Normal Heights United

THIS SUNDAY, JUNE 6TH: We are hosting a neighborhood vaccination clinic in the NHUnited Social Hall from 9:30am-3:30pm! Anyone age 12 or older who has yet to receive their first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is invited to get their shot at no cost and with no appointment necessary this Sunday! Update: This site will be offering primarily the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine, but will also have Pfizer doses on hand for youth (ages 12-17), as well as adults who have received their first Pfizer dose and are eligible for the second. No Moderna vaccines will be available at this event. // #nhunited #normalheights #sandiego #vaccination #covidvacccine

From Hate to Care: Our Response In the wake of our sanctuary’s pride flag being torn down, community members, including some of you, donated or offered to donate to replace it. Just a couple of days later it was replaced with a larger pride flag, but some of us were concerned that this wasn’t enough. We thought it was important the Church respond by reminding folks that NHUnited is not only a space for all, but also that our Church supports gender and sexual orientation aff...irming therapy. Whether you need this in response to the flag being torn down, because of your home life, or your own private mental health, the NHUnited Community Fund is open to you to be used in this way. Additionally, below is a link to a spreadsheet of LGBTQIA+ Affirming therapists in the San Diego area that will be continually updated to remain current and accurate. (https://nhunited.us5.list-manage.com/track/click) If you are interested in receiving funds for this purpose, please fill out this brief form to let us know (https://nhunited.us5.list-manage.com/track/click). If you are interested in donating towards this effort, please email [email protected].

THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 24: Join us on the sidewalk right in front of the church (4650 Mansfield St, 92116) from 10am-1pm for our Succulent Swap & DIY Succulent Garden Fundraiser! The Succulent Swap is a free event: bring your own succulent cuttings to share and take a few home to plant - no sign-up required! Or, sign-up here (https://nhunited.e360chms.com//fed284cc-3bc5-4e75-a92f-07a) if you'd like to participate in our DIY make-and-take, build your own mini succulent garden ...activity! All supplies will be provided, and you'll be able to choose from a variety of vessels ranging from $5-$30. All proceeds from this activity will go to the NHUnited COVID Relief Fund! Space is limited, so be sure to sign up soon! Please don't forget to wear your mask and maintain social distance during the event. We hope to see you there!

A few of us sat in the sanctuary awaiting the verdict in Derek Chauvin’s trial this afternoon, and as the guilty charge was read in all three counts there were audible sighs of relief. As I listened to the deep breaths, the quiet in between, and the words of those gathered my mind kept drifting to this part of the mural outside of our church building. We gathered ideas for the mural in the weeks after George Floyd was murdered, and so many people wanted these words to be on t...here in some way. The wonderful artist @littlehouseink took those ideas and created the image you see here, of a bird carrying a banner reading Black Lives Matter. My mind kept drifting to this part of the mural today because it also reminded me of the story of the flood in Genesis. It reminded me that after the rain had subsided, Noah sent out a dove to see if there was dry land anywhere on the earth. The dove came back without any proof of dry land, as it had nowhere to set its feet. He waited seven days and sent it out again, and this time it brought back an olive branch, a symbol of hope to those on the ark who had lived through the storm. Today’s verdict feels like that olive branch to me. There is still so much work to be done, because the storm of White supremacy and racism has left so much damage on the earth. But there is hope, because today there was accountability and a glimmer of justice. Let us continue to work until White supremacy and racism have been eradicated from this world, so that true justice and peace may abound. Pastor Molly #BlackLivesMatter #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd See more

There. Tear it down and we’ll put up a bigger and brighter one. And, we love this new one because it is the Progress Pride flag designed by Daniel Quasar to not only include the traditional six stripe flag, but also incorporate the trans flag and marginalized community stripes as well as those living with AIDS... but all of it with a sense of motion and progress. You know, sometimes progress as sacred action looks like what happened here with us this week. When our previous ...flag was torn down and vandalized, we returned with a new one that even better represents who we are and strive to be. And progress is that way it’s about always moving forward in love and hope. Lastly, a huge thank you to everyone in the neighborhood and community who donated for this new flag and flagpole! We always do it together! #normalheights #openandaffirming #pride #sandiego See more

Last night someone vandalized our church and community by stealing our pride flag and destroying our flag pole on the sanctuary. Our fear is that this is part of a larger trend of these acts...especially in light of the damage done to @university_christian_church earlier this year. We are obviously angry, hurt and sad, but we are resolved to replace it with a larger pride flag. Hate does not have the final answer in our San Diego and our neighborhood, Normal Heights. We have been and will ALWAYS be a Christian community that proudly serves, ministers with and is led by the LGBTQIA community. #hatehasnohomehere #sandiego #openandaffirming #allarewelcome

Over 300 eggs and lots of margarine dropped off at the fridge today, along with some other great items! Come take what you need and spread the word! #NHUnited #NormalHeights #AdamsAve #SanDiego #CommunityFridge #FreeFood

CHRISTMAS PHOTOS: Don't forget to stop by the church today to take a festive photo, visit our garden nativity scene, and drop off some food items in our Community Fridge. It may be too late to print them for your Christmas cards this year, but you can still take a few photos with your loved ones to cherish for years to come! Merry Christmas Eve!

Earlier this year we began a project. The idea was to do a socially distanced mural since we couldn’t gather together in person. Hanna of @littlehouseink agreed to design it for us based off of the ideas of the community, and then sketched it onto giant pieces of plywood, which we then chopped up and gave to you with instructions on what colors to paint where. The design was kept a secret, as a reminder that even though we are socially distant right now, we are still communit...y. And, every person, or piece is important if we are to see the whole picture. After you painted your pieces, we assembled them back together (with the expert help of our very own woodworker, @philstrada, and then realized that because so many of you participated, the mural ended up being quite large and a little heavier than anticipated. But Phil had an idea, we build a bench as support for the mural, creating not only stability in its installation, but a place for our neighbors to relax and enjoy it. We built the bench, and were finally able to install it today, just in time for Christmas! Let it be a reminder that even in times of isolation, we are all in this together. Come check it out in person, snap a photo in front of it and tag us so we can see it, and maybe leave some food in our community fridge! We love you, Normal Heights. Merry Christmas! #NormalHeights #BlackLivesMatter #AdamsAve #SanDiego #CommunityFridge

We are so grateful for all of our faithful donors in 2020. You allow the staff to continue to reach the church body and adapt to COVID-19 times in a myriad of creative ways. As I'm sure you can imagine, not having in-person service, and being unable to rent out our social hall to the community, has reflected a dip in donations this year. Please consider helping the church out with the end-of-year stretch by making a one-time donation. We would love to see a flurry of donation...s of any amount on Giving Tuesday, TODAY, December 1! Visit nhunited.org/give to kick off the giving time of year with us! Sincerely, The NHUnited Finance Committee

The time has come! Registration is now open for our very first outdoor worship service, this Sunday, October 18th in the (surprisingly beautiful) parking lot P5 of First United Methodist Church in Mission Valley at 5pm. For planning purposes, registration closes Thursday night at midnight, and caps weekly at 50 attendees, so be sure to sign up soon! If outdoor worship isn’t right for you at the moment, no worries! We'll be streaming on Zoom at the same time so we can see eac...h other wherever we are! The zoom link will come out in our weekly Sunday email. REGISTER HERE: https://nhunited.us5.list-manage.com/track/click

We can't wait to regather in person for our outdoor worship services beginning Sunday evening, OCTOBER 18th! Services will be limited to 50 attendees, so subscribe to our weekly email newsletter for more information on how to register! Subscribe at nhunited.org. If you are unable to attend or do not feel comfortable, we will continue to live stream our services and post recordings on our youtube channel, which is linked here!

Join us for our second virtual TRIVIA NIGHT this Friday, Sept 11 from 7-8:30pm on Zoom! There will be a $5 per player buy-in (payable by Venmo) to cover costs and build the pot for the winners! We'll be sending important Trivia Night tips and instructions, as well as the Zoom link to those that register, so be sure to fill out this quick form to participate! It’s important that everyone who wants to play fills out the Sign Up form here: https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLSeipYYS1z4P9YtaPj/viewform.

Happy Pride! One of our very own, Bex Walker, has choreographed a dance that we’re encouraging you to learn and record yourself doing! Dress up in your NHUnited Pride shirt, or however you would have gotten dressed up for the parade, video yourself doing the dance, and send it to [email protected]. Send us your clips by July 15th, then we'll put together a compilation of everyone's moves to send out on the 18th! DM us for the video link so you can start learning the moves today!

The San Diego Blood Bank needs donations! Please consider visiting their donation center in Mission Valley.

A Call to Sacred Action Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,... to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Isaiah 58 Friends, On this Pentecost Sunday, when we hear the story of how the church began through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we call upon God to again send the Spirit of action and truth-telling. For it was the gift of that Spirit on the day of Pentecost that enabled and forced the church to tell the truth of who God is through God’s acts of glory and power. In these days since the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and all the unnamed people of color who have been murdered under the hands of the police, we as the church ache to again speak the truth of the God who liberates and for all of our actions and words to point only to the Spirit who is at work in and through us. The story of God’s acts has always been a story of liberation. God liberated the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Jesus proclaimed freedom for the oppressed, and the prophets reminded the people over and over that God’s chosen worship is to loose the chains of injustice. We as the church, then, can only be about these same works and worshipit is quite literally, why we are here. We have been brought into life as a community to worship God and the only worship which pleases God is the work of justice. We are calling our beloved community then to an act of worship by committing ourselves with all our hearts, minds, souls, spirits, and bodies to an act of sacred resistance against institutionalized racism, police brutality, and a justice system which harbors hate against people of color. We are calling all of us to this act of love of God and love of neighbor, and we know that this will look differently for each of us. However, although the work may look different to each of us, it is our sacred work as the church. Let it never be said of these days that the church was silent, for our very gift from God is the Spirit of truth, liberation and love. #blacklivesmatter

Hi friends, Unfortunately, due to recent public health orders that strongly discourage gatherings even within separate vehicles, we will be cancelling tomorrow's Easter Car Parade. We still invite individual families to participate in the Visual Egg Hunt along the route on their own, but we will not formally gather and embark on the route together. We apologize, as we were so looking forward to celebrating in this way, but we are confident that this is the best decision to ab...ide by city regulations and keep all in our community safe and healthy. With love, NHUnited

Hey everyone! If you are interested in participating in our Easter Jazz Car Parade, respond "Going" to this event! We can't wait to celebrate this Sunday!

Hey everyone! In lieu of our normal Easter service and jazz march around the block, we’re going to be doing a jazz car parade on Easter Sunday, April 12th! We’re inviting our church community, and anyone in the neighborhood who wishes to join, to decorate their cars, bikes, and scooters for a parade around the neighborhood! We’ll be meeting at Normal Heights United Church at noon, and will begin the parade shortly after. We’ll head north on Hawley, make a right on East Mounta...in View Drive, and then head back towards the church on Adams Avenue. If you live along the route, we would love to see you on your lawns and porches! Also, since the kids can’t do a real Easter Egg Hunt, we invite you to make cardboard, or large paper Easter Eggs to put around your yards and buildings (especially those on the parade route) that the kids can spot from their cars in a visual Easter Egg Hunt! Thanks so much for your help in making this non-traditional Easter celebration special for our families and community! See more

Be sure to check out our very first Sunday Worship video on our brand new YouTube channel! We'll be putting out a new one every Sunday for the time being, featuring new faces from the NHUnited community each time! Also, check out our weekly email for updates on ways we'll be staying connected during this time. If you'd like to be added to our email list to receive future updates, send us a message! https://youtu.be/6lqh8RMCs1U

Let's Stay Connected! During this time of social distancing, we are aware that the very notion of community can feel strange and distant. In the coming days, we are preparing to launch lots of different ways to get and stay connected over the next few months... Google Hangout groups, online movie watching groups, email threads, and even a worship video on Sunday featuring folks from all across the NHUnited community! We'll also be keeping you up to date with ways to care for yourself and others during this time, too. In the meantime, let us know in the comments what community looks like to you during this season, and in what ways you might be interested in connecting with members of the NHUnited community while we cannot gather physically.

TONIGHT!! Our Making Space event in collaboration with Princeton Theological Seminary's Women in Ministry Initiative is open to anyone who identifies as a woman. It's going to be a wonderful evening of talking to and learning from one another. Happy Hour starts at 4:30 - see you there!