North Bethesda Contact United Methodist Church October 2018 Volume 47 Issue 10 Bishop Richard Allen – Methodist Icon I had never heard of Bishop Allen until I did research for the article about Lovely Lane Church. This man is incredible, rising above circumstances, injustice, and neglect because of the color of his skin. Richard Allen is someone every Methodist should know well. Richard Allen was born into slavery on February 14, 1760, in Philadelphia. He belonged to Benjamin Chew, the Chief Justice of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. When Richard was young, Chew sold his family to Stokely Sturgis of Delaware. Sturgis encouraged his slaves to attend Methodist Society meetings. During this time, Richard taught himself to read and write. Itinerant Methodist preacher Freeborn Garrettson visited the Sturgis plantation and encouraged Sturgis to allow Allen to buy his freedom, which he did in 1780. He changed his name from “Negro Richard” to “Richard Allen.” He began riding circuit through South Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York, preaching to both black and white. When he ran out of money, he worked as a sawyer and wagon driver. In 1784, Allen was invited to attend the Christmas Day gathering at Lovely Lane Church in Baltimore where he was officially made a preacher at the founding of the Methodist Church in the United States. Because he was black, he was not allowed to vote at this meeting. Rather than continue circuit riding, Allen moved to Philadelphia, home to many free blacks. He attended St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church and was made preacher in 1786. Because he was black, he was only allowed to hold services early in the morning for black attendees. When he began to attract more people, the white administrators told him he had to move to another place to worship. Allen preached outside, attracting even more people. In 1787, Allen and another Methodist preacher, Absalom Jones, left St. George’s by leading the group out of the church and away from the enforced segregation. Together, they formed the Free African Society to help fugitive slaves, teach literacy, and aid people in need. Allen, Jones, and two other friends bought an old blacksmith shop on Sixth Street in the city for their church. On October 19, 1790, Richard Allen married Flora. She worked with him to establish the church. Flora died in 1801. (Continued on Page 4) North Bethesda United Methodist Church 10100 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda MD 20814 1 Lynn DeForge Phone: (301) 530–4342 2 Claude Bartholomot 2 Brady Pulliam E–mail: [email protected] 5 Dawn Swanson Website: www.NorthBethesdaUMC.org 7 Bob George Office Manager: Chris Lee 9 Denise Poole Office Hours: Tuesday -Thursday 11 Jackson Santoro 8:30am– 3:00pm 11 Emma Amoa-Awua Pastor: Pastor Jeff Jones 11 Kathryn Wynkoop cell: (240) 994-1505 12 Wynne Wats Minister of Visitation: Linda Thompson 12 Nana Amoa-Awua 14 Matthew Devadas Music Director: Tony Ashur 21 Rev. Jeff Jones Coordinator of Education: Renee Newman 23 Kathleen Manning-Edelman Contact Newsletter Editor: Valerie Blane 24 Areya Tabatabai [email protected] 24 Shane Davis Contact Newsletter Publisher: Chris Lee 29 David Poole 31 Janet Replogle If you have additions or changes you can contact Diane Tabatabai at 301-983-6878 or [email protected] Famous Birthdays 2 King Richard III 11 Eleanor Roosevelt 12 Erica Dixon 18 Wynton Marsalis Page 2 September 2018 Contact Preacher Feature October has always been an exciting month in my life. Not only was I born in October, at 11:45 am on a Sunday morning in the middle of my father’s sermon, but so was son, Casey. Son Andy’s wife, Maggie, was born the same weekend as Casey in the same hospital. Andy and I were looking at her in the nursery as we looked in on Casey, probably even stood out in the hall with her father, not even knowing someday . October’s weather is usually awesome. The end of summer, but not yet winter, full of simply beautiful, warm days to enjoy sitting on the deck or in awe of changing leaves. I’ve always related the orange, red, and yellow leaves to a burning bush. God’s fire calls us to be messengers of love to people who are trapped or to help people to grow in their understanding of God. We are all called to do this: our presence in someone’s life may be the touch of God to them. As the burning bush confronted Moses, he was reluctant to do what God asked of him. We, too, may feel reluctant to be involved, but God calls us to make a difference for someone. And, like Moses, we have to move closer to God to know what that is. The Sunday School classes, small groups, and Bible Studies are all ways to help you draw closer to God and know God’s will. I urge you to lean in and hear God tell you how important you are to his plans for the world. Another element of this burning bush narrative is God’s trying to separate the Israelites from their slavery. He needed to get them away from their past and call them to worship. God is very clear about this. He commands worship as the way we acknowledge God’s promises to us and a way we show gratitude for all God gives us. God provides for food, clothing, shelter, guidance, and help with life. Some passages of scripture tie in answers to our prayers, only if we are in a right relationship with God in worship. It’s a covenant agreement. We sign up for this when we ask Jesus to take away our missed targets and give us the certainty of eternal life. We show our gratitude in praise and thanksgiving in the house of God. It’s too bad that we have been poisoned by the air we breathe and the world we live in to think we can choose all the elements of our lives. Our nation particularly teaches us that we are completely independent and rely on no one else but ourselves. With that sense of independence comes a sense of choice. We can like or not like what we do, and we will stay away from what we don’t like. If we stop worshipping, God’s covenant says, we can stop getting the resources for life from God, too. No more answers to prayer, no more wisdom and guidance when in particularly bad circumstances. That sounds harsh, but large portions of the Old Testament show us that this will happens to us as May you be in awe of the burning bushes you see and turn to God in worship. Pastor Jeff Volume 47, Issue 9 Page 3 The Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church finally opened on July 29, 1794. It is the oldest real estate continuously owned by African Americans in the country. In 1799, Bishop Francis Asbury ordained Allen as the first black Methodist minister. Because he was black, he still had to have visiting white ministers give communion. In the early 1800s, Allen met and married Sara Bass. She became known as the “Founding Mother.” With the success of Bethel, other black congregants formed their own churches in the larger Philadelphia area. In 1816, as whites continued to try to exert influence on and demand control over the churches, Allen gathered five of these churches and founded the independent denomination of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was elected bishop that year with the goals of worship with dignity and freedom, literacy, and political action. Among other activities, the Allens used their home as a station on the Underground Railroad, sent missionaries overseas, and established a school for African American children. Bishop Allen died March 26, 1831. Valerie Blane Page 4 September 2018 Contact The Lectionary Worship Theme October 7 • Job 1:1; 2:1-10 • Ps. 26 or Ps. 25 or UMH 756 • Heb. 1:1-4; 2:5-12 • Mark 10:2-16 October worship reminds us that we are a part October 14 of a world-wide church as we gather at the • Job 23:1-9, 16-17 table on World Communion Sunday on • Ps. 22:1-15 or UMH 752 • Heb. 4:12-16 October 7. We will share communion in the • Mark 10:17-31 round to visualize the world nature of our October 21 Christian Fellowship. • Job 38:1-7 (34-41) 10/14 Mark 10:17-31 Upside Down • Ps. 104:1-9, 24, 35c or UMH Kingdom of God. Entering the Kingdom is like 826 passing through the eye of a needle. • Heb. 5:1-10 • Mark 10:35-45 10/21 Mark 10:35-45 Upside Down October 28 Kingdom of God. Jesus tells us that power • Job 42:1-6, 10-17 belongs to the servants, not the bosses. • Ps. 34:1-8 (19-22) or UMH 10/28 Mark 10:46-52 Upside Down 769 Kingdom brings light to the darkness. • Heb. 7:23-28 Bartimaeus is healed of his blindness and • Mark 10:46-52 follows Jesus out of gratitude. Pastor Jeff PREPARE FOR ALL SAINTS The first Sunday of November has been the time we remember members of our church and other family members who have died during the past year since last November 1. Please notify the church office if you have a member of your family that you would like to have remembered as a part of the All Saints Service and Holy Communion. Pastor Jeff Volume 47, Issue 9 Page 5 NBUMC to Serve the Women’s Homeless Shelter.