Due to the novel corona virus, events are to be determined. We will send you updates as they become available PALM SUNDAY, April 5, 2020 10:30 GOOD FRIDAY Friday, April 10, 2020 7pm by Men's Group. Please carpool for those who don't drive at night. EASTER Sunday, April 12, 2020 8:30-10am EASTER BREAKFAST – Come start your Easter with a yummy breakfast and fellowship, and help support the Youth and Church Retreat Funds with optional freewill donation. FLOWERING OF THE CROSS: Bring a flower or several to remind you of loved ones, and help to "flower" our cross. 10:30 a.m. WORSHIP & Young People's Message, Easter Egg Hunt for the kids EASTER REFRESHMENTS There is no assigned crew for Easter refreshments, so we request for people to bring some kind of finger food to share, if … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2020 February
Why the history of our church is so important… Even though today our church serves people of all ethnicities, we definitely have our origins in the Japanese-American community. Formed during a time of prejudice and hatred toward “the other” there were many laws out there designed specifically with Asian immigrants in mind. The California Alien Land Laws of 1913 and 1920 were written to discourage immigrants from Asia and primarily Japan while simultaneously making life purposefully more difficult for those already living here. It was even upheld by the Supreme Court and wasn’t invalidated until 1952 in the case of Sei Fujii v. California. The environment for people of Japanese descent was hostile to say the least. When the United Methodist Church (then … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2020 January
My hopes and dreams for 2020… This is the month of new beginnings! It is also the month which we celebrate that lauded humanitarian, visionary, and civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. So in that spirit, I wanted to share with you my hopes and dreams for our church in the year 2020. Increase in outreach – The mission of every church is to make disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. And our church vision which we crafted together of “Transforming Lives Through Christ’s Love” is part of that mission. To do that, we need to reach out into the community more often and in new and different ways. It will mean embracing our community and its people with love and kindness, celebrating their differences and realizing … [Read more...]
Church Conference and Potluck
12/8 @after worship (church conference will begin at 12:30pm at BMUC) - Our annual church conference will take place on 12/8 after worship. If you haven’t been before, it’s when we receive the annual reports of each committee, our current membership, and vote on the pastor’s compensation for the 2020 year (based on recommendations from the SPRC and the Council of Ministries). Bring a dish to share at this celebration of another year together in ministry. … [Read more...]
New Baby Care Policy
Dear BMUC Family, It is with great sadness and much thought that we have made the decision to stop offering baby care during service. The baby care model that we have set up for our church requires that there is a good-sized group of volunteers that can commit to coming on their assigned Sunday and not have any other commitments on that day. Many of the people that attend regularly are already committed to several other committees and serve in many ways, sometimes on the same day. Because of this, we do not have the volunteers that we need at this time to continue this "service". We acknowledge that this is not an ideal decision, especially if we want to attract young families. However, given our "workforce", we felt it was best to make this decision. As … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2019 December
It’s the MOST wonderful time of the year! I can’t argue with that sentiment. I LOVE Christmas. When I was little, I loved it because of the anticipation of Santa, the annual Mattel Electronics game or die-cast metal Japanese toy my parents would give to me, and my early morning experiments at cooking breakfast for me and my sister Karen. What an eclectic menu! Beef and potato burritos, bologna and blue cheese on toast, and peanut butter and butter on toast were among my specialties. Now, I look forward to the season maybe even more than just the specific day. I love the cool winter weather (when we lived in Georgia, we might actually see snow!), decorating the house with family, excursions to see Santa, driving through the neighborhood and seeing … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2019 July
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. – Matthew 6:1-4 Don’t talk about money! That’s one of the first things I was told when I served my first historically-Japanese church. “Don’t talk about money.” The impression was that a pastor … [Read more...]
Holy Week at BMUC
PALM SUNDAY, April 14 , 10:30 GOOD FRIDAY Friday April 19, 7:00 p.m. Please plan to bring someone with you -- car pool for those who don't drive at night. Saturday, April 20 Youth and children’s activity, to be announced EASTER Sunday, April 21 8:00-10am EASTER BREAKFAST – Come start your Easter with a yummy breakfast and fellowship, and help support the Youth and Church Retreat Funds. FLOWERING OF THE CROSS: Bring a flower or several to remind you of loved ones, and help to "flower" our cross. 10:30 a.m. WORSHIP & Young People's Message, followed by the rest of the service for adults and Sunday School and Easter Egg Hunt for the kids. All-church photo after the kids’ Easter Egg Hunt. … [Read more...]
Trustees Update
Trustees Update Trustees: Joy Goto (Chairperson), Cassie Crossley (Secretary / Facility Calendar), Elaine Kawakami, Sandy Kaya, Randy Hill, Kevin Pon, Rev Craig Yoshihara The new Trustees committee has met twice this year and we are still learning our way with the help of our mentor David Fujita. We have discussed many different topics and we will bring you updates through this newsletter. Here are some of the important updates we wanted to communicate: * If you would like to use the church, please first check the online google calendar at https://tinyurl.com/bmucalendar and then email Cassie (bmuchurch@gmail.com) with your request. Include the event details, date, time, and space requested (e.g. Sanctuary, Social hall, Kitchen, Issei Chapel, Kato Hall, entire … [Read more...]
Craig’s Corner 2019 April
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” You are rich. So am I. At least compared to most of the world. It might not seem like it at times when you compare yourself to peers, people in the neighborhood, or others around you, but comparatively speaking you are. We live in a … [Read more...]
