UCC News: Week of Oct. 5, 2020

A circle with two swirls inside, one dark aqua and the other a lighter blue color with streaks of the dark aqua within it, with the words “United Church of Christ: A just world for all” in black letters to the right.

The Pacific Northwest Conference's home for sharing timely news, analysis, & info on how we can be the conference is on GoogleGroups.  If you'd like to become a member of the Google Group, send an email to Arlene arlene@pncucc.org. The Conference also shares news and information on its new Vimeo page: https://vimeo.com/pacificnorthwestucc.

Every Monday at 1:30 p.m. the Pacific Northwest Conference of the UCC will host a consultation and organizing effort using the UCC resource Our Faith, Our Vote,  a program to help churches make choices in the elections grounded in their faith. 

Recently, Hillary Coleman, the PNC’s moderator, shared some very important and timely information about helping people register to vote.

Meaningful Movies Social Justice Film Festival 2020

A rectangle featuring two boxes showing two images. In the left box, which has a white background, are two speech bubbles stylized to look like film strips, one in red and one in blue, with the words “Meaningful Movies Project” beside them. Beneath these words is the website address: www.meaningfulmovies.org. and “Social Documentary Film and Community Discussion. The right box is a mosaic of images showing people’s faces.

October 11-20, learn more at https://www.socialjusticefilmfestival.org.

Release Year: 2020
Running Time: 24 hours
Director: Many talented people!

Join filmmakers, film lovers, and activists around the world to celebrate the mission of social justice in film for the 9th Social Justice Film Festival, screening virtually from October 1-11, 2020. Featuring an exciting lineup of short and feature-length films to explore at your own pace, as well as filmmaker panels and discussions, tickets to the Social Justice Film Festival are available from Northwest Film Forum. For more information about the Social Festival Film Festival and Institute, and to buy tickets to this year’s event, visit www.socialjusticefilmfestival.org.  If you need a free scholarship ticket, please contact alanna@socialjusticefilmfestival.org 

This year, due to COVID-19, The Social Justice Film Festival is partnering with Meaningful Movies and Northwest Film Forum to present this year’s festival entirely online. Together, we will raise awareness, build community, and support the art of storytelling through films. The SJFFI also aims to support underrepresented filmmakers and provide a platform for unacknowledged stories.

Learn more at https://www.socialjusticefilmfestival.org

Obituary for Susan Kelley

Pastor Rich officiated at the graveside funeral service of Susan Kelley on September 25th. Susan died on September 4th after a long struggle with cancer. She was the daughter of James and Irene Kelley. Her family attended Keystone when she was a child.

Wednesdays at Keystone (Oct. 7, 2020)

Join us every Wednesday night for a short Lectio Divina practice, beginning at 6 p.m. and running until 6:20 p.m., using the scripture for the following Sunday as a meditative focus. After that practice the space opens up for our community nights, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The schedule for the next several weeks includes:\

TONIGHT: The Green Team opted to postpone tonight's monthly meeting in order to watch the Vice Presidential debate. We'll meet instead of a half-hour check in on Sunday morning before church, from 9:30 to 10 a.m. We'll talk about our pre-election actions to get out the Green vote, and other future Green Team plans.  However, Lectio divina practice is still happening tonight, beginning at 6 p.m. with Pastor Lauren and others providing some space for prayer and reflection over the coming Sunday's scripture: Exodus 32:1-14.

Parables Study: The Justice Bible Study is turning its focus on parables, and to do this we're studying the book Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine. Join Pastor Lauren & Pastor Yuki as we take a fresh look at the tricky tales Jesus told, that we thought we knew by heart.  We will craft a covenant to be generous readers & with one another as we really look to recover the sense of provocation and challenge that these parables would have brought to those in Jesus first century audience. The first night of the study will be Wednesday, Oct. 14, and we'll study the introduction, plus chapters 1, 2 and 3. 

Storytelling: Join us on Oct. 21 for Keystone's Wednesday Story Night! Tonight we'll begin telling stories under the theme of "Transcendence." 

Concerns of the World: A new focus for our Wednesday community gatherings is a night dedicated each month where we can come together to share our concerns about things that are going on the world. Come to vent, worry, and pray in community about the things that are happening around us all. The first night of this gathering will be Oct. 28. 

Our Wednesday night community space opens up at 6:20 p.m., after the weekly Lectio Divina practice, with the evening gathering officially starting at 6:30 p.m., in the same Zoom space we use on Sunday mornings and for our other gatherings (look for a Cheat Sheet with the info coming in your email every Wednesday night!). 

Take 5 for Advocacy: Week of Oct. 5, 2020.

Image description: A logo that reads “Take 5 for Advocacy, “ featuring the words “Take 5” in red, with the 5 in a circle of lines that indicate a watch face, and the words “For Advocacy” in green. The words sit in front of a pattern that looks like a mosaic of stones, with a green cross surrounded by multicolored blocks.

Actions You Can Take This Week

DEADLINE TO COMMENT ON KALAMA REFINERY IS FRIDAY: The last day to leave a public comment with the Washington state Department of Ecology is THIS FRIDAY, October 9. It’s your last chance to tell the state Department of Ecology that you oppose Northwest Innovation Works' and the Port of Kalama's application to build the world’s largest methanol refinery in Kalama.You can read more about the comment process at the Department of Ecology's web site here, and leave a comment online here. Rich Voget has provided this handout to help guide your comments and make them more effective. He also shared this flier (download here) on the Kalama Refinery and why Sierra Club opposes it, to find out more about the training workshops, and connect with Sierra Club at monthly meetings on the topic every third Thursday on Zoom. Email sept.gernez@sierraclub.org for the Zoom link.

TELL COUNCILMEMBERS TO VOTE FOR HEALTH THROUGH HOUSING: King County Councilmembers have the opportunity to create emergency homes for 2,000 people by voting for the Health through Housing proposal!  Health through Housing would buy currently vacant hotels, motels, and nursing homes, and turn them into emergency housing for King County residents who are experiencing or at risk of chronic homelessness. This is a way to scale up our regional investment in supportive housing, fast. Enacting a one tenth of one percent sales tax (which must be used for affordable housing and behavioral health services) and bonding against it would let King County buy buildings left empty by the current economic crisis now; pay for the supports and services people need; and operate this emergency housing as supportive homes long-term. King County residents can click here to urge their councilmembers to vote for this plan.

ASK ABOUT VOTING PLANS: As we head toward Election Day, make sure your friends, neighbors, and relatives — especially those who live outside of Washington state and may be voting by mail for the first time — have a plan for making sure their ballot gets counted. Tell them to vote early!