Pentecost Sunday

Message from Pastor Mori 

Ravenswood Fellowship United Methodist Church The Weekly Newsletter    Message from Pastor Mori Dear RFUMC Family Do you have Sabbath time?    In the mid-20th century, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of America's foremost Jewish thinkers, wrote about the sabbath, that it was the "realm of time" and the "realm of space."    His definition of the sabbath surprised me. As I spent days during the pandemic, I realized that I do not know how to spend my time. I mean, I have a packed schedule with a to do list waiting for me, and a schedule to be followed. When I am alone, I do not know how to use time and space. I feel like I lost control of my day and the tasks of work control me.   Since I was appointed to RFUMC ten months ago, when I had time, I have tried to work.  Following worship on Sunday and the then on Monday, I have time off, but I kept working and working. I thought it was the best use of my time. And finally, it made me so tired, and I felt exhausted. I found that I had used lots of time for work, but I had completed so little.    Why did this happen? I found the answer form the book, "The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos."    As Rabbi Heschel said "When gaining power in the realm of space we forfeit all aspiration in the realm of time," and in that time, "the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord."    Yes, we have the freedom to spend time for work, shopping, and socializing as much as we want, but the rabbi asks about our "inner liberty?" When we lose the rest of sabbath time, we lose our own wellness as we lose control to time and space.    What do you want when you have a time? What do you really want to do? Why do you want to do it?   This upcoming Sunday is our first in-person worship in the Japanese Garden.  I want to invite you to come to the worship, talk to God, have a full rest time in God, and have time to think about God and God's love which give you the hours and days as a gift!   Here is a sign-up link. If you could not join this week in person, please join us online. The worship will be broadcast on both Zoom and Facebook Live.   I hope this beautiful Sunday every one of you can join us and enjoy the time of Sabbath.   Blessings Mori.    Give on PayPal    Community Info & Links                       12 Resources for Anti-Racist Discipleship - Week 1                                                                            BY BISHOP DAVID BARD (Photo credit: Minnesota Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church) The United States and the whole world have just learned of the guilty verdicts for the former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Meanwhile, there was another officer-involved shooting of a black man in Minneapolis and the Twin Cities this week. Bishop David Bard issued the following pastoral letter urging Minnesota United Methodists to continue the long work of racial reckoning. To read Bishops David Bard Letter please click here    Work in the Garden We would like to have a Gardening Volunteer Day this Saturday to clean up the garden to prepare for the very first in-person worship service.  Please help us prepare our church garden if you can.         We will start at 9:00: Clean up (remove weeds, pick up trash, cut down the flowers that have bloomed and ended) Prune trees and bushes. Rake the leaves, petals and twigs on the ground. Please bring pruner, floral clippers, rake, garden scoop, if you have them.  Gardening gloves will be handy.          Ravenswood Fellowship UMC Sunday Outdoor Worship  We will have our first in-person worship service on May 23rd at 10:30 am.  This will take place in the garden.  We will keep the capacity size to 20 people.  Face masks are required.  If you are interested in attending in person, please sign-up using the link here. If you are unable to attend, we will still have our worship online as well, using our Zoom link. Please feel free to bring your own lawn chair if you feel more comfortable!                                                                                                      Greetings from Wally Nakamoto! This week Pastor Mori was able to visit with Wally Nakamoto.  He is doing well and wants to send his warmest regards to the Ravenswood Fellowship UMC family.  Hello to Wally!  We are happy to hear you are well!                                                    Japanese Mutual Aid Society of Chicago Virtual Memorial Service  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 do the prayer as a representative of the Christian community. The service will be on Monday May 31 at 11:00 am.  To view the service, click here.                        Beginning June 1st, the church office staff will work on a temporary abbreviated summer schedule.  The office will be operating on the following schedule: Monday:        Closed Tuesday:       9:30 am - 12:30 pm (Donna in office) Wednesday: Closed Thursday       9:30 am - 12:30 pm (Donna and Lisa in office) Friday:           9:30 am - 12:30 pm (Lisa in office) We will review the schedule and notify you of any changes.  Voicemails and e-mails will be checked so please feel free to leave a message for Pastor Mori or the office staff at any time.                    Volunteers Needed!   Calling all volunteers for the period between May 21 - June 7.  The church custodian will be away from the church during this time.  He performs countless duties throughout the week.  If you have some spare time and can lend a hand during his absence, please call us at the church office (773) 561-2610 and let us know.  We appreciate any and all offers of help!  Thank you!                                                       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!                                                                              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. State of Illinois "A Bridge to Phase 5" 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 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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