As you consider the level of generosity you are called to in your support of Hyde Park’s ministries and missions, here are some examples of a small incremental increase in your giving.
What can $100 fund at Hyde Park?
- Two scholarships for children to experience God’s love at Vacation Bible School
- 25 teddy bears used to share God’s comfort through our pew bear ministry
- One Financial Peace scholarship to start someone on the path to financial freedom
- Printed worship bulletins needed to engage worshipers for one service on one Sunday
- Five Third Grade Bibles to start children on the path of lifelong discipleship
- One day of electricity at the Portico campus to maintain a welcoming place for connection
- One day of a summer Youth intern who will form connections with our teens
- Two Sundays of live streaming worship services to multiple platforms to widen our reach
- Four background checks to ensure our volunteers and staff are safe for our kids
- One piano tuning, helping us make a joyful noise in worship
- One Wednesday night of Nursery care, allowing young parents to grow closer to God
- 16 Love Meals that will be delivered to a family in a time of need
- A nourishing hot breakfast for 39 homeless guests
- One month of Wednesday night preschool children’s curriculum to teach our youngest disciples
- 16 new bulbs for stage lighting in a worship space
- Communion supplies for two Sundays
What can $500 fund at Hyde Park?
- Confirmation materials to help a class of youth claim their faith for themselves
- Leader materials for adult small groups, helping them grow together in community
- A week of Warren Willis Camp where a teenager can encounter the living God
- Two Sundays of police security on the Hyde Park campus, giving us peace of mind to focus on worship, community and discipleship
- One scholarship for a transformational domestic mission trip
- A funeral with organ music, bulletins, tech support and a reception space for a grieving family
- Five days of support for Metropolitan Ministries outreach program
The Sparrow Fund is a discretionary fund established by Hyde Park United Methodist to meet emergency needs of individuals and families. The name of the Sparrow Fund comes from Matthew 10:29-31. The fund receives all offerings from our Christmas Eve services plus special contributions from church members and friends throughout the year. This fund is administered through the Outreach Department of our church and Outreach and Prevention Services at Metropolitan Ministries.
The Confirmation experience is an exciting time of faith discovery, reflection and commitment.
About Confirmation
Confirmation is the time when a personal decision is made to confirm the vows that were made for us at our baptism.
At Hyde Park United Methodist this happens as a group of students, typically in grades 7-8, come together for a few months to explore who Christ is, what it means to know and be loved by God, and how we live out our faith as United Methodists. If your student is in grade 9-12, they are welcome to participate.
The Confirmation ceremony is a public affirmation of them claiming their faith for themselves. The Confirmand is taking responsibility for living as a member of the body of Christ and for living out God’s purposes in their life.
It is our hope that each student will commit to a real and personal faith, and begin to cherish the rich heritage we have as United Methodists. This includes the building of relationships with peers and adults who will support them in their faith.
Confirmation is not simply a “rite of passage.” Nor, just a class to complete. It is a step in a life-long journey of faith.
Please speak with your student(s) about the value of this experience as you make the decision for them to participate.
Requirements:
- Attend classes and ceremony (see schedule below)
- Personal devotional, journaling and homework assignments
- All students must be baptized before they can be confirmed. If your student has not been baptized, they will be on the day of our Confirmation service.
Classes will be held 9:30-10:45 a.m. on Sundays during our regular Merge Youth time. Students are put into small groups with two adult small group leaders.
Confirmation 2023 Schedule is as follows:
- Weekly classes: 9:30-10:45 a.m. Sundays – Starts Jan. 22
- Ceremony: 11 a.m. Sunday, April 30 in the Sanctuary (during Traditional service)
FAQ:
- What if our family are not church members? That’s okay.
- What if my student misses a session? We ask that students do not miss more than two sessions, and the content will need to be made up. Make up times will be available.
- Will there be a virtual option? No.
An Advent Prayer for Peace
by the Rev. Magrey deVega
O God, you made us in your image to be in relationship with you and others, yet we acknowledge the frailty of those relationships. We are imperfect. We have not always been kind. At times we have been more prone to anger and bitterness, than love and forgiveness. We are an imperfect reflection of your perfect love. We know you hear us as we pray for peace. That you might fill us with peace, and use these prayers to create peace in the world.
We pray for peace for every marriage. We pray for homes filled with chronic miscommunication, endless disputes and unfulfilled expectations. Offer new ways to see and hear, with empathy and new understanding. Bring light to each person’s faults and lead them to confession and repentance. Rekindle an awakening to boundless, unconditional love.
For peace in every marriage, Lord in your mercy, you hear our prayer.
We pray for peace in the relationship between parent and child. For young families, in a constant state of adjustment and transition. Grant them endurance and creativity. For parents and children who are struggling with miscommunication, or shared expectations, or wounded by past scars and ongoing resentment, grant them new insight and the power of reconciliation. For families in transition, with grown children charting their own paths and discovering their own freedoms, bring them together across their distances, through joy and laughter and love.
For peace in every relationship between parent and child, Lord in your mercy, you hear our prayer.
We pray for peace for the dysfunction that is in every family. For families dealing with the haunting influences of addiction, or the long shadow of mental illness, grant a new spirit of courage and compassion, a boldness of truth, and generosity of love. For families that are marked by deep fault lines of past hurts and misunderstandings, pour out your spirit of confession and forgiveness.
For peace in all our families, Lord in your mercy, you hear our prayer.
We pray for peace for couples who are struggling with infertility, especially during a season marked by the birth of a holy child. Comfort them, weep with them, and grant them hope and fulfillment in surprising and creative ways. For those who face this season alone – widows and widowers, single adults and divorced, the elderly and homebound – help them discover their completeness, their uniqueness and their joy.
For peace in the midst of loneliness, Lord in your mercy, you hear our prayer.
We pray for peace for those who are grieving. For those who remember loved ones who have died, whose grief skews this season of peace into a time of sorrow, comfort them with your presence, and remind them that in you, the bonds of love will never end. And for those facing their own mortality, living in the shadow of their own death and disease, help them to embrace eternal life now. To live with an embrace of each moment and the gift of each breath, and the courage to receive both joy and the pain, sickness and health. May your love be made real in our care for others.
For peace in the face of grief and fear, Lord in your mercy, you hear our prayer.
O God, you are Immanuel. You are the presence among us in every moment. Through these prayers, open us up to that presence, fill the broken and empty parts of our lives, that in your grace, life might begin to fit together again. And use these prayers to create peace, in a way that only your transforming love can do.
May this season of Advent truly be one of preparation, that our hearts, minds and souls may be awakened to peace.
In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Whether you’re familiar with the Advent Wreath or it’s a new concept for you, Hyde Park is taking a new approach to an favorite tradition this year. It’s likely that the use of Advent Wreath in the Christian tradition began in the home as a focal point of devotion. It was then adopted in regular worship services during the season of Advent, the four Sundays prior to Christmas. Because we will be celebrating Christmas in online worship services, we are providing ways for you to create an Advent Wreath for your own home.
Different Types of Wreaths
A coloring version is available at illustratedministry.com. Our Children’s and Youth Ministry will be distributing these materials during our Advent Kit Pick-Up Event on Nov. 29 and Dec. 2. Find more information here.
To make a traditional wreath, use a circular oasis and either artificial greenery or real greenery. The advantage of the artificial version is that you can use it again in future years. One made with real greenery requires periodic watering to keep the greenery fresh. Regardless of how you make it, the fundamental aspect of the wreath is a circle with four candles, representing that Jesus is the light of the world.
Resources
Experience Christmas at Hyde Park United Methodist with all our events and worship services.
Dear Hyde Park Family,
For today’s Midweek Message, I’m delighted to hand the message over to our Executive Director Peggy Hisey, who has an exciting report to share with us. Peggy came to us at the beginning of the year, with none of us knowing then what kind of year this would be. Because of her leadership, a talented staff, and an amazing congregation of faithful people like you, there is much to celebrate!
Magrey
A New View
I can still see it. That big green machine disking up the field. The rich aroma of the earth rises to greet me. My skin prickles with goosebumps as I watch the trees shedding their thick coat as their leaves make a leisurely descent all around me. I have so many wonderful memories of living in central Illinois. The change in season was one of them. My favorite season by far was fall. We lived on three acres out in the country, giving me a front row seat to the seasons as well as the fall harvest.
I would watch the corn grow every summer as each stalk strained to flourish within its tiny piece of earth. Some days it seemed like it grew right before my very eyes. Eventually those stalks would wither and turn brown. The ears that once stood proudly would eventually fall over as if sleeping and weary. That’s when the hustle and bustle of the harvest started. The farmers would travel up and down the rows, making sure to gather all they had grown. Their energy was palpable.
This fall I have a new view, and I feel a different kind of energy, but just as palpable. One that comes from bearing the fruits of the harvest. I have seen that the workers in the fields for Christ have been tilling the land and planting seeds. Those seeds that have grown and are now being harvested.
I had the joy of gathering information for Hyde Park’s Annual Report this year. I didn’t realize it as I was gathering each piece, but I was harvesting the work you have been doing throughout the year. Thanks to your faithfulness in giving, praying and serving, we are seeing yields that we have not experienced for years! Our Annual Report summarizes the results of these activities. Of special note:
- 68 New Members welcomed in 2020!
- Nearly 890 people are involved in small groups and 89 are new participants this year!
- We baptized 29 children and adults!
- Our online Facebook group has grown by more than 700 members!
- We reached people on six continents with the gospel message!
- We provided more than 42,000 meals!
Fall brings all kinds of energy, and all kinds of things for which we are grateful. This year I am thankful for so many things. You, my Hyde Park family, are at the top of the list. I look forward to working beside you to continue the cycle of growing and harvesting in the name of Christ.
I pray you feel the gratitude as I do when I see all that has been accomplished and all that is possible with God, and that you will share this generosity as you complete and return your Estimate of Giving card this Sunday.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9
Serving Him with you,
Peggy Hisey
Executive Director, Hyde Park United Methodist
Dear Hyde Park family,
“We are now in the wake of one of the most captivating, bewildering presidential elections of our lifetime.”
That was the opening sentence of my Midweek Message from Nov. 10, 2016, following the election of President Donald Trump four years ago. I re-read that message this past week, and in the wake of the election of President-elect Joe Biden, I discovered that much of what I wrote then is just as relevant and important to remember now.
Here again is a reprise of that message, which was titled “What is Still True.” I simply swapped the name of Donald Trump with that of Joe Biden, and I think you’ll discover that its five truths are just as timely for us today.
I acknowledge that the responses to Mr. Biden’s election are varied in this congregation, and it is not my intention to wade into partisan conversations during this tender time in our democracy. What interests me is answering a question that can bring healing across the divides: “If so much of what we thought we knew about this election has been disproven, what can we claim as factual?
Put more simply, “What is still true?” So, here are a few thoughts, by no means comprehensive:
1. What is still true is that democracy worked. In what was the highest voter turnout in history, millions of people cast their ballot, participating in a free and open exercise of their right to vote. Next January, we presume there will once again be a peaceful transition of power that will be the envy of many nations in the world. Regardless of how you feel (and are still feeling) about the result, we can still marvel at the democratic process.
2. What is still true is that we will pray for President-Elect Biden. Just as every other president has warranted the prayers of God’s people, we can pray for our new president and all of our leaders. The prayer that I was determined to pray before Tuesday, even before the results were clear, is just as important now: “Lord, may all our elected leaders exercise a wisdom that comes from humility, and pursue a justice that is governed by love.”
3. What is still true is that we need to be agents of peace, healing and reconciliation. What is still true is that this election has caused harm. There is nothing more important to debate at this time than what needs to be done for all of us to seek the welfare of our common citizenry, and to translate those intentions into actions of justice, love and peace.
4. What is still true is that we don’t know how to talk across our differences. As much as social media has brought us together, it has made us forget how to live together. It is too easy to assign whatever voice, tone, and intention we choose to someone’s Facebook comment, tweet or email. It is much harder to look someone eye to eye, over a cup of coffee, in order to see the image of God within them. And as much as 24-hour news keeps us constantly wired to what is happening, it has fostered a red vs. blue tribalism fueled by contentious surrogates and talking heads. We have forgotten how to talk, how to listen, and how to respond.
5. What’s still true is the mission of this church. As “strangers and aliens” in this land, we remember that our primary citizenship is to the Kingdom of God, which crosses political boundaries and transcends tribalism. Nothing from last Tuesday’s election changes what is at the core of this church’s mission. We will continue to make God’s love real through expressions of warm-heartedness (an embrace of a diversity of people) and open-mindedness (an embrace of a diversity of perspectives). Anyone disillusioned by the unpredictability of life will find in this place the steady reliability of the one thing that is ultimately always true: the faithful love and sovereign grace of God, given to us in Jesus Christ. And at the end of the day, and now more than ever, it is still good to be the church.
In addition, my Facebook devotional last Monday offered some fuller thoughts on the election, which you can view here. I reflected on the role and limits of our political leaders from a faith perspective, and offered ways for us to pray for President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris, through the lens of Micah 6:8.
And don’t forget to join us this Sunday, as we explore a powerful story from Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, as part of our “Step into This Story” worship series. We will be inspired by the generosity of the early Christians, which will prompt us to prayerfully consider our estimates of giving for 2021, to be turned in Nov. 22.
Grace and peace,
Magrey
The Rev. Magrey deVega, Senior Pastor
Hyde Park United Methodist
Dear Hyde Park Family,
At the time of this writing, we are still waiting for vote tallies from the general election. As your thoughts race and your emotions run high, I offer you some pastoral words of guidance and comfort.
- Remember that the first thing God did to bring order out of chaos was to take a breath. (Genesis 1:2) Please do the same.
- Elections are eventually decided. But they are not finish lines. They are mere mile markers in the long, hard road of perfecting our union. Elections remind us how divided we are. But they do not tell us that we have to remain that way.
- Regardless of who you voted for, and for whatever issues led you to that vote, that work continues, and it is in our hands.
- We must continue the work of dismantling racism.
- Verify the validity of where you get your information. Follow news sources you trust, but don’t let it become a blind trust. And don’t post news on social media without fact checking first.
- Acknowledge your own implicit bias in the way you perceive reality.
- We grant great power to our elected leaders, but we do not give them all power. They cannot heal your broken relationships, or draw you closer to your loved ones and friends, or make you do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly. (Micah 6:8)
- We are called to live with the kind of civility and decency that we should expect of our elected leaders.
- Most importantly, remember that the kingdoms of this earth are ultimately inferior to the kingdom of God. (Revelation 11:15) Our primary allegiance is to God, not to our political systems, and we should not turn to them to bring us the kind of ultimate hope and security that only God can provide.
Take a moment to pray this Celtic benediction. My clergy colleague Steve Price shared it with our clergy covenant group following the election, and I find it to be very helpful.
O Sun behind all suns
O Soul within all souls
grant me the grace of the dawn’s glory
grant me the strength of the sun’s rays.
that I may be well in my own soul
and part of the world’s healing this day
that I may be well in my own soul
and part of the world’s healing this day.
Amen. May you be well in your soul, and be part of the world’s healing this day, and every day to come.
Grace and Peace,
Magrey
ONSITE WORSHIP BEGINS NOV. 29
Last Sunday, I announced the start of onsite worship on Sunday, Nov. 29. It will take place under the new ministry tent on the ministry office parking lot on the Hyde Park campus, in an outdoor setting that is currently safer than meeting indoors. It will be a 30-minute service featuring prayer, scripture reading, a sermon, and instrumental and vocal music. Stay tuned for more information over the weeks ahead.
Two years ago, geneticist Yaniv Erlich announced a major breakthrough in genomic studies. His team at Columbia University set a record for the largest family tree ever created, made up of 13 million people, spanning 11 generations, going back 600 years. Using information from various online ancestry databases, they went through the painstaking process of looking for genetic links between people and generations all over the world. [1]
In an interview with The Atlantic, Erlich was asked about how all of us are related as human beings. He said the prominent theory is that all we have to do is go back 75 generations. And there, we will discover, as we pan the camera out to the highest and widest possible lens, that we are all related to one another. [2]
WHO ARE YOUR ANCESTORS?
If you’ve ever done genealogical work on your own family tree, you know how special it can be to discover stories about your ancestors. I remember learning about my dad’s father, Fernando deVega, who died when my father was young. He lived in a Filipino fishing village called Cavite, on the mouth of Manila Bay. He was a mapmaker by trade and was employed by the Filipino government to take boat trips along many of the Philippines 7,000 islands to map their coastlines. His work was foundational to modern Filipino mapmaking.
My mother’s father, Genaro Rojas, also made a living on the seas. He was a merchant, distributing commercial and retail goods on an island named Mindoro. He made a name for himself shipping Pepsi Cola products all throughout the country.
Both of my grandfathers were young adults during World War II, and they both helped the Allied forces defeat the Japanese. My paternal grandfather provided maps, and my maternal grandfather provided espionage and reconnaissance on the Japanese soldiers.
Stories like these make my DNA tingle, just as yours does when you hear about your ancestry.
ANCESTRY: OUR SPIRITUAL DNA
This week, we begin reading the book of Acts, which is the church’s family scrapbook. We will read about our earliest Christian ancestors, the first disciples, who took the message of Jesus Christ and started the first faith communities. We will hear stories of faithfulness and courage, as they expanded the reach of God’s love to wider and wider circles of people throughout the ancient near eastern world.
In learning about them, we will rediscover aspects about ourselves. We learn about our own calling and our own character. We remember that we are the product of past faithfulness, and we are responsible for transmitting that faith to those who follow us. Most of all, we remember that no matter what we face as a church, we are part of something bigger than ourselves.
Grace and Peace,
Magrey
The Rev. Magrey deVega
Senior Pastor, Hyde Park United Methodist
We have some Manna Bags that are for sale if any family would like to pick some up. Please contact Emily, email, if you’d like to purchase and pick them up for $5 each.
If you would like to make your own Manna Bags at home, these are the items that we use to make them:
- Fruit Gummy Pack (small): Kellogg’s Fruity Snacks Variety Pack (2.5 oz., 36 ct.)
- Beef Jerky/Slim Jims: Slim Jim Original (120 ct.)
- GO GO Apple Sauce: GoGo SqueeZ Applesauce, Apple Apple (3.2 oz., 28 ct.)
- Salted peanuts or mixed nuts (2 oz pkg): Planters Snack Nuts Variety Pack (1.75 oz. Pouches, 24 ct.)
- Small waters: Member’s Mark Purified Bottled Water (8oz / 80pk
- Cheese and peanut butter crackers: Lance Sandwich Crackers, Variety Pack (1.41 oz., 40 ct.)
- Vienna Sausage: Armour Vienna Sausage (4.6 oz. can, 18 ct.)
- Breakfast bar: Nature Valley Oats ‘n Honey Crunchy Granola Bars (49 pk.)
- Plastic fork and spoon w/napkin: Member’s Mark White Plastic Cutlery Packets (200 ct.)
- Gallon Freeze Ziplocs: Ziploc Storage Slider Gallon Bags (120 ct.)
- Hillsborough Homeless Coalition Street Survival Guide (.pdf)
- Jesus Loves Me card
- Sanitary Wipes
- Socks
