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Mary Magdalene and Christ the Gardner by Kelly Latimore

Kindred in Christ,

Death and injustice do not have the final word!

Resurrection bursts into the world. It overturns death, oppression, and exclusion. Inspired by John 20:1–18 and Acts 10:34–43, we will remember Mary Magdalene, Peter, and the early followers who witnessed God breaking expectations and widening the circle of belonging. No empire, policy, or prejudice can stand against God’s love.

Join us for a joyful, status-quo-breaking celebration. Our choir will lift their voices. A special brass ensemble will fill the air with triumphant music, all a reminder that life refuses to be contained.

After worship, stay for a potluck meal and Easter egg hunt, a chance to break bread, build community, and share stories of hope. Bring friends, neighbors, anyone seeking renewal and joy.

This Easter, we are also called to justice. On Saturday, a group from our community will stand in solidarity with migrants outside the Northwest Detention Center. God breaks the rules that divide and oppress. We follow, daring to cross boundaries, advocate for the vulnerable, and embody joy in unexpected places.

Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed, alleluia! Come celebrate, proclaim, and live resurrection with us.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Graphic by Illustrated Ministries

Kindred in Christ,

Jesus didn’t enter Jerusalem with dominating force. He came to show another way. And that way still surprises us today.

This Holy Week begins with palms and hosannas, but the story does not end there. In Matthew 21:1–11, Jesus enters Jerusalem on a humble donkey, more like a street protest than a royal parade. While empires rely on spectacle and power, Jesus shows nonviolence, humility, and radical love. That very disruption leads to his arrest and crucifixion. God’s love is not passive. It is courageous. It challenges injustice and invites us to imagine a different world.

This Sunday, we will gather for Palm Sunday worship, waving palms and joining the procession. We will then continue the movement by heading down to the lake for the baptism of M Bredl. In baptism, we encounter holy disruption: a letting go, a dying and rising, and an opening to the unexpected work of God.

Holy Week calls us to move from expectation into wonder and notice how God moves in quiet, surprising, and deeply subversive ways. That movement is not just something we remember—it is something we live together.

On Saturday, our wider community will gather for the No Kings Protest, standing against systems of domination and lifting up justice, dignity, and shared humanity. This echoes Palm Sunday, a public witness to another way of being in the world. You are invited to join me and others, see below for more information.

May we have the courage to follow Jesus this week—not only in celebration, but in the costly, beautiful work of love that transforms the world.

Alongside you,

Pastor Paul Ortiz

Engraving of “The Vision of the Valley of the Dry Bones” by Gustave Doré

Kindred in Christ,

When we look at the world today, it can feel overwhelming. War continues, injustice persists, and so much around us feels fractured or uncertain. It is not hard to find ourselves wondering, “Can anything really change?”

And closer to home, we may ask the same question about our own lives. About strained relationships, unresolved wounds in our families, or parts of ourselves that feel stuck. Can change happen there too?

This Sunday, as we continue our Lenten series The Work of Imagination, we sit with that very question from the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:1–14). In his vision, he stands in a valley of dry bones, surrounded by what seems beyond repair. He confronts the question, “Can these bones live?”

God begins to move. There is a rattling. There is a coming together. There is breath.

In the Gospel, Jesus stands at the tomb of his friend Lazarus (John 11:17–44). He weeps with those who mourn, and then calls life out of death. He reminds us that resurrection is not only something we wait for in the future, but something God is already bringing to life among us.

Together, these stories invite us to see differently. Where we see endings, God is creating beginnings. Where we see what feels lifeless, God is already breathing new life.

I hope you will join us this Sunday as we continue this Lenten journey and open ourselves to the Spirit’s work of renewal in our lives and in our world.

Alongside you,

Pastor Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

As my wife, Kim, and I eagerly await the arrival of our baby in just a few short weeks, I keep thinking about what it will be like to see the world through tiny, new eyes. That fresh perspective reminds me that God calls us to see differently too, not just the beauty around us, but also the places where injustice and suffering remain. This Sunday, our Lenten series, The Work of Imagination, invites us into that kind of seeing with Psalm 23 and John 9:1–41.

Psalm 23 comforts us with God as our shepherd, guiding us through green pastures and shadowed valleys, steady even when the path ahead is uncertain. In the Gospel, we meet a man who has never seen before. Jesus restores his sight, but the story is about more than physical vision. He begins to see the world in a new way, challenging old assumptions and discovering a life transformed by God’s grace.

These readings invite us to stretch our imagination. What might we notice if we looked at the world through God’s eyes? Where might healing, dignity, and restoration appear in places we thought were fixed or lost? Where might we be called to act for justice, bringing light to shadows and hope to places of despair? Lent calls us to pay attention, to wonder, and to imagine the unexpected ways God is at work.

I am grateful for the care and prayers while I was away last week. I am excited to return this Sunday, while still taking it easy. My procedure went well, and I am slowly finding my rhythm again. I am especially thankful that Alex Bodman, a candidate for ministry from Ronald UMC, will be our guest preacher this Sunday. He brings fresh energy and insight.

I hope you will join us this Sunday as we worship, pray, and imagine together, opening our eyes to what God’s love and justice can do in our lives and in the world around us.

Alongside you,

Pastor Paul Ortiz