Audio Services Now Available By Phone |
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Dear Family and Friends of the Open Door Churches:
Greetings! We hope this finds you doing well and enjoying the changing colors of autumn. As we move through this season together, our community of Open Door Churches are also making a change in our options for worship.
While we love sharing worship via prerecorded services on YouTube, we know there are those in our community without access to the internet. To help them be able to join us, we are now creating an audio service which can be listened to over any phone line.
This service has all the same audio elements as our video service with a few small additions when an audio explanation is needed along with the announcements being moved to the end.
To listen to the current audio service any time of day or night, simply call 888-655-8086 and stay on the line until the service begins. Before the service begins, you will also be given the option to listen to past recordings from previous services and midweek devotionals.
If you have any questions or need any help connecting with this service, please contact one of the pastors and we will be glad to assist you.
From all of us to all of you, peace.
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Sunday Zoom Fellowship Time |
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Are you interested in a time of fellowship? Would you like to meet the people you are chatting with in the live worship chat?
Join us for a Zoom Coffee/Fellowship Time after worship each Sunday so that we can have virtual fellowship directly after worship. Bring your own coffee. The link will be shared in the Open Door Churches Friday email and in the YouTube chat feature during worship.
Click here for this week's link:
ODC Coffee Hour
Nov 22, 2020 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 916 3006 6685
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,91630066685# US
+16699006833,,91630066685# US
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Financially Support Open Door Churches Worship |
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This year, the pandemic has shifted how we do many things including how the congregations of Open Door Churches worship on Sunday mornings. We transitioned from 6 in person services to worshiping together online with 1 worship service. This last month we also added worship on the telephone.
Did you know that it costs just $40 a month to offer this phone service to our community? At this time, we are averaging 17 people a week who listen to worship on the phone. We were able to start up and offer this service by a generous financial donation.
Together we continue to reimagine how we worship in the middle of the pandemic while following our call to Do No Harm, Do Good, and Stay in love with God. As we continue to create spaces for worship costs come up and we need your help.
If you would like to financially support Open Door Churches Worship please make checks payable to Open Door Churches with Open Door Worship in the memo line and mail your check to our Open Door Churches PO Box.
Open Door Churches
PO Box 4489
Salem Oregon 97302
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The Open Door Churches' Pastoral Team is pleased to offer you the chance to join in Midweek Devotionals brought to you each Wednesday! We will send out a special newsletter on Wednesdays letting you know what the link is in the future.
Join Pastor John this week for a special time of worship, prayer and devotion.
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Pastors' Weekly Blog Posts |
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In addition to the weekly devotional, our pastors will also be sharing written messages on the blog area of our Open Door Churches website. Pastor John, Pastor Alyssa, and Pastor Kalina want to continue to create ways to connect during these times when we cannot be together -- they will encourage, inspire, and lift you up in prayer!
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We are looking for families or really anyone who would be interested in receiving an Advent Kit to help celebrate the season. We're planning to include crafts and activities suitable for the whole family.
We are asking folks to send in you name now so we have an idea of how kits we'll need to put together.
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Christian Education Opportunities |
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Christian education is our invitation to understand God’s world and our experience in that world in deep and transformational ways. We will not be able to gather in person this fall, while our country and our communities engage in urgent conversations about racism, police brutality, power, government, creation care, and so much more. We want to provide opportunities for us as a faith community to learn, discuss, and inspire one another toward action for justice.
If you have any questions, contact Rev. Jeff Lowery.
Prayers of the Heart-Meets via Zoom every Sunday at 9am
This group gathers to share a short reading, a time of meditation, and lectio divina. Contact Dennis Lundeen ddlundeen@gmail.com for the Zoom link.
Digging Deeper- Meeting on Zoom every Sunday morning at 11:15. Pattie Sloan is leading us in a 4 week discussion of practical ways to engage in earth care. Following that, in the season of Advent, beginning November 29 we'll have a four week session called "Light of the World: a Beginner's Guide to Advent" featuring the wit and wisdom of Prof. a Amy-Jill Levine, a Jewish professor of early Christian literature at Vanderbilt Divinity School. All are welcome. Contact Charlie Wallace cwallace@willamette.edu for the Zoom link.
Tuesday Evening Women’s Book Group- Tuesdays at 7 PM on Zoom
Tuesday, Nov. 10., The group will be reading "The Myth Of The American Dream" by D. L. Mayfield.
Educating Ourselves about Race & Racism:
Hearing from and Listening to Black Voices
Mondays from 7-8pm via Zoom November 2 – 23, 2020
Cesie Delve Scheuermann- cesiedelve@gmail.com for Zoom link (attached is a sheet with more detailed info about each week of classes in Nov)
Sunday School for those Who May Not Believe in God. Once a month class via Zoom, 2-3pm on Sundays, contact Heather Hawkins for Zoom details. sharingourdream2020@gmail.com
Christian Education for children.
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Advance Directives Workshop |
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Time to Get Your Affairs in Order?
Advance Directives Workshop – (Re-scheduled) Tuesday, December 8, 7pm
Have you started your health care directives or end-of-life planning paperwork a thousand times, only to get discouraged part way through and abandon the effort? Confused about what even applies to you and your family? Don’t know how to get something notarized during quarantine? Why not take a little time this fall and get it all tied up?
First UMC’s Heritage Fellowship is hosting a free workshop for all Open Door Churches on Advance Directives.
Join us for a 60-minute webinar at 7pm on December 8. You’ll learn firsthand how to wrangle that pesky paperwork from Salem attorney Barbara Smith. Barbara has been with Hetzel Williams for 25 years. Her focus is primarily estate planning and business law including tax issues. She is past-president of the Willamette Valley Estate Planning Council and past Chair of the Executive Committee of the Taxation Section of the Oregon State Bar. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Estate Planning Section of the Oregon State Bar.
Get your wishes organized and down in writing, and give the gift of planning to your loved ones. All participants will receive advance directive for healthcare materials, as well as Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare documents.
RSVP to this no-cost event with Chuck Hudkins or Cesie Delve Scheuermann.
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Due to increased online activity, email scams directed at churches and people connected to churches have increased. We occasionally hear of someone from Open Door Churches getting an email or text supposedly from on of our pastors. None of our pastors will ever ask you for money in this way. If you get such an email or text, please report this to your church office. NEVER send any money or gift cards!
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Alternative Christmas Market |
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Wreath Sales 2020 - Benefiting Hispanic Farm Worker Women - economic development and leadership skills!
Greetings to all! Now that we are part way through November (wow!) we can begin to think about our holiday traditions, such as the Alternative Christmas Market. Unfortunately, we will not be able to have an in-person Alternative Market at First United Methodist Church this year so we created a catalog and we are going virtual.
The Alternative Christmas catalog provides information about all the wonderful non-profits we support and how you can make a donation to them in a loved one’s name as an alternative to buying them a gift.
We also will be taking orders for the beautiful wreaths made by the Hispanic Farm Worker women from Woodburn. We have supported their organization called Mujeres Luchadoras Progresistas for more than 15 years. Your purchase supports these women as they work towards leadership and economic development.
The deadline to order a wreath is Tuesday, December 1 - you may order your wreath by emailing Bill Sullivan at wildbill62@msn.com. You may also contact the church office at salem1st@wvi.com or call 503-364-6709 - and we will connect you to Bill.
You will be able to pick up your wreath on the morning of Saturday, December 5th from 9:00 until noon in the parking lot behind church. If you are not available to pick up that day other arrangements can be made with Bill Sullivan.
The cost of the 24-26 inch wreaths is $35. If you have a request for a smaller wreath, there will be some made that will be sold for $25. These wreaths are fresh, full, and beautiful.
To pay for your order, you can mail a check made out to "MLP" to the church office or use our online giving – just make sure you note that it is for Mujeres Luchadora Progresistas (MLP).
Thank you for your support of this deserving organization. If you have any questions you can contact Bill Sullivan at wildbill62@msn.com.
Alternative Christmas Market - 2020
More info about the Alternative Market
The Alternative Christmas Market has been an annual event at First UMC for over 30 years! The purpose of the market, an event that usually happens the first weekend in December, is to encourage people to spend their gift buying monies to support non-profits such as Habitat for Humanity, Heifer Project, One Fair World, HOME (the local youth resource center), UMCOR, and many more!
This year, due to all event cancellations because of the pandemic, we offer a catalog of nonprofits and their information so you can give to them directly or, if you prefer, through the church. Directions on how to give are included in the catalog. This catalog was created by Linda Bierly, one of the event coordinators. If you have any questions, you can email Linda at bierlyskl@gmail.com.
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Open Door Churches Annual Charge Conference |
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Sunday, December 6, 1:00 PM
Rev. Tim Overton-Harris will preside at the Annual session of the Charge Conference for the Open Door Churches of Salem-Keizer on December 6. In light of the circumstances of the Covid-19 Pandemic, this year’s Charge Conference will be held in Virtual Space via Zoom.
Charge Conference members from each of our Congregations will receive an invitation, including a Zoom link and a packet of Charge Conference materials, and do not need to register for the event. Others who would like to attend the event must register by contacting their respective Church office and will receive their invitation upon request. In order to receive the materials for Charge Conference in advance, you must register on or before Tuesday, December 1.
If you would like to register and receive and invitation, please send an email to the person listed below, according to where your membership is recorded.
We look forward to sharing news about the work of the Open Door Churches on December 6!
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Open Door UM Youth Group Zoom meetings
We will meet every Thursday except Thankgiving day 7-8:30 for Game Night.
Nov 22 Advent Preparation
Nov 29 You've Got the Look
Our Youth Group Leaders:
Rev. Jeff Lowery
541-654-1878
Kelly Mason
Maddy Hickerson
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Coffee, Conversation, & Community
In October the Young Adult Group enjoyed getting together virtually to celebrate our annual Halloween Movie Night. Our next meeting is November 25th for a time of spiritual conversation and community. Please contact Pastor Alyssa for more information.
Open Door Church Young Adult Instagram
Are you following Open Door Young Adults on Instagram?
Check out the Instagram page to see what is happening with Young Adult Group and to see what some of our Young Adults are up to!
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Rev. Alyssa Baker
Worship
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Rev. John Fleming
Administration
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Rev. John Fleming
Administration
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