Is it spring yet?

February has been a brutally cold and quite snowy month. Must be Colorado!

Yet, we continue to have amazing worship, small groups and other events in our church. We also have more groups meeting off-site. Small groups are the hallmark of the Methodist movement. It is great to have so many groups meeting and interacting with the community. This is a great way to be a witness to others.

We continue to be a place where all feel welcome, and can find a way to connect with others, especially as many are dealing with so many issues and worries. Recently, we asked you what concerns are weighing on you. Thank you for your responses. The general categories, in order of most responses to less responses:

Politics, Physical Health, Family, Hatred, Mental Health, Immigrants, Religious, Financials, World Concerns, Environment, Faith, Chruch Growth, Community Outreach, Technology

Which of these resonate with you? What support would be beneficial to you? Feel free to let me know any of your thoughts or ideas. We will be sharing more of this soon.

No matter what happens in our community and in our world, we have a hope and foundation in Jesus Christ. Psalm 55:22: Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. And Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-30: Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

May we find comfort in our God and in our Lord, but also in one another.

Peace be with you, friends!

Pastor Laura 

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 5, and ends on Easter Sunday, April 20.

"Questions to God" is our worship series during Lent. Who is God? Why do bad things happen to good people? How can I face the future? Asking questions is a normal part of human life. We do not have to be ashamed of our doubts or hide our quesitons. In fact, God fully welcomes them and welcomes us. This Lent, we will practice bringing some of our biggest questions and doubts to God, embracing our humananity as we move toward the joyous mystery of Easter resurrection.

• March 5 -- Living With Our Doubts (Ash Wednesday)

• March 9 -- Who is God?

• March 16 -- Is the Bible Reliable?

• March 23 -- Why Should I Go to Church?

• March 30 -- Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

• April 6 -- How and Why Do I Forgive?

• April 13 -- Palm Sunday

• April 17 -- Are You Scared of the Future? (Maundy Thursday)

• April 18 -- Why Did Jesus Have to Die? (Good Friday)

• April 19-20 -- Why Be a Christian? (Easter services)

"God calls you to a life of servanthood as a disciple of Jesus Christ....Lay Servant Ministries is the first step for many laypersons toward their faith journey as they strive for a closer relationship with the Lord," the authors write in the introduction.

This online course will be March 14, 6:30 - 9:00 pm and March 15, 8:30 am - 5:30 pm via Zoom. This course will give you a good foundation on how to be a servant of God.

The Lay Servant Ministries Basic Course is a foundational course designed to equip new church leaders and renew current leaders in The United Methodist Church. It explores:

• personal spiritual gifts

• servant leadership

• each leader's role in developing future leaders

• the importance of consistent spiritual practices

• the core ministries of Leading, Caring, and Communicating, and much more.

The only cost is the book and your time. You may order the book ASAP to read it before the class. You can purchase through UpperRoom.org or Amazon. 

If you have questions, speak with Julie Kronbach who has taken this class. Or contact Wanda Denton, 307-287-0050. A minimum of 4 participants are needed to hold the class. 

To register, please visit this link.

Your Leadership Board is ready for for serve you and our church.

There are several teams that the Board members either lead or participate on. If you are interested in knowing  more or even getting involved on a team, please reach out to one of the members. Or contact Pastor Laura and she will connect you.

• Building & Maintenance: John Quest (chair) and Ron Wyckoff

• Christian Education: Susan Gustin, Elizabeth Gore Stanley

• Communications: Li Roberson, Elizabeth Gore Stanley

• Endowment: Eric Ross, Dave Ambors

• Finance: Eric Ross, Dave Ambors

• Groundskeepers: Ron Wuckoff, Susan Gustin

• Health & Safety: Heidi Handel, Juli Kronbach, Elizabeth Gore Stanley

• Neighbors in Need Compassion Mission: Ron Wyckoff, Heidi Handel

• SPRC: Kelly Evans, Kim Bimestefer, Elizabeth Gore Stanley, Lacye Cahill

• Stewardship: Li Roberson, Heidi Handel

• Sustainability: Kim Bimestefer, Ron Wyckoff, Eric Ross

The Leadership Board wants to sincerely thank all of you who made your 2025 Commitment to our general budget for 2025. We appreciate you all! The total amount raised for 2025 is $543,297, which is almost 11% more than last year! Thank you for your generous support! 

As you know, many of our expenses have increased over the past several years. This affects our church's budget as well. With the increase in our mortgage in January 2024 (it increased from 4.5% to 6.75% for the next 3 years), with increases in operating expenses, we budgeted expenses to increase by 3%.

For many reasons we discussed in listening groups in October 2024, with budgeted income and expenses in 2025, we still have a substantial budget shortfall.

With this in mind, the Leadership Board approved a 5 month budget at their meeting on January 28, 2025. A team is working to identify options to address this shortfall in a variety of ways: increasing revenue and/or decreasing expenses. Options may include using our property in different ways. There is much to consider moving forward.

What we do believe is that Parker UMC is an important part of the Parker community. Our ministries, missions, and connections help connect others to the Rock of our faith, Jesus Christ, during a time when solid ground is so needed.

How might you help our church and our ministries?

• With financial resources. Perhaps make a 2025 commitment if you haven't already.

• Consider how you might help the church in tangible ways -- hands-on participation in ministries, helping fill a need when it is shared.

• With your ideas. Maybe you have experience helping an organization become more financially stable. Maybe you have outside-the-box ideas that could be helpful.

• Maybe you would be interested in reviewing our church budget and/or financial statements. They are available on a rack by the Welcome Table outside of the sanctuary.

As they say, the Church is the People. We are grateful for how we are involved in God's work together. 

We appreciate your prayers for our church and how we can continue to be a place where all can belong, gro, and make a difference in this Christ-centered community that we call Parker UMC.

Please reach out to Pastor Laura if you have any questions.

Each week in the Midweek Message, we include a Hospitality Tidbit, with thanks to Rev. June Webster for providing these for us.We hope you read it each week because hospitality matters. 

Here are a few reasons why hospitality matters, according to research and church experience.

• Churches don't grow when members and leadership neglect hospitality. People won't return nor find our church as a spiritual home. What can we do? Train one another. Greet others you may not know or recognize. invite them to fill out the Check In card, visit the Welcome Table, or take them to brunch/lunch to show them they are welcome.

• Churches stop growing when they view newcomers as a way to pay the bills or do tasks that are neglected. How many times have we thought or said, we need more people because I'm tired of doing the same job in the church? What can we do? Welcome people for who they are. Consider this is place where they might encounter God's love as the #1 priority.

• Declining churches hang onto tradition music or church decorations because "this is how we have always done it." Traditions matter. But they don't mean the same thing to new people. How might the Holy Spirit be inviting us to do something new for new people? What can we do? Be willing to embrace change, even when it is uncomfortable, and see it as a spiritual opportunity. Consider 5th Sundays or a season for mixing things up (tradition-wise) to see how different needs are met for differnet people.

• Declining churches fail to value the commitment of hospitality volunteers. We have a great crew of greeters, ushers, coffee & donut volunteers, just to name a few. What can we do? We can help volunteer so that we share the load. We can say thank you to the greeter opening the door in the cold, or the usher who came early, or the coffee & donut volunteer who is looking out for our comfort.

• Invitation matters. The number 1 reason people visit a church for the first time -- someone invited them. What can we do? Invite someone to church, either worship or another event. Go a step further -- bring them with you! The worst thing they can do is say, "no."

• Connecting with the nearby community matters. Who are our neighbors? What schools or groups are near us? What can we do? We can develop relationships with our neighbors. This takes time and may be slow to develop. We already have some connections in place -- ask to help us out!

You matter. Each person who worships with us or attends an event matters. How might we share God's love with all we encounter because they matter to us and to God?

Good news! We are working toward having our next FMSC MobilePack in 2026!

Soon, we will kickoff fundraising. We have lots of fun ways to raise moneh needed to feed starving children across the world. Nutritious meals will give them energy to grow and learn.

Watch church emails for fundraising announcements and to learn when the next MobilePack will be.

Feel free to reach out if you have any quesitons, want to help, or want information by contacting Tia Reinschmidt.

Every Wednesday we send out our weekly email, the Midweek Message. This includes updates and announcements of the different ways to get involved through classes, small groups, and volunteer activities. You also will learn what Sunday's worship theme is.

If you do not receive this weekly email, please contact Sarah in the church office. Additionally, most of the information is in the Sunday bulletin and in the worship slides.

If you have an announcement that you would like to have included, please send to Pastor Laura by Monday at 6 pm.

We hope we can keep up to date on what is happening in our church!