We have moved our livestream focus from our YouTube channel to our website.

There is still a chatroom feature (when logged into your account - the same as the app account!) that we will monitor, just as we did on YouTube. Join us in the new livestream space this Sunday!

For this year’s Stewardship Campaign, we are asking for images for a series of slideshows that will represent — and remind us of — all the wonderful ways Asbury fulfills its mission of being centered in Jesus Christ, growing in faith, celebrating community, and serving others with love.

With this in mind, think about what Asbury means to you: 

• individually (your spiritual journey, or specific elements of worship that fill you up, etc.)
•  as a family or church family
•  locally (what Asbury programs that fulfill our mission are most meaningful to you)
•  globally (you get the idea…)

Please send a photo or two for each category, if you’d like, with a sentence explaining why it is meaningful to you, or is something you’re proud to support through Asbury.

The photo can be of you, at Asbury, or you can snap a photo on your phone of a scene or object that represents your statement(s).

Please send your image(s) and statement(s) to Pastor Kathy by September 27.

The website has a fresh look, complete with new capabilities; we have an app that has all Sunday worship resources and keeps us connected; and a new giving platform on both the website and in the app!

As you are exploring the website and the app, please contact Alaina if you come across content that is incorrect/outdated/missing, or if there is a link that does not work.

The A/V Team at Asbury is looking for more volunteers for Sunday. We need more people to add into our monthly rotation for Sunday morning worship. You will learn to run the sound board and/or the cameras for the livestream and volunteer once a month. No experience is necessary as we will train you on what you are interested in doing!

This is a great way to serve out church by helping to facilitate worship for our online community, and after a lot of great work this past summer, we have made working in the booth easier than ever! Additionally, we do many extra events throughout the year like forums, weddings, and funerals. Once trained and in the volunteer rotation, you will be able to sign up for these events and get paid! This would be a great opportunity for youth in our church.

If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to Pastor Brad.

Wednesdays in October

October 5, 12, 19, 26

1:00pm - 2:30pm

Group size: 6-8 people

What is Group Spiritual Direction? It's another way of saying group spiritual friendship! This is an opportunity to give and receive one of the most precious and powerful gifts -- really being heard and to listen with quiet, fully present attention. 

We all have a story and Covid has impacted us in different and (too often) traumatic ways. We will have an opportunity to experience how God shows up differently for each of us. There is no fixing or problem solving but being together and sharing in a safe, confidential, and sometimes silent atmosphere. 

This group will be facilitated by Barbara Ernest, who has been practicing as a Spiritual Director for over 30 years and is ready to offer the group experience again after COVID. For more information or to sign up contact Barbara.

Juanita Benson

Saturday, October 8th at 2pm

Asbury UMC

Reception to follow

Saturday, October 15th

7:00pm

Asbury Follies, is a fun-filled evening full of songs, skits, jokes, dances, juggling, magic --- you name it!

Start thinking about what you’d like to do for this year’s follies, and contact Martie Muldoon with your ideas, comments or questions. If you’d like to participate, but don’t know what to do, you can still sign up! All ages are welcome!

And we need audience members, too, so save the date for a wonderful evening of fun!

Saturday, October 15th

The California-Nevada Conference United Women in Faith (formerly United Methodist Women) are coming to Asbury for their annual meeting. There will be 80 to 100 women in attendance.

Because our UWF group has not been active since the start of the pandemic, we are asking all women of Asbury to be hosts. We need greeters, set up, help in the kitchen for the morning brunch and lunch, bakers and cleanup help. 

Nancy Grover will be coordinating the lunch. Lorraine Magee and Burlyne Wilson will be coordinating the other aspects. Please let us know if you can help in any of these special ways. The district loves meeting here and we wish to be great hosts.

Sunday, September 25

12:30pm on Zoom

The Church Council will meet as a Charge Conference on Sunday, September 25 at 12:30 p.m. on Zoom for the purposes of making some minor changes to Brad’s salary compensation due to housing increases. Pastor Kathy has been authorized by our District Superintendent, Samuel Hong, to chair the meeting.

Friday, September 30th

12pm - 6:00pm

Asbury UMC Fellowship Hall

Share your good health by giving blood or platelets. Donating blood could save a life. To schedule your appointment, visit redcross.org to check appointment times and sign up or call 800-733-2767. When scheduling, enter Sponsor Code: ASBURY925.

Please sign up to donate today. Invite a friend, too!

Saturday, October 1st

4:00pm - 7:00pm

Asbury UMC Courtyard

More details to come! For additional information visit their website.

Saturday, November 5th & Sunday, November 6th

1pm-5pm

Cost: $15 per person for ERT class. $41 for Safe Gatherings online background check and Abuse Prevention Training (to be paid on the Safe Gatherings website)

Instructor: Leslie Carmichael

Training includes: ERT training manual, ID badge, lanyard and t-shirt

The Mission of an Early Response Team (ERT) is to provide a caring Christian presence in the aftermath of a disaster. The team is not a “first response” group; nor is it a recovery, rebuild or repair team. It is assigned various tasks; usually relating to safety, mitigation of further damage to property, and cleanup tasks to assist the homeowner in preparation for rebuild. Register here!

The Souped-Up Spiritual Growth Group is beginning a new study 

starting Wednesday, October 12! 

We will be reading and discussing You Are the Happiness You Seek: Uncovering the Awareness of Being, by Rupert Spira. In this book, Spira discusses our innate longing for peace and happiness and walks us on a journey inward to find it. This is a 20-week study. The reimbursement amount for the book is $22.

We meet on Wednesdays, from 6-8:30 p.m. (supper included), and we have room for three more people around the table. Please email Sharmyn Crawford with any questions and/or to sign up. We have a book waiting just for you!

On Sunday, September 11, after worship, the congregation gathered to hear what the Tiny Homes Task Force has been working on since January. A recording of this event will eventually be posted on the Asbury website, so watch for the announcement in a future e-article. When it is available, we encourage you to view it there if you were unable to attend, or even if you just want to hear it again.

There are, of course, many more questions than answers at this stage. Lots of study and research remain to be done. Here, however, are a few of the highlights of what we know so far.

1. There is a real need for housing the unsheltered in our area. As of the 2022 point-in-time count of the unsheltered in Alameda County (delayed three years because of Covid) there were 7,135 homeless people in Alameda County, 174 of them in Livermore. This number continues to grow every year.

2. Asbury is blessed with having ample unused land behind the Fertile Groundworks gardens and the community gardens, which gives us the unique opportunity to provide the space for tiny homes. The land is zoned for residential use.

3. Creating housing for the unsheltered very much aligns with Asbury’s core values: being centered in Jesus Christ, we grow in faith, we celebrate community, and we serve others with love. It will take faith to undertake such a large and complex project; along with our partnering social service agency, we will strive to create a safe, stable, supportive community for the residents of the tiny homes; and of course, we will serve them with love and kindness, not judgment and barriers to healing.

4. A housing model that has proved highly successful in helping the unsheltered transition away from the streets for the long term is called “Housing First.” Once in permanent supportive housing, people can better address their other needs, e.g. reconnecting with family, getting medical help, and working on education and job goals.

5. The City, District Superintendent and a local service agency (La Familia) have encouraged us to continue exploring the concept of building tiny homes at Asbury.

6. If this use of the land is approved by the Cal-Nev Conference Cabinet, the approval of the congregation will then be sought in an all-member vote. If approved the plan will then go to the regional body for approval, since the land belongs to the Annual Conference, not to Asbury.

There will be other educational events be presented in the future and the Tiny Homes Task Force will keep everyone updated with articles in the digital newsletter, announcements in worship, etc.

Finally, THANK YOU for your patience and encouragement during this fact-finding process.

If you have Capital Campaign Envelopes that you are not using, please return them to the church office or mailbox in the driveway. Contact the church office if you have any questions.

Please pray for the requests that were made during prayer time on Sunday.

If you would like to be on the email prayer chain, please contact the church office.