“Is that a potato?” our facilitator at our Vision Retreat asked me as she glanced at the table where I sat.  “Yes it is,” I replied.  “Is there a story about it?”  she asked. We had been asked to each bring an object which told something about who we are and our vision for the church. I brought a small potato I had recently dug from my community garden.  I explained to the group this is a feral potato.  Last summer, as usual, I had planted potatoes but when we harvested them, I was disappointed.  I think I had planted more pounds of potatoes than we harvested. Af ..read more

Last Saturday at the Reconciling Ministries gathering for Clark County United Methodist Churches we discussed the changes made to the Book of Discipline by the General Conference.  That Conference eliminated language that forbids the ordination of gay clergy.  It opened the way for pastors to officiate at and churches to host same sex weddings, at their discretion.  It removed the words that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.  These were big changes.  They basically take the United Methodist Church to neutral language regarding human ..read more

Scripture is the primary guideline for our faith.  Reading Scripture is thus an important spiritual discipline.  And it can be hard to do. Reading the Bible is a cross-cultural experience for us.  It was written thousands of years ago, in a variety of settings, none of which are familiar to us now. I like to think of the Bible as a library which many types of literature: poetry, story, history, sermons, and letters.  Here are some tips to help in reading the Bible. Find a translation which feels accessible to you.  You might need to look at several versions before you ..read more

A well-rounded prayer life includes a variety of types of prayer. As a conversation with God, prayer includes speaking to God and listening to God. (For many of us, listening to God is the hardest part. That is why I recommend silence and reading of Scripture, often in combination.) Below is one way I offer as a form that leads me to different types of prayer. I call it the 5-4-3-2-1 prayer method: 5 Listening: spend 5 minutes of silence and/or reading of Scripture. 4 Thanks: Give Thanks for four things. 3 Intercession: Ask God to intervene or help with 3 things. This could be prayers for peo ..read more

On Thanksgiving  Eve the Interfaith Coalition of Southwest Washington held an Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at Congregation Kol Ami, the Jewish synagogue.  This is a tradition that goes back a number of years, though it was interrupted by the pandemic.  It was good to resume that tradition, to take time to give thanks before eating a big meal and all the other activities associated with Thanksgiving.  It was good to gather with people from other faith traditions.  I am grateful for Rabbi Elizabeth Dunsker who took the lead on calling us together and coordi ..read more

I met Peggy when I was about ten years old.  Peggy’s daughter and I were in Girl Scout’s together, so Peggy was to me just someone else’s Mom, not someone I, as a child, thought much about.  Peggy continued in that role when I started to go to the youth group at Simpson United Methodist Church, in Pullman, WA, where that same daughter also attended.  As the years passed and I became more active in the church I learned to know Peggy better, as a person in herself.  When I went to college, Peggy became one of my professors.  As I began to explore my call to ordained mini ..read more

Last fall a number of people from Mill Plain joined a congregational study of a book titled A Bigger Table; Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community.  I also preached on that theme for three weeks.   To my delight, months later the image of a bigger table comes up in multiple ways.  Sometimes it is as simple as a meeting with more people than can comfortably fit around the table that had been set up for it.  Someone will comment, “We need a bigger table.”  Other times the image of a bigger table leads us to expand our vision beyond Mill Plain United M ..read more

    As part of our Lenten Food Drive, Mill Plain United Methodist Church is hosting a community-wide drop-off food drive on Saturday, March 18. Drive up and drop off items from 10 am – 2 pm at 15804 SE Mill Plain Blvd, Vancouver, WA.   a great need   With current economic conditions, our local community food banks are experiencing a greater need than ever. Federal pandemic funding has ended and donations are down, but the need is increasing. All donated items will be given to FISH of Orchards, which operates as a food pantry site of Clark County Food Bank.   most requ ..read more

We’ve been looking at the promises people make when they join the United Methodist Church: to support the church with their prayers, their presence, their gifts, and their service.  Today we’ll consider what it means to support the church with our service.   As with gifts, service means different things for different people.  The hope is that all members serve God in some way, including through the church’s ministries.  Sometimes that may mean primary leadership of a committee, sometimes it means the quiet behind-the-scenes tasks people do.  The challenges are many: ea ..read more

We’ve been reflecting on the promises we make when we join the church. Over the last two weeks we have reflected on offering our prayers and our presence. Today we come to the third thing we promise: our gifts.   Particularly at this time of year, gifts bring to mind brightly wrapped packages, but of course we know that’s not what this means. Having just concluded our annual stewardship campaign, I think also of the gift of money. Certainly, we ask members of the church to support it financially and we appreciate all financial gifts, large and small.   Explore the ..read more