Church family and friends,

This past weekend we held our first “Unplugged, Unpotluck” event at our church parking lot after worship service. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, singing and games. I’m including a 60 second montage of pictures on this post. We are planning on putting together another one hopefully this Fall.

Welcome video to church:

We would love for you to be a part of our welcome to church video. All we need from you is to read our welcome statement on video and this Fall, we will create a montage of people reading our welcome statement at the start of our service. We would like a diversity of all our people and community please.

1. Please record your video horizontally, if you need assistance, contact Sharon Wisenburg at the church and she can set up a time to record with you at church on a designated Wednesday. Office@fwumc.org.

2. ”We are a welcoming community that seeks to grow in love for God and our neighbor as we walk in faith and reach out in love. We celebrate God's acceptance of all people, and affirm that all are made in the image of God. We welcome the full participation in our church of everyone, without regard to race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, religion, education, marital circumstances, physical and mental abilities, and economic status. We passionately believe that God has given all people gifts to use for building a world of mercy, justice, and peace.”

This Sunday, Reverend Yvonne Agduyeng will be our guest preacher. She’s a Pastor at First Church Seattle

Rev. Yvonne was born in the Philippines and grew up in Kent, WA. She holds a master of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. Yvonne was commissioned in 2016 as a Global Mission Fellow (GMF) of the Global Board of Global Ministries and served in Germany working alongside refugees and migrant ministries of Bremen United Methodist Church. Yvonne has been serving as co-pastor at First UMC Seattle since July 2020 and was commissioned as provisional elder in 2021. During her free time, Yvonne enjoys reading, hiking, and yoga.

Reverend Yvonne will be using Genesis 22 as her preaching text. I’ve had the privilege of hearing her preach before and she’s very gifted.

Please note that we have a page on our website FWUMC.org with any updates regarding adding in-person worship. Our grounding Scripture is Jeremiah 29:11-12:

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

The purpose of our group, Jeremiah 29, is mandated by our leadership team (Church Council). We report directly to Church Council and are tasked with making decisions, communicating and working with our community as our community shifts from strictly online engagement to adding in-person gatherings in a safe way.

If you would like to contact us, please email Jeremiah29fwumc@gmail.com

Peace be with you church and I look forward to seeing you soon,

Pastor DJ