Kindred in Christ,

This has been a tough week for some of us, as we have had to deal with extended power outages and debris clean up in our neighborhoods. I appreciated those of us that have been community and have checked in with one another during these last few days. And I have celebrated with you and others who have let us know that their power has been restored. Praying that as you read this, your power is back, or will be back very soon. And if you find yourself still in need and could use help from our church community, please reach out to me at:

Paul.Ortiz@ugathering.org.

In all of this, I am reminded of the importance of creating community and extending hospitality toward one another. This Sunday we will gather with various community partners and attempt to do just that! We are joining forces with Green Lake UMC, Woodland Park UMC, and GLSA (childcare program) to co-host a brunch church event starting at 10:30 AM. RSVP and indicate what you can bring below.

As I prepare and collaborate for this event with many of you and others, I am reminded of the story of Jesus feeding the multitude (Matt 14:13-21). At first, the disciples see that there are only five loaves and two fishes. Yet after Jesus gives thanks, blesses, and breaks the loaves, he invites the disciples to begin distributing this small gift among the hungry crowd. And as the story goes, five thousand were fed that day, and there were leftovers! This story can be interpreted as God miraculously multiplying the elements until all had enough to eat. Yet, perhaps the more meaningful miracle would be that once one person offered their small gift of five loaves and two fishes, it inspired others in the crowd to also share the little they were holding on to. And by the end of the disciples going around the multitude, all had been blessed and moved to share what they had with others, and all were fed through God’s work, through the power of community. My hope is that we will all share what we can with each other and with our community partners and see what miracles Jesus might do through us!

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

© Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com

Kindred in Christ,

It has been a heavy week. If you are like me and others I have been checking in with, you are likely still feeling the grief of the results of the election.  Yet while this has been a bad week, I hope you also know that it is not the final week. And that God’s story is not over, and I am thankful that you are part of that story with us. We are glad you are here!

I was reminded this week that the kind of community we are and strive to be—LGBTQIA+ inclusive, multi-ethnic, antiracist, seeking justice in the way of Jesus—is needed now more than ever. So, I hope you are finding supportive community in the days to come. Please reach out to me if you would like to process and pray with someone.

And I would like to share with you a prayer by Jan Richardson that I have meditated on these last few days. I offer it to you now, and any time you feel as if the world you knew is coming to an end.

Blessing When the World Is Ending

Look, the world
is always ending
somewhere.

Somewhere
the sun has come
crashing down.

Somewhere
it has gone
completely dark.

Somewhere
it has ended
with the gun,
the knife,
the fist.

Somewhere
it has ended
with the slammed door,
the shattered hope.

Somewhere
it has ended
with the utter quiet
that follows the news
from the phone,
the television,
the hospital room.

Somewhere
it has ended
with a tenderness
that will break
your heart.

But, listen,
this blessing means
to be anything
but morose.
It has not come
to cause despair.

It is simply here
because there is nothing
a blessing
is better suited for
than an ending,
nothing that cries out more
for a blessing
than when a world
is falling apart.

This blessing
will not fix you,
will not mend you,
will not give you
false comfort;
it will not talk to you
about one door opening
when another one closes.

It will simply
sit itself beside you
among the shards
and gently turn your face
toward the direction
from which the light
will come,
gathering itself
about you
as the world begins
again.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. — Jeremiah 29:11 (NRSVUE)

Kindred in Christ,

These words of scripture were addressed to a people exiled, while trying to navigate a new reality. Most of us haven’t literally been driven from our homes or country, but I suspect these words from Jeremiah have resonance. Our lives are filled with change. Nonetheless, God assures us of a future filled with hope. On the path of discipleship, we learn that we are active participants with God in creating that future together!

As your pastor, I give thanks for the long and faithful legacy of this congregation and all the saints of our past, which have brought us to this time and place in our history. And together, we will continue to create and sustain a hopeful, joyful, loving and just community, committed to nothing less than changing our city and our world for the better.

This Sunday begins our 2025 Pledge Campaign (learn more here). If University Gathering UMC has made a difference in your life in the past, then I invite you to prayerfully consider giving toward our collective future! Your financial pledge allows us to create a responsible budget, build inclusive community in the way of Jesus, engage with new people in meaningful ways, and further our legacy of faith and social justice with our neighbors. I hope you will join us on Sundays through November, in-person or online, for our pledge campaign worship series, as together we envision, cultivate, and celebrate a future with hope.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

Happy Feast Day of Saint Francis of Assisi! In honor of the-nature-loving saint many faith communities bless and celebrate pets, animals, and the environment during this season. I hope you will join us tomorrow for our own Pet Blessing and Costume Pawty event (more info below).

There is a famous painting, which you may have seen before depicting Saint Francis preaching to the birds. This is of course based on the stories and legends of him proclaiming God’s love to all of creation, and the creatures miraculously stopping to listen, and being captivated by his loving presence. Yet, in the modern depiction above, artist Kelly Latimore flips the script with his icon of “A Bird Preaches to Saint Francis.” I really appreciate this take. It is a subtle yet significant difference!

Much of what I appreciate about Saint Francis is that he invites us to share in a spirituality of slowing down and paying attention to creatures. Francis considered all creation his siblings in God, and as such he encounters the Divine presence in “Brother Sun”, “Sister Moon”, “Brother Wolf”, and even “Sister Death.”

Join us Saturday for the Pet Blessing and Costume Pawty and join us Sunday as we continue in our series For the Beauty of the Earth. We will reflect further on the life of the hippie saint, and celebrate World Communion Sunday!

And in the meantime, may you find times to slow down, and listen deeply to the sermons of our siblings the birds and other creatures:

“Best of any song

is the bird song

in the quiet, but first

you must have the quiet”

–Wendell Berry

‘A Timbered Choir’

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

I hope you are enjoying the welcome of the autumn season as much as I am. The changing of the leaves and the brilliant fall colors filling our Seattle landscapes invite us to pause and remember the beauty and sacredness of creation. Fall always feels like a season of homecoming. Our children return to school, our summer travels come to an end, our church attendance increases, and we fall back into the rhythms that give us grounding and a sense stability. And as we gather the harvest of the season, we are also re-invited into a sense of grounded-ness in our mother earth.

As a follower of Jesus, I find it significant that in some beautiful and mysterious way, Christ became human, and shared something in common with all creation. With the plant, Christ shares life, with the animals, Christ shares sensation, with the stone Christ shares substance, and on and on. Christ reveals our own human interconnection and interdependence with all the earth, if we have eyes to see it, and hearts to embrace it.

As we continue in our autumn series, For the Beauty of the Earth, may we make time for connecting with our sibling creation and remember that we cannot ignore the world and still try to love God. Rather, we must love God through, in, with, and, even because of this world. For this is how God’s love comes to us through the incarnate Christ.

And to help open our hearts fuller to the beauty and mystery of the season, I invite you to meditate on the prayer below by Mirabai Starr, from her book St. Francis: Brother of Creation (Contemplations & Living Wisdom):

Dear God,


You created the world


to serve our needs


and to lead us to you. 

Through our own unconsciousness


we have lost the beautiful relationship


we once had with the rest of creation. 

Help us to see


that by restoring our relationship with you


we will also renew our connection
with all your creation. 

Give us the grace to see


all animals as gifts from you


and to treat them with respect,


for they are your creation. 

We pray for all animals


who are suffering


as a result of our neglect. 

May the order you originally established


be once again restored


to the whole world. . .

Amen.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz