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Lay Servant Ministries BASIC (Foundation) Class THURSDAYS OCTOBER 20th, 27th NOVEMBER 3rd, 10th, 17th from:  6:00-8:00 pm ON ZOOM You will need to order your book:  Lay Servant Ministries by Sandy Zeigler Jackson and Brian Jackson  ISBN# 978-0-88177-626-3 It can be purchased from Cokesbury and also on Amazon. This course is a foundation for all courses in Lay Servant Ministry. You will need to attend all 10 hours for credit and complete a survey  at the end of the class in order to receive ...

Jesus calls us to lives lived abundantly and provides us with guidance on how to do just that throughout his ministry. In this age and our culture, we recognize there are so many ways we can distracted and mislead in ways that do not create an environment that helps us or others live abundant lives- in body, mind, and spirit. As we continue hosting learning opportunities on Zoom, I want to share with you the upcoming event dates and topics. All zoom sessions are from 6 to 7:15 pm on the dates ...

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations have called Israel an “Apartheid State” for its numerous human rights violations against Palestinians.  Now the Oregon-Idaho Conference has joined them by passing a resolution at its most recent Annual Conference affirming that “apartheid is antithetical to the Gospel message.”  The resolution, which was submitted by the OR-ID Holy Land Task Force and Methodist Federation for Social Action, and passed by a 145-48 vote,  calls on ...

Registration is open for a mission trip to Give Ye Them to Eat (henceforth to be known as a GYTTE) in Puebla and Tlancualpican, Mexico March 3-12, 2023. The trip will be led by Dee Poujade of First UMC, Portland. The Team Information flyer provides the pertinent information regarding qualifications for participation, the scope of the work and other activities, general cost and practical information.  The Program Overview tells more about what GYTTE is and does. To join the team, interested ...

For years, Kuna United Methodist Church in Kuna, Idaho, has worked with local stylists to offer free back-to-school haircuts for kids. These usually happened on a weekday. This year, the haircut event was combined with a church BBQ and game night on the Sunday evening just before the first day of school.  Despite temperatures approaching 100 degrees, three stylists from Dapper Dan’s, a local salon/barbershop in Kuna, set up outdoors under shade canopies with fans. Whole families enjoyed dinner ...

Rev. Jefferson Chao is exhausted – but the kind of exhausted that comes from pouring your heart into your community.   He spent the last two weeks working with volunteers to distribute 5,000 backpacks to kids attending more than 50 different schools in Beaverton, Oregon, and he’s helped with the distribution of more than 50,000 pounds of food, COVID-19 vaccine clinics and more. That doesn’t count the months of work that went into making it all happen, either.   “The community is my church,” said...

Portland Area Youth Workers will be hosting a regional youth event on Sunday October 9th. Live Action Clue is a fun event where youth participants become detectives and try to solve a mystery, interviewing the six suspects from the popular board game. It's a wild and fun race to the finish and there are prizes for the winners. This is the first time our area youth will come together in person since 2019 and we can't wait to restart this yearly tradition! The event is at Salmon Creek United ...

Wallowa Lake Camp is celebrating 100 years of camping ministry—100 years around the campfire with a special celebration scheduled August 19 and 20th. The camp is in the Wallowa Valley on the ancestral home of Chief Joseph and the Wallowa band of Niimiipuu (Nez Perce) people. Everyone is invited to attend. The celebration will begin on Friday night with a benefit Concert with Heidi Muller and Bob Webb, both veteran performers. The concert starts at 7 p.m. in front of Bailey Lodge. Donations will ...

This year marks 100 years since outdoor ministry began at Suttle Lake Camp. A Labor Day Weekend event will celebrate the generations of campers and leaders that have passed through the forest 14 miles west of Sisters, Oregon in the Deschutes National Forest. Beginning as an outdoor adventure for Methodist Church of Madras members in 1920, the first of many Epworth League Institutes in 1922 provides a beginning marker for ministry to youth and adults over the century. From that outpost beginning,...

With wildfire season beginning across the west, the hope and prayer is always that everyone stays safe. But the reality is, our churches and communities need to be ready to respond. While – knock on wood – no fires are posing immediate threats to churches and communities across the Oregon-Idaho Conference this moment, interim disaster response coordinator Louise Kienzle is sounding the alarm bell for churches to start creating more disaster response kits as the supply is woefully low. If and ...