Crest to Coast Currents

Formerly UMW Reading Program, Spark, and Reaching Out

A Message from Our President

Ladies,
I hope all of you are doing well and staying safe.  
It has been decided to cancel our District Annual Meeting in September.  Many thanks for sending in your pledges and etc. All of the districts in the PNW Conference have cancelled their in person meetings. The PNW UMW Conference meeting in October is being changed to a virtual meeting instead of in person meeting.  More details to come.

Since there will be no in person meetings, this leaves what to do about the quilts/blankets that have been collected for the UMC Annual meeting that was to be this weekend.  You can either keep them until next years meeting or if you would like to make a contribution to a favorite organization, that would be okay also.  If you do give them away, please let me know how many and to whom, so I can let conference know and they will send you a certificate.
I will be sending out in another month or so, an email to vote on our officers (as of right now we are not making any changes, maybe a couple of deletions) and our budget for 2021.
Summit UMW is looking to the future. 
Summit United Methodist Church congregation will merge with Puyallup UMC effective July 1.  At their Friday June 5 Zoom meeting, the women of the long standing Summit United Methodist Women's Unit discussed the future of their organization. With that came a motion and vote to change Summit United Methodist Women to Puyallup United Methodist Women. As the motion was approved, effective July 1, 2020 our Unit will become Puyallup United Methodist Women.   
Congratulations to Summit UMW upon making this decision.
Blessings to all of you, stay safe!
Susan Chamberlain

Treasurer's Report

Sharon Wischmeier reports that for first quarter we sent $13,622.54 to Conference, and second quarter we sent $1,034.87, for a total of $14,656.41 for the year. 

Living in the Light

Last month, we caught talked about catching the fire of the Holy Spirit for Pentecost.  This month, the program book leads us through Living in the Light of the Holy Spirit. When exposed to the evils of the world - racism, poverty, underemployment, lack of health care - think of  how far we have come by leaning on the Lord.

Yes, we have a long way to go. Step one, though, is to see what has been done. Step two, pray and discuss how best to proceed.  Step three, look to the future, what do you want the world to be like, how will this issue be handled. Step four, take action with your faith in the Lord's help.  

If you are trying to figure out how to have enough faith, think of the old time farmers.  They would work long hours tilling the fields, planting the seed, and praying with all their faith for the rains to come and water the seeds so that they could grow into crops.  The other option was to dig trenches for the water to flow from a nearby water source.  In much of the world, irrigation tools are readily available. While these help ease this one issue, the tools have brought on other problems of their own. Now, those issues are being looked into.  

This same process happens with all of the evils listed above as well.  We need to look where we came from, then look where we want to be and find a way to get there without causing more harm than is caused by the problem being dealt with.

The Prayer of Saint Francis is something to keep in mind when deciding what to work on and how to proceed.

 

Impact and Share God's Light

It was planned that we would be able to gather and spend time working on the Social Justice Priorities this summer.  There are still some things that you can do from home if you think creatively.

  • End Maternal Mortality Maternal mortality review committees save women's lives. Find out if there is one in your community or state.  Call on health care workers, lawmakers and advocates to fund these review committees and implement their recommendations in hospitals and communities.
  • Interrupt the School-to-Prison Pipeline Mobilizing for the safety and well-being of black and brown children within our schools is important even in the summer.  Contact a local school to meet with the school's administration to share how United Methodist Women's work to end the school-to-prison pipeline can be a resource.  ring some printable handouts from the United Methodist Women's Racial Justice page to share. Ask questions about how the school plans to reduce racial disparities in school discipline, if applicable.
  • Just Energy for All Untied Methodist Women is focused on moving the energy and transportation sectors - the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases that heat our atmosphere - to being better stewards of God's creation.  Advocate for increased renewable energy in your town and state, and join a national action. See the UMW Climate Justice page for more information and inspiration.
  • A Living Wage for All Does our state pay a living wage? It is what it takes to meet the basic monthly expenses of a family. This is typically about four times the annual salary of a minimum-wage worker.  Check out the resources on the Living Wage We page to find out how you can get involved. Look at the Living Wage Map to see what's happening in your state.

Mission U Update

This summer, Mission u is working to to deepen our understanding of how children of color are experiencing the impacts of educational inequities amid our current crisis. Register here to join the "Educational Equity in a Time of COVID-19" Faith Talk June 11 at 2 p.m. (EDT), and stay tuned to the Mission u website for more offerings.

Book Review - Mission u Book for 2020

It has been decided that this will be the focus book for our 2021 Mission u, as well.

This review is from Good Reads and is a compilation of over 300 comments about the book.

Fifteen-year-old Diamond stopped going to school the day she was expelled for lashing out at peers who constantly harassed and teased her for something everyone on the staff had missed: she was being trafficked for sex. After months on the run, she was arrested and sent to a detention center for violating a court order to attend school.

Just 16 percent of female students in the USA, Black girls make up more than one-third of all girls with a school-related arrest. The first book to tell these untold stories, Pushout exposes a world of confined potential and supports the growing movement to address the policies, practices, and cultural illiteracy that push countless students out of school and into unhealthy, unstable, and often unsafe futures.

For four years Monique W. Morris, author of Black Stats, chronicled the experiences of black girls across America whose intricate lives are misunderstood, highly judged—by teachers, administrators, and the justice system—and degraded by the very institutions charged with helping them flourish. Morris shows how, despite obstacles, stigmas, stereotypes, and despair, black girls still find ways to breathe remarkable dignity into their lives in classrooms, juvenile facilities, and beyond.

Date Reminders

CALENDAR 2020 - these are tentative and subject to change as circumstances change.

Conference and District in person events have been canceled.

September 11-13 Western Jurisdiction Meeting, Tempe, AZ (Tentative - may be canceled, also)

October 15 PNW UMW Executive Meeting, Virtual Meeting.

Please Note: With the current situation, some of these dates have changed and others may be changed or cancelled.  Please be patient with everyone.

If you have any other information that you want me to put here, please let me know by calling (360) 609-0503 or emailing me at lmilner2016@gmail.com .

Final Thoughts

You want to be like the Queen Bee, not like the buzzing Mosquito.  Mary O'Conner Wrote "It's not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised. The mosquito is swatted."  I have also heard the Queen Bee described as someone who creates a buzz, leads her hive, and lives her best life while making lots of honey.

  For some, lots of honey would mean lots of money.  For others, it means lots of people helped to become better, more productive citizens.  Others still would say that it is bringing more people to Christ.  Whatever YOUR definition of a successful life with lots of honey is, just work towards it.  Helping as many as possible while causing no harm.

Crest to Coast District Program Resources

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