TONIGHT: Justice Bible Study at 6:30 p.m.

The Justice Bible Study Group is back tonight, reading the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 6. Come to the study and bring your questions and your reflections of your week as we try to work out together where we meet God in these stories and in our work in the world.

The study space opens up at 6:15 p.m. for fellowship, and the study will start 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 coming in your e-mail. 

Wednesday Nights Coming Up:

Keystone StoryTelling: We'll continue telling stories under the theme of "Transcendence." Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 6:30 p.m.  

Lectio Divina: Come for a spiritual practice centered on meditating on scripture and seeking the divine in the silence together. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 6:30 p.m. 

Listening Hour: The fifth Wednesday of the month are dedicate to getting feedback from you! Come and tell us how Zoom worship, online and in-person communications, advocacy, and other aspects of our shared Keystone life are working (or need improvement!). Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 6:30 p.m. 

Our Wednesday night community space opens up at 6:15 p.m., 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 Sept. 7, 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

RAISE YOUR VOICE ON KALAMA REFINERY PROPOSAL: The Washington State Department of Ecology is taking public comments on Northwest Innovation Works' and the Port of Kalama's application to build the world’s largest methanol refinery in Kalama. The Department of Ecology will take public comments through October 2 both online and at public hearings, which will be conducted remotely when possible. You can read more about the comment process at the Department of Ecology's web site here, and leave a comment online here. You can also register to participate in the first public hearing, which will be held at 1 p.m. Sept. 17, online here. Future public hearings are scheduled for 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sept. 22, also online. 

 The Sierra Club is training people who are opposed to this issue to virtually "show up" by writing comments. You can learn more about how to write effective comments and letter to the editor at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KxK_8pzDJE708Zm4j8NA0imAyvV_cJcPnjzQK24UovY/edit, or how to use social media to effectively spread your message at  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OqLh3nb0t6y17Wg3kf4A6lSXEZvdfHCtgNUFcenjtBE/edit. Talk to Rich Voget, who 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.


"TEXT BANKING" THE VOTE: Last month some members of Keystone took part in the Environmental Voter Project's "text-banking" day of action, where they sent texts to voters and asked them to commit to voting on Election Day. Our texts were part of the 27,000 that were sent by members of the Pacific Northwest Conference of the UCC on that day. The Environmental Voter Project is inviting folks to do more text banking in the weeks leading up to the election. Every Wednesday, starting on Sept. 16, from 2-4 p.m., folks can send texts to encourage people around the country to vote, with training for those new to the project scheduled for Mondays, Sept. 14 and 21, and Wednesdays Sept. 16 and 23. Sign up to join this effort here. For more information, e-mail Roberta Rominger, who is part of the PNC's environmental justice task force, or talk with Pastor Yuki about how you can get involved. 

Prayer of the People: Week of Sept. 7, 2020

A line drawing in gray of two hands holding a heart, behind words in red that read “Prayers of the People”

In worship on Sept. 6, we joined together in holding up these prayers:

• For friends who have entered hospice and are journeying toward the end of life, our prayers go with them from afar. 

• For loved ones getting married during this time of social distancing, that even though this isn't the wedding they wanted, may it be the wedding filled with good, loving memories. 

• For children who are leaving home to go to college for the first time, as we give thanks for the time they've been at home, we ask for help to be not too sad about this transition, but mostly that we send them into this new experience with hope and joy. 

• For all of life's unanswered prayers that bring us closer to what we're supposed to be. 

Holy God ... hear our prayers!

These prayers are crafted to carry those shared in worship to our whole community, in the general spirit in which they were given (one pastor or leader makes note as one prays), while guarding their privacy as this newsletter is carried into the digital world.  We also especially welcome you to send Rev. Lauren your note during the week with any prayer request, we are so happy to incorporate it into our online worship (if you may not be up for voicing it). We are also always glad for you to add your prayers to the Zoom chat box during live worship, and we can fold them in to the spoken prayers. Contact Keystone's pastors for any pastoral concerns (contact info is below and at the bottom of this newsletter)

Prayers to include in the newsletter? Email them to Pastor Yuki (yuki.schwartz@keystoneseattle.org), Pastor Rich (keystone5019@gmail.com), &/or Pastor Lauren:  lauren.cannon@keystoneseattle.org, or text/ call Lauren cell:  773.501.7382

UCC News: Week of August 31, 2020

The UCC is pairing up with Interfaith Power & Light to present the webinar: Children and Youth Speak: Your Vote Matters at 12 p.m. PDT/3 p.m. CDT on Saturday, Sept. 19. With the climate crisis and the struggle against inequality, the younger generations have served as today's prophets in provoking a global reckoning of the dire situation faced. As the November 3rd elections approach, children and youth are raising their voices again with a moral urgency as they awaken us to how much is at stake. This webinar will present children and youth from ages 10 to 18 who have a message and perspective that needs to be heard before those older than them vote. Guest panelists will include:

● Aaron Collins Anderson, Immanuel Spring United Church of Christ in Spring, Texas
● Elijah Chhin-Lawrence, Immanuel Spring United Church of Christ in Spring, Texas
● Caleb DeBerry, Vote16USA
● Isaiah Mason, Spring Glen Church in Hamden, Connecticut
● Evie McBride, Church of Christ at Dartmouth College
● Rishi Ranabothu, NC Interfaith Power and Light’s Youth Leaders Initiative
● Kate Roney, National Children's Campaign

This webinar is co-hosted by the Rev. Dr. Brooks Berndt of the United Church of Christ Environmental Justice Ministry and the Rev. Michael Malcom of Alabama Interfaith Power & Light and the People's Justice Council.

Sign-up now to join the webinar! Even if you can't make its scheduled time, still sign-up, and we will send you a recording of it.

Green Team Update: Getting Out the Vote

The Green Team met on Tuesday, Sept. 1, for our monthly meeting, the theme of the meeting was how we can make sure our neighbors and community members are voting. Do you have a plan for voting? Have you talked to your friends and family, especially friends and families in other states who might be voting by mail for the first time, about their plans for voting? We discussed the various scenarios that could prevent people's mail-in ballots from reaching their county election boards, between the efforts to slow down the US Postal Service and rules which might prevent ballots from being counted. We also worried together about the weeks after Election Day, while the ballots are being counted and the anxiety this uncertainty will create. We committed to talking with as many people as we can between now and Election Day to help people come up with their voting plans, and we'll be talking to Keystone folks as well to make sure your plans are in place!

We also talked about the Sierra Club's upcoming workshops on commenting at the upcoming hearings on the Kalama methanol refinery (see Take 5 for Advocacy article above), and the need to stay on top of strategies of disinformation that big polluters put out about plants like these. 

Finally, we continued our discussion into Jim Antel's book Climate Church, Climate World, chapter 4, which centered on the action that churches can do to be a partner in the fight for climate justice. We recognize the need for lifting up in prayer the harm that human beings have done to the earth, and how those of us currently living today are leaving an unjust world for the generations who follow us. We decided to start working on connecting our efforts as a UCC Creation Justice church and a Green Team with other Creation Justice churches and Green Teams in the Pacific Northwest Conference and across the US. How can we support one another, and how can we learn from one another in the work we're doing for climate justice? And how can we join our voices and power to others so we can make real change in this work? That's what The Keystone Green Team is committed to this month. 

The next Green Team meeting will be Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 6:30 p.m. on Keystone's Zoom. We'll discuss Climate Church, Climate World Chapter 5, report back on our work to help our neighbors with their voting plans, and other issues. 

~ reported by Pastor Yuki