Pandemic Tips from Pastor

Message from Pastor Mori 

Ravenswood Fellowship United Methodist Church The Weekly Newsletter    Message from Pastor Mori Dear Ravenswood Fellowship family,   I found that I have had a hard time staying focused on work during the day. With high levels of stress, I drag out my tasks and lose focus. I want to share four simple elements to help us to focus while home working at home. (The original resource from Chicago Tribune by Minda Zetlin, Sep 28,2020)   Take care of your physical needs. The secretary team and I try to keep break times during our office work. Taking care of our physical needs means regular exercise, a few minutes per day of meditation, and getting good nutrition.  Short prayer time is very helpful in enhancing my focusing.  Also, getting plenty of sleep has benefits for our body and brain health.  I realized that high-stress environments make us easily tired and it can cause us to lose focus.    Plan for your escape behaviors.  According to psychologist Traci Stein, human escape behaviors are "those things you do to alleviate the stress or boredom that crops up whatever you have to work on a specific task or assignment."  For me, mindless snacking or checking social media are those escape behaviors. One day I tracked how much time I used for the social media checking and was surprised with its huge amount of time. The key to dealing with escape behaviors is to ANTICIPATE them. Know about your escape behaviors that crop up during the workday.  For example, if you are liable to be sleepy, use upbeat music, change the desk, and have tea. (Sleepiness is related to dehydration.) And if you are liable to snack like me, prepare portions of healthy snacks; if you are tempted to check email and social media, turn off the notifications.    Plan for regular breaks  I have difficulty stay focused for a long time. So, I plan frequent breaks.  Traci Stein offers some advice about breaks. One is to use the Pomodoro Technique. I love this which calls for 25 minutes of super-focused work followed by a five-minute break or take a fifteen-minute break every two hours. Some people who can focus for longer, might work 52 minutes and then take a 17-minute break; the experiment shows this is an ideal rhythm for the maximum capacity.    Forgive yourself for losing focus  Every week I have a study group with our District Superintendent and other clergy people. In Bible study, we talk about how we think about ourselves. Sometimes, we are too harsh on ourselves. This is a stressful time. We all need to deal with a dangerous environment and we have an uncertain tomorrow. So, we can't expect to maintain the same level of focus or the same level of productivity.  So, let's accept the fact that we won't always live up to our best and function with our best productivity. Instead, let's try to keep whatever level of focus we have.      God wants you to be happy and healthy. You are important to God. And you are not alone, we will go through this hard time as a community. If you need anything to help, please remember I am here for you. An email will be a fast way to reach me.  The church office number is here 773-561-2610 Let's make our workday more pleasant and be happier together!!    Blessings Mori    Give on PayPal Give on PayPal Community Info & Links Thirsty Ears 2020 This weekend, October 9, 10 & 11, a live in-person concert will take place in the Ravenswood neighborhood.  On Saturday, Oct 10, Jonathan Hannau will be featured at 4:00 - 5:30 pm (Jonathan's concert has been sold out!).  For more information, see the Thirsty Ears website here October 11 Sunday Semi- reopen In-person Worship   VIP (Volunteer for In-person worshiP)   Sign-up link here   In-Person Sunday worship attending  Sign-up link here Pumpkin Spice Cinema Club Do you like movies? I love movies!  If you like movies and pumpkin spice tea, please join the Ravenswood Fellowship Church Pumpkin Spice Cinema Club. From October 22 to November 19, we will have a cinema club with five movies through Zoom online.    Movies are a visual art form with story and characters and music: there are so many forms of art and so many ideas and perceptions that reflect our world! These five movies will allow us to talk about social justice issues such as racism, justice, and global warming. Also, we will talk about the love and beauty of relationships.  If you want to be on the panel to pick the movie and help me prepare questions, please join a "Preview," on Thursday, Oct 15, from 7:00 to 8:00. The link is here:  (Meeting ID: 883 6694 3163) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88366943163 If you want to just come and enjoy with your popcorn, please log-in on the zoom links here:  (Meeting ID: 883 6694 3163)  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88366943163 Thursday,  October     22  7:00-8:00  Movie   To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) Thursday,  October     29  7:00-8:00  Movie    Wonder (2017) Thursday,  November 05  7:00-8:00  Movie    The Impossible (2012)  Thursday,  November 12  7:00-8:00  Movie    TBA Thursday,  November 19  7:00-8:00  Movie    My Neighbor Totoro (1993) -TBA   Laity Sunday  October 18 Sunday   Methodism has a long history celebrating and recognizing the ministry of the laity. It is important to say to the Ravenswood Fellowship family, "This church is your church."  We always work together as a faith community and without lay leaders, we would not be called the church. In the early days of American Methodism, the laity served and maintained congregations between visits of the circuit riders. Today, laypeople are the front line of daily ministry at the workplace, in the home, and within the community. Laity Sunday is celebrated on the Third Sunday of October in the Methodist tradition. I want to invite you to an October 18th celebration of Laity Sunday to give thanks to our lay leaders. We will take the time to introduce our lay leaders and share their work. This year they have needed to work with two new pastors under the pandemic situation. We need the whole Body of Christ as we seek to become a more vital congregation who makes disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!    2020 Church Conference Save the date! The Church Conference season will look very different this year with most Conferences taking place through Zoom video conferencing. Ravenswood Fellowship UMC's Church Conference date is Sunday, November 15, at 12:00 PM. The SPRC meeting is at 11:30 AM. Click here to access the 2020 online forms for the committee chairs. All Saints Day - Sunday, November 1, 2020 On Sunday, November 1st, we will celebrate All Saints Day.  If you would like to remember a loved one who has passed in 2019 or 2020, please submit a picture with info to the church office.  We would like to share the photos during worship on November 1st.  Also, please share any other prayer concerns for those needing comfort and care during this time.   Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration October 12, from 1:00-2:30p CST The Northern Illinois Conference Anti-Racism Task Force and the Committee on Native American Ministries are jointly planning three events in the coming school year (2020-2021) in the fall, winter, and spring. This is part of the Task Force's Justice Generation initiative which involves United Methodist teens in a year-long service-learning/action journey promoting racial justice. The fall event is a virtual celebration of worship, learning, and discussion via Zoom in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, October 12, from 1:00-2:30p CST.  UNITED METHODIST TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS ARE WARMLY INVITED and can register for this event by clicking here.  Immigration Issues and the 2020 Election  October 15,  From 12:00 to 1:00   Conversation via Zoom sponsored by NIJFON with special guest Melissa Bowe, National JFON Advocacy Manager. To reserve your spot, email Paula Cripps-Vallejo Introduction to Coaching   October 29  From 9 am to 4 pm Coach Jum Griffith will lead this interactive webinar for a new, turnaround, or vital churches. Sponsored by the NIC Office of Congregational Development and Redevelopment. Learn more here, registration here    UMW Annual Celebration October 24 via Zoom This year's theme is "LISTEN: WITH FRESH EARS AND EYES!" The guest speaker is Rev. Danira Parra, who is pastor of Dayspring Native American UMC in East Peoria, Ill. Look for more information and registration at umwnic.org. Meeting Announcement Finance Committee  Tuesday, October 20, 7:00 pm Zoom Nomination Committee  Date and Time: TBA Trustee Meeting Date and Time: TBA After Covid-19 Updates. Read about the Phases for Re-Opening here. Is that document too long? Read the summary version here.                                                                                                                                              Links for 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).  Let's boost our worship! Please sign-up for Worship Bible Reader. October Worship  Bible reader sign-up here. October Bible Scripture here 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: 828 2305 3546, One-tap mobile+13126266799) Want prayer? During our Prayers of the People, we will read your prayer requests. Submit your prayer requests here.  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.  Give on PayPal Our mailing address is: 4511 North Hermitage Ave. Chicago, IL 60640 Contact us at: ravfelumc@yahoo.com (773) 561-2610 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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