Spiritual Life
6A — THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021
6A
Thursday, March 4, 2021
HIGHLIGHTS
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints
Submissions
LA GRANDE — Sunday, March 7, is
Fast Sunday for members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and all
are encouraged to fast for two meals while
sharing their testimonies during church
meetings and in their homes, if so inspired.
Sharing our testimony and donating the
value of the meals for the less fortunate can
bring special blessings, and feelings of com-
fort and joy into our lives.
The “Come, Follow Me” lesson for the
week of March 15 is on Doctrine and Cov-
enants 23-26, which recount revelations
to several individuals, including Emma
Smith, the wife of Joseph Smith. Sister
Smith was described as “an elect lady”
who endured great hardships as the proph-
et’s spouse. Learn more about her life as
part of this lesson by watching the included
Churches and faith-based groups are encouraged to submit Highlights for the Spiritual
Life page by 4 p.m. Tuesday for publication Thursday. Submit by email to news@
lagrandeobserver.com (with Highlights in the subject line).
video, reading “Revelations in Context”
and reviewing the last section of the lesson
material called “Voices of the Restoration.”
All lesson materials are available by down-
loading the “Gospel Library” mobile app.
Faith Lutheran Church
LA GRANDE — The sermon at Faith
Lutheran Church this Sunday, March 7, will
focus on the Gospel of John 2:13-22. In this
passage we witness Jesus addressing activ-
ities that were occuring and being omitted
in the house of worship. He aggressively
corrected the wrong and was challenged
on his “zeal” for the house of God. Jesus
then gives his challengers an insight to what
he would accomplish by destroying the
temple of his human body), “and in three
days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). After the
Divine Service will be an opportunity for
fellowship followed by an elders’ meeting.
The Lenten service at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 10, will consider eyes
that are on Jesus. For this service the mes-
sage will be “Denying Eyes.”
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
LA GRANDE — St. Peter’s Episcopal
Church will not worship in person until at
least mid-March due to COVID-19. A link
to a livestream of Zion Lutheran’s service
will be posted to St. Peter’s Facebook page
on Saturday, March 6.
On Wednesday, March 10, there will be a
Zoom Lenten service at 6:30 p.m. The link
for that service will be emailed on Tuesday.
Zion Lutheran Church
LA GRANDE — Zion Lutheran Church
will resume in-person this Sunday, March
7, at 9 a.m. COVID-19 precautions will
be in place, including masks, social dis-
tancing and no coffee hour. Those planning
to attend are asked to RSVP to the offi ce via
email or phone by Saturday at noon. The
worship service also will be livestreamed
on Facebook (you don’t need an account
to watch). A link for that stream will be
emailed out and posted on Saturday.
On Wednesday, March 10, there will be a
Zoom Lenten service at 6:30 p.m. The link
for that service will be emailed on Tuesday.
Focusing on what United Methodist conservatives plan breakup
Differences over
Lent is all about same-sex marriage,
am a chocoholic. And
so was my mother and
my grandfather. And
so chocolate was some-
thing we all gave up for
Lent every year. Unfor-
tunately, I got too good at
fi nding substitutes for choc-
olate, whether it was choc-
olate-like carob, or just
fi nding other ways to sat-
isfy my sweet tooth, like
lemon bars or carrot cake.
So I started giving up all
sweets. But that led to an
internal debate about artifi -
cial sweeteners. Did sugar-
less gum or diet pop count
as a “sweet” for the pur-
poses of Lenten fasting?
Of course, this is all a
human-made conundrum.
There’s nothing in the Bible
that requires one to give
up something for Lent (the
Bible doesn’t even mention
Lent). Rather it has become
a tradition, sometimes
within families, like mine,
or within a particular con-
gregation or denomination.
This tradition has its roots
in the early church when
those wanting to become
Christian would typically
be baptized into member-
ship at Easter, and so they
spent the weeks beforehand
preparing themselves, often
with fasting of some kind.
Any more, at least in the
congregations and denom-
inations I’ve been part
of, folks are baptized and
brought into membership
almost any time of the year,
so giving up something for
Lent has become a disci-
pline unto itself. Many use
their Lenten discipline as a
reminder of the sacrifi ces
Jesus made on our behalf.
For others, it may be a way
to jump-start a change that
they hope will carry beyond
Lent.
For me, I have some-
times gotten a bit smug
about “successfully” giving
up something (meaning I
went through Lent without
cheating). Other times I
have struggled, and won-
I
ROBERTA
SMYTHE
WALKING WITH
THE SHEPHERD
dered if there was some-
thing wrong with me for
failing my Lenten disci-
pline. But neither of these
is what Lent is really about.
Lent isn’t about one’s suc-
cess or failure at a Lenten
discipline. Lent is about
focusing on the sacrifi ces
Jesus made, his journey to
the cross, and the reason
such a sacrifi ce was nec-
essary: human sinfulness.
Such sinfulness isn’t nec-
essarily about being evil or
bad.
Rather, as Martin Luther
spoke of it, sin is the soul
curved in on itself. Our per-
sonal Lenten disciplines
are simply one way (though
not the only way) to help
us turn that curved-inward
soul toward something out-
side ourselves, as a way of
opening up ourselves to
the gifts that were given in
the resurrection of Jesus:
eternal life and the forgive-
ness of sin.
Whether one is “suc-
cessful” in a Lenten dis-
cipline doesn’t matter,
because the truth is that we
never will be completely
successful, and our failures
only mean we are human.
God already knows that
about us, and loves each of
us anyway, and sent Jesus
to die for us anyway.
———
The Rev. Roberta Smythe
has been the pastor at Zion
Lutheran and St. Peter’s
Episcopal churches in La
Grande since September
2019. She previously served
churches in north-central
and northwest Montana. She
was raised in the Oregon
City area and has degrees
from the University of
Oregon and Pacifi c Lutheran
Theological Seminary.
LGBTQ clergy at
heart of debate
By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer
Conservative leaders
within the United Meth-
odist Church unveiled
plans Monday, March 1,
to form a new denomina-
tion, the Global Methodist
Church, with a doctrine
that does not recognize
same-sex marriage.
The move could hasten
the long-expected breakup
of the UMC over differing
approaches to LGBTQ
inclusion. For now, the
UMC is the largest main-
line Protestant church
in the U.S. and second
only to the Southern Bap-
tist Convention, an evan-
gelical denomination,
among all U.S. Protestant
churches.
Due to the coronavirus
pandemic, the UMC’s Gen-
eral Conference — at
which the schism would
be debated — has been
postponed for two con-
secutive years, and is
now scheduled to take
place in Minneapolis
starting in late August
2022.
The Rev. Keith
Boyette, a Methodist
elder from Virginia who
chairs the Global Meth-
odist initiative, said he
and his allies do not
want to wait that long
to formally leave the
UMC. They have asked
the topic of schism be
added to the tightly lim-
ited agenda of a special
one-day General Con-
ference to be conducted
online May 8.
However, Louisi-
ana-based Bishop Cyn-
thia Fierro Harvey,
who heads the UMC’s
Council of Bishops, said
debate over a schism
would involve “deli-
cate deliberations” and
attempting to conduct
them online in May
Charlie Riedel/Associated Press, File
A gay pride rainbow fl ag fl ies along with the U.S. fl ag in
front of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Prairie
Village, Kansas, in this April 19, 2019, fi le photo.
“does not seem wise or
ethical.”
If the issue is not
addressed on May 8,
Boyette said he and his
allies would be willing to
delay until the 2022 Gen-
eral Conference, but only
if UMC centrists and pro-
gressives remain com-
mitted to previous agree-
ments about a breakup.
Differences over
same-sex marriage and
the ordination of LGBTQ
clergy have simmered for
years in the UMC, and
came to a head in 2019 at
a conference in St. Louis
where delegates voted 438-
384 to strengthen bans on
LGBTQ-inclusive prac-
tices. Most U.S.-based del-
egates opposed that plan
and favored LGBTQ-
friendly options; they were
outvoted by U.S. conserva-
tives teamed with most of
the delegates from Meth-
odist strongholds in Africa
and the Philippines.
In the aftermath of that
meeting, many moderate
and liberal clergy made
clear they would not abide
by the bans, and various
groups worked on pro-
posals to let the UMC split
along theological lines.
The most promi-
nent plan, the Protocol of
Reconciliation & Grace
Through Separation, has
some high-level support,
including from the Council
of Bishops and from the
Global Methodist group.
Under the protocol, conser-
vative congregations and
regional bodies would be
allowed to separate from
the UMC and form a new
denomination. They would
receive $25 million in
UMC funds and be able to
keep their properties.
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43 N. 8th Elgin, OR
541-437-2054
Northeast Oregon Directory of Churches
Cove United
Methodist Church
1708 Jasper St., Cove, OR
North Powder
United
Methodist Church
390 E. St., North Powder, OR
JOIN US... Catch the Spirit!
First Christian
Church
(Disciples of Christ)
901 Penn Avenue 963-2623
lgdisciples@gmail.com
Worship
10:00 a.m.
Worship: 9:00 a.m. Cove
Worship: 10:00 a.m. N. Powder
~Join us at The Lord’s Table~
SUMMERVILLE
BAPTIST CHURCH
LA GRANDE UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday Services:
Sunday School & Adult Bible Classes
9:45AM
Children’s Church & Worship Service
11:00AM
Family Worship Service
6:00PM
Wednesday:
Prayer Mtg, Children’s Bible Club, Youth
Group 7:00PM
A church for your whole family
Visit us at summervillebaptistchurch.org
“OPEN HEARTS, OPEN MINDS, OPEN DOORS”
1612 4th Street – 963-2498
Pastor Taylor Gould
For service information go to
www.lagrandeumc.org
GRACE COMMUNITY
LUTHERAN CHURCH
The Place
62848 Philynda Loop in Island City
“We are called to Serve”
Sunday School for all ages - 9:00 am
Sunday Worship 10:00 am
Phone: 541-568-4230
grace.lutherancove@gmail.com
Zion Lutheran
Church
(an ELCA church)
902 Fourth Street,
La Grande, OR
(541) 963-5998
9:00 am - Worship
10:00 am - Fellowship & Refreshments
10:30 am - Classes
Pastor: Roberta Smythe
www.zionlagrande.org
Imbler
Christian
Church
440 Ruckman, Imbler 534-2201
www.imblercc@gmail.com
Sunday Services
9:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
Sunday School
Worship Service
Services
This
Week
La Grande Seventh-day
FIRST LANDMARK
MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH
Adventist Church
A Place where hope is found in Jesus
Join us in Fellowship & Worship
Saturday all age classes 9:30 am
Saturday Worship 11:00 am
1812 1st St. La Grande
Pastor Dave Tierce • 541-605-0215
2702 Adams Avenue, La Grande
963-4018
lagrandeor.adventistchurch.org
Learning for Today and Eternity
Little Friends
Christian Preschool/Childcare 963-6390
La Grande Adventist Christian School
K-8th Grade 963-6203
We use the King James Version Bible
109 18th Street • 963-3402
Sunday School 9:15 a.m.
Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.
Sunday School - 10:00 am
Worship 11:00 am
Sunday Evening Bible Study - 3:00 pm (Effective June 10)
Wednesday Evening - 6:30 pm
“Where you can find TRUTH according to the scriptures”
www.flmbclagrande.com