To Belove

Dear UUMC friends,

“The first four books of the New Testament tell the story of how Jesus lived, died and then was raised from the dead.” As I said the words before a mostly Hindu audience at the Chinmaya Mission interfaith event, I realized anew our astounding theological claim. How must it sound to those of a different tradition? Do we sound profound or just pro-foundly strange?

As our members in the Christian Believer class know, we have spent centuries examining our own faith claim. It is like a diamond that we hold up to the light, turning it around, admiring its perfection, looking for its flaws, and seeing how the light is reflected just a little differently through each facet. Over the last hundred years, theologians have strug-gled to articulate the various lenses through which humans experience the death and resurrection of Christ. Our astounding faith claim is so compelling that peoples of all na-tions, tribes, and languages want an authentic part of it. No one wants to be left out.

The Latin word for “I believe” is credo, which can also be translated as “I belove” or “I give my heart to.” Humans do not lift up the diamond of our profound faith claim be-cause we need to work out the exact language of a contract that we can sign onto. We aren’t negotiating a deal with God. And anyway, as Marcus Borg writes, “’believing the right things’ does not intrinsically lead to a changed life. It is possible to have strongly-held beliefs, even more or less right beliefs, and still be unchanged: fearful, self-preoccupied and self-concerned, angry, judgmental, mean, even brutal and violent. Chris-tian history and the history of other religions are filled with examples. Believing has little transformative power.” But beloving – ah, that is different altogether. When we give our hearts to the event of Jesus the Christ, and our lives are changed to incarnate our best expression of God’s compassion and justice, and when the world begins to transform with that love – that is when our profoundly strange faith claims become compelling to others.

During Lent and Easter, you are invited to believe an incredible story, not so that you can argue for Christ, but so that you can give your heart to him.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Paige Eaves

March 6 Holy Communion Mark 12:28-44 Shifting the Frame: Speaking Up for the Pharisees With Rabbi Joshua Levine-Grater March 13 Mark 13:1-8, 24- 37 Daylight Savings Begins March 20 Palm Sunday Featuring choir anthems & selections from the groundbreaking movie Cast the First Stone March 27 Easter! A Combined Celebration with our Irvine Dream Congregation and our Nozomi Congregation Coming Up April 10 Early Morning Beach Baptism of Nathalie Gubelmann & Preschool Sunday!

Belong-Ministries that nurture a sense of belonging to God and to this faith community

First Look

Sisters Book Group

The Sisters meeting March 23 was a good one! We were

able to talk to the author of China Dolls, Lisa See, by Skype.

She was wonderful—gracious, funny and informative. Our

usual Sisters group was joined by some guests, our found-

er, Cindy Williams, and two other ladies from the Newport

Methodist church. They just wanted to hear Lisa too. We

all had a wonderful evening. Many thanks to Dale McCart

and Mandy He whose technical expertise made this all

happen and to Tonya Carrasco, Mickey Chase and Joy

Corkery for their delicious dessert and drinks.

The next Sisters meeting will be March 22nd at the home of

Carol Pukli (714-731-0258).

We will be discussing The Perfume Collector by Kathleen

Tessaro. Don’t miss out on all the fun—join us for a

meeting of fellowship, reflection, and dessert!

See you at Sisters!

Introducing Our Office Administrator & Director of Young People's Ministries: Andrew Ponder Williams

We are delighted to announce that Andrew will be adding Young People's Ministries to his portfolio at UUMC. This makes his position with us full-time. We will benefit from this all-around investment of his time, energy, and creativity.

The parents who interviewed Andrew are enthusiastic about his experiences in bringing young people together for worship and service; his commitment to helping families transi-tion well into the teen years; and his knowledge and passion for using our UMC connectional resources to strengthen our local ministry.

Andrew also has a heart for young adults like himself who love Jesus and seek those rare, safe places for spiritual nurture. He will continue our College Persistence Program and nurture ministries for our young adults. With the hiring of Andrew, we re-commit ourselves as a church to the spiritual health of our young people. He will need a team of volunteers to re-build our program. Consider your calling to this ministry. Andrew will transition from his current youth ministry job at Huntington Beach UMC and begin full-time with us on March 7. We will introduce him in worship on Sunday, March 13.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Pride Day!!

9a, All Campus

Quilters

9a, FH

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Scouts Training 9a-

6p, FH

Easter Lilly Delivery

10a, Sanc

27 28 29

Disciple II

10:30a, Ed-A

Preschool Closed

30

Devotion, 7:30, CoW

Lunch Bunch

11:30p, Ed-D

Choir, 7:30p

Preschool Closed

31

Christian Believer

1:30p, Ed-B

Preschool Closed

March 2016

Devotion, 7:30, CoW

Lunch Bunch

11:30p, Ed-D

Lenten Dinner

6:00p, FH

Choir, 7:30p

ReJoySing, 7p

B. Scouts, 7p, FH

Heart to Heart

9:15a, FH

ReJoySing, 7p

B. Scouts, 7p, FH

ReJoySing, 7p

B. Scouts, 7p, FH

Preschool Closed

Disciple II

10:30a, Ed-A

SPRC, 7p, Ed-D

Devotion, 7:30, CoW

Lunch Bunch

11:30p, Ed-D

Lenten Supper

6p, FH

Child’s World B., 7p

Devotion, 7:30, CoW

CWS Chapel, 10:30

Lunch Bunch

11:30p, Ed-D

Lenten Supper

6p, FH

Choir, 7:30p

Worship, 9:30a

Kid Jam 9:30a, Ed

Korean Dream 9:30a

Blood Pressure Check

10:30a

Noiseful Joy 10:30a

Nozomi 12:30p, Ed-A

Devotion, 7:30, CoW

Lunch Bunch

11:30p, Ed-D

Lenten Dinner

6:00p, FH

Choir, 7:30p

Worship, 9:30a

Kid Jam, 9:30a, Ed

Noiseful Joy, 10:30a

Korean Dream, 9:30a

Nozomi, 12:30p, Ed-A

Worship, 9:30a

Kid Jam, 9:30a, Ed

Noiseful Joy, 10:30

Korean Dream, 9:30a

Nozomi, 12:30p, Ed-A

Sack Lunch M., 4p

Worship, 9:30a

Kid Jam, 9:30a, Ed

Noiseful Joy, 10:30

Korean Dream, 9:30a

Nozomi, 12:30p, Ed-A

Heart to Heart

9:15a, FH

ReJoySing, 7p

B. Scouts, 7p, FH

Disciple II

10:30a, Ed-A

Safe Sanctuaries

Disciple II

10:30a, Ed-A

Disciple II

10:30a, Ed-A

Messy Church

Planning, 1p, Ed-B

Christian Believer

1:30p, Ed-B

Christian Believer

1:30p, Ed-B

Trustees 7p, Ed-D

Christian Believer

1:30p, Ed-B

CWS Chapel, 10:30

Christian Believer

1:30p, Ed-B

Messy Church

5:30p

Quilters

9a, FH

4th Sunday in Lent

Daylight Savings!!

5th Sunday in Lent

Palm Sunday

EASTER

Stations of the Cross

12-7p, Sanc

Contemplative Worship

7p, Sanc

Good Friday

El Nino Trip

7a, Irvine Pres

Sandwich Ministry

4:30p, FH

Stephen Ministry

Prayers

Contribute to University

United Methodist Church

http://uumcirvine.org/give

For the peace of Christ in the midst of grief, we pray for:

The family and friends of Pauline Hall.

The family and friends of Patti Ferguson, sister-in-law of Stacy Ferguson.

Jack and Kay Lucas at the loss of Jack’s aunt.

John and Trish Young at the loss of John’s cousin, Leonard Pomphrey.

We pray for those recovering from illness, injury, or surgery:

Ann Ownbey, Paul Arthur, Thelma Friedel, Barbara Albers, Carol Gauger, Joy Corkery’s grandson Daniel

We pray for those who are keeping vigil with dying

family members:

Marge & Larry Anderson, Brad & Roxane Fowler

And for our homebound members:

Carol Moore, Diane Monjay, Mary Poehler, Paul Black,

Betty Quilligan, Barbara Albers, Anne Ramsey

Compassionate, trustworthy, full of faith, skilled-these adjectives make up the Stephen

Ministry’s Caregiving Compass. We use this compass to guide our high quality care for

hurting people. As our congregation builds a Stephen Ministry of our own we are asking

you to consider these adjectives and whether they apply to you. A link to an application is

available below if you are interested in interviewing to become a Stephen Minister. Once

selected as a candidate, your 50 hour training will commence. We’ll offer two session in

2016, one running April through June, and a second running in September through No-

vember. Pastor Paige and I will provide that training and ongoing support for your caring

relationship through a precisely formulated program that has been successful in congrega-

tions in Orange County and across the country for over 30 years. If your calling lies elsewhere, please consider praying

for our Stephen Ministry, Pastor Paige and myself as leaders and our first class of Stephen Ministers.

Questions? Stephen Ministry leader Barb Doherty will be available on the Patio after the 9:30 serve each Sunday in

March and can always be reached at doherty.barb@gmail.com.

Application: http://uumcirvine.org/ministries/stephen-ministry

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for all your payers

and all the ways you showed your love

and support at the loss of our grandson.

You brought light into a very dark time

for our family.

Bill and Bonnie Wright

Believe-Ministries that educate, equip and inspire us as passionate followers of Jesus Christ

...

Special Speaker on Sunday March 6th

Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater was ordained as a rabbi in 1999, and has served three different congregations. Starting as a Marshall T. Meyer Rabbinic Fellow at Congregation B'nai Jeshu-run in Manhattan from 1998-2000, he then served as the rabbi of Congregation Ahavah Isra-el in Kingston, NY from 2000-2003. From 2003-2015, Rabbi Grater was the senior rabbi of Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center. He now runs Grater & Company, which offers personal and creative life-cycle ritual events for Jewish families. Rabbi Joshua and Pastor Paige are friends through their interfaith advocacy work, especially that of the Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative.

Rabbi Grater is also a percussionist. He is a lover of music, hiking, family, reading, and riding his motorcycle. He lives in Pasadena with his wife, Franci, and his teenage twins.

Operations

Mission Trip Opportunity: We will be taking a team to Napa to help repair

homes damaged in the August 2014 earthquake on May 22nd-28th. All are

invited to go! If you are interested please contact Sue Harriss

(slharriss@cox.net).

M&M Fundraiser: This mission trip fundraiser will start on Sunday, March 6th.

M&M tubes will be handed out after worship. On the following two Sundays we

hope that you will return the empty M&M tubes with a donation of quarter,

cash, or checks. We will be raising fund to support the Napa Valley Mission trip.

There is also the potential for a mission trip to Belize in the fall to help with the

continued construction of a Methodist high school.

Be Love-Ministries that send us out to serve in Irvine, Orange County, and to the ends of the earth

We Need Your Help with Preparing Sack Lunches!

We need volunteers to help us prepare sack lunches for our homeless neighbors on Friday March 18 at 4:30p in the

Fellowship Hall. It takes less than an hour to make 200 lunches with many helping hands doing the work. It is fun too!!

These lunches will go to the Family Shelter hosted by the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Ana.

Here are some photos our last sack lunch preparation event.

Concern America’s Walk Out of Poverty

On behalf of UUMC, join Michael Gilbert and Susan McClintic in Concern America’s Walk Out of Poverty. You’ll remem-

ber that we were introduced to Concern America during our International Food and Fun Festival, when Executive Direc-

tor John Straw spoke in worship. We were able to give the organization $2000 for their ongoing work. The event is on

April 9th at 7am in Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley. More information can be found on

www.concernamerica.org. The organization supports the education of health promoters in underserved areas such as

Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and Mozambique.

EL NIN O PHOTO DAY EL NIN O, MEXICO

You are invited to help the children of this community by taking

their photos, measuring their shoe sizes, recording information,

translating Spanish, and sponsoring them. If you would like to

participate meet at Irvine Presbyterian Church on March 19th at

7AM. Contact Jeffrey for more information! jkuru05@gmail.com

Believe-Children and Family Ministries

Appearing at Kid Jam

March 6th: Joan and The Caterpillars

March 13th: Captain Nate

March 20th: Noiseful Joy singing in Worship

March 27th: Easter crafts and fun!! March 24th

Child Behavior Pathways

We are hosting classes for parents of children ages 3 to 5 focused on helping parents manage their children’s behavior.

This course is offered in conjunction with the University of California Irvine and he Children’s Hospital of Orange Coun-

ty. The courses include techniques to increase positive parent-child interactions, tools for responding to attention

seeking behaviors, and approaches for preventing disruptive behaviors. Enroll at www.childbehaviorpathways.com.

Safe Sanctuaries Training

We are offering two opportunities for all our volunteers to be training through the Safe Sanctuaries program. We es-

pecially encourage all our volunteers who work with children and youth to attend. The first training will be on Tuesday

March 15th at 2pm in Room D in the Education Building. The second opportunity for training will be on Sunday March

20th at 11am in Room D of the Ed Building. Thank you to Don Dressler who will leading us in this important train-

ing.

April 14th through June 9th, 6-8pm

Registration for Vacation Bible School is now

available online!

http://uumcirvine.org/events/vacation-bible-

18422 Culver Dr

Irvine, CA 92612

Worship With Us!

Sunday mornings at 9:30 in the Sanctuary (English language)

Sunday mornings at 9:30 in the Fellowship Hall (Korean language)

Sunday Afternoons at 1:00 in Ed-A (Japanese language)