How do we find hope? How do we keep hope? In Psalm 14, hope happens somewhere in the space between the comma and the “but”: “You would confound the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge” (Psalm 14:6). But God. But the good news. But grace. We find and keep hope when we name all that is hard in our world, take a breath, and then remember, but God.

Come celebrate in worship with us the confirmation and welcome into membership of Ezekiel Jones. Also participate in communion where ALL are welcome to the table.

Worship Lead: Rev. Cheryl Goode & Marcia Alexander
Liturgist: David Goode
Scriptures: Psalm 14 + Luke 15:1-10

Worship is available in person and on Facebook LIVE!
Treats in celebration of the confirmand will be available after worship in the Sonshine room.

Bring your pets—furry, feathered, or finned to the BLESSING OF ANIMALS. ALL ARE WELCOME!

Pets are an important part of our lives— they bring us joy, comfort, and companionship. Join us for a joyful Blessing of the Animals! Bring your pets—furry, feathered, or finned—
for a special outdoor service celebrating God’s creatures.

Following the service, join us for a Stone Soup lunch as we celebrate the bounty from our summer garden.

Worship Lead: Marcia Alexander
Liturgist: Alex Selikoff
Scripture: Psalm 123:1-6,13-18 & Philemon 1-21

Worship is in person and on Facebook LIVE!

"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it" (Hebrews 13:2).

Unfortunately, we are taught the message of Hebrews 13:2 was, essentially, "Be kind to everyone because you never know when the stranger is actually an angel, and you don't want to miss out on that." But Hebrews 13:1 tells us, "Let mutual love continue."

When we pursue mutual love, we start to recognize strangers as angels, to meet strangers and neighbors alike as embodied messengers of God's goodness and grace. Mutual love requires us to grapple with just how hard it can be to love our neighbors...and ourselves.

Bring your backpack or workbag and get it blessed for the new year!

Worship Lead: Shirley Durr

Liturgist: Nan Rice

We will be worshipping outside on the front lawn so bring a chair to share! ALL ARE WELCOME!

“Those things that cannot be shaken will be removed and taken away. Those things that remain cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:27). The storms will come. The rains, the fires, the shaking, and the gloom are all going to come. What is the Rock that cannot be shaken? To what Rock do we cling when challenged to face the realities and uncertainties of this world while also living deeply into the mysteries of faith? As we build our beloved community, who is with us and who have we forgotten to include?

"Beloved, consider it all joy whenever you face trials of many kind" (James 1:2).

Joy can be a hard thing to nail down. We should not wait to experience joy until suffering and difficulty are past. We can find joy amid hardship. We do not have to feel happy to encounter and experience joy.

Come and renew your sense of joy and be surprised with joy from unexpected places. Hear about the joy that comes from the Ronald McDonald House!

Worship Leader: Nan Rice
Liturgist: Jud Ayers

Join us in person or online - stay for a donut and coffee!

Things Hoped For/Stories of Faith

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). When we start breaking down this definition of faith, it becomes unmanageable. There is still substance to it, but not a substance easily held in the hand, a substance that we can figure out. It's more like a substance that sweeps us up in a current, taking us toward a Beloved Community.

Join us for a more casual, conversation-based worship - complete with brunch served!

Every week we will have a different brunch offered (including allergy friendly options)

Sunday, July 13 - Waffles (regular & gluten free)
Sunday, July 20 - Eggbake (veggie & meat)
Sunday, July 27 - Caramel and Cinnamon Rolls

And there will always be fruit & COFFEE!
Worship starts at 10am. See you then!

Join us for a more casual, conversation-based worship - complete with brunch served!

Every week we will have a different brunch offered (including allergy friendly options)

Sunday, July 13 - Waffles (regular & gluten free)
Sunday, July 20 - Eggbake (veggie & meat)
Sunday, July 27 - Caramel and Cinnamon Rolls

And there will always be fruit & COFFEE!
Worship starts at 10am. See you then!

Join us for a more casual, conversation-based worship - complete with brunch served!

Every week we will have a different brunch offered (including allergy friendly options)

Sunday, July 13 - Waffles (regular & gluten free)
Sunday, July 20 - Eggbake (veggie & meat)
Sunday, July 27 - Caramel and Cinnamon Rolls

And there will always be fruit & COFFEE!
Worship starts at 10am. See you then!

Join us for worship in person OUTSIDE on the front lawn or online!

Worship Lead: Rev. Cheryl Goode
Liturgist: Brian Liliquist
Scripture: Philippians 4:8-9 & Others

PRIDE ACTION DAY!

Drama will be preformed - “Holey, Holey, Holey”

Also we will be making signs for you to use at home, at the Pride parade or wherever you like! See you there.

MUSIC + JOY = EASTER

Scriptures: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 & John 20: 1-18
9am Breakfast followed by worship!

It is Easter; let there be light! Let there be color and music and joy. In everything, let there be joy as we worship this day.

Come celebrate with us in person or on Facebook LIVE!

Worship this day is about standing in silence at the foot of the cross. Too many words get in the way of the weight, the meaning, the moment of this day.

We will have a short worship and then time to gather and do a small art project to help let out our grief for today.

Join us for worship in person or online!

Worship Lead: Rev. Cheryl Goode
Liturgist: Alex Selikoff
Scripture: Luke 19:28-40 & Psalm 31:9-16
COMMUNION will be offered to all.

There is a deeper paradox woven into this day that we could bring to light. The reality is on this day, those who lined the street and laid down their garments and waved their branches and shouted got it right. They shouted, as we know though the Luke text doesn’t record it, “Hosanna.” That had become, as Luke claims, a statement of praise, a celebration of the one who comes. But it also has a translation: “Save us.” That’s what the word “Hosanna” means. “Save us.” So, on that day, the crowd got it right. But they probably didn’t even know it. That’s an assumption, admittedly. We don’t know what was in their minds and hearts on that day. But reading on in the story, we recognize that if, even in the moment, they knew what they were saying, it certainly didn’t last long. To go from “Hosanna” to “Crucify him” seems a long journey.

But maybe it isn’t a long journey. Within each of us is the capacity to claim Christ and reject him almost at the same time. Palm/Passion Sunday is about the celebration and acknowledgement of the one who comes in the name of the Lord. It is a time for declaration of faith and reaffirmation and recommitment to discipleship as we follow Christ with our whole lives. But it is also a time of confession, of acknowledging that we don’t live up to the commitments we have made in the past and that our declarations with our lips seem far from the actions of our lives.

Through it all, however, is the theme that the one who comes will come. No matter how many times we mess up, the Savior still comes, riding into the heart of our city with an offer of redemption, a promise of salvation. And we can rejoice in that.

Join us!

Come to the Spring Rummage Sale at Epworth UMC!
We will have household, baby, books, gifts, bars & more.

We will be open 9am - 3pm!

Any questions contact us at epworthumcmplsmn@gmail.com.

Dinner will be served at 5:30 pm
Art activity starts at 6:00pm

Come and enjoy dinner together and then there will be an art activity for you to explore your creative side. This week we will have painting for all ages and person mosaics to work on!

Dinner will be:
Sloppy Joes (meat and non-meat options)
Salad
Fruit
Dessert

ALL AGES ARE WELCOME! See you there.

Join us for worship in person or online!

Worship Lead: Rev. Cheryl Goode
Liturgist: Jon Fors
Scripture: Psalms 126 & Philippians 3:4b-14

Humor is more difficult than it appears. Laughter too often comes at the expense of another person. Yet, when used well, humor is a binding agent, bringing total strangers together in a shared experience. So, this is not a call for worship to be replaced with a stand-up comedy routine. Yet, a lightness of heart seems called for this week—the ability, perhaps, to see blessings instead of burdens. This laughter is not because something is funny – though it might be. Rather, we laugh because of the sheer joy of living. We give thanks for the gift of living and loving, for being in community, for having space to worship. Gratitude leads our prayer time this week.

Join us!

Join us for worship in person or online!

Worship Leader: Marcia Alexander
Sermon by: MaryEllen Reetz-Peagus
Liturgist: David Goode

Scripture Readings: Psalm 32 & Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Psalm 32 is a Selah psalm. There are only three of them, but they are powerful. Sure, no one knows what they really mean or how they function in the psalm. But there is something intriguing about the placement of the word in Psalm 32. The first one comes after a statement about how difficult life is and how faith is sometimes a burden that we bear. After expressing that pain and admitting that weakness, there is the word “Selah,” and then everything changes. The psalm becomes a celebration, a declaration of faith, a cleansing, a renewal. One of the understandings of selah is that it means to breathe. Some think it is a musical notation for singing or an instrumental interlude like a music bridge. I think it is a call to breathe, to stop and reflect and breathe.

Worship is catching our breath in the busyness of living. It is that moment when we pause and reflect and remember who we are and whose we are. We need selah moments in our lives daily. And when we gather, there should be that sense that we are pausing to breathe and collect and redirect ourselves for the tasks ahead.

The second selah comes after that moment of redirection, confession, and forgiveness. Then a breath, before widening the vision to include others. “Let all who are faithful offer prayer,” the psalmist declares and then gives witness to the power in his life. This is what God is for me, he declares, this is the result of paying attention.

Then the third breath, and it changes again. I will teach and counsel. “Don’t do this,” the psalmist writes, “do this.” Don’t be stubborn but be joyful. In other words, having declared the discipleship journey, the psalm turns to making disciples. This is what we do; this is who we are. This is the work that is set before us. But we can’t do it without stopping to breathe.
So, breathe. Let worship be a breath-giving experience. Let there be space to breathe this day. Let the music help us catch our breath. Let the prayers be breath prayers as we breathe out our confession and breathe in God’s grace and forgiveness. The prodigal couldn’t return home until he stopped and caught his breath. And in that breathing, he saw himself and he saw hope hanging like a rainbow over his head. So, breathe.

Join us!

Dinner will be served at 5:30 pm
Art activity starts at 6:00pm

Come and enjoy dinner together and then there will be an art activity for you to explore your creative side. This week we will have painting for all ages and person mosaics to work on!

Dinner will be:
Sloppy Joes (meat and non-meat options)
Salad
Fruit
Dessert

ALL AGES ARE WELCOME! See you there.

No preservatives, fresh made and good for you! Just $8 each. Order by Friday, February 28th,

Do you have time to lend a hand in cutting up vegetables or making dough? Come on over to the church kitchen and help us prepare for the big pasty making day. All are welcome for a short or long time. Get ready to get your hands dirty!

The saying goes, “feel the fear and do it anyway.” These common men, who just a mere few years earlier were getting up every day and simply praying for a good catch of fish, stand on the top of a mountain and see their leader joined by dead, yet famous, ancestors of the faith. They already have begun to realize that Jesus is something of a legend, but this seals it, and they are terrified. They felt the fear and left their professions anyway to follow Jesus. And now perhaps they can see that this is not your ordinary life they’re mixed up in. Do you feel like there are extraordinary things you could do if only you could move beyond the fear?

Worship and Sermon Lead: Deb Fors 

Liturgist: Jon Fors 

Scripture: 

- 2 Corinthians 4: 3-6

- Psalm 50: 1-6 

- Mark 9: 2-9

Worship is available in person and LIVE on Facebook.

Bread, Bath and Beyond Service Series: Remembering your baptism and Blessing of Marcia Alexander, as new Certified Lay Minister (CLM)

Worship Lead: Marcia Alexander + Rev. Cheryl Goode
Liturgist: MaryEllen Reetz-Peagus

Scripture:
Acts 19:1-7
Psalm 29
Mark 1:4-11

Worship is available in person and LIVE on Facebook.

The birth of Christ brings good news of great joy to all people, which is cause for celebration. On this Sunday after Christmas, we encourage you to be playful, to not take yourself too seriously, to laugh. For laughter is like hope—it has a ripple effect. It’s one of many ways we live and share good news.

Worship lead: Jean Long
Reader: Nancy Miesel-Youngman

Worship is available in person and LIVE on Facebook

The birth of Christ brings good news of great joy to all people, which is cause for celebration. On this Sunday after Christmas, we encourage you to be playful, to not take yourself too seriously, to laugh. For laughter is like hope—it has a ripple effect. It’s one of many ways we live and share good news.

Worship lead: Jean Long
Reader: Nancy Miesel-Youngman

Worship is available in person and LIVE on Facebook

Come and enjoy the preparation of the birth of Jesus through readings, Christmas songs and candles.

Worship Lead: Jean Long

Reader: Shirley Durr

Advent Candle lit by: Lillquist Family

Worship will be available in person and LIVE on Facebook.

After worship will join for lunch and then head out to see Epworth members who are not able to attend for Christmas caroling. We will sing and bring joy to those that are not able to be present with us every Sunday!

Bundle up and come warm up your caroling voice!

Hope is vulnerable and can feel like a tremendous risk, especially if you’ve experienced loss or trauma. But Mary shows us a resilient hope that takes risks—she risks her body to bear a son who will become the hope of her people.

Similarly, Joseph makes a risky choice to stay with Mary; dismissing her quietly would have kept him safe. But instead, he chooses hope. He chooses to trust the angel, and it makes all the difference. It can feel safer and easier to be a cynic, but the world doesn’t need more cynics. It needs people who say, “It can be better," and make it so.

Scripture Readings: Matthew 1:18-25 & Luke 1:46-55

Worship Lead: Jean Long

Reader: Nan Rice

Advent Candle Lit by: Novotny Family

Worship will be in person or LIVE on Facebook.

As the longest night of the year approaches, we will gather to remember those no longer present upon the earth in a Blue Christmas worship service.

We will bring light to our grief, we will pray and sing as we lift their names.  All are welcome as we remember family and friends - including four legged and winged loved ones. 

Join us for worship to remember those we miss.

ALL ARE WELCOME!