Small Groups during the Pandemic

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Welcome to the United Methodist Church of Santa Cruz!   We are pleased to have you exploring our Website!   Our Small Groups offer spiritual enrichment opportunities, as well as support.   Please join us to explore and deepen your spirit!   YOU are welcome here . . . .

To connect with us while our church building is supporting unhoused guests of the Faith Community Shelter, simply send us an email on our Contacts Page, so that we may answer any question you may have during this time of Sheltering In Place….

Our Small Groups include:

  • Tuesday Morning Zoom Upper Room (spiritual support and enrichment)
  • Tuesday Evening Zoom Centering Prayer (meditation)
  • Wednesday Walking Group (masks required)
  • Thursday Evening Zoom Upper Room (spiritual support and enrichment)
  • Saturday Afternoon Zoom Reading Group/Discussion (The Cross & The Lynching Tree)
  • Sunday Morning Zoom Upper Room (spiritual support & enrichment)
  • Zoom Sunday Morning Worship at 10:45 am

Future Small Groups include:

  • Zoom Bible Study
  • FaithWorks with Fiber (knitting group for projects and support)
  • Zoom Advent Study

2020 California-Nevada Annual Conference

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Welcome to the 2020 California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church!  We meet each year as United Methodists to review and envision the ministry we are called to serve by God.

All information for this Conference will be available to you by accessing the Conference Website by placing the following address in your browser:  https://cnumc.org

Once you are on the CNUMC.ORG website, look for the graphic (printed at the top of this page); you will find the Annual Conference information on the right side of the website.

Events and Worship Services will be “Livestreamed”.  View the livestream from the comfort of your home!  We have provided the schedule of events (see link at the bottom of this page) for your convenience.

On Sunday Morning at 10:30 am, please join the entire Annual Conference in Worship.  This service will include the Ordination and Commissioning of a number of new clergypersons. 

Please note that we will not be offering our regular Zoom Worship Service at 10:45 am this Sunday (September 20th), but we will return to our regular Zoom Worship next Sunday, September 27th. 

If you have questions, please contact us through our website (https://umcsantacruz.org).

Click in the link below to view the schedule for the 2020 Annual Conference.

Schedule for the 2020 Annual ConferenceDownload

Walking Small Group

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Come Walk With Us . . . and wear your Mask!

We are (re)starting our Walking Small Group on Wednesdays at 1 pm.

Each week we will be exploring new areas … so contact us by noon on Wednesdays on the contact page of our website!

May other Small Groups are available…just let us know of your interest!

We walked on August 5th around Arana Gulch.

On August 12th, we participated in a gentle hike-walk up the DeLaveaga Trail. (See photo above)

We had planned to walk in Schwan Lake Park behind Simpkins Pool on 17th Ave.on August 19th, but with the fires in our county, and the Ash Rain that was falling, we are postponing this walk until (hopefully) August 26th.

Arana Gulch
Arana Gulch

Loving Health to you … join us as you grow deeper on your spiritual journey! 

Pastor Jay

Welcome Letter

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Blessings of Health to you in the time of Covid 19!   We hope you will find renewal and safety here as you ‘Shelter In Place’.

At the United Methodist Church of Santa Cruz, we envision ourselves as a Reconciling Congregation … called to be a blessing of welcome as we provide the encouragement of grace to everyone whom God places in our path.    Join us as we explore and deepen our spiritual journey with Jesus.   

You are invited to participate in Zoom Worship during this Pandemic on Sunday Mornings at 10:45.

You are invited to participate in Zoom Small Groups:

  • Sunday Morning Upper Room, 9:30 am.
  • Tuesday Morning Upper Room, 8 am.
  • Tuesday Evening Centering Prayer, 6 pm.
  • Thursday Bible Study on The Gospel of Mark, noon.
  • 1st and 3rd Thursday Evening Upper Room, 7 pm.
  • Other Small Groups are being planned . . . .

For questions and additional information, please contact us through our website:  UMCSANTACRUZ.ORG

Whoever you are and wherever you are on your journey of faith, you are welcome here!   May Peace with Justice be yours! 

Pastor Jay

Peace with Justice Sunday

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This is Morris Brown and the community of African Methodist Episcopal Church, praying after 9 African Americans were killed during a Bible Study in Charleston SC on June 17, 2015.  We remember injustice is still among us.

Howard Washington Thurman was an African-American author, philosopher, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader.    As a prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in many social justice movements and organizations of the twentieth century.    Thurman’s theology of radical nonviolence influenced and shaped a generation of civil rights activists.    He was a key mentor to leaders within the movement, including Martin Luther King, Jr.    These are his words: 

“In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, hope to despair.”

“The movement of the Spirit of God in the hearts of men and women often calls them to act against the spirit of their times or causes them to anticipate a spirit which is yet in the making. In a moment of dedication they are given wisdom and courage to dare a deed that challenges and to kindle a hope that inspires.”

“Do not be silent; there is no limit to the power that may be released through you.”

“Listen to the long stillness:   New life is stirring … New dreams are on the wing … New hopes are being readied: Humankind is fashioning a new heart … Humankind is forging a new mind … God is at work.  This is the season of Promise.”

“I will light candles this Christmas, Candles of joy, despite all sadness, Candles of hope where despair keeps watch. Candles of courage where fear is ever present, Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days, Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens. Candles of love to inspire all my living, Candles that will burn all the year long.”

“There is a quiet courage that comes from an inward spring of confidence in the meaning and significance of life. Such courage is an underground river, flowing far beneath the shifting events of one’s experience, keeping alive a thousand little springs of action.”

“During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism.”

Pentecost and Beyond

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Greetings from the United Methodist Church of Santa Cruz!  We remain Sheltering In Place through the month of June … even as the Winds of the Spirit come among us at Pentecost on May 31st and the months that follow!

We invite you to gather with us on Sunday mornings for Zoom Worship at 10:45 am.  If you are new to Zoom, contact Pastor Jay with an email message about worship or any other inquiry on our Website.  Simply go to “Contact” listed on the top of this site to share your request. 

We anticipate adding additional Zoom Small Groups to our current offerings of Tuesday Morning and 1st and 3rd Thursday Evening Upper Room, and Tuesday evening Centering Prayer. 

Coming online will be a Zoom Sunday Morning Upper Room beginning on June 7th, and a Zoom Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark (TBA).

We are also beginning a trial Zoom Small Group entitled “Disciple Like Jesus”.  When the trial is over, we anticipate offering this Small Group on a regular basis.

There is also interest in resuming our in-person, 6 feet apart Walking Small Group on Wednesday Afternoons at 1 pm; please let us know of your interest!

As the Spirit of God empowers us to stay focused on our health and well-being while also praying for our sisters and brothers throughout the world, we continue to care for our Sheltered Guests on our Church Properties, while also praying for sufficient affordable housing in our area.  We also offer our Pray Box at the entrance of our parking lot on California Street.

Coming soon will be the opportunity to continue sharing your support of the ministry of Jesus, as we will soon be offering an electronic donation option on our website through PayPal.  Your supportive generosity of our ministry is most appreciated.

 May Loving Peace guide your Spirit, as the Jesus in you meets the Jesus in others – even with as mask on, six feet apart! 

In Grace, pastor jay

The Celebration of Easter Continues

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You are most welcome to join us in “Zoom Worship” at 10:45 on Sunday mornings.

Glance through our website and explore the ways we are offering to connect with one another during this time of Social Distancing … Sheltering In Place.

We invite you to continue to grow in your faith journey during this time, as we experience the effects of the Corona Virus.

Whoever you are, and wherever you are on your journey of faith, you are welcome here!  Please be in contact with us.  We look forward to getting to know you.  Explore who we are by viewing us on Facebook and Instagram.

How to connect on Zoom. 

If you have not received a link to our service, please be in contact with me (go to the dropdown tab “Contact” on the header of our website), and send me an email by one hour prior to worship.  Please leave me your email address; I will be happy to send you the link.

Easter Celebration 2020

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‘Virtual Easter’ … The Day we have been anticipating … is here … join us!

Invite family, friends and loved ones, and neighbors far and wide to this ‘Virtual Celebration of New Life!’  Feel free to get all gussied-up or come casual … just join us! 

Welcome and be Renewed in the experience of Love … even in this time of social distancing and sheltering in place.  Let us affirm once again that we are indeed Easter People … even six feet apart or halfway around the world!

There will be music … connect (from afar) … praying and joy.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God!

How to connect on Zoom. 

If you have not received a link to our service, please be in contact with me (go to the dropdown tab “Contact” on the header of our website), and send me an email by one hour prior to worship.  Please leave me your email address; I will be happy to send you the link.

Holy Week 2020

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Join us for Zoom Worship this Holy Week!

Holy Thursday

Thursday evening, April 9th at 7:30 pm

We will celebrate our ‘virtual’ Taize Service; we will remember the time of the Passover and the Last Supper.  Just before our service begins, please lovingly and thoughtfully wash your hands … we will reference this important issue of ‘washing’ as we remember the experience of Jesus washing the feet of the Disciples! 

We also invite you to prepare a small Communion Snack to be consumed during worship; grape juice and a piece of bread, tea and crumpet, coffee and a scone, hot oatmeal and rice milk, PB&J and a glass of milk, nuts and yogurt, whatever you’d like.  Jesus reminded us to “eat and drink to remember what he shares with us”.

Feel free to light a candle and create a special sacred space in your home so that you can find renewal and healing as you worship, pray, meditate, or read … a specific place for you to be with God and “virtually” with one another.

Goood Friday

Good Friday, April 10th at 1 pm

You are invited to join us ‘virtually’ as we remember “The Last Words of Jesus from the Cross”.  This service will remind us how willing Jesus was (and continues to be), so giving of his life that we might have New Life!  This will be a time of “holding” one another and our world in great distance, so that we may all find healing and peace!

Easter sunday

Easter Celebration, Sunday morning at 10:45 am.

‘Virtual Easter’.  Invite family, friends and loved ones, and neighbors far and wide to this ‘Virtual Celebration of New Life!’  Feel free to get all gussied-up!  Welcome and be Renewed in experience of Love … even in this time of social distancing and sheltering in place.  Let us affirm once again that we are indeed Easter People … no matter what!

How to connect on Zoom. 

If you have not received a link to any of the above service, please be in contact with me (go to the dropdown tab “Contact” on the header of our website), and send me an email by one hour prior to any of the above services.  Please leave me your email address.  I will be happy to send you the link.

Palm Sunday 2020

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Join us for Zoom Worship this Sunday, April 5th, for Palm Sunday, at 10:45 am.

Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus as he enters Jerusalem.  Imagine celebrating the possibility of New Life as we Shelter In Place!

We have two opportunities for Palm Sunday that will help you prepare for this celebration!

On Friday afternoon, from 3 to 5 pm (or by arrangement), we invite you to “drive through our parking lot) to receive a Palm Branch (while they last).  Our parking lot makes a loop; just drive through and I’ll come to your car (from a distance!)  250 California Street, Santa Cruz 95060.

We will celebrate Communion during Worship on Sunday.  We invite you to prepare a small Communion Snack to be consumed during worship; grape juice and a piece of bread, tea and crumpet, coffee and a scone, hot oatmeal and rice milk, PB&J and a glass of milk, nuts and yogurt, whatever you’d like.  Jesus reminded us to “eat and drink to remember what he shares with us”.

How to connect on Zoom.  Please be in contact with me (go to the dropdown tab “Contact” on the header of our website), and send me an email by 9 am on Sunday, leaving your email address.  I will be happy to send you the link.

We welcome everyone; invite your friends and family, or someone who is on their journey of faith.  We hope you will be renewed by this experience. 

May you be well in this time of Social Distancing … Peace be in your heart…pastor jay