June 2017

Reaching out to the hungry: in body or spirit

Sherwood United Methodist Church

The United Methodist Church is called to be a community, diverse and united in God’s saving love,

sent out in vital life-giving ministry for and with Jesus Christ.

The Invisible Wounds of War On Memorial Day I join many others in our country reflecting on the courage, and sacrifice of those who died in war, though I have been and always will be opposed to all war. If you don’t think respecting veterans and despising war are consistent with each other consider what President Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.” In fact, I propose that we can’t truly love our veterans until we end our warring madness, which kills them every day, even after they return home. Just two years ago the Department of Veterans Affairs released the most extensive study yet on suicide among veterans. They revealed that 22 veterans a day are taking their own lives in our country. More veterans and active duty soldiers die from suicide than from enemy actions, accidents, and friendly fire combined. In fact, for every soldier killed by enemy combatants 25 kill themselves. Worse, the writers of the study warn that this is an underreported statistic due to stigma attached to suicide. This is a rate of suicide grossly out of proportion with the rest of society. Veterans only make up about 7% of the total population but nearly 1 in every 4 suicides is a veteran. Something is terribly wrong. The very people we claim as a nation to hold in highest respect are in truth among the most vulnerable members of our society. Veterans fare worse than most of us in nearly every category. Veterans are less likely to have a college education. Younger veterans are more likely to be unemployed (older veterans fare better in this regard). Nearly 15% of homeless people in this country are veterans and a quarter of all veterans are likely to

experience homelessness at some time in their lives. The life expectancy of veterans is shortened and disability rates among veterans are much higher than in the general population. Whatever we say about supporting our troops the truth is that we are doing a terrible job of caring for the men and women who have worn a uniform in defense of this country, and that failure begins with the choice to send them to war in the first place. Increasingly military psychologists are recognizing what they call Moral Injury, which is defined as “perpetrating, failing to prevent, bearing witness to, or learning about acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.” Even in the best operational context situations arise, either from exposure to severe human suffering, the grotesque aftermath of battle, or from immoral actions we ask of our soldiers, which undermine the core humanity of service members. Moral Injury manifests in intense feelings of guilt, shame, and self-handicapping behaviors which, over a lifetime, are devastating to the well being of any veteran. Moral Injury is a key underlying cause of the litany of problems our veterans face, and why so many of them choose to take their own lives. It is time we recognized that when we put a gun in a person’s hands and tell them to kill our enemies, far from ennobling them, we are eroding their humanity. In order to love our veterans we must get involved in the hard work of repairing their souls, and if we really want to honor their sacrifice, we won’t ask our young men and women to do it ever again.

—Rev. Aric Clark

Thursday

Night

Community

Meals

So, whether you ea t or

dr ink, or whatever you

do, do everything for

the g lory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Thanks so much to all the

volunteer cooks like Perry, Bev,

Zelda and Lorene!

The Roth Team!

Fantastic Mexican

food from this

group!

Join Us

Thursday, June 1at 6PM

for our

End of the Year BBQ

We wil l be s tar t ing up

again in the fa l l .

UMW Monthly Meet ing

Helen Smith (102) and her

daughter Lee Johnson

V B S 20 1 7 Hey K ids!

Jo in us

Sat . June 24

9AM-1PM

fo r

An Al l - In -1 -Day Vacat ion B ible School

Lunch incl uded !

See Dar l a for d etai l s .

Community Meals: Final Thursday! We are finishing our first year of weekly

Community Meals! Join us for our final End of the

Year BBQ on Thursday, June 1 at 6PM. A

special thanks to all the volunteers who make this

happen each week!

UMW: June Luncheon The United Methodist Women

will meet on Wednesday, June

21, at 11 a.m. at the Sherwood

Senior Center. All women are invited. Come and

bring your friend/neighbor. This is the last meeting

before the fall. UMW does not meet in July or

August, so please plan to attend.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Give a hand to

Helping Hands. Donate food, help with sorting, or

volunteer on box packing or distribution days

(3rd Sat. of the month), or join us on Mission Sundays!

Call Gerry or Dottie Edy for details: (503) 625-7975

4 Juan Estrada 10 Jim Edy

12 Lynn Haynes 17 Rachel Labant 20 Barbara Pitney

20 Melvine Getman

June Birthdays

Join us for a screening of the new

documentary Promised Land about the

struggle of the Duwamish and Chinook

people to become federally recognized

tribes. Learn more and see the trailer at

www.promisedlanddoc.com

Come See The Film and

Meet the Filmmakers!

Sunday, June 4 at 6PM

in the sanctuary

A DOCUMENTARY

Apportionments Paid Report

Date Fund Apportioned Year to Date Balance %

April 2017 Conference

Shared Ministry 15,757.00 $4,000.00 11,757.00 25.59%

Layettes:

Bev delivered 25

layettes and baby

blankets to Medical

Teams International

while volunteering

there last month

PO Box 127

22280 SW Washington Street

Sherwood, Oregon

97140

Tel: 503-625-7115

E-mail: hollysherwoodumc@gmail.com

Reaching out to the hungry: in body or spirit

At A Glance for June 2017

Thursday, June 1 at 6:00PM—Community Meal BBQ!

Sunday, June 4 at 10:00AM—Worship

Sunday, June 4 at 6:00PM—Promised Land Documentary

Monday, June 5 at 7:00PM—Leadership Meeting

Sunday, June 11 at 9:30AM—Worship

Saturday, June 17 at 9:30-10:30AM— Helping Hands

Sunday, June 18 at 10AM—Mission Sunday & Father’s Day

Wednesday, June 21 at 11:00AM—UMW

Saturday, June 24 at 9AM-1AM—Vacation Bible School

Sunday, June 25 at 9:30AM—Worship

Church Staff Pastor Aric Clark aricclark33@gmail.com Pianist Cindy Souza armza2@yahoo.com Song Leader Eden Francis ms.edenf@gmail.com Administrative Assistant Holly Dhynes hollysherwoodumc@gmail.com

SHERWOOD UNITED

METHODIST CHURCH

Pastor Aric’s Office Hours Thursdays 9am-1pm