Fifth Sunday of Easter

Message from Pastor Mori 

Ravenswood Fellowship United Methodist Church The Weekly Newsletter    Message from Pastor Mori Dear RFUMC Family "The church is not a building." We have heard many times even before this pandemic, but we are reminded once again. I pray we never get used to this idea and call it "the new normal," especially in light of scriptures like the following: Hebrews 10:25 (NKJV): not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. And today I have good news!  We are gathering back together in an extremely careful way. On Sunday May 23, we will start worshiping in the Japanese Garden with CDC and NIC regulations to protect us. This is something we need to do as the body of Christ! We need each other for both emotional and spiritual support. We will gather with under 20 people. If you plan to come to worship, please sign-up here. (20 spots available)  We will wear mask at all times, and we will not be singing or have group prayer. We will maintain social distance of six feet or more, so if you come as a family, please seat together. And, we will not have the traditional social gathering after the worship.  If it is raining, we will only have worship on Zoom. In that case, you will receive an email and phone call. (This is why sign-up is necessary!!)  While many may not be quite ready to get back to church physically, I would encourage you to stay connected as much as possible, even if it's online church. During the outdoor worship, we will continue to broadcast on Zoom and Facebook Live. I hope this gardening worship is a starting point for our return to "normal" worship and spiritual practice.    If you have any concerns, questions, or suggestions, please feel free to contact me (Email)    Miss you all!    Blessings MORI    Give on PayPal    Community Info & Links    Holy Communion on May 02  We will have Holy Communion this Sunday during Zoom virtual worship service.  You will find a pre-filled communion cup with a wafer received in your Lent kit.  If you did not receive the pre-filled communion cups, feel free to use items you may have at home to symbolize bread and wine and join us in Holy Communion. #STOP ASIAN HATE Interreligious worship service  We are planning an inter-faith, multi-ethnic vigil on Sunday, May 2, 2021.  It will be held at the Buddhist Temple of Chicago located at 1151 W. Leland Ave. Chicago, Illinois 60640 Justice Generation Virtual Concert                                       Eriko and Kimiko Darcy will present a fundraising virtual concert to advocate anti-racism.  The concert will take place on Saturday May 15th  6:30 - 7:15 pm.  Please click here to view the concert.  To learn more about Eriko and Kimiko, and what they have been doing, click here for Eriko's bio, and here for Kimiko's bio.. The Justice Generation organization is a United Methodist Church (Northern Illinois conference) anti-racism high school youth group. The group shares experiences and opinions on social justice and racial issues. To learn more about this organization, click here.  The proceeds of the concert will be distributed to various charitable organizations which promote social justice. To support this concert, please send checks to the church, payable to Ravenswood Fellowship UMC.  If you would like to make a donation using paypal, please click here.  (Please designate any donation "Darcy concert")     Each Memorial Day, the Japanese Mutual Aid Society of Chicago (JMAS) holds a service at Montrose Cemetery, 5400 North Pulaski Road, Chicago, IL.  This year the Memorial Day service will be a virtual service.  Pastor Mori will speak as a representative of the Christian community.  We will provide more information including the link to view the service, as soon as we are informed.  The service will be on Monday May 31.      Weekly Sermon Phone Service              (773) 219-0861 If you do not have computer access or cannot access our Sunday worship service through a smart phone, we now have a sermon by phone service, which is available at any time! The phone number is (773) 219-0861.  You can listen to a recent version of Pastor Mori's Sunday sermon and it's free!                                            Pastor Schedule Pastor Mori will be away from the office from April 27 through May 1, 2021.  During this time, Rev Gloria Grasse will be available for emergency pastoral care.                                                                                        Ravenswood Fellowship UMC May 2021 - Calendar  Click Here    Church Room Reservation Form (to request use of the common areas of the church Click Here        After Covid-19 Updates.    Read about the Phases for Re-Opening here. Is that document too long? Read the summary version here. Illinois: State-by-State COVID-19 Guidance         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 service Bible reader Sign-Up 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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