Call to Worship - You are invited to light a candle in your home to welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit
Come to the Table - El Dorado
Welcome - Stephen Folds
Lean on Me - El Dorado
Passing of the Peace: Through the act of passing the peace of Christ, we offer our sincere desire to love our neighbor.
You are invited to greet one another in the live stream chat on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.
TOP 5 ANNOUNCEMENTS
VENMO: You can find us here: https://venmo.com/LAFirstUMC
PAYPAL: https://paypal.me/LAFirstUMC
SQUARE:https://checkout.square.site/pay/be673aef7fcb424e98387016d184e57d
Women United in Faith (formerly United Methodist Women) Meeting: August 28 following worship
BLACK DOCS BELONG
A Campaign to Raise Awareness About the Unjust Dismissals of Black Doctors and Trainees
Friday, August 26, 2022
Pasadena, California
On August 28, 2020—the 57th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream Speech” and the 65th anniversary of the brutal lynching and mutilation of 14-year-old Emmett Till for the crime of possibly whistling at a White woman—and within hours of completing an assigned discussion on race and gender bias in medicine, Dr. Aysha Khoury was summarily suspended from Kaiser Permanente Bernard J Tyson School of Medicine without transparency of due process. Not wanting to be complicit in her own trauma, she shared her story in a Twitter threadthat ultimately went viral.
Since sharing her experience publicly, she has become a repository of stories of discrimination in medicine from Black physicians and other physicians of color. These stories are heartbreaking. The worst stories come from residents. Black residents are disproportionately targeted.
Residents are wholly dependent on residency programs, a system that has become a gatekeeper instead of an education for many, thus robbing patients of future physicians and destroying careers after years of hard work and usually with more than $200,000 of debt. While Black residents make up 5% of the residency workforce, they account for 20% of dismissals.
Once residents are targeted or dismissed, there is little recourse. No entity is responsible for protecting individual residents. Legal avenues do not provide timely relief and can make relocating to a different residency program, an already arduous task, more difficult.
We cannot achieve health equity for Black patients without expanding the Black physician workforce. Attention needs to be brought to the devastating dismissals of Black residents.
On Friday, August, 26, 2022—the second anniversary weekend of Dr. Khoury’s dismissal—we are calling on all colleagues, family, friends, and co-conspirators to raise our voices to bring equity to health care and to take a stand for workforce equity in training programs and beyond. Can we count on you to be there?
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT OUR NEXT BISHOP
This event is hosted by the General and Jurisdictional delegates from the California-Pacific Conference, as elected by the Annual Conference for the 2020 General Conference. This event will provide input for the Delegation about key qualities to consider when electing at least 3 Bishops this November.
Usually there are only 4-5 weeks between annual conference and the jurisdictional conference. Since there is instead 4 months this time, we want to take advantage of this unprecedented amount of time to hear from the annual conference before we elect the next bishops of the Western Jurisdiction. We will be electing at least 3 bishops in November that will represent a new majority of the college of bishops. These bishops will be facing a difficult and challenging moment in our church.
Your Cal-Pac General and Jurisdictional delegation invites you to help us identify the qualities our bishops need for transformation of the Jurisdiction and Annual Conferences. We along with the chair of the Committee on the Episcopacy also invite you to help us identify what qualities we need in the next bishop assigned to Cal-Pac.
The delegation will take the qualities identified at the sessions and develop questions that all of the episcopal nominees will be invited to answer. After the list of nominees is released, the delegation will use the answers and all other information available in its discernment process regarding the nominees.
The Committee on the Episcopacy, chaired by our pastor, Rev. Mandy McDow, will take the results of the sessions to help them communicate to the Jurisdictional Committee on the Episcopacy what kind of bishop Cal-Pac needs to strengthen and transform the annual conference. By asking for input from the whole annual conference it is hoped that this will be a more transparent process.
Zoom Meeting information will be sent to you by email in your confirmation email.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES:
Did you know you can check out a FREE vehicle day-use pass that will grant you entry to over 200 participating California State Parks? Visit your local LA County Library to check out a pass and a book!
Try Parks After Dark!
Join LA County Parks under the stars for free movie nights, concerts and more at 34 LA County parks this summer. Learn more at parks.lacounty.gov/pad
LA County Parks is providing free nutritious lunches and snacks for children and youth ages 18 and under at 46 locations. View the schedule and find a location near you: parks.lacounty.gov/summerlunch
With higher than normal temperatures expected in some parts of Los Angeles, click here for information on heat safety or to find your nearest cooling center: emergency.lacity.org/heat!
Community Member Rumana is downsizing and would like us to share a link to her Offer Up page of items she would like to sell: https://offerup.co/profile/rumana
Ways to Send Aid to the People of Ukraine🇺🇦:
Over 1 million people have fled Ukraine in search of safety and refuge. While neighboring countries are opening their borders to many, the humanitarian need is overwhelming. If you are looking for a way to support the refugees, check this non-exhaustive list for organizations who are on the front lines of assistance.
Free at-home COVID-19 tests: https://www.covidtests.gov
Every home in the U.S. can soon order 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests. The tests will be completely free—there are no shipping costs and you don’t need to enter a credit card number. Ordering begins January 19: Click here to order your tests.
Sliding Scale Therapy at the Maple Center
As Ashley mentioned last week, the Maple Center is a great place to start if you want to find resources for mental health. They do therapy on an income based sliding scale, and are very respectful and caring people. https://www.maple4counseling.org/
Food Equity
1 in 10 residents struggles with food insecurity. LA County has convened the Food Equity Roundtable to address systemic inequities in our food system. Govt, philanthropy & nonprofit leaders will soon issue a blueprint for change. Have ideas? Email lafoodequityroundtable@gmail.com
COVID Testing:
You can get your digital vaccination record: myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov
healthvana.com or carbonhealth.com
LA City is now offering free testing, without appointments at City-run sites. Find a site near you: Coronavirus.LACity.org/Testing. For additional COVID-19 resources: Coronavirus.LACity.org/Resources
Vaccines:
In case you missed it: Pfizer's #COVID19 vaccine is approved for kids 5-11!! Children may now get vaccinated at select, walk-up clinics county-wide. Please call ahead to check availability. Visit vaccinatelacounty.com for info or talk to your child’s doctor
All COVID-19 vaccines are now approved for boosters - Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. People may also receive booster doses that are different than their original vaccine. For more info and to make an appointment, visit bit.ly/3m3Uspo--
CVS is already prepared to administer boosters. You can make an appointment for the booster of your choice at https://www.cvs.com/vaccine/intake/store/covid-screener/covid-qns
Vaccine requirements are in effect, LA County is providing mobile vaccinations, testing vendors, as well as a toolkit for owners of bars and businesses that serve alcohol, as well as for those running mega events. For more info visit, ph.lacounty.gov/coronavirus
California residents can now request in-home vaccinations and/or transit assistance to get vaccinated by registering at MyTurn.ca.gov or by calling the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) COVID-19 Call Center at 1-833-422-4255.
Everyone 12 years and older in LA County is now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Children 12-17 are only eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine—to find a location near you, visit bit.ly/PfizerSites. Learn more about the vaccines at vaccinatelacounty.com.
Need a ride? Uber and Lyft are providing free rides to and from vaccination sites. Don't have the apps? Call 833-540-0473 to book your ride.
There are several vaccine sites set up by Carbon Health that you can check: https://carbonhealth.com/
LA County: http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/vaccine/index.htm
Orange County residents and workers: Register for a vaccination appointment at https://othena.com
CALL TO PRAYER: Open Your Eyes - El Dorado
Joys and Concerns: We believe that the best way to bear our burdens is to share them with one another. You are invited to share your joys and concerns so that our community can hold these things in our hearts as we lift them to God together.
You are invited to share your prayers in the Facebook Live Chat, or on the YouTube Live chat.
Testimony: Rumana Choudhury
Scripture: Luke 12:49-56 NRSV
‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’
He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, “It is going to rain”; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, “There will be scorching heat”; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
One: This is the Word of God for us, the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God!
Sermon: How Do We Live in a Broken World? By Pruning, or Using Conflict as a Resource - Rev. Mandy McDow, Preaching
Holy Communion
Invitation to the Table: As we understand the Body of Christ to be inclusive, we understand God’s table of grace and fellowship can extend into our homes. As you’re able, bring your own elements to this time. Bread, Juice, Coffee, Muffins… the Body of Christ is comprised of wonder and mystery. Today, we celebrate that God can reach us where we are, even if we are not together.
The Great Mystery of our Faith
All: Christ has died
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
CLOSING SONG: O, How I Love Jesus - El Dorado
Benediction Remember:
God is with you,
God is for you,
God refuses to be God without you.
And may all of God’s people say: Amen.
