12 Days of Christmas: Epiphany

Looks like I forgot to post information about our later Advent and Christmas Eve services. Sorry about that. We thoroughly enjoyed the children's Christmas Pageant and bell choir on Dec. 22, and had a full house for our lovely Christmas Eve service, featuring harpists, violin, choir, carols, Communion, and candlelight. If you weren't able to attend, I hope you'll visit us some Sunday morning (10am) in the near future.

This Sunday, January 6, is (the first day of) Epiphany, when we recall the story of the Magi (wise ones) who followed a star from the east to bring gifts to the young Jesus. Traditionally, the 12 days of Christmas began with December 25 and ended with January 6. The story of the Magi is told only in the 1st Gospel (Matthew 2:1-12), and implies that Mary and Joseph were staying in a house in Bethlehem when their foreign visitors arrived. In this story, there is a strong undercurrent of danger and political unease, as King Herod reacts to the news of a new king being born with paranoia and violence. The gifts that the Magi bring represent attributes that the Gospel writer wished to affirm about Jesus: gold for a king, frankincense for a priest, and myrrh for a body to be buried. But the text does not specify that there were 3 people, nor that they were kings. (For a more extensive critical reading of this text, check out this Lectionary Homiletics article.)

The Highlands UMC Worship Band will add to our music this week, as we enter the season of Epiphany. The term "epiphany" means "to make known," or "to reveal," and the focus of the season is on the ways in which God's revelation in Jesus was made known to the world, especially through the early signs and wonders of Jesus' life and ministry: his baptism by John in the Jordan, turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana, and his transfiguration on the mountain with Peter, James, and John.

I hope you will join us to experience and know for yourself the love and light of Christ made known in our world 2000 years ago and continually today!

Advent waiting, preparation, celebration

Last-minute reminder:
Tonight, Friday, December 7, is our monthly Parents' Night Out. Childcare is provided from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. for any members of the community who wish to participate. Parents may register with the church office or just show up at 6pm; first child is $20 and each sibling is $15.

Advent is underway, and this Sunday our worship will focus on "A Vision of Peace," drawing from Isaiah 11:1-10. We prepare to welcome Christ into our lives again in the form of a helpless baby, born to unmarried parents with no resources, in a strange city, in a forgotten corner of occupied territory. God does enter the world in strange ways sometimes! Worship is at 10:00 a.m. each Sunday.

Next Friday, December 14 we'll have a Game Night for all ages! Starting at 6:30 p.m., bring a plate of Christmas treats to share. We will have games galore for adults and kids. Christmas music playing. Elves running around. Childcare will be provided. Parents bring sleeping bags for the kids for watching a Christmas movie. (This is a great opportunity to bring a friend to church!)

Saturday, December 15 we'll offer a special morning of Parents' Day Out for those who need to get some Christmas shopping done without the little ones underfoot! Same rates as on our first Friday evenings ($20/first child, $15/sibling) for children to come, play, and enjoy some Christmas craft activities from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. A snack/light lunch will be served. Please call or email the church if you wish to sign up.

At the same time that morning, we'll have a Church Clean-Up to prepare for Christmas guests. A variety of projects are available for willing and able bodies of all ages!

Sunday, December 16 our worship will explore the "Song of Love" that is part of this season. We'll hear and sing different versions of the Magnificat, the poetic response of Mary to the news that she would bear a holy child, as well as the meaning of Christ's coming as a love song that God sings to us.

At Highlands UMC, all people are welcome. I hope you'll join us for worship at this wonderful time of year!

Another year is done...

... another liturgical year, that is. This Sunday, November 25, is the final Sunday in our worship calendar before the year starts over again with Advent on December 2. We will reflect on the turning of the seasons, the seasons of the life of Jesus, and the life of the church. Pastor Betty is preaching.

There will be no choir rehearsal tomorrow, November 21. Anyone who wishes to sing with the choir this Sunday may join us at 9:30 a.m. in the parlor to go over a song from The Faith We Sing, our hymnal supplement.

Enjoy time with family and friends this week, and may you have much to be thankful for!


Sneak preview of things to come:

Advent begins Sunday, December 2, with the theme The Word of Hope. As we prepare to welcome Christ into the world and our lives once more, we will experience Scripture and the message of this season of waiting through a variety of senses and arts. December 9 will focus on A Vision of Peace.

Friday, December 7 will be our monthly Parents' Night Out, every first Friday. Childcare is provided from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. for any members of the community who wish to participate. Parents may register with the church office; first child is $20 and each sibling is $15.

Friday, December 14 we'll have a Game Night for all ages! Starting at 6:30 p.m., bring a plate of Christmas treats to share. We will have games galore for adults and kids. Christmas music playing. Elves running around. Childcare will be provided. Parents bring sleeping bags for the kids for watching a Christmas movie. (This is a great opportunity to bring a friend to church!)

Hope to see you at Highlands UMC!

Time to Give Thanks

'Tis the season to reflect with gratitude on all that blesses our lives, and this Sunday we will celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving with a service of song, sharing, and Communion. We will focus particularly on the blessings of the earth and the natural world, and all will be invited to share what they are thankful for this year. Worship is at 10am.

(Don't be intimidated by the roofing work taking place - it's part of our Sacred Surroundings efforts to renew the exterior of the building even as our congregation is experiencing new life in God's love. On Sunday you should be able to enter through either the 32nd Ave or Osceola St entrances without obstruction. We are open during reconstruction!)

A special thanks to Denise Moore, Chair of Finance, for all her hard work in coordinating the Stewardship Campaign: we will (Sunday or soon) have good news to share with you about the faithfulness of our congregation and the future of our church! If you have not yet made a pledge and would like to commit to sharing your time, talents, or resources with Highlands for next year, please contact the church office for a pledge card.

Building a Life of Service

Have you ever wondered why we call our gathering each Sunday a worship "service"? Do you think of it as a time to give services or receive services? Appropriately, the Greek word leitourgia, from which we get our English word "liturgy" (generally referring to the order or form of worship) means "the work of the people," so there must be some connection between work, worship, and ministry in the world.

This Sunday, October 21, we will celebrate Laity Sunday on the theme of "Building a Life of Service," part of our "Building a Life Together" stewardship (and discipleship) campaign this month. While we won't attempt to answer every question, I hope you will join us for an exploration of what it means to worship God and follow Christ by serving each other and those around us. Pastor Betty will be back with us, but the laypeople are in charge this week!

In case anyone's checking in here who may have missed the email announcement, please keep Ginger Thomas and her family in your prayers on the death of her grandmother, Harrietta Griffith. Harrietta was a member of Highlands UMC as a young adult and returned in recent years with Ginger. Services will be at Olinger Crown Hill (29th and Wadsworth) tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., with a reception at the church afterwards.

Happy Coming Out Day!

Today is National Coming Out Day, an opportunity for people to be honest about their lives and for straight allies to show support for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning friends, families, neighbors, coworkers and colleagues. Highlands UMC is a community of faith that celebrates people of any sexual orientation and gender identity, a place where we proclaim the Good News that God's love knows no bounds.

This Saturday - final reminder - is the Northwest Denver CROPWalk, starting at 9am from Highlands Lutheran Church at 40th and Irving. Even if you don't have time to collect sponsors, you could show up and join us for the walk - we walk because millions of people in the two-thirds world have to walk several miles each day, for employment, food, and water.

This Sunday, October 14, Pastor Kerry will preach on "Building a Life of Faith," the first Sunday in our stewardship campaign focusing on "Building a Life Together." I know, you don't want to hear about money in church, but trust me, stewardship is about much more than just meeting the church budget needs for the year: it's about a way of living out your faith with trust, gratitude, and generosity. Worship is at 10am, with Christian Education for all ages at 9am. We hope you'll stay and get to know us a little during our Fellowship Hour (more like half an hour, depending on who stays and what the food is!) right after worship!

Next Tuesday evening, October 16, Missy and Paul Snyder will host the first Home Meeting for folks to reflect on what stewardship means in a more personal setting. Contact the church office to learn more.

Blessings on your week!

This Week: Guest Preacher Rev. Maggie Roe, World Communion Sunday

This Sunday, October 7, we are privileged to have Rev. Maggie Roe, a Chaplain for The Denver Hospice, share a message with us. We are also celebrating World Communion Sunday, an international ecumenical observance that reminds us of the unity of the Body of Christ around the world, even in our diversity. Judy Hagerman is providing music during Communion. I hope you will join us for this special service!

This is also a very quick last-minute reminder that "Parents' Night Out" is this evening (6:00 - 10:00 p.m.), offering childcare to the community. If you would like to help out, or if you would like to register your children, please contact Kristi Conroy. This is a new ministry we are offering the first Friday evening of every month, and it is only possible if many people serve as volunteers.

And don't forget that next Saturday, October 13, is the Northwest Denver CROPWalk. If you would like to help fight hunger by walking, or by sponsoring someone else to walk, please contact a member of the Missions Committee.

Stay tuned for information about our upcoming Stewardship Campaign, "Building a Life Together"!

Missions & More

Tomorrow, Sunday, September 30, we will have a Spaghetti Dinner to learn more about and support the CROPWalk of northwest Denver, which takes place in two weeks, Saturday, October 13. CROPWalk is a fundraiser and educational opportunity for Church World Service, an international, ecumenical relief and development organization. Walkers visit local food pantries, soup kitchens, and other hunger-relieving ministries in the neighborhood, and funds raised are divided between international hunger-fighting efforts and those same local hunger ministries.

While this post is very late notice for tomorrow's dinner, I hope it will be in time to be helpful in getting the word out about the CROPWalk - walkers and sponsors are still needed.

The Process Theology discussion group met this past Thursday for the first time, and will meet again the fourth Thursday in October, 10/25, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Thanks to all who came for Leadership Training this morning - we had many good conversations and exciting ideas brainstormed for the future of ministry at Highlands UMC. Stay tuned (and join us Sunday mornings at 10am) to learn more about the fruits of our work together!

Fall at Highlands UMC

Okay, clearly I am a serious delinquent in this task, and should be taken out back and shot. Or at least smacked up side the head once or twice. Sorry.

Fall and the program year are well underway at Highlands! Our theme for the year is "The Church Under Reconstruction," as our building will soon be surrounded by scaffolding for the renovations and restoration supported by our State Historical Fund grant, awarded earlier this year. But we are also reflecting on the ways in which our congregation, and the wider church, is in a time of reconstruction, re-imagining, and resurrection as we acknowledge that the world has changed and is changing, that old certainties are no longer adequate, that we have more questions than answers, and that we are called to move forward in faith to live in this world that God loves in new and creatively faithful ways. I hope you will consider joining us some Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. for Christian education for all ages, and 10:00 a.m. for worship.

Thanks to all who helped with the Rummage Sale this weekend - your time and effort were incredibly valuable, and we raised just over $1400!

This Thursday, Sept. 27, an adult discussion group will begin focusing on Process Theology. Process Theology is a way of understanding God to be at work in the world through natural and human processes, a belief system that takes science seriously and respects free will. The class will meet the 2nd and 4th Thursday evening of each month, probably through January. Call the church office, 303-477-5857, for more details.

This Saturday, Sept. 29, we will have Leadership Training for all chairs and members of committees, as well as anyone else who might be interested in how the different areas of church life relate and the work that gets done behind the scenes. We'll be in the Parlor (2nd floor) from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Hope to see you there!

Coming soon...

Sunday, September 30: Pastor Betty (Rev. Dr. Betty J. Bradford) preaching.

Friday, October 5: Parents' Night Out, childcare provided for any family in the community from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. $20 for one child, $15 per sibling. Contact Kristi Conroy or the church to sign up.

Sunday, October 7: World Communion Sunday, celebrating the unity of the church around the world. Guest preacher Rev. Maggie Roe, Chaplain for Denver Hospice.

Sunday, October 14: Pastor Kerry (Rev. Kerry Greenhill) preaching; beginning of Stewardship Campaign: "Building a Life Together." Focusing on Faith as a necessary ingredient to our life as a community.

Sunday, October 21: Laity Sunday, "Building a Life of Service." Celebrating how all of us as the Body of Christ are needed to carry out God's work in the world.

Prayer Concerns and Announcements for this week

For those who may have missed the announcement in worship yesterday, please keep Pastor Betty and her family in your prayers. She has traveled to San Diego this week to be with her daughter Heather in a time of crisis. Prayers for healing, strength, peace, and guidance would be appreciated.

On a happier note, we were greatly blessed by the stories shared by Rose Red Elk / Red Feather Woman in yesterday's celebration of Native American ministries and culture, and by Highlands UMC member Susie Aikman reminding us of her ministry with alterNative Voices radio (Sunday mornings on KUVO) - visit http://www.alternativevoices.org/ to learn more.

This Sunday we will welcome retired pastor Rev. John Lee to preach at Highlands. With Sheena still on vacation and Rocky Mountain Annual Conference taking place this week, we could use some help in producing the bulletin - please let me know if you might have a couple hours to volunteer. (Or if you are already planning to help out, let me know that, too!)

Annual Conference begins Wednesday evening, and is taking place at the Marriott-Denver Tech Center. Worship services are open to the public, and will take place:
Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Communion Service; offering will go to GraceWorks Community, the Bishop's Young Adult Initiative
Friday at 7:30 p.m. Memorial Service; offering will go to Global AIDS Fund
Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Ordination/Commissioning Service; offering will go to the Central Conference Pension Initiative

Mariah Hayden, our former Student Pastor, will be commissioned Saturday evening as a probationary elder. If you are interested in attending worship, or to learn more about the issues facing Annual Conference this year, visit http://www.rmcumc.org/COI/ac/ac2007/index.htm or just send me a note. Please keep our Annual Conference in your prayers as the delegates (including our own Kathy Moore) make decisions about the structure, administration, and ministries of the United Methodist Church in our own region and around the world.
Blessings on your lives and ministries!

Communion, Wisdom, Membership, Pentecost

May promises to be a month of celebration for Highlands UMC. I hope you will join us as we finish the Easter season and move to Pentecost, the birthday of the Christian church.

This Saturday, May 5, all members of the congregation are invited to come for our (more or less) semi-annual workday. Indoor and outdoor tasks are available; all ages are welcome to come and help starting at 9 a.m.

Sunday, May 6, we celebrate Holy Communion. All are welcome at Christ's table. We will enjoy special music from violinist Judy Hagerman and Jackie Shaffer on organ.

Sunday, May 13, Mother's Day: Honoring the Wisdom of God, Holy Sophia, considered by many to be the feminine nature of God.

Sunday, May 20, we welcome new members to our congregation, and all of us renew our commitment to support the church with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service.

Tuesday, May 22, we will have an informational evening about the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, and what we can do to help stop the violence. We will hear from Rev. Heidi McGinness, an ordained Presbyterian minister who has spent time in Darfur with Christian Solidarity International. All are welcome to come and learn about this wartorn part of God's world and our human family.

Sunday, May 27 is Pentecost, when we hear the story of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the gathering of disciples fifty days after Christ's death and resurrection. We celebrate the movement of the Spirit in our own midst, and remember the call to live as disciples who see visions and dream dreams of the Reign of God.

I hope you will join us at Highlands UMC this month. Worship is at 10:00 a.m. each Sunday. Please visit the church office, call, or email for more information (see "About Highlands" at right). May God continue to bless you richly in this season of new life!

Christ is risen! Alleluia! Make a joyful noise!

This Sunday, April 15: "Joyful Noise Sunday" - come and respond to the good news of Resurrection by making a joyful noise! Pastor Kerry will preach on "Getting in Touch with Reality." The Highlands Worship Band will provide some of our music. All are welcome.

Next week:

Sunday, April 22, Earth Day: Highlands UMC will observe Evolution Sunday, celebrating the earth God has given us, the science that informs us, and the faith that inspires us. Pastor Betty will preach. Sacred dance to James Weldon Johnson's poem, "The Creation," and jazz musician Lee Ann Gott bring special elements to our worship.

Holy Week at Highlands UMC

I don't know if anyone out there in cyberspace is still checking in at this site, since I've been so delinquent in updating it for the past six months. I apologize; life has been very busy!

This week is Holy Week, when we remember the last week of Jesus' life, from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey - forming a powerfully humble contrast to the imperial procession of Caesar entering on his fine horse at the other end of the city - to his death on the cross, and then Easter Sunday's joyful news of Resurrection.

This year Highlands is holding a Good Friday service, April 6 at 6:30 p.m. We will reflect on the Seven Last Words (sayings) of Christ through word and song. All are welcome to this contemplative service remembering Jesus' final hours on the cross.

Easter Sunday (April 8), we are offering a Pancake Breakfast from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., followed by our Service of Resurrection and Communion at 10:00 a.m. All are welcome, not only in the church but also at the table. We will be blessed by violin, organ, and extra choir members in our musical praise, and we close worship by singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. Please join us for this joyful celebration!

Coming soon:

Tuesday, April 10: Administrative Council meeting, 7:00 p.m. Very important meeting with updates from our committee chairs and the beginning discussion of leadership training.

Sunday, April 15: Pastor Kerry will preach on "Getting in Touch with Reality." The Highlands Worship Band will provide some of our music. All are welcome.

Sunday, April 22, Earth Day: Highlands UMC will observe Evolution Sunday, celebrating the earth God has given us, the science that informs us, and the faith that inspires us. Pastor Betty will preach. Sacred dance to James Weldon Johnson's poem, "The Creation," and jazz musician Lee Ann Gott bring special elements to our worship.

At Highlands UMC, all people are truly welcome, regardless of age, race, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, immigration or employment status, educational background, income level, ability/disability, marital/family situation, political party, favorite color, or preferred style of dress. We hope you will join us soon!