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Sonora United Methodist Church Newsletter - JULY 2026

 

From Pastor Kevin Campbell:

We are in the middle of celebrating our country’s 250th anniversary. There is history being recalled. Our minds are looking back at the ideals of our Founding Fathers. What are the freedoms that have shaped us? We are free from the tyranny of a king and being ruled without representation. We are free to pursue life, liberty and happiness. We have a justice system where we expect a fair trial. We believe we are all created equal. These are the ideals our democratic system was founded upon. We have the freedom to hold our government accountable to these ideals through our vote and voice. We have the freedom to worship in the way that brings us closer to God. We celebrate all these freedoms on the 4th of July.

My mentor, Phil Lawson, would read and study Romans every year. He told me that it was his way of remembering and being shaped by the basis of our Christian faith. This month we are going to journey through the heart of Paul’s Letter to the Romans. It’s a good time to recall where we find our freedom. How are we reconciled to God? Is it by following the laws we read in scripture or are we saved by faith alone? Do we inherit a place in God’s family or is it a free gift we choose to accept? When we become followers of Jesus how do we live? Paul spells out the old ways of the flesh and contrasts it with a new life in Christ. How do we find hope, grace and salvation? As we read Romans, we learn what it means to be a citizen of heaven while we are living here on earth. It is our civics lesson of faith in the same way we recall the ideals of our American citizenship.

I hope as we enjoy the festivities of our National celebrations, that we will find even more joy celebrating the ideals our faith is built upon. We won’t have fireworks. We won’t have concerts. We will have joyful worship. We will grow together in our walk of faith. I hope you are ready to dig deep and celebrate with grateful hearts.

Here are the scripture readings and sermon titles for July.

 

July 5: "Delight in the Law"

           Romans 7: 15-25a

 

July 12: "Set Your Mind"

              Romans 8: 1-11

 

July 19: "Our Spiritual Benchmark"

              Genesis 28: 10-19a

              Romans 8: 12-25

 

July 26: "More Than Conquerors"

              Romans 8: 26-39

 

Shalom,

Pastor Kevin

 

 

Women’s Fellowship

 

Greetings All! I hope this finds everyone doing well. Many have traveled or will be traveling this summer. Prayers for safe and enjoyable times.

We are grateful for the funds raised from the rummage sale and that Beans and Rice guests have been able to take any of the leftovers that they could use. I'm thankful for all the faithful who make outreach and ministries of the church possible. 

Our cooking group will meet on Saturday the 11th at 9:30 am to prepare casseroles for a future Beans and Rice dinner. 

We will meet on Saturday, June 26th at 11:30 for our quarterly meeting. All ladies are invited to attend. Bring a sack lunch and your ideas for future projects. 

As always, thank you all for your support of Women's Fellowship and our efforts to serve. 

 

Blessings, 

Karla Wasson 

 

Beans, Rice and Jesus Christ Community Dinner

 

Dear Church Family,

Good day to each of you.  I have been ill and have missed the last 2 BRJC dinners.  I am definitely on the mend now.  In my absence, I heard that the dinners went well.  Everyone jumped in and made dinners.   Janice was coordinator and shopped, Lorraine did a big shopping in the Valley.  Lynn and Ann did some GOOD cooking.  Numbers of people attending stayed about the same.  Spirits have been high.  So great to have such a terrific team of workers and grateful group of attendee.

 

God bless you all. 

 

Alice Mansfield

BRJC Coordinator

 

Birthdays

 

7/3 Diane Westgate Benson

7/3  Sally Bredehoeft

7/10 Doug Fraleigh

7/28 Maqueda Nicholson

7/29 David Wasson

7/31 Teo (Doroteo) Lopez

 

Anniversary

 

Dan and Alice Townsend 7/27/1991

 

 

California Nevada Methodist Annual Conference

 

Guest speaker, Dr. Ashley Boggan, General Secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History, gave a keynote address on Wesleyan Vile-tality: Reclaiming the Heart of Methodist Identity on Friday, June 26 at the California Nevada Annual Conference in Sacramento.  Sonora’s representative to Annual Conference was Sally Bredehoeft, who                 attended in person and was able to take part in the whole conference and will give you a report soon.

 

Janice Samuels Johnson and I watched the Live broadcast on YouTube and weren’t able to take part in some of the activities. My favorite part was the speech by Dr. Ashley Boggan on John Wesley and early Methodism.  It was fascinating with much new information from Methodist archives found in new places. This included why we are called Methodists and why we do some things the way we do.  If you would like to watch, go to:

 

youtube.com

type in “cnumc annual conference Friday 2026” in the search bar.

Find “Healing the world” for Friday 2026  and click on it.

If you don’t want to see all the conference move the red dot along the line at the bottom to 5:58 for the beginning of her speech.

 

Lorraine Vogt

Church Council Chair