Happy New Year friends,
I hope this week has been one with new beginnings for you. Phil Yu, an Asian American blogger, joked that this new year is a 6-week trial because Lunar New Year will be on February 10th when the Year of the Dragon begins.
On Sunday, January 7th, at 10 AM, we will start a new sermon series, Becoming the People of God. We are on a constant journey of becoming as we travel a path we share with faithful people in the Old and New Testament. This Sunday, we begin our journey with Jesus’ baptism, and we will be exploring how baptism is more than ritual – it is an opportunity for us to know that we are loved and claimed by God and that whatever darkness hides in our past and our hearts does not define us anymore. In addition to celebrating Communion on Sunday, we will enjoy New Year’s ozoni after worship. I hope you can join us.
Thank you,
Rev. Brian
This Week’s Announcements
- Sunday Morning Worship and Communion on January 7th – Please join us in person or by Zoom for a Lessons and Carols service at 10 AM on January 7th. The Zoom link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
87520951862?pwd= VUZ1QkNMd2ZvSTZYVVd0eElIUVZkQT 09. - New Year’s Ozoni – To kick off 2024, everyone is invited to come to the Nichigo Sanctuary following the January 7th worship to enjoy ozoni, a traditional Japanese New Year’s Day soup that will contain a piece of the mochi Simpson recently made. Please join us for a bowl and to chat about what is in your family’s ozoni or to learn about this soup and the holiday associated with it.
- Christmas Decorations – Following worship on January 7th, we will begin to put away the Christmas decorations, and your help would be appreciated. If you are available to help, it would be greatly appreciated.
- Sock Tree – Simpson will collect new or gently used winter adult socks for Mission Arvada’s clothing bank. Socks are one of the most requested items at homeless shelters. Throughout Advent, please bring the socks and hang them on the tree in the Narthex.
- Breakfast Casseroles for Mission Arvada – Everyone is welcome to come to the kitchen at 8:30 AM on January 14th to help make breakfast casseroles for Mission Arvada. These breakfast casseroles are a hardy part of the free breakfast that Mission Arvada provides to our houseless neighbors. If you want to be a leader in this effort, please get in touch with Rev. Brian.
- Asian Camp 50th Anniversary Event – The Asian Camp 50th Anniversary Event will be held on October 12th, 2024 at the Quiet Cannon Conference and Event Center. If you would like to receive updates about this event and other activities throughout the year, you can join the listerv by filling out this form. If you have questions, you can email Jessica Tondo at asiancamp50years@gmail.com.
- December Newsletter is now available – The December newsletter can be downloaded here.
- Pastoral Concerns and Visits – You can share pastoral concerns or request a visit from Rev. Brian by contacting him at 720-381-4129 or revbrian@simpsonumc.com
Community Prayers
- If you want to share prayers with the Simpson community, please contact Rev. Brian at revbrian@simpsonumc.com or request a prayer request.
Upcoming Events
- Friends DO Make A Difference Program Spring 2024 Cohort Registration – The Friends DO Make A Difference Program is a year long program sponsored by the National Asian American Pacific Islander Association (NAAPIMHA) designed for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander high schoolers in the Denver area that are interested in mental health, community building, and leadership opportunities. Students will engage in a program with training on mental health, self-care, and leadership. In person learning sessions will be paired with fun community building sessions for students to develop friendships with other Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander students across the Denver region. In addition, students will work with college mentors to develop and implement a community-based project in the spring. Registration for the Spring 2024 cohort will close on January 15th, 2024. Students can register using this form. See the attached flyer for more information.
- Candler Foundry’s January PUBLICations Webinar – On January 9th, 2024, at 6 PM MST, Candler Foundry will host a webinar about Asian Feminist Biblical Studies, a new groundbreaking volume edited by Dr. Maggie Low. The webinar will also feature Dr. Kwok Pui Lan, one of the pioneers of Asian feminist theology and the Dean’s Professor of Systematic Theology at the Candler School of Theology. You can register for the webinar here.
- Call for AANHPI Artists – The Denver Asian American Pacific Islander Commission (DAAPIC), in collaboration with other Colorado AAPI organizations, is proudly hosting a free, family-friendly Lunar New Year celebration. They are seeking Colorado-based Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) artists to submit work for a one-day art show, “Reclaiming and Celebrating AANHPI Identity,” as part of the community Lunar New Year celebrations at McNichols Center in Denver, Colorado. The submission deadline is Wednesday, January 10th, 2024. You can read the submission guidelines here and submit your application here. Please share this opportunity with AANHPI artists you know.
Other Items
- Asian Camp – The dates for Asian Camp have been announced. For incoming 6th-9th graders, Junior High Camp will be at Camp Lodestar from June 23rd to June 28th, 2024. Forincoming10th-grade to sophomores in college, Asian Camp will be at Camp Gilmore from July 14th to July 19th, 2024. For more information about Asian Camp, please visit their website and check out their FAQ.
- Loveland Museum Exhibits – The Loveland Museum has two exhibits of interest that will close on January 14th, 2024. The first one is Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams, a photographic exhibition showing Adams’s work that protested the treatment of Japanese Americans. The second one is Witness to Wartime: The Painted Diary of Takuichi Fujii, an art exhibit showing Fujii’s illustrated diary during his incarceration at Minidoka. Another exhibit of interest is Living at Amache, which will close on March 3rd, 2024. This exhibit will present historical information and objects related to the gardens grown at Amache and the silk screen shop that produced 250,000 posters.
- Church Calendar – The calendar on Simpson’s website is now updated! Please visit it to see what’s going on at Simpson. Please email events@simpsonumc.com if you would like to add events and programs hosted at Simpson to the calendar so that others can be a part of things.