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

Kindred in Christ,

I find it significant that Jesus’ parables and teachings seem to be based on human, animal, and nature observations, and not classroom theology. If we pay attention in the gospel accounts, Jesus is inviting us to focus on the wildflowers, the red sky, a hen, the fig tree, a donkey caught in a pit, the birds of the air, the grass in the field, the temple animals he released from their cages, and on and on. He carefully reflects upon the seemingly “nonreligious” natural world and invites us to encounter God in the beauty of the earth. It also appears that Jesus did most of his ministry outdoors.

During the coming of the autumn season, as the leaves begin to collect on the ground in stunning purple and orange colors, I find it easier to be mindful of Jesus’ invitation to pause and notice creation, and to remember that everything created is a reflection of God. This invitation helps me move away from seeing nature as secular or merely functional, which has created much of the loneliness and seeming meaninglessness in our modern world.

Join us this coming Sunday as we start our new series For the Beauty of the Earth. We will reflect further on the type of spirituality Jesus offers, which is not dependent upon a belief system or religious affiliation, and almost entirely upon our capacity for simple presence and encounter with God in creation.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

This past week was a bittersweet Sunday, as we celebrated Joey Chin’s time with us and sent him forth to Wesley Seminary in Washington D.C.! Thanks to all those that contributed to the celebration with their time, talent, and cooking skills! It was a meaningful time of worship and fellowship. I personally felt proud of Joey as he preached his first sermon, and I also felt proud of all of us for being a community that brings new people in, nurtures them, and then sends them out into the world to make a difference!

We are currently in a series titled, Thresholds: Moving Through Life’s Transitions. Together we have reflected on the many thresholds in our lives as individuals and in our congregational life as a collective, and the unique ways God shows up on those liminal spaces. Joey continued this theme by reflecting on the threshold he now finds himself in, leaving Seattle and starting at Wesley Seminary. He helped us further reflect on our own journey as a community. And I really appreciated the following quote he mentioned during his sermon:

“What if the promised land isn’t actually the destination? What if it’s not pearly gates or permanent occupation or safety or a place where everyone knows your name? What if home was always going to be the walking and who you were walking with. …This is what Jesus invites us into, this is the peace that God offers, not the lack of tension but a recognition of the tension. There is no sound that comes from the guitar unless there is tension on the strings.” – Dr. Brian Bantum

May we continue to journey forward with one another, embracing the tension and changes along the way. And may we recognize that we are already home whenever we are on the move together in God.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz