at screen? Join us for another hour of staring at a screen but this time with a delicious drink in your hand and good company. Log on and hang out with your fellow RFUMC young adults. Email us for the contact info.
Walking Group. Every week people walk together in our church gym for health and community. But while our building in closed the Walking Group takes their community online. And maybe now you can join their Zoom call to check in, support one another, and pray for each other. 8:30 AM on Wednesdays and Fridays. Go to this link here or dial in at 312.626.6799 (Meeting ID: 771 188 446). Young People's Bible Study. Ages 12-18 are invited to join the Zoom discussion of Jesus stories at 9 AM on Sunday mornings. Join the Zoom call here (Meeting ID: 732 784 767). | | Giving Back Did you see?! UM Foundation. The United Methodist Foundation of the Northern Illinois Conference, Inc. will match $-for-$ your donation to three food banks for a total match of $50,000 during the month of May. Learn how to double the amount of your donation to local food banks with the UM Foundation here.
Mutual Aid Networks. As individuals struggle to respond to the public health crisis of COVID-19, the Mutual Aid Networks of Lakeview, Andersonville, and Lincoln Square/Ravenswood are hosting a fundraiser to directly help our neighbors with groceries and supplies. Consider contributing here.
2020 Census. for every person who doesn't get counted, communities lose about $1400 in funding for critical resources like healthcare, education, affordable housing, school lunches, libraries, fire departments, and senior services, all of which help get us through difficult times. Learn more about the census from the Japanese American Service Committee here. Stick around after worship to learn more about the 2020 Census, why it is important, and how you can help!
Inclusive Collective. An inclusive Christian community for college students at UIC. Learn more about how to support their work of helping young adults learn more about Jesus, grow in community, and give back to the city.
Giving to RFUMC. Of course, we continue to share our finances to support God's work in our faith community. Support the ministry of Ravenswood Fellowship UMC online and by the mail. Your financial support helps us transform lives and make disciples. Go to our PayPal page here or mail in your gift to 4511 N Hermitage Chicago, IL 60640. | | Worship Looks Different Below are some continued learnings for helping you grow confident and participate in our worship experience. And please remember, our building is closed! - Worship. Join Zoom worship by going to this link at 10:30 AM on Sunday: https://zoom.us/j/806489040. Or call in at 1-312-626-6799 (Meeting ID: 806 489 040).
- Want prayer? During our Prayers of the People, we will read your prayer requests. Submit your prayer requests here.
- Tired of looking at yourself on the screen? Learn how to turn off the self-view on Zoom.
- Download. Get your bulletin here.
- Having trouble? Try logging off and logging back on to Zoom during the video. Or simply log off and call in.
- Missed last week? Check out the Facebook Live video on our page here.
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