Birmingham First

Birmingham First & Berkley First United Methodist Church is honored to help make a new playground a reality for the children and families of Pontiac. We invite you to join us as we celebrate this exciting milestone with a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, July 9 at 9:30 a.m. at the Webster Community Center, 640 W. Huron Street, Pontiac.

This project reflects our commitment to investing in our neighbors and creating welcoming spaces where children can play, families can gather, and community can flourish. We hope you'll celebrate with us!

In this month’s blog, Bishop David Bard reflects on what it means to celebrate, with open-eyed honesty, the gifts and challenges of our nation’s 250th anniversary.

BISHOP DAVID ALAN BARD
Michigan Conference

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of occasional articles on our nation’s 250th anniversary. Several voices from across the Michigan Conference will address different topics and speak to this question: “What is the Wesleyan way to be patriotic in this moment?”

This year’s July 4 national holiday celebration will be significant. Independence Day has been celebrated in some form since 1776, making this the 250th such celebration. Congress made July 4 an unpaid federal holiday in 1870, and it became a recognized paid holiday in 1938. Despite the history being a little convoluted, I appreciate the annual opportunity to celebrate this nation, particularly at 250. To celebrate and reflect.

Read the full blog: https://michiganumc.org/the-united-states-at-250/

Welcoming Rev. Elizabeth Hurd to Birmingham & Berkley First

Birmingham & Berkley First is pleased to welcome Rev. Elizabeth Hurd as Associate Pastor and Lead Campus Pastor of Berkley First. Pastor Elizabeth will begin her ministry with the congregation on July 1 and will preach at Berkley First beginning Sunday, July 5.

A lifelong United Methodist, Pastor Elizabeth's faith was nurtured from childhood at First United Methodist Church of Port Huron. She credits that congregation with faithfully living out the promises made at her baptism by surrounding her with God's love and helping her discover a faith rooted in grace, belonging, and acceptance.

"I know what it is like to grow up in a safe, faithful, accepting, loving church community," she says. "Creating and leading such communities for all people is essential to my ministry."

Her call to pastoral ministry came in a distinctly United Methodist setting. At age 17, while attending the Michigan Annual Conference with her father, she found herself at an ordination service as the congregation sang Here I Am, Lord. Those sensing a call to ministry were invited to come forward.

"I heard a voice in my head saying, 'You need to go up there,'" she recalls. "I ignored it that time! But God can be pretty relentless, and God made sure I had people in my life who wouldn't let me ignore my calling for too long."

Read the full article here: https://www.gatheredhereforgood.org/revelizabeth

Retired pastor Jack Harnish invites us to discover a place where we can go to clear the chaos and clutter from our minds and find peace.

The labyrinth has ancient roots in Greek mythology, Druid traditions, and early Christian worship. The oldest known labyrinth in a Christian church was discovered in a fourth-century basilica in Algeria.

The most famous labyrinth is in the Chartres Cathedral in France, built in the 1200s. It measures a little over 42 feet in diameter, making it the largest ever built inside a church. If stretched out, the path measures 856 feet, making it one of the longest labyrinths in the world.

Today, the labyrinth is seeing renewed use as a place of meditation for Christians and non-Christians alike. The beauty of the labyrinth is that its constantly turning path draws you to a clear center, then leads you back out again. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth offers a single path with no dead-ends.

Read more: https://michiganumc.org/finding-a-quiet-center/

The Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) Art Exhibit has moved from Berkley First to Birmingham First and will remain on display through Sunday. If you haven't had the opportunity to experience it yet, we invite you to stop by Fellowship Hall.

The Prison Creative Arts Project, based at the University of Michigan, brings together incarcerated artists and the public through an annual exhibition that highlights creativity, dignity, and the power of artistic expression. The exhibit offers a meaningful opportunity to reflect on themes of hope, humanity, redemption, and restoration.

The Birmingham First building is open until 4:00 p.m. today and on Sunday from 8:30-11:30 a.m.

Special thanks to Gabriela Betanzos for capturing these photographs from last week's exhibit at Berkley First.