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December 2025

From Pastor Kevin Campbell

Advent is a season of waiting, and waiting is not something we do well anymore. We are on the move, and calendars brimming with activities. It only seems to get worse during December. Yet we start our Christian year with a season of waiting. This year I started asking the questions of waiting two weeks early. With all the No King events around the country, I thought we needed to reflect on what kingdom and what king we are waiting for. With the loud voices of our culture remembering we are waiting for God’s kingdom to fully come, and we only have one King—Christ our Lord. I will ask again the questions from my Christ the King sermon: Who are you following? Who are you believing in? Who is the bearer of your hope? Who speaks into your hunger and your fears? Who defines what a life of meaning and fullness means? For whom are you waiting? And do you wait with joy? What we learn this Christ the King Sunday is that allegiance to this king invites us to consider how we wait and not just that we wait. Since waiting is living, or living is waiting, the real question for us this day is, “How shall we live day by day?” These are the questions we wrestle with in the upcoming Advent season.

While the question of Advent has always been: “Who are we waiting for?” Maybe I have known the truth that waiting is living and living is waiting for a long time. As a youth we sang, “I am the Light of the World” at campfires, youth rallies and even in church. There is a line: “If you follow and love, you’ll learn the mystery of what you were meant to do and be.” What we are waiting for defines how we live our lives. When we are waiting for God’s kingdom we live as followers of Jesus. As a seminary student I became familiar with the writing and preaching of Howard Thurman, and realized the song I loved was based on his poem. A poem we read during Christmas Eve Candle Light services.

“The Work of Christmas”

By Howard Thurman

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.

This year may we engage in waiting, remember who we are waiting for, and let our waiting change the way we live. I hope we will be part of the work of Christmas that has begun. In the anticipation we will find joy. We will be a light that shines hope, peace and love from the hilltop in downtown Sonora.

Shalom,

Pastor Kevin

Here are the scripture readings and sermon titles for December.

Dec 7: Second Sun of Advent

"Fruit of Repentance"

Matthew 3: 1-12

Dec. 14: Third Sun of Advent

"Patience and Joy"

Isaiah 35: 1-10

James 5: 7-10

Dec 21: Fourth Sun of Advent

"The Quiet Saint"

Matthew 1: 18-25

Dec 28: "A Real Man"

Matthew 2: 13-23

Coming Activities

Sunday, December 7, there will be a Christmas service at the historic Morgan Chapel at 3 pm with the singing of Christmas carols. Tuolumne UMC organizes this service and it is always beautiful and fun. The Morgan Chapel is on Wards Ferry Road about 3 miles from the Mono Way/Tuolumne Road intersection.

Sunday, December 21, after church, will be our annual Christmas Potluck. Alice Townsend will be cooking a ham, so please bring your favorite dish to share that goes with ham. This is an “unplanned” potluck so we will see if we have 17 desserts or many kinds of potatoes. All are invited.

Christmas Eve service will be Tuesday, December 24 at 2 pm. This is a time of hearing the story of Christmas through readings from the Bible and the singing of Christmas carols. This is a beautiful candlelight service. We are holding it in the afternoon, so people don’t have to drive in the dark and for families with young children.

Christmas Day falls on a Thursday and we will have a dinner from 3 to 4:30 for our Beans and Rice guests and those in the congregation that wish to participate.

Women’s Fellowship

Greetings All,

The Rummage Sale on November 8, brought us $ 822.00!

Bank balance is $2,976.38. We collected 24 Samaritans Purse shoeboxes full of children’s items for children around the world. This is part of Operation Christmas Child which is part of Samaritanspurse.org. I think this is the most boxes we have ever sent.

We will cook at home for the December Beans and Rice and Jesus Christ dinner instead of meeting at church. We need 2 more volunteers to make a double batch of crock pot chili Verde, (12 servings) then bring it to church on Sunday the 14th, cooked and ready to freeze for a future dinner. The sign up and recipes are on the nurture board. Please contact Karla for more information - cawassons@yahoo.com

We need to meet to decide on the amounts we can send to our usual end of year charities, Heifer, WATCH, Center for a Non-violent Community, Interfaith and Foothill Pregnancy Center. Upper Room renewal will be due soon. Do we want to help the church with some maintenance, as well?

Blessings,

Karla Wasson

Beans, Rice and Jesus Christ Community Dinner

On Thanksgiving Day at SUMC we celebrated this special day for BRJC and the community. I started with going around the circle with the opportunity to share what we were thankful for. We had many different responses but it seems to me that the most frequent one from the guests was being grateful for the staff that serve tasty meals every Thursday in a warm and friendly environment. We prayed, giving blessings to God for all of us partaking in this feast.

We served the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We had turkey (yes, real turkey), instant mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, carrot casserole, corn casserole, sweet potatoes, rolls, and an assortment of cakes, pies, brownies and drinks. It was truly a feast for all of us.

When our guests were leaving, almost always there was a thankful "shout out “ of appreciation. You might be wondering who were these people they were talking to? I am so glad you asked. Our regular staffed consisted of Alice M. ,Lynn W. ,Lorraine V.,Billie and Lucy, Donna and Mindi, Kathy Mc., and myself. We even had four wonderful people from the community that served and even thanked US for giving them a chance to give back . Several even mentioned they wanted to become regular volunteers. Also, our church members made food and others outside our church family donated money for this occasion. Thank you so much for helping to make this event so successful. It really does take a community to serve and honor God.

I would like to take this opportunity to let you know that there will be some changes in the new year. I have responded positively to the calling of becoming a minister. On November 22, I completed the requirements to be a Certified Lay Servant. This allows me to support our pastor and church by taking on leadership roles like teaching, praying and caring more for our church's spiritual needs and care.

I also know I have to make changes in my life in order to pursue this sacred opportunity. After much prayer, I have decided to relinquish my role as acting -coordinator on December 25,2025. Alice Mansfield has graciously agreed to again take on this position. Thank you so much, Alice.

I will continue with BRJC but with much less responsibility. In this way, I believe it will give me the opportunity to actively use my time, energy and gifts to affectively pursue what God is calling me to do. I humbly thank all of you for your support and look forward to what God has in store for BRJC and the community and SUMC. I believe it will be beyond our imaginations in the years to come.

May God bless each of us with peace, joy, and love this Christmas and in2026. May we discover a closer walk with our Creator.

Janice Samuels Johnson

Acting-Coordinator

December Birthdays

12/2 Larry Mansfield

12/10 Alice Mansfield

12/21 Kathy Francis

An updated membership list and birthday list will be available at the church in January.

Sonora United Methodist Church

90 W. Yaney Ave

Sonora, CA 95370

Office telephone: (209) 532-4859