Exciting News!

August 15, 2023

Happy Tuesday, church! Or probably Friday or Saturday, when you’re reading this. Happy whatever day it is! 

So there I was a couple of weeks ago, minding my own business, when Shannon Ernst and Jackee Stewart from Social Services asked me to come to a meeting on Monday morning at 8am. All they would tell me is that it was good news, and they wanted me (and by extension, you) to hear it before it came out in the media. (!!)

Friends. THERE IS SO MUCH GOOD STUFF HAPPENING! The current DA’s office is being transformed into transitional housing apartments, to really help folks get on their feet and into permanent housing. We have needed this FOREVER, for so many folks who have to wait months to get into an apartment. Halleluia!

And there’s more. The former Blue Sky Thrift Store downtown will become the Community Health District office and testing lab, and the place next door will become the new Social Service office AND DROP-IN CENTER! This is something I was thinking Epworth should look into, but they are already doing it! It will have facilities for laundry and showers, addiction and mental health counselors, a “quiet room” in the back for folks to rest, grab-and-go food, and more. It sounds amazing. And all inspired by what we’ve been doing here at Epworth, and the needs they became aware of because of the time they spend here connecting with our guests.

Of course this doesn’t solve every problem. But wow is it a monumental improvement. A place to connect easily to all kinds of services (I hope to offer spiritual care there, too), and to be safe out of the heat and the cold during the day. They think it should be completed early next summer.

Next week, a bunch of us from all different groups here in town are meeting at the Senior Center to share experiences and ideas about hunger, and I invited Shannon to be there and tell everyone the news. It’s a group Kelli Kelly and I started just a few months ago, and includes folks from Epworth, New Frontier, Fallon Youth Club, the Senior Center, the Tribe, Churchill Community Coalition, WNC, and a bunch more. We’ll have a lot of new things to talk about now! 

Here’s a really interesting question: what might God have in store for us? What new ministry might God be calling us toward, if the showers and laundry and place to hang out during the day are no longer needed? Fallon Daily Bread and the Pantry will continue to be essential, but what else?? Pray hard, friends, and keep your hearts and minds open to hints and touches and pushes from God. The Spirit is moving! Halleluia!

 

Spring up, O well!

Pastor Dawn

Worship Everywhere!

“In Endless Song” part 5, Transformation

This is what it’s all about. This is why we worship, why we sing, why we cling to Jesus Christ and follow: because in Christ, everything is made new. Each of us is made new, and all the world through us. This week, we’ll hear songs and stories of transformation from musicals like The Lion King, Les Miserables, and Come from Away. We pray you will hear and see and feel God in all of it. As you prepare your heart for worship, you might like to read Psalm 23, especially verses 5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and John 10:10. 

 

See you Sunday morning at 9am. Remember to find us on YouTube so that you can watch live from home, or join us on KVLV radio on AM980 every Sunday beginning at 9:30am. If you have ideas or questions, or if we can be in prayer for you in any way, please call the church at 775-423-4714, or call Pastor Dawn directly at 775-671-5553. We’d love to hear from you.

 

Friday Night Prayer and Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina is an ancient, special way of reading and praying with Scripture. Most people who try it find it deeply meaningful. Join us live on YouTube every Friday night, at 7:00pm. 

 

News and Fun Stuff

Special Offering to UMCOR for the Maui Fires

We are blessed to support the United Methodist Committee on Relief with a portion of our Conference Tithe, so that every penny we donate to specific disasters goes directly to the needs of that community. You can donate online by going to umcmission.org/advance-project/901670, or by writing a check to Epworth UMC with “Advance 901670 Hawaii” in the subject line. Keep praying, too! To find out more about UMCOR and the amazing work they do around the world, visit umcmission.org.

“Come from Away” at the Fallon Theater Sunday!

Join us at noon on Sunday at our historic theater for a wonderful musical telling of the TRUE story of a community in Newfoundland who welcomed thousands of travelers who were stranded in the chaos and shock of 9/11. It is hilarious and moving and really restores your faith in humanity. And the music will stick in your head! Join us, have lunch and delicious snacks at the Theater – corn dogs, bagel dogs, pretzels, or nachos for only $5! – and look for the transforming love of God in this incredible show.

 

Pizza with the Pastor 2nd Sunday of Each Month

Join us on the 2^nd Sunday of each month at noon at the Pizza Factory, to learn more about the church, talk more about Sunday’s sermon, or whatever else comes to mind! Make some new friends, spend time with existing friends, and eat a bunch of delicious pizza. Pizza is provided, and everyone is welcome! 

 

Pentecost Sunday at the Fallon Theater!

 May 31, 2022

 

Happy almost-birthday, church!

As Jesus’ disciples made their difficult and yet miracle-filled way through the 50 days between his death and the summer celebrations of Pentecost, so we have arrived at our celebration of the incredible day when the Holy Spirit rushed over them like a rush of mighty wind and gave birth to the Church. And as your church leaders are planning, adapting, and organizing ourselves (with very little notice!) so that we can do ministry without setting foot in our buildings, I am inspired to remember the meaning of sanctuary.

The day of Pentecost was a wild, bold, courageous thing. But the word “sanctuary” brings to mind comfort, safety, and peace. The Bible speaks of sparrows that find a nest at God’s altar, peace that flows like a river, weapons that are transformed into gardening tools, shepherd and sheep who rest in the cool grass, wolves and lambs that lie down together, nations that find healing and kinship. The Kingdom of God, the whole world a sanctuary. Shalom.

This is God’s goal for us, beloved. This is what, with God’s power and guidance, we are moving toward. And it is a holy thing.

It doesn’t always look like we are moving in that direction. (OK, it almost never looks like we are.) Probably because the closer we get to true shalom, the more the forces of evil and ugliness panic. So my prayer for us this week is that as we worship and do ministry in new places, we recognize that we carry sanctuary with us. That the Holy Spirit is present and active everywhere, constantly birthing new life. And that by worshiping and serving outside these buildings, neighbors who are yearning for God’s presence and peace – even without knowing how to name it –will be drawn irresistibly toward the lifechanging love of Jesus Christ.

Come Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.

Pastor Dawn

 

Worship Any and Everywhere!

IT’S PENTECOST SUNDAY! 

We are so excited to be celebrating the birthday at the church in a brand new space, while our own is getting a facelift. Wear your best firey colors if you can (you know, red, orange, yellow) and meet us for worship at 9am at the Fallon Theater. You who need the closest parking spaces, please take them! Those who have an easier time walking will be glad to park further down the block, in the dirt lot behind the theater, or across the street at the Nugget. Many, many, many thanks to the Berneys, Nancy Upham, and the rest of the hardworking Fallon Theater board for making this possible for us. As you prepare your heart for worship, you might like to read and pray with Psalm 104, and the story of the Holy Spirit’s arrival at Pentecost in Acts 1:1-21.

If you’re worshiping with us on Facebook or on the radio, we are so glad! If we can be in prayer for you in any way, please call the church at 775-423-4714, or call Pastor Dawn directly at 775-671-5553.

Sanctuary.

May 24, 2022 

Hello church family and friends near and far,

As I sit to write this letter, news is reaching us of a terrible shooting at Robb Elementary School in Udvale, Texas. The details are changing, as they do in times of crisis, but as of this moment 18 families have lost sweet little ones, a teacher, a grandmother, and a broken young man. The ripples of pain and shock, anger and sorrow are moving in waves through the Udvale community – smaller than Fallon – and out from there across the nation and beyond. People who have been through this before, at Sandy Hook and elsewhere, are reaching out in comfort and solidarity.

I don’t want to write about this. 

Not again.

Over and over. So many times.

I mentioned Fr. Gregory Doyle in worship the other day, who is so well-known for his work with current and former gang members in East L.A. He says that he has seen over 200 young people killed in his 30 years in ministry there. In many of those situations, he knew and loved both the victim and the perpetrator. He has some interesting things to say about the role of prayer in the face of violence like this. He says prayer is for us, and our relationship with God. That we should pray constantly, seek God in every moment, and approach God with honesty and vulnerability. It gives us internal strength, keeps our eyes and ears and minds clear, keeps our hearts soft rather than hardened and cold. When it comes to things in the world that need correcting, though, he says that at some point we need to get up off our knees and act. We need to do something about the despair. We need to do something about the guns. We need to do something about the “lethal absence of hope.”

He once thought the solution to a lot of that was work. Gang members told him, we need jobs. So he created some, and that was good. That still is good. But it didn’t solve the despair, didn’t solve the violence, didn’t break the cycle. So in addition to the work, he provided love. “An irresistible culture of tenderness, where people kind of hold each other.” Young men and women find physical, emotional, and spiritual sanctuary in that holy place…and “if they surrender to it, then they become the sanctuary that they sought there.” And THAT breaks the cycle.

Politicians will argue about guns, in a maddeningly repetitive way. They will point fingers, and cast blame, and draw attention to themselves. Some will mean what they say, earnestly. Some will lean on their faith, draw from a deep well of love and clarity, and will try to make changes that will work. And maybe this time, enough people will agree on a solution to give something – anything – a try. Maybe. But we probably shouldn’t hold our breath.

In the meantime, we can build a sanctuary. 

An irresistible culture of tenderness, where people are held with mercy and understanding, and deep needs of body and soul are met, and despair gives way to belovedness and worth and hope. And weapons don’t matter anymore, because no one wants them.

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.” Ephesians 3:14-17

 

Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

FREAKING OUT, Part 6: Victorious. 

This week ends our worship series on fear. Even with the news of horrible violence, yet again -- especially now -- we pray that you are finding comfort in the everlasting arms of God. As we have explored the topic of fear and God-given courage this season, we pray that your time in worship and prayer has infused you with new strength and courage. We pray that you are more able and ready to forgive yourself, and others. We pray that the chaos of this world retreats just a bit in the face of the light and love and power of the living God. This week we will hear together one of the best and most powerful passages in scripture, that inspires us to courage when we most need it: Romans 8, the whole thing but especially 8:18-39. 2 Timothy 1:7, too. We will share God's deep well of comfort together, too.

 

If you’re worshiping with us on Facebook or on the radio, we are so glad! If we can be in prayer for you in any way, please call the church at 775-423-4714, or call Pastor Dawn directly at 775-671-5553.

Be Still and Know.

 May 17, 2022

 

Hello, beloved church family, and friends near and far!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Fallon, and being in ministry with all of you? There’s nothing like spring to remind a person of all of the beauty of God’s creation in this place…green things growing everywhere, people planning their gardens, so many kinds of birds, newborns among the wild horses and cattle, sunsets that will bring you to tears. I have lived in northern Nevada all my life, and there is nothing like this special desert beauty.

In my time in prayer early this morning, I decided to open the Bible randomly to a passage and pray with it. Sometimes when I do that I land in some very interesting part of Kings or Chronicles about battles and whatnot, and I have to read awhile before I find something that draws my spirit’s attention. But this time, I wound up at Isaiah 40…kind of in the middle, so I decided to read the whole thing. It begins, “Comfort, O comfort my people”…and later “A voice cries out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight in the desert a highway for our God’”…and so many other familiar parts. But the part that caught me, and has been whispering to me all day, is this one:

 

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint
    and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary,
    and the young will fall exhausted,
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

 

I’ve been spending some time in the gym lately, trying to rebuild my own strength and endurance because I have been finding myself “falling exhausted” entirely too often. And though I am finding a whole lot more aches and pains in my various parts than I once did, here is something I think God is speaking to me lately:

Our bodies are a miracle. Getting older hurts, and is frustrating, and is beautiful, all at the same time. Youth is not better than age. Age is not better than youth. God’s creating of us did not stop when we were born, but continues every moment, as God adds texture and meaning to his artwork. The Psalm calls us to “wait upon the Lord”, but beloved we NEVER need to wait for God to show up. God is always present, showing up for us in every moment. So really, rather than longing for the future or the past and bemoaning the present, we find renewed hope, energy, and joy when we open our eyes and see that God is already here. Even when we are bone tired and fainting. Even when we can’t do the things we once did. Even when our hearts and bodies are broken, or healing, or healed over and scarred. God is already here. And miracles are everywhere.

Endless love and boundless blessings,

Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

FREAKING OUT, Part 5: Be Still and Know 

Sometimes we are caught in the midst of a storm of epic proportions, and we are terrified. And rightly so. But oh friends. How often it is that we cause our own storms and catastrophes.

We get in our own way, cause our own stresses, make our own mistakes, burn bridges, reject help. This season we have been talking about the ways in which we make mountains out of molehills, worry unnecessarily, and need God’s help to bring us back to center. But sometimes the storms are real, and we need God’s help even more…especially when they are of our own making. This week, we will meet Jesus on the beach, after he has been resurrected, meeting Peter in the midst of his own personal storm. As you prepare your heart for worship, you might like to read and pray with John 21:15-18, and Psalm 46.

 

If you’re worshiping with us on Facebook or on the radio, we are so glad! If we can be in prayer for you in any way, please call the church at 775-423-4714, or call Pastor Dawn directly at 775-671-5553.

In the Eye of the Storm

 May 11, 2022

 

It’s snowing outside. Happy Spring in northern Nevada! 

 

So there I was, at a Rotary Club meeting earlier today (my first one in awhile, too many scheduling conflicts the past few weeks), expecting to enjoy the company of my fellow Rotarians, have a nice lunch, hear an interesting speaker, and be off. It turned out that today was the day we heard from our scholarship award recipients! Two from Oasis, and two from Churchill County High School. And just…holy baloney, these kids.

 

First, most of them spoke without notes, and were incredibly calm and confident. I could NEVER have done that as a senior in high school. Not ever. They talked about their hopes and dreams and plans (computer science and artificial intelligence, medicine, bioengineering, environmental science and digital design), their volunteer work here in town, their love for our community. Two are military families just stationed here for a short time; two are lifelong residents. All of them just extraordinary humans.

 

After the meeting, Nancy Upham and I got talking with one of the young scholarship winners from Oasis. During his short speech, he mentioned that he spent some time when he was younger at Ronald McDonald house while he was being treated for a major health problem (he didn’t say what that was). Because of that experience and the people and patients he met there, his life’s goal is to learn how to manipulate certain proteins in the body to prevent them from rejecting transplanted organs. He talked about that in a little bit of detail, but it went flying right over my head.

 

I was thinking about myself at that age, and how I truly had no earthly idea what I planned to do, other than deciding between being a nun and raising a family. I definitely wanted to study anthropology, and I loved the idea of discovering evidence of ordinary people living ordinary lives thousands of years ago. Oh, and I would be a famous novelist on the side. As a hobby. But in the meantime, at that age, I was just being a kid. Driving too fast, staying out too late, dating too many boys, arguing with my mom, giggling with my friends in the movie theater and driving people crazy.

 

So anyway, Nancy and I got talking with this young man and his mom, and it turns out he is also a swimmer. A really good one. Mom was telling us about the time he swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco. WHEN HE WAS 9 YEARS OLD.

 

!!!!!!!!

 

So anyway. Let’s be in prayer together for these amazing humans. And for all of the other amazing young humans, graduating or not, with a plan or completely lost, figuring things out and finding their place in the world. For all that they will do and be. May God’s hand be on every single one.

Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

FREAKING OUT, Part 4: When We Are the Storm 

Sometimes we are caught in the midst of a storm of epic proportions, and we are terrified. And rightly so.
But oh friends. How often it is that we cause our own storms and catastrophes. We get in our own way, cause our own stresses, make our own mistakes, burn bridges, reject help. This season we have been talking about the ways in which we make mountains out of molehills, worry unnecessarily, and need God’s help to bring us back to center. But sometimes the storms are real, and we need God’s help even more. Thank God, he promises to always be there. This week, we will meet Jesus and his disciples on the sea of Galilee, as they travel between Galilee – where Jesus just fed the thousands – and Capernaum, where he will do it again. As you prepare your heart for worship, you might like to read and pray with John 6:16-21.

 

If you’re worshiping with us on Facebook or on the radio, we are so glad! If we can be in prayer for you in any way, please call the church at 775-423-4714, or call Pastor Dawn directly at 775-671-5553.

May the 4th Be With You

May 4, 2022

 

May the 4^th be with you, friends! 

 

It’s Star Wars day, sort of. Actual Star Wars Day is May 25, the day in 1977 when the first Star Wars movie was released. Still though, may the Force fourth be with us all. Some wisdom from the great Yoda:

 

“Pass on what you have learned. Strength, mastery, hmm… but weakness, folly, failure also. Yes: failure, most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is.”

“Listening to music sometimes, a window opens and happy you are.”

“Always more questions than answers, there are.”

“Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.”

“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”

 

My favorite Star Wars quote, though, and the one that echoes scripture most clearly for me, was not said by Yoda. It was said by Rose, as the tiny remnant of the rebel resistance was losing the battle against evil. 

 

“This is how we win. Not by fighting what we hate. By saving what we love.”

 

I love that, so much. A healthy, important reminder of where our focus should be in divisive, chaotic days. It’s hard to discern what love should look like sometimes, but Jesus is clear that it involves loving, not hating, those who infuriate us or scare us.

May 4 is also the day when, in 1956, after decades of passionate discussion and a near split in the church, women were officially given the right to preach and lead in the Methodist church. So we celebrate, and remember the many women and men who paved the way, including our own Jessie Todd. And we give thanks, and see that God works powerfully and surprisingly even when things seem confusing and chaotic. 

As God did when the Wesley brothers followed the call of God to inspire and reform. 

As God did when the Methodist Church split over slavery, and again over racist behavior after that. 

As God did during all kinds of times of tribulation and revival. 

As God undoubtedly is doing now.

God is with us, friends. Present in every interaction, at every table, when we invite him. Praise the Lord, for Christ is risen indeed!

      Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

FREAKING OUT, Part 3: Risking Everything 

We continue this week on our merry way through God’s love, support, and strength in the face of our fears. This week, we meet Jesus fulfilling his promise to meet the disciples in Galilee, commissioning them to go forth and make disciples of all nations, and promising to be with them (and us) always, even to the end of the age. We’ll reflect, too, on the many places in scripture where God asked people to step out in faith and courage, calming their fears and inspiring their trust. As you prepare your heart for worship, you might like to read the stories of the angels coming to Mary and later to the shepherds in Luke 1 and 2, and the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20.

 

If you’re worshiping with us on Facebook or on the radio, we are so glad! If we can be in prayer for you in any way, please call the church at 775-423-4714, or call Pastor Dawn directly at 775-671-5553.

God's Good Pleasure

April 26, 2022

Happy 2^nd Week of Eastertide, church family and friends! Christ is risen, and risen indeed!

Yesterday was absolutely nuts.

Today, pure madness.

All of it in the form of interruption, and crisis, and people needing care. Pastoral care sometimes, but mostly other kinds of care. And in the process NOTHING has been getting done.

And of course, as we ran back and forth solving problems of one kind and another, it wasn’t until all was quiet and I turned on “Call the Midwife” to play in the background while I worked, that I thought to stop and pray.

I mean, we have been praying all day, with and for people: the drunk men across the alley who were behaving badly; the 50 year old woman they were accosting who we were able to provide a tent for so that she could get away from them; the hurt and angry grandmother desperately looking for her wayward adult grandchild; sweet Angela who had a stroke awhile back who was abandoned by her caregivers here at church (thank God she was able to guide me to her house on Front Street, where her husband – who is going to be beside himself when he realizes his friends left her alone – was due home any minute, and I could leave her in the hands of good, trustworthy friends.) But I confess, I was finding myself increasingly frustrated and sad as today wore on.

So many people, so much need. Right on our doorstep. How can we satisfy it all?

Well, we can’t. Of course. Only God can.

I feel like I say these kinds of words ALL THE TIME. Most of the time it’s easy. Today it’s been hard. And today, in the relative quiet, while a mountain of things waited for my attention, the nurses on “Call the Midwife” started singing. Bringing things back into focus on what was most important.

And I stopped, and prayed. For Angela and Dave, and Ruth and her granddaughter, and Darian and Scott and Paul and Stephanie and Tracy and Morgan and Hosie and Steve and Paisley…I prayed that God would touch all of their lives, and surround them with love and healing. I prayed that the love of Christ would be unmistakable to them all, and draw them to new life…and I prayed that our community could come together to find solutions for our struggling neighbors. 

The mountain of things is getting done, and occupies a much more appropriate place in the grand scheme of things. People are the most important thing, and it’s love that most needs doing. And all is calm, and all will be well, and all will be very well.

I really hope that some day, when I grow up, I learn to stop and pray sooner.

Pastor Dawn

Worship Any and Everywhere!

FREAKING OUT, Part 2: God’s Good Pleasure 

Sometimes our fears are justified, and a great gift of God to help us steer clear of danger. Other times, our fears can become chronic and corrosive. They can cause us physical and spiritual harm. That is why the command we find most often in the Bible is “fear not”! The good news is, God is our refuge and our strength, and a very present help in trouble. Last week, we remembered Jesus’ words to his disciples, comforting them before they really even knew to be afraid. This week, we will meet more disciples on the road to Emmaus, and remember Jesus’ words earlier in Luke’s gospel, saying “do not fear, little flock, for it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” You might like to read and pray with those parts of Luke as you prepare your heart for worship: Luke 12:22-34, and Luke 24:13-35.

 

If you’re worshiping with us on Facebook or on the radio, we are so glad! If we can be in prayer for you in any way, please call the church at 775-423-4714, or call Pastor Dawn directly at 775-671-5553.