TWe are celebrating LAITY SUNDAY!

To live holistically, we need gratitude to be part of the mechanism. In secular terms, we could say our lives are better when we live thankfully. Worship, then, needs to make space for gratitude.

We are excited to have a guest speaker: Home Missioner Dr. Louis Porter II from Park Avenue United Methodist Church.

Come worship with us to talk about the ways that we can live in gratitude together.

Worship is available in person and on Facebook LIVE.

Refreshments & Fellowship following service in the SonShine room. ALL ARE WELCOME!

God delivers because God is our shelter. God covers us with pinion because we abide in God. God will rescue us when we call because we live in God’s shadow. We need the security of abiding in God so that we can brave the trials and struggles of this life together.

Come worship with us to talk about the ways that we can feel secure in God's love. We will have a special musician playing What an odd request. “Increase our faith!” Maybe it seems odd because we don’t know what they meant by that. We have no background for the question, no whispered conversations, and the drawing of straws to find the lucky (unlucky?) one who would pose the inquiry. Or maybe it was a spontaneous outburst from a growing frustration of confusion or inability to do what Jesus could do.

Come worship with us to talk about the ways that we can increase our faith together.

Worship is available in person and on Facebook LIVE.

Worship Lead: Marcia Alexander
Liturgist: TBD

Refreshments & Fellowship following service in the SonShine room. ALL ARE WELCOME!

Don't worry about dinner tonight! Come enjoy fellowship and play a board game you haven't touched in a long time. Bring a game with or come and join in someone else's game.

Dinner will be served at 5:30pm.
Activities begin at 6pm.

Dinner will be:
Sloppy Joes (meat and non-meat options)
Salad
Fruit
Dessert

ALL AGES ARE WELCOME! See you there.

Join us at Epworth for lunch and a 4 week book study discussing the book ‘See No Stranger: Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love' by Valarie Kaur.

Lunch will be provided. If you need a copy of the book let us know.

Look forward to discussing this book and finding ways to be better neighbors in our world! ALL ARE WELCOME!

God delivers because God is our shelter. God covers us with pinion because we abide in God. God will rescue us when we call because we live in God’s shadow. We need the security of abiding in God so that we can brave the trials and struggles of this life together.

Come worship with us to talk about the ways that we can feel secure in God's love. We will have a special musician playing as well.

Worship is available in person and on Facebook LIVE.

Worship Lead: Marcia Alexander
Liturgist: MaryEllen Reetz-Pegues
Scripture: Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 + Luke 16:19-31

Refreshments & Fellowship following service in the SonShine room. ALL ARE WELCOME!

We can learn a lot from Psalm 79 about how to address the difficulties of our world in worship. We must tell the truth about the pain, suffering, and dysfunction in our communities, our nation, and the world. Worship is not an escape from the world but a place where we are edified and equipped to live as the people of God in the world. We must not stop at telling the truth about our world, because God’s truth has and will set us free from the chaos and pain that surrounds us.

Come worship with us in person or on Facebook LIVE!

Worship Lead: Marcia Alexander
Liturgist: Brian Lilliquist
Scripture: Psalm 79:1-8 + Luke 16:1-13

After worship join us for refreshments & fellowship in the SonShine room.

Come to the Fall Rummage Sale at Epworth UMC!
We will have household, baby, books, gifts, bars & more.

We will be open 9am - 3pm!

Any questions contact us at epworthumcmplsmn@gmail.com.

Come to the Fall Rummage Sale at Epworth UMC!
We will have household, baby, books, gifts, bars & more.

We will be open 9am - 3pm!

Any questions contact us at epworthumcmplsmn@gmail.com.

How do we find hope? How do we keep hope? In Psalm 14, hope happens somewhere in the space between the comma and the “but”: “You would confound the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge” (Psalm 14:6). But God. But the good news. But grace. We find and keep hope when we name all that is hard in our world, take a breath, and then remember, but God.

Come celebrate in worship with us the confirmation and welcome into membership of Ezekiel Jones. Also participate in communion where ALL are welcome to the table.

Worship Lead: Rev. Cheryl Goode & Marcia Alexander
Liturgist: David Goode
Scriptures: Psalm 14 + Luke 15:1-10

Worship is available in person and on Facebook LIVE!
Treats in celebration of the confirmand will be available after worship in the Sonshine room.

Bring your pets—furry, feathered, or finned to the BLESSING OF ANIMALS. ALL ARE WELCOME!

Pets are an important part of our lives— they bring us joy, comfort, and companionship. Join us for a joyful Blessing of the Animals! Bring your pets—furry, feathered, or finned—
for a special outdoor service celebrating God’s creatures.

Following the service, join us for a Stone Soup lunch as we celebrate the bounty from our summer garden.

Worship Lead: Marcia Alexander
Liturgist: Alex Selikoff
Scripture: Psalm 123:1-6,13-18 & Philemon 1-21

Worship is in person and on Facebook LIVE!

"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it" (Hebrews 13:2).

Unfortunately, we are taught the message of Hebrews 13:2 was, essentially, "Be kind to everyone because you never know when the stranger is actually an angel, and you don't want to miss out on that." But Hebrews 13:1 tells us, "Let mutual love continue."

When we pursue mutual love, we start to recognize strangers as angels, to meet strangers and neighbors alike as embodied messengers of God's goodness and grace. Mutual love requires us to grapple with just how hard it can be to love our neighbors...and ourselves.

Bring your backpack or workbag and get it blessed for the new year!

Worship Lead: Shirley Durr

Liturgist: Nan Rice

We will be worshipping outside on the front lawn so bring a chair to share! ALL ARE WELCOME!

“Those things that cannot be shaken will be removed and taken away. Those things that remain cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:27). The storms will come. The rains, the fires, the shaking, and the gloom are all going to come. What is the Rock that cannot be shaken? To what Rock do we cling when challenged to face the realities and uncertainties of this world while also living deeply into the mysteries of faith? As we build our beloved community, who is with us and who have we forgotten to include?

"Beloved, consider it all joy whenever you face trials of many kind" (James 1:2).

Joy can be a hard thing to nail down. We should not wait to experience joy until suffering and difficulty are past. We can find joy amid hardship. We do not have to feel happy to encounter and experience joy.

Come and renew your sense of joy and be surprised with joy from unexpected places. Hear about the joy that comes from the Ronald McDonald House!

Worship Leader: Nan Rice
Liturgist: Jud Ayers

Join us in person or online - stay for a donut and coffee!

Things Hoped For/Stories of Faith

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). When we start breaking down this definition of faith, it becomes unmanageable. There is still substance to it, but not a substance easily held in the hand, a substance that we can figure out. It's more like a substance that sweeps us up in a current, taking us toward a Beloved Community.

Join us for a more casual, conversation-based worship - complete with brunch served!

Every week we will have a different brunch offered (including allergy friendly options)

Sunday, July 13 - Waffles (regular & gluten free)
Sunday, July 20 - Eggbake (veggie & meat)
Sunday, July 27 - Caramel and Cinnamon Rolls

And there will always be fruit & COFFEE!
Worship starts at 10am. See you then!

Join us for a more casual, conversation-based worship - complete with brunch served!

Every week we will have a different brunch offered (including allergy friendly options)

Sunday, July 13 - Waffles (regular & gluten free)
Sunday, July 20 - Eggbake (veggie & meat)
Sunday, July 27 - Caramel and Cinnamon Rolls

And there will always be fruit & COFFEE!
Worship starts at 10am. See you then!

Join us for a more casual, conversation-based worship - complete with brunch served!

Every week we will have a different brunch offered (including allergy friendly options)

Sunday, July 13 - Waffles (regular & gluten free)
Sunday, July 20 - Eggbake (veggie & meat)
Sunday, July 27 - Caramel and Cinnamon Rolls

And there will always be fruit & COFFEE!
Worship starts at 10am. See you then!

Join us for worship in person OUTSIDE on the front lawn or online!

Worship Lead: Rev. Cheryl Goode
Liturgist: Brian Liliquist
Scripture: Philippians 4:8-9 & Others

PRIDE ACTION DAY!

Drama will be preformed - “Holey, Holey, Holey”

Also we will be making signs for you to use at home, at the Pride parade or wherever you like! See you there.

MUSIC + JOY = EASTER

Scriptures: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 & John 20: 1-18
9am Breakfast followed by worship!

It is Easter; let there be light! Let there be color and music and joy. In everything, let there be joy as we worship this day.

Come celebrate with us in person or on Facebook LIVE!

Worship this day is about standing in silence at the foot of the cross. Too many words get in the way of the weight, the meaning, the moment of this day.

We will have a short worship and then time to gather and do a small art project to help let out our grief for today.

Join us for worship in person or online!

Worship Lead: Rev. Cheryl Goode
Liturgist: Alex Selikoff
Scripture: Luke 19:28-40 & Psalm 31:9-16
COMMUNION will be offered to all.

There is a deeper paradox woven into this day that we could bring to light. The reality is on this day, those who lined the street and laid down their garments and waved their branches and shouted got it right. They shouted, as we know though the Luke text doesn’t record it, “Hosanna.” That had become, as Luke claims, a statement of praise, a celebration of the one who comes. But it also has a translation: “Save us.” That’s what the word “Hosanna” means. “Save us.” So, on that day, the crowd got it right. But they probably didn’t even know it. That’s an assumption, admittedly. We don’t know what was in their minds and hearts on that day. But reading on in the story, we recognize that if, even in the moment, they knew what they were saying, it certainly didn’t last long. To go from “Hosanna” to “Crucify him” seems a long journey.

But maybe it isn’t a long journey. Within each of us is the capacity to claim Christ and reject him almost at the same time. Palm/Passion Sunday is about the celebration and acknowledgement of the one who comes in the name of the Lord. It is a time for declaration of faith and reaffirmation and recommitment to discipleship as we follow Christ with our whole lives. But it is also a time of confession, of acknowledging that we don’t live up to the commitments we have made in the past and that our declarations with our lips seem far from the actions of our lives.

Through it all, however, is the theme that the one who comes will come. No matter how many times we mess up, the Savior still comes, riding into the heart of our city with an offer of redemption, a promise of salvation. And we can rejoice in that.

Join us!

Come to the Spring Rummage Sale at Epworth UMC!
We will have household, baby, books, gifts, bars & more.

We will be open 9am - 3pm!

Any questions contact us at epworthumcmplsmn@gmail.com.

Dinner will be served at 5:30 pm
Art activity starts at 6:00pm

Come and enjoy dinner together and then there will be an art activity for you to explore your creative side. This week we will have painting for all ages and person mosaics to work on!

Dinner will be:
Sloppy Joes (meat and non-meat options)
Salad
Fruit
Dessert

ALL AGES ARE WELCOME! See you there.

Join us for worship in person or online!

Worship Lead: Rev. Cheryl Goode
Liturgist: Jon Fors
Scripture: Psalms 126 & Philippians 3:4b-14

Humor is more difficult than it appears. Laughter too often comes at the expense of another person. Yet, when used well, humor is a binding agent, bringing total strangers together in a shared experience. So, this is not a call for worship to be replaced with a stand-up comedy routine. Yet, a lightness of heart seems called for this week—the ability, perhaps, to see blessings instead of burdens. This laughter is not because something is funny – though it might be. Rather, we laugh because of the sheer joy of living. We give thanks for the gift of living and loving, for being in community, for having space to worship. Gratitude leads our prayer time this week.

Join us!

Join us for worship in person or online!

Worship Leader: Marcia Alexander
Sermon by: MaryEllen Reetz-Peagus
Liturgist: David Goode

Scripture Readings: Psalm 32 & Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Psalm 32 is a Selah psalm. There are only three of them, but they are powerful. Sure, no one knows what they really mean or how they function in the psalm. But there is something intriguing about the placement of the word in Psalm 32. The first one comes after a statement about how difficult life is and how faith is sometimes a burden that we bear. After expressing that pain and admitting that weakness, there is the word “Selah,” and then everything changes. The psalm becomes a celebration, a declaration of faith, a cleansing, a renewal. One of the understandings of selah is that it means to breathe. Some think it is a musical notation for singing or an instrumental interlude like a music bridge. I think it is a call to breathe, to stop and reflect and breathe.

Worship is catching our breath in the busyness of living. It is that moment when we pause and reflect and remember who we are and whose we are. We need selah moments in our lives daily. And when we gather, there should be that sense that we are pausing to breathe and collect and redirect ourselves for the tasks ahead.

The second selah comes after that moment of redirection, confession, and forgiveness. Then a breath, before widening the vision to include others. “Let all who are faithful offer prayer,” the psalmist declares and then gives witness to the power in his life. This is what God is for me, he declares, this is the result of paying attention.

Then the third breath, and it changes again. I will teach and counsel. “Don’t do this,” the psalmist writes, “do this.” Don’t be stubborn but be joyful. In other words, having declared the discipleship journey, the psalm turns to making disciples. This is what we do; this is who we are. This is the work that is set before us. But we can’t do it without stopping to breathe.
So, breathe. Let worship be a breath-giving experience. Let there be space to breathe this day. Let the music help us catch our breath. Let the prayers be breath prayers as we breathe out our confession and breathe in God’s grace and forgiveness. The prodigal couldn’t return home until he stopped and caught his breath. And in that breathing, he saw himself and he saw hope hanging like a rainbow over his head. So, breathe.

Join us!

Dinner will be served at 5:30 pm
Art activity starts at 6:00pm

Come and enjoy dinner together and then there will be an art activity for you to explore your creative side. This week we will have painting for all ages and person mosaics to work on!

Dinner will be:
Sloppy Joes (meat and non-meat options)
Salad
Fruit
Dessert

ALL AGES ARE WELCOME! See you there.

No preservatives, fresh made and good for you! Just $8 each. Order by Friday, February 28th,

Do you have time to lend a hand in cutting up vegetables or making dough? Come on over to the church kitchen and help us prepare for the big pasty making day. All are welcome for a short or long time. Get ready to get your hands dirty!