Kindred in Christ,

In the letter to the ancient church of Philippi, the Apostle Paul writes, “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me” (Philippians 3:12). If in some way Christ has touched or laid hold of your life through the ministry of University Gathering UMC, then we invite you to join us in pressing on and running the race into our future. Your financial pledges help us not only create a responsible operating budget for the year to come, but empower us to continue unfolding God’s love, inclusion, and justice in new ways in the U District of Seattle. 

This past year we welcomed nine new official members to our congregation! And we have shared power with multiple new leaders who are helping us grow toward the goals that God is laying out before us. Over the past three years of serving as your Lead Pastor, I have witnessed us form teams of both longtime members and new members to help us update our church name to reflect the gathering of people we are called to be, hire a new worship leader to lead us in choir, hymns and new songs, and now we are searching for a new interim location to, among other things, help us have a facility where we can meet during the week and have greater presence and impact in our neighborhood. We resurrected children’s ministry a little over two years ago and we now have an average of 4-7 children attending on Sundays, and new families connecting in our community outreach events and weekly worship. 

In fact, due to this growth, we have discerned that it is the right time to invest further in our children and families ministry as well as outreach. Under the guidance of our Staff Parish Relations Committee and Church Council, we have approved the creation of an updated, full-time staff position for a Children and Families Minister who will work closely with our leadership and myself (Pastor Paul) to both minister to our present children during our weekly gatherings, as well as help host outreach events and connect with new families in our neighborhood. We have already gained traction in both of these fields, and realize that it is time to hire someone full-time to help take us to the next level of intergenerational church growth. I am thrilled that we have discerned to take this next faithful step together! 

This past year we also came together for several all-community conversations and church votes as we discerned how to move forward with our building campaign and decisions around the kind of building project we want to create in the future.  As I recall the journey and all the goals we have accomplished along the way, I also realize that the journey is just beginning! I hope you will prayerfully consider pledging financial resources for the coming year, so that we can run into the future that God has for us together. And I hope you will join us through the month of November for our Running into the Future worship series! 

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

This Sunday we will observe All Saints Day. This is a special time we are invited to remember the “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) that have gone before us, yet in some mysterious way still bless and encourage us to press forward. This is also a season to remember that God’s love is greater than death itself, which invites us (the living) to work against systemic forces that wield oppression and death in the world.

With All Saints and Día de los Muertos coming up, some say the veil between the living and the dead is a little thinner during this time of year. As you move though this season, I invite you to consider, “Who lingers close to your memory? Who walked with you in such a way that challenges you for greater love and justice? Who inspired and shaped the path you travel today?” And remembering that in these days, the veil thins not only towards the past but also towards the future; how are you moving through this life in a way that will help make possible the paths of those who follow?

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

This Sunday we will do worship a little differently. In lieu of a of a full sermon, we will take time to reflect on the church we are becoming and discuss with one another what it means to be on a journey of faith into the unknown. This will lead into a presentation and update from our New Building Search Team (see team members and more info below), and an opportunity for us to vote on the building needs that will guide the search for our new temporary home in the U District. A timeline will also be shared.

It is appropriate that this will conclude our series, Roots: (Re)discovering the Methodist Revival Movement. As we will also explore this Sunday, the early Methodist revival was less concerned about preserving a particular shape and more about continuing an intentional direction. Join the conversation on the direction we are headed as we seek to remain open to the future shapes we will take.

In the meantime, I offer you a prayer by one of my heroes in the faith, Thomas Merton (pictured above). It is an appropriate prayer for a life of faith as individuals and as a collective community:

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,

though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Amen.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

This week we are starting a new worship series titled, Roots. We will explore what it means to be Methodist, which refers to the denomination we are affiliated with. We are going to look at some of the early “roots” that began the growth that is still blooming though us today in new ways.

I believe that to guarantee forward progress; we often must let go of our grip of the past. If we cling too tightly to the past, then we end up dwelling and becoming stuck and ultimately resist God’s forward movement. However, to guarantee the integrity of that forward progress, we also must look at the roots from which we stem. Examining our roots is different from holding on to our past.

As we will explore together, deep within our Methodist roots is an early revival movement, which inspired people to rethink church in their time by prioritizing people over any church model or structure, and to dynamically hold together things like piety (personal faith) and social action.

Whether you are a life-long Methodist, have connected with this tradition more recently (like me!), or are brand new to U Gathering and do not know what “Methodist” even is, I invite you to join us as we (re)discover this early revival movement and what it might means for us today. Along with the sermon series, we will also gather before worship online at 9AM during Enrichment Hour (Zoom link below). There, we will go deeper as I lead us in discussion and exploration on the rise of the early Methodist movement. This is a passion project for me, which I have been dreaming of for some time. And I am excited and grateful to finally dive in deep with each of you!

Alongside You,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

Last week we began our worship series on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount titled Blessed. We considered how after Jesus lists his counter-cultural blessings, he concludes the opening section of his discourse by proclaiming over the gathered congregation, “You are the salt of the earth,” “the light of the world,” and a “city on a hill” (Matt 5:1-15). Too often churches become synonymous with being boring or committed to the status quo. And while we have many lovely traditions, there is often a need to reimagine them and do something new. Jesus invites his followers to not be bland or flavorless. Instead, we are called to be zesty and spicey! He challenges us to stand out and to do something noticeable that draws others in—like a city on a hill.

This past week I also joined seven recent members of our congregation in hosting our latest printmaking pop-up on the lawn of University Heights (see above). And while we began with the concern of getting rained out, the rain cleared, and we ended up hosting our biggest pop-up event yet! We created art with over 50 people and blew bubbles and played with even more families and kids. Some people recognized us and mentioned being happy to see us back. Others asked who we were and wanted to learn more about our church. And, as always, we had a couple sign up for a pastoral meet up over coffee sometime in the next few weeks. We did something interesting that drew people in and created community!

I am excited to continue to find ways of doing church that are zesty and interesting. And I look forward to continuing to explore Jesus’ vision of transformation and discipleship in the Sermon on the Mount over the next few weeks.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz