News Feed

Some 40 United Methodists from around the Walla Walla Valley gathered around tables of communion and conversation in a spirit of Christian dialogue on Sunday, May 20. Expertly facilitated by our District Superintendent, Mary Huycke, and Kristina Gonzalez from the conference staff, we talked about how our families of origin dealt with conflict and how we grew up understanding human sexuality.

Mary shared the latest news from the Council of Bishops and their recommendations from the Commission on a Way Forward.

Most people feel we need to continue dialogue in our local churches as we move toward the Special Session of General Conference in 2019 where delegates will decide whether to support the Bishops’ recommendation.

It is important as we move forward to include all voices in our churches, especially those with whom we may disagree. It is through respectful listening and storytelling that we remain open and can learn.

Grace Center for Women and Children opened in January of this year as a temporary solution for women with children to know a safe place to sleep at night and spend weekends when necessary. We were blessed to have Cesar Linares be the staff connection for the time he was here. Zach Taylor served as our facility manager. Claudia Angus and Carol Fillman were our amazing co-chairs from Pioneer UMC.

Three separate rooms were prepared for families, with cots and tables. A day room with comfortable chairs and couches was available, as was a playroom for children. Snacks and microwavable foods were obtained from Blue Mountain Action Council and the Pantry Shelf.

We were staffed with rotating night managers from 7 pm to 7 am 7 days a week. A case manager was on site several evenings each week.

Claudia Angus set up 5 training sessions [2 hours at the Center plus 3 hours on-line] training 27 volunteers. Volunteers came from Pioneer, the surrounding community and Whitman College. Christy Liuallene from United Way assisted us in setting up a volunteer connection on Get Connected. Helpline, Blue Mountain Action Council, YWCA and Christian Aid Center all referred women with children to us. When one of our guests needed to stay on the weekends, volunteers were there to man the center from 7 am to 7 pm on Saturday and Sunday. We were blessed with great volunteers. We have been able to help 9 women and 13 children at the Center. Our volunteers served 246 hours through May 19th.

The Grace Center will close as of May 31st in compliance with City of Walla Walla regulations. We want to thank all those who have been involved staff, volunteers, and community members. It has been a rewarding experience and a chance to give back to the community.

If you like to keep up with the latest teaching from the pastor but can’t always make it to church, we have a new technical solution.  You can listen to a live audio stream or archived sermon via the Sermons.io application installed on your mobile device. In addition, all live and archived sermons are accessible using the drop-down menu under Worship on the church website.

For now, we are live-streaming and recording only the audio version of the sermon.  We foresee the day very soon that we will live-stream and record the entire worship service with both audio and video.

Both what if you or a friend has no smart phone, iPad, or computer?  We plan to purchase several iPod devices with the weekly service uploaded and offer these for loan.  If you are interested in helping with this ministry or know of a person that would benefit from being able to listen to the worship service each week, please let the office staff know.

It is prudent to prepare ourselves for potential emergencies that can occur at our church.  From fire, to medical situations, to intruders, we need to be vigilant and prepared for various scenarios.  Simple procedures, trained people, proper equipment, and watchfulness are effective when responding to emergencies or deterring a violent person.

After some research and talking to security professionals and other churches, we plan to implement the following steps to develop a responsible security plan for Pioneer.

1. Form a security working group.  Representatives from the trustees, ushers, custodians, staff, local fire and law enforcement, and retired security professionals will gather to begin to address simple, low cost steps toward enhanced emergency preparedness.
2. Develop policies and procedures. The security working group will develop emergency plans for fire, medical, or security situations.  Maps, evacuation procedures and diagrams, and training will be developed and implemented.
3. Purchase equipment. We have purchased a state-of-the-art Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and walkie-talkie radios for communication in an emergency.
4. Implement Procedures. We will begin to implement simple, but effective procedures like locking all doors but one after worship begins, provide monitoring of access points, and reminding people during worship of exits and safety procedures.  We will practice exiting the building during worship and other events and train our Sunday School teachers and nursery attendants.

We have a responsibility to protect our parishioners and guests by preparing our church family for a variety of situations.  We need to think about what might happen and take prudent measures to prepare for such situations.  Thinking it won’t happen here increases the chance of not being prepared when something does happen.  If you would like to be part of the security working group please let me know at davidr@pioneerww.orgor call (509) 525-1870.  Stay safe!