Updated October 27, 2005

UMAction Briefing, a newsletter of the Institute on Religion & Democracy, reports that the UMAction Steering Committee is recommending a "gracious exit for those who cannot or will not accept the essential beliefs of which the UMC is founded. The UMC should adopt a fair plan to permit their voluntary, peaceful departure, taking with them their local church property . . . and pension rights. Their beliefs are strong and sincere. They have a Constitutional right to believe and worship as they choose, but they do not have the right to divide a Christian Church by undermining its basic beliefs."

The Rev. Rebecca Irelan reduced her official time to half-time at Novato UMC on Oct. 1, as she returns for a semester at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. The salary savings enabled the church to hire a new director of family ministries to give the church about 20 more hours of leadership in that interim -- and to get more families with kids into the church. Lynn Hinck had worked on youth ministries in the Yellowstone Conference. She interviewed 150 young people across Montana and Wyoming. "What came across most clearly was an intense sense of isolation and a yearning for community, a sense of belonging," Hinck remembers. "I was surprised to learn that most of them did not want louder, but rather deeper worship. They spoke less about contemporary music and more about needing support to maintain a faith that worked in their everyday lives"...Bishop Beverly Shamana visited Novato UMC for its 50th anniversary celebration on Sunday, Sept. 18 -- the first episcopol visit since the church sanctuary was dedicated in 1957.

When a woman happened by Windsor Community UMC this summer, just as its ministries team was meeting, she asked for food. The church had nothing. The team immediately planned a food pantry ministry for 2006. Another type of needy, they concluded, are parents in wanting a night out now and then. In 2006 they will invite all of the parents of the town of Windsor to have a "Parents Night Out" -- the last Friday of the month. It will offer free child care. The church also is thinking over acquiring the town's Thrift Shop...New Vision UMC of Millbrae will accept a donation from Cumberland Peninsula Community Church for it to worship in its sanctuary starting Nov. 1. The two congregations will share worship on Oct. 16 to become acquainted. Largely Chinese-American and Presbyterian in tradition, Cumberland has outgrown its present meeting place as their families grow, according to their pastor, the Rev. Bruce Wong....

Ukiah UMC, which started a mental health ministry called A Healing Cooperative a year ago, has received Sarah Reynolds of Waynesboro, Virginia, as a General Board of Global Ministries missionary to advance the program. Reynolds is part of the GBGM US-2 two-year leadership development service for young adults.

Sebastopol UMC will observe the 90th anniversary of being in its present sanctuary building, at 500 North Main Street, on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. Members and friends will travel back in time to 1915 and dress in suffragette period styles -- ruffly blouses, long skirts, and fancy hats with feathers or flowers for women; and long-sleeve shirts with garters and suspenders for men. Epworthian Hall will have a program of ragtime music and silent movies over dinner. On Sunday, Oct. 16, the church will have a covered wagon motif to round up its core values for the future...

Healdsburg Community Church made its sanctuary and grounds into a virtual African jungle for an area-wide Vacation Bible School July 11-15, and had 125 kids from kindergarten through sixth grade in attendance. It was what the area calls Healdsburg Shared Ministries -- with many of the churches welcome to participate. But three HCC pastors provided the main leadership this year, and 39 of 45 teens and adults volunteers were from HCC. The Rev. Roxanne Lemereis was overall director. The atmospohere was "The Kingdom of the Son: A Prayer Safari" (a Gospel Light curriculum), focusing on the Lord's Prayer. The Rev. Lemereis and the Rev. Dr. Becca Jordan-Irwin led music, and the Rev. Dr. David Jordan-Irwin led continuity skits. Day care was provided for pre-schoolers of the adult volunteers. Healdsburg Shared Ministries uses word of mouth about the joint VBS, and a few families come from Windsor and Cloverdale. One Cloverdale dad, who works in Santa Rosa, drove all the way back home one morning to take his kids to VBS that day when his wife unexpectedly could not...

A portion of the Africa University choir visited Aldersgate UMC in San Rafael in July, and the church collected $925.50 to offset costs for the tour. "These young people are the university's best good-will ambassadors," wrote the university's director of planned giving, Elaine Jenkins. The university graduated this year its largest class since it started in 1992 -- 354 bachelor's degrees and 37 master's degrees -- to students from 14 African nations...Temple UMC of San Francisco, near San Francisco State University, will start "Bread and Jam," a worship service aimed at younger adults and students on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 5:30 p.m.. It will conclude with a potluck. "Bring guitars, drums, and tambourines," says the Rev. Schuyler Rhodes. "Wear jeans and t-shirts"...Jordan Smith, son of Mike and Margie Smith of Forestville UMC, with a teammate won the rowing bronze medal for the USA in "Men's Pairs with Coxswain" at the world championships in Japan last month.