Thank you for your generous offering of $206 towards Africaid last Sunday. To learn more about their missions, please click here.

The Colorado peaches, pears and apples you ordered will be ready for pick-up in Fellowship Hall on Sunday, September 12 from 9:15 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. If you can’t pick up your fruit then, please contact the church office (office@evergreenumc.org or 303-674-4810) or Debby Humphrey (dmhnco@gmail.com or 303-587-7353) to make arrangements for another pick-up time. We have ordered some extra peaches, pears and apples to sell in smaller quantities than the case sizes. They’ll be available on a first come, first served basis starting at 9:15 a.m., payable via Cash or Check. Thanks for supporting this fundraiser for UMCE’s General Fund!

If you are interested in doing special music on Sundays, please see the sign up in fellowship hall or email Nathan. Please sign up for just one Sunday, for now, so that everyone who wants to provide special music has the opportunity. If you have any questions email Nathan Jensen.

Hello Beloveds,

I am writing to let you know that our music director, Nathan, tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. I spoke with him this week and he said he is feeling okay and has only mild symptoms. I’m grateful to report that his fiancé Anna has so far tested negative.

Nathan helped with leading worship on Sunday, but he is very faithful in wearing his mask when in close proximity to others. He is fully vaccinated and experienced a breakthrough case.

This afternoon I spoke with a nurse who is part of Jeffco Public Health’s COVID team. Her recommendation was for those who were in close contact with Nathan on Sunday (which is defined as being within six feet for longer than 15 minutes) to take precautions for the next two weeks. For those who have been fully vaccinated, those precautions include monitoring for symptoms of COVID for the next 14 days. If they decide to be tested for COVID, the earliest they could test would be Friday (5 days after contact). Those who are unvaccinated should isolate for 10 days and should return to a normal routine only if no symptoms have occurred within those 10 days. We’ve spoken with those who we’re aware were in close contact with Nathan on Sunday about these precautions, which they are taking. All of the people who we know of who were close contacts have been vaccinated.

We continue to recommend that folks wear masks to church regardless of vaccination status as a way of protecting ourselves and those among us who cannot be vaccinated at this time, including the children under 12 who call our church their home.

Please join me in praying for Nathan and Anna, for our health care workers who so diligently provide care for our community, and for all those who are dealing with COVID in our community and around the world.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Sarah

Christ calls us into beloved community where all are valued and where we see and affirm the holy in one another. But the challenges of becoming beloved community are endless. As we come back together after summer, after pandemic, in the midst of divisions on many levels, we Jesus-followers are called to courageous conversation, to listening to one another’s stories, to sharing our own, and to seeking Christ’s face in even those who are different from us. This fall, we will work together to foster connection, to be vulnerable and authentic with one another, and to strengthen our capacity for empathy and compassion. As we seek curiosity, courage, and connection, we pray that God leads us to glimpse hope, joy, and beauty – and to become the community God created us to be.

All of us have known pain and suffering. In order to truly connect with others, we must first get curious about the pain others carry and the pain we carry ourselves. It is in being vulnerable and courageous about our own hurts, and attending to the hurts of others that we allow God to transform us and deepen our capacity for compassion. This week's story comes from 1 Samuel 1:1-18. You can find a link to the scripture here.

You’re invited to join Pastor Sarah for pizza after 10:30 worship on Sunday, September 26. This is an informal time to get to know one another better, and to share more about the church. If you are interested, please RSVP to the church office (office@evergreenumc.org or 303-674-4810) by Thursday, September 23rd.

Our growth groups are restarting in October! We’ll be meeting on Thursdays at 6:30PM in the church Library (because of the virus). Members of the Quayle and Penrod groups and everyone else are invited (and encouraged) to be part of this worthwhile ministry. Our first meeting will be on October 28th. More details coming soon!

The 20^th Annual Big Chili Cook-Off takes place this Saturday, September 11 at Buchanan Park in Evergreen from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Please plan to attend to raise funds in support of our mountain-area volunteer firefighters in their efforts to protect us. Stop by Evergreen Fire/Rescue’s booth to taste (and vote for!) their Rockin’ Red Chili and Walla Walla Woohoo (Green) Chili. UMCE’s Maureen Sullivan and Debby Humphrey will be there supporting our hometown firefighters and hope to see you there. For more information, visit https://www.bigchili.org. Thank you from Evergreen Fire/Rescue and all the mountain-area volunteer fire departments. They truly appreciate our support!

We hope those of you who joined us on August 1^st for UMCE’s 50^th Anniversary Celebration enjoyed the worship, church history and trivia, recognition of our former pastors and founding members, singing, bells, Communion and blessing the Youth Group’s mission trip, followed by a delicious meal!  A heartfelt thank you to all who helped make this an extra special event.  And thanks to our congregation’s generosity, donations exceeded our expenses by $1,511.  As a result of learning (just before the celebration) that our gas stove is in need of replacement, UMCE would like to allocate these funds toward the purchase of a new stove.  Trustees and Finance will work together toward this goal.  Thanks to each of you for being a vital part of God’s family at UMCE; let’s see where the next 50 years take us!

We are organizing a group of us for dinner and a show on Saturday, October 9th. Dinner will be at JJ Madwell's for 5:30pm with the show at 7:30pm.

Please let Jessica know if you would like to join in by September 19th! We are making reservations and purchasing tickets ahead of time. Tickets will be around $25 each.

For more information on Clyde and his character, Hercule Poirot, please click here.

Visit us on the web:  www.evergreenumc.org