Epworth News

Good Friday - Social Justice Stations of the Cross Epworth UMC, Berkeley, CA Rev. Kristin Stoneking Introduction Today, Good Friday, is the day on which we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus. I do not believe that Jesus came into this world to die. I believe he came into this world to show us how to live, to offer us an opportunity to live with love and justice in ways that would repair us and our broken world. But our ancestors in faith could not accept what he was offerin

Found Scripture: Luke 24:1-12 April 21, 2019: Easter Sunday Preacher: Rev. Kristin Stoneking Epworth United Methodist Church, Berkeley, CA Good morning, everyone, it is thrilling to see so many gathered here on this beautiful Easter Sunday at Epworth United Methodist Church. For those of you who haven’t been journeying with this congregation in the last several months, since the first Sunday of Lent, we’ve been working our way through the wisdom of the 12 steps. The 12 steps

Easter Sunrise Service – Epworth United Methodist Church Sunday, April 21, 2019 Luke 24: 1-12 Rev. Lacey Hunter Last Sunday during Youth Group, we read aloud this passage from Luke and shared some of our thoughts and questions about resurrection with one another. One of the questions that came up for us was, ”Is resurrection really that important for us today?” The sense was that resurrection was something reserved especially for Jesus. That yes, maybe we could believe that J

Conscious Contact Luke April 14, 2019: Palm/Passion Sunday Rev. Kristin Stoneking Epworth United Methodist Church, Berkeley, CA The 11th step in the 12 step program is Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out. Throughout this Lenten series, we’ve sought to increase our conscious contact with God, to understand God’s will and to have the

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 "When the Church Needs to Confess" GRIEF So it’s been five weeks since General Conference… and it’s been painful. I’ve touched each one of Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief. from Denial to Anger from Bargaining to Depression What about acceptance? Is acceptance possible? How can we accept the unacceptable? Well, acceptance is not the same as acquiescence. Acceptance means getting to a healthier place. I’ve been struggling with this the past f

Rev. Lacey Hunter Text: Luke 1:39-55 December 23, 2018 Sermon: Mary Was a Freedom Fighter Epworth United Methodist Church Who here has heard of the “Bechdel Test?” The Bechdel Test is a tool used to track the active presence of women in works of fiction including books, films and TV shows. The rules now known as “The Bechdel Test” were first created in 1985 based on the work of cartoonist Alison Bechdel. In Bechdel’s cartoon strip “Dykes to Watch Out For,” Bechdel depicts two

What You Give and What You Get Mark 8:34-37 Ron Parker – October 14, 2018 Up until about ten years ago, I had a little game that I played with myself. When I rode Bart or found myself in a waiting room, I tried to look around to see what other people were reading— magazines, books, newspapers. It was sort a of a little cultural research. Sometimes it led me to the news stand or the bookstore to buy a copy of what I saw someone else reading. But about ten years ago, s

The Courage to Commit 2 Corinthians 4:1, 7-15 October 7, 2018 Rev. Kristin Stoneking Epworth United Methodist Church, Berkeley, CA I want to share with you this morning about one of my heroes, Sister Chan Khong. My guess is that you have probably not heard of her, though she has been the closest collaborator of Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen Master, of whom you likely have heard. Sister Chan Khong and Thich Nhat Hanh sought together to build and bring peace first to Viet

Generosity of Spirit Deuteronomy 26:12-19 September 30, 2018 Rev. Kristin Stoneking Epworth United Methodist Church, Berkeley, CA Have you heard about the FIRE movement? F.I.R.E? It has nothing to do with actual fires. It stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. FIRE: Financial Independence, Retire Early. It's a movement that supposedly derives in part from a book written in 1992 by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez called Your Money or Your Life. The book was intended t

First Fruits (First in Series—First Fruits, Deep Commitments) Deuteronomy 26:1-11 September 23, 2018 Rev. Kristin Stoneking Epworth United Methodist Church, Berkeley, CA In last year’s Harvest of Gifts, Epworth’s annual auction in which we share talents, treasures, and host events among other offerings to raise fun and funds for our congregation’s ministries, our family offered an Italian Dinner party that we would prepare and host to the six highest bidders. Last week, we fi