RONALD UNITED METHODIST CHURCH DECEMBER 2017

VISION STATEMENT AND PURPOSE OF MINISTRY STATEMENT

Purpose of Ministry Statement: We are a responsive, respectful faith community reaching out in service to the needs of those around us with understanding, unlimited compassion and Christ centered support.

Vision Statement: Our vision of sustainable ministry is to be a center of hospitality, hope and service, responding to the spiritual and basic needs of our community.

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Mom Genes Few people turn to the bible to read who “begat” whom in the various ancestral lineages. I can’t remember any-one telling me that they find inspiration in the repetitive patterns and unfamiliar names. So, you may wonder why I would want to spend the month of December focusing on part of Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1:1-6.

“An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah…”

You might also wonder why I’d spill so much ink here when I’ll need to find enough words to fill five sermons. Then again, some of you are just glad you don’t have to be the liturgist who is assigned to read this passage AND make it sound interesting (“Salmon? Is he really named Salmon?)

I was inspired, once again, by Pastor Stan de Pano and the book he chose for the Advent Bible Study he’s lead-ing. Underdogs and Outsiders: A Bible Study on the Untold Stories of Advent. As you might guess, the under-dogs and outsiders are named in the list above. Specifically, they are the five women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bath-sheba (listed as the wife of Uriah), and Mary (who will be the last name listed).

Most genealogies are traced through paternal lines, including Jesus’ in Luke 3:23-38. So, it is strange, if not sub-versive that Matthew included these women. What’s so important about these women? Why was Matthew com-pelled to include them when Luke didn’t ?

Knowing who these women were helps to answer those questions. However, most church-going folks may know something about Ruth and Bathsheba, and quite a bit about Mary. Tamar and Rahab tend to be less familiar. So, if you’re not in Pastor Stan’s Bible Study, you may want to read up on them, as I won’t have enough time to share their whole story in one sermon.

Here’s where you can find their stories: Tamar (Genesis 38); Rahab (Joshua 2 & 6:22-25); Ruth (both chapters); Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 – pay close attention to vs. 1-4). As you read at home and listen on the Sundays in December, it might be helpful to ask or hold onto these ques-tions: What was this woman’s nationality/faith? What does that tell us about God? What characteristics make her an unlikely candidate to be enlisted in God’s saving work? What challenges, obstacles or hardships did she face? How did she overcome them? If our genes carry more than physical characteristics, what traits might she have passed on to Jesus? As we prepare and anticipate the celebration of God coming to us in the flesh, let’s learn what we can from the great grandmothers of Jesus. Blessings,

Pastor Kelly

RONAL D REVIEW 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA 98133

206-542-2484 www.ronaldumc.org.

Pastor: Kelly Dahlman-Oeth

Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors

Sundays

@ 10:45 am

Four-week Series Starts December 3rd Mom Genes:

The Surprising

Women

In Jesus’

Family Tree Powerful

Patient Persistent

Profound

Protective

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DISTRICT GATHERING: Saturday, January 27, 2018

9:00 AM-3:30 PM

TOWARDS A NEW URBAN STRATEGY

With Keynoter Jason Byassee

Jason Byassee is a Professor of Biblical Hermeneutics at Vancou-ver School of Theology. Previously, he was senior pastor of

Boone United Methodist Church in the Western North Carolina Conference. He serves as a contributing editor to Christian Century, and is the author of Trinity: The God We Don't Know, The Gifts of the Small Church, Reading Augustine: A Guide to Confessions, An Introduction to the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, and Praise Seeking Understanding: Reading the Psalms with Augustine. (Eerdmans, 2007). He has also co-authored the upcoming Faithful and Fractured with Dr. Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell. Dr. Byassee will also meet with SPRC's to talk about this book about clergy mental health.

Other workshops will include a meeting of all Lay Leaders, an SPRC training, a redistricting meeting with local UMW's, and sessions on Urban Discipleship, Urban Strategies for Families, Community Organizing, and Interfaith Partnerships. Pastor John Helmiere will also give a teaching on Collaboratory Theology.

So save the date --- more information coming soon...

Ronald Commons Café News Update!

The success of the Ronald Commons Cafe has been amazing! We now serve more than 100 meals every Thurs-day. We have become very popular for two reasons. First we couldn’t do this without the fantastic volunteer help that we get for you all and the participation of your congregations. Second we are committed to serving a great meal with top a quality menu every week! Did you know we only have a $100 - $120 dollar budget to put out this meal? And any supplies and equipment we need also comes out of that budget.

When Dallas and I go shopping each week we squeeze that budget dollar so tight we give George Washington a nose bleed. I’m including a list of things we need to continue to be the wonderful ministry we have become. Please make this list available to your congregations as you see fit. With your help we can build an amazing pantry and then the budget will go a long way in providing wonderful meals every Thursday at the Ronald Commons Café. Unless the item has a specific number needed in it’s description we can use many multiples of each item.

Thank you for all you do!

Frank Church and Karien Balluff and I are committed to bringing great meals to the tables at the Ronald Commons Cafe! Sincerely, Bill Runte (cook)

RONALD COMMONS CAFÉ NEEDS

Gallon zip lock bags sterno for chafer pans stiff brush for cleaning veggies 3 ea. Cambro container 7 lt. 3 ea. Cambro container 3 1/2 ltr. Granulated garlic institutional size Taco seasoning inst. Size Italian seasoning granulated onion institutional size Gallon size salad dressing powdered drink mix, like lemonade 1/3 size hotel pans Linguine noodles 4 lb.size shelf stable parmesan cheese institutional size cake, loaf, brownie mix Round toothpicks or short skewers farfalle’ (bowtie) noodles 4 lb. Elbow macaroni wide egg noodles 4 lb. Four ea. 9 x 12 cake pans Two ea. 9 x 9 cake pans rice flour institutional size chocolate chips Institutional size heavy duty aluminum foil crank can opener (heavy duty) available @ Cash & Carry

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"Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King; born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious freedom bring.” — “Come, Thou Long‑Expected Jesus,” stanza 2♪

In Our Thoughts and Prayers: As a church and people who believe in the power of prayer, let us continue to lift up our loved ones and friends in the joys and concerns that they are experiencing in their hearts and lives….

For family members and friends who are grieving the loss of loved ones…

The family of Shirley Betham for the death of son–in–law Ardell Moe,Connie’s husband, the De Pano’s family for the death of Melvin, the Quitevis family for the death of Elvin

Those who are experiencing health concerns:

Doreen Robinson, Aimee Mayuga, Chita’s cousin’s daughter, Dick Fleming, Leslie, Lydia Fernando, Lucy Maza, Rose Bernaldez, Jun Fernando, Susan De Groot the daughter of Virgie Sumabat, Lui Asistio, Virgie Sumabat, Tom the son-in-law of Shirley Betham, Andy

the son of Corky Mayberry.

Those in treatment for cancer, or who are in remission: Rev. Gloria Kymn, Diane the friend of Sandra Reynolds, Elise Ritter, Rusty Finley

Those in recovery from surgery: Shirley Betham, Cheryl the daughter of Shirley Betham, Debra Cavinta

Our homebound members or in care facility: Ron Warner, Margaret Hyman, Gen Sison, Cal McNamee, Fritz Schlatter, Evangelina Digan, Ofelia and Patrick Pascual, Rosie Lincoln, Victor Smiley, Ken & Corky Mayberry and Bev Jenes

Concerns for our community, our state, our nation, and the world: For the victims of the church shooting in Texas, the shooting near a school in California, and the victims of Las Vegas shooting; those recovering from the wildfires in Northern California– Santa Rosa area; the people of Florida, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Caribbean Islands as they face the effects of hurricanes; for those affected by the suspension of DACA, and the anxiety and fear it creates for immigrant communities, and the children who have only truly known life in the United States; the people of Southeast Texas and Louisiana, who are experiencing deep hardship from the effects of Hurricane Harvey; leaders of US and world, that peace might prevail; heightened tensions with North Korea, Russia and China; prejudice and scapegoating of immigrant families and non-Christian religious communities.

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DECEMBER– BIRTHDAYS

01 Natalia Cuanan 05 Toby Tobler 08 Pauline Heesacker 09 Chita Jesalva 10 Daisy Ocampo 12 Arnold Ayungac 13 Virginia Oconer 14 Calvin McNamee 15 Rolly del Rosario 19 Rosanne Lincoln 21 Marilyn Reid 23 Arlene Anderson 24 Garran Hume 25 Rufina Macalanda 26 Jesse Ocampo 27 Dan Gatcheco 28 Richmond Kusi 28 Calvin Hume 28 Corky Mayberry

DECEMBER ANNIVERSARIES

03 Fe & Ramon Roque 05 Lulu & Dani del Rosario 07 Rowena & Geno Lopez 20 Pining & Ben Roque 30 Krissy & Ken Ritter 30 Daisy & Jesse Ocampo

We apologize if we missed your birthday. Please call the church office with your information so we may include you next time.

MISSION FOR DECEMBER

UNWRAPPED GIFTS DRIVE FOR GRANDPARENT GIFT GIVING

Please keep an eye on our Giving Tree in the Narthex. The tree is decorated with tags that name items to be pur-chased for the Grandparent Gift Giving. Ronald will host the Grandparent Gift Day on Monday December 11th. Hope-link clients who have grandchildren as well as noncustodial parents will have appointments to select gifts for children and teens. Keep this in mind when you

see good sales for things that would make good gifts. We will be setting up the Fellowship Hall as a gift room on the 10th after coffee hour and will need a lot of help. We will also need to recruit volun-teers to be personal shoppers and to wrap gifts.

OUTSIDE GUESTS/FRIENDS They are on their feet all day, and the only pair of socks, clothes they own are very likely to be wet, especially during fall and winter season. Please bring/donate the following: Socks clothes Jackets Blankets

DENTAL/MEDICAL MISSION 2018 We are still collecting dental items (adult and children toothbrushes, large tubes of toothpaste and dental floss).

Your monetary donation will support the purchase of medical/dental supplies and also help with the local transportation for the volunteer doctors and dentists .

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It is not too late to turn in your pledge for 2018. Doing so helps those who are responsible for planning and budgeting to do a better job. You may change your pledge as your circumstances change by calling Lori Mina. Take note that in order for donations to be tax deductible for this year they must be received by the church before the end of the year.

In Memory & In Honor of…

During October and November the following gifts were received:

In Memory of: By:

Ardell Moe B & D Sealey Ardell Moe M & D Reid

In Honor of: By: Darol Reynold’s b-day M & D Reid Mingh Saldana’s b-day M & D Reid Tal Cuanan’s b-day M & D Reid

These gifts go to the memorial fund/capital campaign/chairs/sound system and are used to purchase items that enhance our worship, facilitate our fellowship, and further our mission.

A feature in our Ronald Review is a column listing the names of those who gave gifts in memory, in honor, or in thanksgiving along with the names of the honoree or the event.

POINSETTIA ORDERS Advent season is here; and it is time to

sign up for poinsettias for the altar!

It is a tradition at RUMC to decorate the Sanctuary with beautiful live Poinsettias for this joyous and holy time of the year.

You may dedicate a poinsettia in celebration of a person or an event, in memory or of a loved one, or to honor God’s glory.

A list of donors and memorials will be printed in the Christmas Eve bulletins, Sunday December 24th.

Poinsettias maybe taken home to enjoy in your fami-ly celebrations or to bless the lives of a family mem-ber or loved ones, after our Christmas Eve Candle-light Service, Dec.24th.

Each poinsettia plant is $10.00

From the Safety Officer

With the Christmas Holidays approach-ing, it is very tempting to take photos or our darling little children to post on social media.

Please ask for parental permission first. Since we have no control over how things end up on social media, it is pos-

sible that we might inadvertently provide information to a non-custodial parent or someone else who might not have the child’s best interests at heart. It is also a good idea to get permission from adults whom you wish to photograph.

ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS GIFTS AND CARDS

Several members of the Ronald Church Family have embraced a different way to recognize family and friends at special times of the year. Instead of giving and receiv-ing purchased gifts they are making donations to the General fund. Beautiful cards will be available for you to let someone

know that you have made a gift in their honor to Ronald UMC. This is a great alternative to giving people things that they don’t need. Sign up on the large card in the Narthex and donate the money you will spend on cards and post-age for RUMC members. The names will be published in the Ronald Review and bulletin. The

money raised will support mission.

EXTRA GIVING

Recently twelve windows in the church were broken. No one gained entry to the building for which we are grateful. Insurance will cover some of the replacement, but we need to dig down a little deeper personally to cover the rest. Please consider giving for this special need. Mark checks “windows” so we can know how much everyone supports this effort. As the end of the year is fast approaching, some “extra mile” giving of an additional month’s pledge would help us finish in the black. Please label checks as such. Thank you for putting the needs of your church as a priority.

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Did you ever feel like the time before Christmas is just upside-down?

Do you remember the lead-up to Christmas when you were a child? If you now have children, or grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, what do you recall the lead-up to Christmas being for you as a grown-up? Did you ever feel like the days and weeks before Christmas were just upside-down? Advent seems like that, with all the preparations we seem compelled to make for Dec. 24 and 25. But the real “upside-down-ness” of Advent began long before our cultural Christmas twists came along. These weeks of upside-down preparedness, of being alert, began over 2,000 years ago. All newborns turn our lives upside-down. But the stable scene in Bethlehem 2,100 years ago started a deeper, more radical, form of upside-down life that we still don’t live with all that well.

From his legendary conception until now, Jesus was and is a full-fledged radical, for sure. He was radic-cal (extreme) because his actions and attitude were extreme as he challenged the politically correct and religious-ly correct persons of his day.

But that’s only because he was radical (root-deep) in the sense of coming from the taproot, the source, of Life. Jesus didn’t wait until his public ministry to become radical. His birth was a radical departure from the typical kingly birth. The delivery room was a stable.

Are your imaginations in gear? If so, step with me inside that stable-cave so we can eavesdrop on what might be happening: the only guests are animals and some smelly shepherds — and our imaginations. If our hearts listen carefully, we might hear the baby whisper of the radical mystery of Life and what his role in that mystery will be like:

Our Heavenly Father knows it is time to remind you and all humanity that He is profoundly serious that LIFE be lived as it has always been meant to live.

That’s why I am here. Your ancestors didn’t take seriously any of the other Life-signs God offered them. They needed touchable, more familiar signs. That is why I was here for them. That is why I am here for you.

Please don’t be deceived by your ways of celebrating Christmas. Christmas is much more than being with loved ones or even giving consumable or breakable gifts to people who have less than you have.

The joy and hope you speak of during the Advent and Christmas seasons are a very good start. But as God’s Radical Host, I welcome you to a new, deeper level of living in God’s world.

The experience of Life I welcome you to is sketched out in my mother Mary’s words in Luke 1:46-55. You know them as the Magnificat.

Read them again, carefully, confessionally. Can you now understand anew that God is very serious about level-ing the playing field, closing the gaps between the haves & have-nots, the rich & poor, the powerful & weak?

God did not create this world for there to be any gaps between people, or between people and the earth. Those gaps are your doing, not God’s! My role as your Host is to love you and challenge you and love you again, over and over and over. Your role as guest is to decide how you will choose to respond to my love and my challenge.

As God’s Radical Host, I want you to become as whole, as complete a person as God initially created you to be. Come to me and I can show you, teach you about being whole, also about being a radical host to those whom you meet. Then it is up to you! Advent: a season for waking up to the upside-down love of God for us, for all persons, for the earth. Thank God!

By the Rev. Paul Graves (serves as the chair of the Conference Council on Older Adult Ministries for the PNWUMC).

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RONALD METHODIST CHURCH RONALD REVIEW 17839 Aurora Avenue North Shoreline, WA 98133 Email: ronaldumc@yahoo.com www.ronaldumc.org

TIME VALUE-DATED MATERIAL Return Service Requested

Non—Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid

Seattle WA Permit#386

COMING EVENTS Dec. 02 11:30 am UMW Christmas Luncheon/Auction Dec. 03 10:45 am First Sunday of Advent Dec. 10 2:00 pm Set up for Grandparent Gift Giving Dec. 11 9:00 am Grandparent Gift Giving day Dec. 26-31 Christmas Institute at the Firs Bellingham, WA for 7th Grade Students to 2nd Year Post– High School Jan. 03 10:00 am Martha Circle verf

Every Wednesday 4:30 pm Volunteer at POPY’s Café Every Thursday 10:30 am Bible Study Every Thursday 5:30 pm Ronald Commons Café Every Thursday 7:30 pm Choir Rehearsal Every Saturday 10:00 am Cantata Rehearsal Every Sunday 9:30 am Praise Team Practice Every Sunday 10:45 am Worship Service

RUMC HOPELINK GROCERY CART

Year– round Needs: Canned meats (tuna, chicken, etc.)

Canned meals Beans ( dry or canned)

Grains (pasta , rice, quinoa, barley, etc.) Canned fruits, canned vegetables

Nut butters (Peanut butter, almond butter, etc.) Vegetables (canned, fresh or frozen)

Pop-top containers of any of the above canned goods

Please drop all your canned goods in the grocery

ASSISTING IN WORSHIP

GREETERS/USHERS FOR DECEMBER

Becky and Dennis Sealey Sam Mina and Mario Valbuena

COFFEE HOUR 7

Dec. 03 Lydia & Agnes Fernando, Princess and Roy Yalung Dec.10 Dick Fleming, Rosie Lincoln and Pining and Ben Reyes Dec.17 Legaspi & Eckerlin family Dec.24 Lopez family and Allison Rosandich Dec.31 Coffee Hour & Evangelism Committee and Gretchen Holtz

COUNTERS SCHEDULED

Dec.03 Darol Reynolds/Larry Anderson Dec.10 Colleen Lee /Becky Sealey Dec.17 Harold Hill/Shelly Hogan Dec.24 Harold Hill/Shelly Hogan Dec.31 Becky Sealey/Colleen Lee

HOPELINK NOTES Used books are a recent addition to the shelves of non-food items that are available. Someone recently brought some National Geographic Magazines that were welcomed by the clients. Reusing is better than recycling. Thank you for those who have traveled and stayed in motels and hotels for saving unopened toiletries for Hope-link. We package up an assortment in clear bags that really look like little gifts. They are a big hit with the clients. Larger personal care items are also much appreciated as are household items such as paper towels, toilet tissue, soap, and cleaning supplies. Think about the things that can’t be bought with SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) which works only for food. Much of what we put into our grocery carts falls into the non-food category.