#first united methodist church

[firstchurchmesa]

Full Worship Service - October 22nd, 2023

The full worship service broadcast during 9 am Worship on Sunday October 22nd, 2023.

 Want to support the ministry at First United Methodist Church of Mesa?

 Donate at https://app.sharefaith.com/app/giving/firs6957441 

 Watch the full Worship Service at Livestream.com/FirstChurchMesa

[thedaveandkimmershow]

I was caught yesterday by something I'd forgotten. For a little bit, then, I had one of those What was I thinking? moments because a lot of time's gone by. I couldn't imagine what Past Me had been up to Once Upon A Time.

Okay so our most recent home remodel work includes removing nails from walls. Armed, then, with hammer and pliers and, starting in the kitchen, I began my search for these wayward nails.

Which I couldn't actually see. 

Seriously, looking at the walls, here, there, everywhere I'd expect to see photos hung, there weren't any nails. It was only when I happened to look higher, above the kitchen window, above the kitchen door. Above both ends of the living room. Then above the fire place. And so on.

At first I couldn't imagine what all these nails were doing in all these odd places. Which is awkward since I'm the one who put them there.

So yeah. It took a little bit to remember what those nails were about. The pattern and locations gave it away, eventually.

We used them to hang garlands. Basically, tree branches strung together to create decorative borders for rooms at Christmastime.

Yup. At Christmastime.

You see, Once Upon A Time, that was our thing. For the Christmas season, beginning at some point after Thanksgiving, we hung garlands over nearly every room in the house. We got them from Value Village one year, a lot of them apparently, and they became our tradition.

Now, this wasn't totally out of the realm. Because when we were kids, one of the Christmastime events in which we participated with our families at First United Methodist Church in downtown Seattle was the hanging of the garlands. Hundreds of 'em. 

I don't know where they came from, but my memory is they weren't already put together. They may, in fact, have come to the church from somebody's woods.

So there was a lot of separating, organizing, carrying, and hanging that took hours, beginning in the basement and ending along the fronts of the three balconies in the sanctuary underneath the church's iconic dome.

What can I say?

That's the memory that springs to mind whenever the subject is "garlands".

Of course I don't remember how they were hung at the church back in the day. But in our house we used nails.

Apparently.

The almost embarrassing part of this remembering is that, while we were sitting in the living room talking about our foray into decorating with tree branches, there, above our front door were, yes...

Tree branches.

Garlands, right there in plain sight. Hanging over our front door. Which I hadn't managed to see, of which I hadn't been consciously aware in a really long, long time.

It's amazing how something in plain sight can remain so hidden. Both by vision and by memory.

😕

[bookishtraitor]

⛪️🇺🇸🇻🇳

[fatchance]

Capital.

[coolantoniomartin]

Jeanette Santiago (born August 13, 1972 in San Juan, Republic of Puerto Rico), born Antonio Santiago, is a former amateur boxer, actress, singer, wikipedian, professional model and boxing and fashion writer and critic. Among the things she loves are her family, airplanes, boxing, music, movies, acting, writing, friends and women. Her ex girlfriends or significant girls in her life include Thelvenytssie Hernande, Loyda Morales, Rosemary Guerrero, Jennifer Gibson and Amna Zamir, a native of Pakistan.

At age 7, Jeanette formed part of the children's chorus at Santa Juanita Disciples of Christ church in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, which allowed her to sing at the El Morro Castle in San Juan and at the Edificio de Fomento, among other places, and on a Sandra Zaiter television show on Puerto Rico's channel 7.

At age 9, she was diagnosed with diabetes. However, this hasn't deterred the positive spirited Jeanette to live a full life with as much fun as possible.

Most of her teenage years, Jeanette lived at Bonneville Apartments in Caguas, Puerto Rico. She also lived at Bayamon, Humacao and at Los Robles Apartments in Cayey, Puerto Rico.

At age 12, Jeanette entered a boxing ring for the first time in her life, but after receiving a few good punches, she thought it over and gave it up, and started to pursue an acting career. She did not abandon the gym before having a tremendous fight with a guy named Rafael, in Cayey, however...the fight in 1986 between Jeanette and Rafael inside that ring was so good, a lot of people who saw it said they reminded them of Rocky and Drago in Rocky IV. They were Jeanette’s nine longest minutes of her life, and in round three, they even wrestled each other to the floor, where they kept on hitting each other until separated, and then promptly went back to swinging at each other with everything they had but while on their feet. The fight was declared a draw by everyone who saw it, but Jeanette is very proud to have been a participant of it even if it was only a 'draw'. After returning to Caguas, Jeanette went back to the gym in Cayey to say goodbye to everyone, and there it was :a small picture on the wall depicting Jeanette and Rafael swinging at each other..:)

In Cayey, Jeanette was the leader of a group named the "T-Birds", after the gang portrayed in the movies Grease and Grease 2. Her group mates were Javier, Ruben (nicknamed "Macho"), Ricardo ("Ricky") and William, who sadly died in a swimming pool accident months later. Her girl-friend Thelvenetsy Hernandez was likewise the leader of "The Pink Ladies".

It should be mentioned also, that in Cayey, Jeanette tasted musical fame for the first time. Her girl-friend Thelvenytssie had a school band. It included her friends Hilda Rodriguez (coincidentally, this was also the maiden name of Jeanette's grandmother from his father's side), Ana and Carmen Rivera (Ana, also coincidentally, also shared her name with Jeanette's grandaunt from her mother's side). She wanted to spend more time with Jeanette and she attended some of her boxing sessions in Cayey. So she wanted her to do the same for her and so, she (Jeanette) started attending her band's practices all the time after which she asked Jeanette to join it. With Jeanette becoming the first-and only-male member of what then became "The Fantastic Five" (before that, it was "The Fantastic Four"), Jeanette enjoyed wild popularity among the girls at Benigno Fernandez Garcia middle school in Cayey. The group actually released a poster once (using the Walgreens' photo services, which produce posters, coffee cups and other things off personal photos) , which was widely distributed in the school. Jeanette (bad boy pose) laying back against a tree, Thelvenetsei hugging her neck and the other girls sitting in front of them on the ground.

Months later, Jeanette, at age 14, joined the adult singing choir at Ebenezer Methodist church in Caguas.

In Caguas, Jeanette enlisted at Gerardo Selles Sola Junior High, where she continued being a well liked student and teenager-she introduced herself to other students on her first day there by wearing a blue jacket and dark sunglasses inside the classroom and announcing herself as the "Teen Wolf"- but a harrowing event early in 1987 changed her life as a student: One late January morning in 1987, as she was being dropped off by her grandfather, she suffered a low sugar reaction and fainted. Her grandfather quickly transported her to the local, municipal hospital, from where she was placed in an ambulance and escorted by a pair of motorcycle policemen who happened to be there for another patient, to the local regional hospital. This event prevented a relationship she was developing with a girl named Zoraida to go on and, eventually, it also stopped Jeanette’s school going days: As Jeanette had to go up stairs to take class every day, teachers became afraid that next time, she could faint while on the stairs and they decided it was best for her to study at home and come on Fridays to school to drop off his homework. Jeanette had the late miss Ramirez of social studies to thank for her efforts towards that decision to be taken.

To this day, Jeannette is thankful to her late grandfather for driving her to the municipal hospital, therefore saving Jeanette's life, but she wishes she could know who the doctors, the ambulance driver and the policemen that day were too so she can thank them.

Months later, at the 9th grade graduation ceremony, Jeannette was awarded a "comeback of the year" special medal in a ceremony attended by Caguas mayor, Angel O. Berrios himself.

Jeanette attended high school at the old CEM in Caguas on Saturdays only from 1987 to 1989-at a class where she was the only male member all those years-giving her ample time to befriend other teens of every age and a chance to meet other women her age and to engage in her other interests: studying the history of boxing, acting, singing, dancing and playing basketball.

Jeanette has been in many plays, and in 1998 earned a model's degree from John Casablancas' Elite Model Management, hoping this would help her career move forward. It didn't, but in 2001 she was able to find a small role in one major film, Eight Legged Freaks. Incidentally, Jeanette also appeared, as an un-paid extra, in the 1982 film Una Aventura Llamada Menudo, during the film's last scene at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport.

For a short time, long haired Jeanette-as Antonio- was also a member of a teen band that had 7 boys, all but one boy residents of Bonneville Apartments in Caguas. The band was named "Corporation S.O.S." (and "Compania Al Rescate" in Spanish) and included 16 year old Jeanette, her brother, 9 year old Jose, 12 year old drummer Josue Rivera, 14 year old guitarist Marcos Padilla Jr., 12 year old rapper Eduardo Montanez, 15 year old keyboardist Carmelo Lopez and 21 year old Pablo Jose "Junior" Diaz. Although they all sang lead at various songs, Jeanette was the main lead singer, and the band tasted a small measure of popularity among girls around their small town. But they couldn't go forward and shortly after, they broke up , remaining just as friends. Since, Josue Rivera was rumored to have passed away, but he is alive. Because of the boy band long haired fashions of the era in Latin America, Jeanette-as Antonio- adopted a more androgynous look which was fairly popular among the girls who knew him. Considered a bass at the church choir, Jeanette sang as countertenor instead at the band because of the type of music (Spanish pop-rock) Corporation S.O.S. performed.

The rationale for the band's name was that "Just like a corporation, (we) all do different things in the group. And we are here to save Spanish rock music and sing it the way it's supposed to be (thus S.O.S. was added)".

This music group also took acting classes at a municipal arts school in Caguas, under the tutelage of the well known theater actor Carlos Cruz, since they foresaw a future that also included perhaps acting in film and television. Jeanette remembers spending many hours rehearsing singing and dancing moves during this era.

The formula this group used was to simply listen to songs on weekdays, then have the musicians on the band emulate the musical sounds with their instruments during a recording session, usually carried out at one of the members' homes. Then, if they had an act at a birthday party or the such, they'd bring the musical tapes with them; that way, they could all dance and sing to their songs while the musicians (Marcos, Josue, Carmelo and Pablo Jose) could be also heard on the background playing the music.

"Corporation S.O.S" tried to emulate the success of other teen boy bands of the time such as Menudo, Los Chicos de Puerto Rico and Los Chamos. Their songs were Spanish covers of other artists' hits, such as "Padre Benitez", a song in which band members confessed their love for a church going girl to a fictional priest and which was a cover of Billy Ocean's Caribbean Queen. Another example was "Jesus", a prayer-like song that was actually a cover of The Beatles' Hey Jude (they also covered other Beatles songs), as well as "A bailar!" (a cover of The Hooters' And We Danced) and "Chica del Campo" (a cover of The Pet Shop Boys' West End Girls) and Jeanette sang lead on "Muchachita", which was a cover of Elton John's Nikita. Jeanette met Rafo Muniz around this era, and so Antonio and his bandmates appeared on a television show named Control Remoto during 1989, shown on Puerto Rico's WAPA-TV, where they were allowed to sing a version of Chantelle's merengue song "Queriendo y No (Aunque Tu No Quieras)", which Jeanette sang on lead that day. The reason the band was given by Rafo Muniz for only that song to be allowed on that show was that the show had it's own in-house band and they had rehearsed the Chantelle song the week before but not the other songs, plus Muniz had permission from Chantelle to play their song on his show. Luckily, this was a very famous song at the time and the kids knew the lyrics to it.

Among other songs the band covered were Toto's Africa and Madonna's Who's That Girl ("Quien es esa Nina?"), Survivor's Eye of the Tiger ("Ojo del Tigre"), Bon Jovi's Bad Medicine ("Eres Una Medicina Venenosa Para Mi") and Starship's We Built This City ("Construimos Esta Ciudad del Rock"), Bananarama's Cruel Summer ("Cruel Verano-Y Yo Aqui Sin Ti"), Nothing's Gonna Stop Us ("Nada va a Parar Este Amor"), Boy Meets Girl's Waiting For a Star to Fall ("Esperando Que Una Estrella Caiga"), The Dream Academy's Life In A Northern Town ("Hey, Mama"), The Hollies' The Air That I Breathe ("Jugar al Parchis Contigo"), Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun ("Los Muchachos Queremos Pasarla Bien") and Dennis DeYoung's Desert Moon ("Bajo La Luna"). Two Spanish-language songs the group did cover from time to time was Luis Miguel's La Incondicional, which Jeanette sang on lead, and Miguel Bose's "Amante Bandido", sung by Jeanette's brother José.

As of 2022, the kids on that band remain friends. Jose works as a salesman for Alaska Airlines; Carmelo is a policeman (and a former singer with a local police rock group in Caguas) in the United States; Eduardo a tattoo artist in the United States, Pablo Jose a teacher at Universidad de Puerto Rico's Caguas branch, Josue works in the United States as a handyman, Marcos owns a auto parts store in Caguas, Puerto Rico and Jeanette writes at Wikipedia while keeping trying to further her acting and modeling career.

Although the band had few fans, some of them were fervent: Jeanette received, among other things, cardboard posters with her name and hearts on it from fans, and one time, a rabid fan who felt ignored by her attacked her and bit her on her arm at a parking lot before she was separated by others who were nearby. In another incident, Jeanette, her brother Jose and their band-mate Josue were at a Kay Bee Toys store at Plaza Centro Mall in Caguas when they were recognized by the same fan who bit Jeanette and by a couple of her friends and had to beat a hasty, comical getaway from the store. At malls and locations near Bonneville Apartments, this type of thing happened to them from time to time.

Among the things that brought Jeanette joy during that era were singing, dancing and hanging out with fans.

Apart from the boys in the band, Jeanette's best friends in Caguas included Yuyo, Juan Carlos, Ramon Berrios, Carlos Martinez, Heriberto Cruz, the Campagne (pronounced Champagne) brothers, (Avelardo, Avidair and Alexis), Libertario Sauri, William Luciano, Victor Manuel "Manny" Flores,the Gomez brothers (Ezequiel and Edwin), the Ortiz siblings (Lizzy and Edwin), Elizabeth Santiago, Manet, Silkya Hoyos , Sylvia Berrios, The Negron-Perez siblings (Ahmed, Samuel, Heira and Helga), Angel Benitez, Ariel Benitez, Angie Quinones and many others.

On April 29, 1990, Jeanette was involved in an emergency landing at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport, incoming from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Upon approach, she and the other passengers were ordered on a head between the knees landing position. The Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 in which she was flying  then had a hard landing and many overhead bins opened roughly. Emergency vehicles were awaiting the plane on the runway, nevertheless the plane landed safely and everyone was uninjured. The plane was later towed to a maintenance hangar. Eastern's employees told passengers that due to a major congestion at the Atlanta airport the Eastern jet in which Jeanette was had to spend an inordinate amount on go around and the plane apparently fell low in fuel, requesting immediate priority landing afterwards. This was done by the plane's pilots probably to avoid another tragedy like Avianca Flight 52 which had crashed in similar circumstances just months before.

Jeanette became an ice cream saleswoman, occasional model and autograph collector during the 1990s, a time in which she met several celebrities, such as Bill Clinton, the six former Menudo members who formed El Reencuentro (plus several other Menudo and band director Edgardo Diaz during a separate meeting) Wilfredo Gomez, Gladys Knight, Silvester Stallone, Hilary Duff, Muhammad Ali, several NBA and WNBA stars and more, in addition to talking on the phone with such celebrities as Elizabeth Smart, Richard Steele, Ivan Calderon and Juanes as well as talking with Princess Anne of England and with Kenneth McClintock and Puerto Rican governor Luis A. Ferre in person. She also underwent a religious retransformation at the time and claimed to people that the most important person she'd met was God. The 1990's and early 2000s were generally a crazy and sometimes chaotic time for her where she experienced life in the fast lane: she lost her virginity, was engaged to a woman after meeting her only two weeks before and clubbing, raves and parties were the norm for her. Jeanette around this time started experimenting in the gothic sub-scene of the 90s, influenced by her fiancé at the time Rosemary Guerrero and by the movie The Craft (and, specifically, the character "Nancy Downs"), and she enjoyed such musical acts like Marilyn Manson, Eminem and Kittie during that era, before re-finding God in her life. As of 2020, Jeanette still tries to buy gothic and emo looking clothing from time to time but has re-adopted the androgynous look of the late 80s when she was in the Caguas band, and she sports shoulder length long straightened hair again. Many times, people confuse her for a cisgender woman. As of 2021, Jeanette wore her hair similar to actress Robyn Lively's in her film Teen Witch, somewhat similar to her hair-do on this photo:[1] Because of a period with the coronavirus, during 2022 it became impossible for Jeanette to maintain that hairstyle, and she re-styled her hair in early January 2022, opting to change her hairstyle to a still long but more manageable style instead.

During Jeanette's years as an ice cream man, she developed what many around her called " (the then) Antonio's 'teen-idol' fan club", a group of mostly teenaged girls who'd come to his ice cream truck sometimes to see her.

As a professional model, Jeanette participated in a few local fashion shows and television commercials.

On March 13, 1997, Jeanette was playing street basketball and her brother Jose little league baseball at an adjacent park, when Jeanette and a number of basketball players were witnesses of the UFO event now known as the "Phoenix Lights". That night, the group saw a "V" shaped aircraft descend just over them, then disappear on the dark skies, leaving a trail of lights of different colors.

In mid-1999, Jeanette, by then 27 years old, tried to revive her years in a teen musical act and formed a band named "Five-Four" which was comprised of her and a teenager boy and three teenaged girls, all Phoenix area locals. Some original songs were written and the band's name registered by Jeanette with the Library of Congress' copyright office, but nothing came of the project. The idea for this group was to form a band that would be a mix of The Backstreet Boys or NSYNC and The Spice Girls, acts that were popular at the era.

1999 also was the year when a lot of the craziness, turmoil and wild moments happening with, to and around Jeanette during this era took place as she led a walkout off a church in protest of the church's policy of kicking members out for minor transgressions such as laughing during services and then got involved in fist fights in swimming pools, hotel rooms and at the church itself. 1999 was also the year in which she attended some of the wildest parties she was to.

On December 12 of 2002, Jeanette was playing American Football when she tried to stop a player from scoring a touchdown, got run over, hit the ground with the back of her head and suffered a concussion. But she kept playing and was ok.

In January of 2003, Jeanette was involved in an unfortunate incident when a guy named Bobby Lane, arguing for Jeanette to pay him two dollars, told Jeanette he didn't (f word) care if Jeanette was a diabetic and he dint (f word) care if Jeanette's sugar went low, then smacked Jeanette across the face and provoked a brawl inside a moving car, after Jeanette tried to make sense with him by telling him that she needed those two dollars to buy candy in case her sugar did go low. While Jeanette's fists went bloody after hitting Bobby on Bobby's head, Jeanette deeply regretted this incident, as she hates street violence. It was quite a dramatic scene-Jeanette was pulled away from the car by her brother and ex band-mate Jose as she kicked Lane's groin and kept yelling at Lane until she was placed on a sidewalk. Despite hurting Lane more than Lane hurt her, it was Jeanette who ended up at the hospital, because she ended up with her knuckles’ skin torn off and her knuckles bleeding.  

April 3 of 2003 Jeanette visited the doctor, who, despite finding Jeanette in otherwise great physical condition, told her that the football fall suffered on December 12 caused her small, non-life threatening brain damage.

Around this time, Jeanette developed a severe addiction to Xanax, which she later overcame by going through an outpatient rehabilitation program.

April 21 of 2003, Jeanette and her family suffered an Anthrax scare at home, when a lady threw a white powder just outside their home door. Four cop cars came after a call was made by Jeanette to the 911 emergency system. It was determined the powder is probably just baby talc. The lady was also reported by other neighbors to have been bothering around the rest of the day.

During this era, Jeanette was a member of two large, international, extended groups of people who were co-related, mostly teenagers, who colloquially called themselves "The Beverly Hills 90210 of Phoenix". These included-at various times-her, her brother Jose, sister Nilda, girlfriends Rosemary Guerrero and Jennifer Gibson, sisters in law Leah Warner (who tragically died in 2010), Lora Shimkus and Heather, brother in law Nick Skrdla and others, such as Bobby Lane, Shane Manson, Paul Willmore Jr., Danielle Newby, Brandon Goad, Chinese-American Lily Yen, Myshell Lynn, Jamye Enk, the Chinese Tim Mak, Vietnamese Hua Hong, Japanese Ayanori Watanabe, as well also as Mexican-American Ivonne, twins Vanessa and Ivy Brown, Kurt Rowdell, Kurt's girlfriend-Mexico's Marisela Estrada, Heather's ex Stevie, and Stormy, among others. This motley crew of people mostly adopted a devil-may-care attitude and lived to have fun mostly. Not all of them were in Jeanette's group of friends at the same time; a few of them never even met some of the others but they were in Jeanette's circle of friends. The core members of the first group were Jeanette, Jose, Nilda, Paul, Bobby, Shane, Heather, Danielle, Lily, Tim and Myshell.

Among that first group's favorite activities were meeting celebrities for autographs, going to the movies and to restaurants late at night, bowling, speeding at highways and freeways, going on egging and toilet paper throwing trips, clubbing (at the time, there were several nightclubs in Phoenix that catered both to adults and to teenagers) partying, gambling and attending nude bar shows (in the latter three activities, only the group's over 21 years old members participated) and attending church at First Baptist Church in Glendale-including sports nights on Fridays where they enjoyed American football, baseball and basketball games-where the first group met the members of Jeanette’s secondary group of friends.

Separate from those two groups, in 1997, Jeanette joined a group of goths from his neighborhood that also included Stevie plus Stevie's brother Brian and others like Big Steve, Big Steve's brother David, Nicole and others.

Jeanette's group of friends roamed all over metropolitan Phoenix, breaking havoc all the way from southern Peoria and by the train tracks in Glendale to the economically rich areas of Scottsdale and south to Chandler by way of the I-10 freeway. There were a couple of instances when they even had run-ins with the police, but they were never charged with any misconduct. For their adventures and partying lifestyle, the groups usually used a red Pontiac Firebird convertible, an El Camino car or Phoenix's public bus system, although on one memorable incident, Jeanette, Jose, Tim and Hua were riding in Hua's car when Hua turned to the right while over a bridge and almost flew onto the freeway below them.

Her father is Tony, who Antonio was proud to say that decided to join the Wikipedia project on May 23, 2004.

Jeanette un-officially became a candidate for President of the United States when she voted for herself at the 2004 United States Presidential Elections. Jeanette is an identified Democrat and a vocal supporter of Puerto Rico's Independence movement. She again voted for herself in the 2012 Presidential campaign, which this time would have counted as an official vote since Jeanette was over 35, unlike at the 2004 elections.

jeanette was proud to initiate Wikipedia’s own version of Sportscenter.

As of February, 2006, Jeanette became a writer at the boxing website, ringsidereport.com. She left the site and later started being harassed by the site's managers. Jeanette became a writer for Doghouseboxing.com, where she joined her friend, legendary actress Sunset Thomas. At Doghouseboxing.com, Jeanette wrote the popular weekly entertainment and boxing gossip column, "(the then) Antonio's Reliable Source". A fashion fan also, Jeanette around this time joined a fashion and entertainment website as a fashion critic. The site was named Backseatcuddler.com, and Jeanette was somewhat of a peculiarity, being both an internet boxing and fashion critic at the same time.

In July, 2011, a shooting originated in front of Jeanette's house. Jeanette ran inside and she jumped on her sleeping, 6 year old niece Nina, to shield her. Luckily both were uninjured.

Jeanette nicknamed her dogs, "Cookie" "Cookie Kardashian" after the Kardashian sisters, "Jonas" (2008-2019) {originally named "Jonas" by her niece Nina after Joe Jonas) "Jonas Escariot" after Judas Escariot , "Zidian" (2008-2022) "Zidian Zarate" after one of Jeanette's favorite boxers, Mexican Carlos Zarate, "Max" "Max Factor" after cosmetology legend Max Factor, "Chance" "Chance Callahan" after the character "Harry Callahan" of the "Dirty Harry" film series and "Hulk" Hulk Hogan after the legendary wrestler.

Jeanette is an accomplished Street basketball player and in 1986 earned a medal for playing for a second place team in a junior high school tournament, along with team-mates, friends and neighbors Avidair Campagne, William Luciano, Libertario Sauri and Alfredo "Alfi" Rivera (older brother of her later band-mate Josue Rivera). Excluding 2021 due to the Covid-19 situation, she has been playing street ball for 36 years, the 30th anniversary of her first street ball game ever taking place on April 14th, 2014. In 2014, playing with a lot of pain on multiple areas, Jeanette averaged 5.9 points (counted on 2 and 3 points shots), 2.0 assists and 12.8 rebounds per game, on 61 percent shooting.

As of 2019, despite several extra injuries to her shoulders, feet, fingers and toes, she continued to play street basketball on an almost daily basis, against teenagers, men and women of all sizes and ages. During 2020, because of the COVID-19 situation, she only played in one game.

On November 5, 2021, Jeanette tested positive for the coronavirus She went into isolation immediately. She has recuperated and was, at the time, expected to test negative soon.

On Mother's Day, 2022, Jeanette was re-tested for Covid-19 and came out negative. She was battling a hard flu at the time.

*El grupo de los banquillos

"El grupo de los banquillos" is (or was) a very exclusive group of teenagers at Bonneville Apartments that hung out by an area named "los banquillos". Only teens who were considered "cool" were accepted there. When Jeanette first moved there in 1984, she was not accepted at first. At that time, members of that group included Elizabeth Santiago, Rafael "Rafa" Abreu, brothers Edwin and Tito, Norma Iris Gonzalez and others. The group had a similar membership structure at the time to that of the very Latin boy bands in which Jeanette was later involved in that members changed constantly, in this case usually by moving away from the apartments, or when "sponsored" by another member into becoming one. Jeanette moved to Cayey in 1985 but, upon returning to Caguas in 1986, was, again, not initially invited to join, despite having a few good friends in the group, such as Heriberto Cruz and Libertario Sauri (Elizabeth Santiago, who had been a very good friend of Jeanette, had also moved to Cayey by the time Jeanette returned to Caguas). But, in late 1988, her friend Silkya Hoyos, whom she had first met at Los Robles Apartments in Cayey, moved to Bonneville Apartments and was quickly accepted into the group. She, in turn, "sponsored" Jeanettes membership and so she was quickly accepted also. Jeanette has been forever thankful to her for that gesture. The people who hung out at "los banquillos" included her, Silkya, "Luis Loco", Cano, Virgen Rosa, Libertario Sauri, Manet and others. Jeanette was later able to promote someone into the group herself, her band-mate Carmelo Lopez. Members of this group had to dress "cool" and speak about music, arts, movies and-(usually among the males)-sports. Jeanette experienced both great happiness (what in Puerto Rico they call "la pavera") and depression during this time of her life, with a lot of unstoppable laughter, but also experiencing some personal pain during the era due to a broken heart caused by a girl she loved named Angie Diaz, sadness which was alleviated when she joined the band "Corporation S.O.S.".

Personal life

As far as her sexuality, Jeanette identifies as straight, with sexual and romantic experiences with women. She was once, however, bisexual. Gender-wise, she identifies as transgender (a woman inside a man's body) with non-binary tendencies. Jeanette is what in LGBTQ circles is described as a "trans-bian" eg. a transgender female who likes women. Her internet nickname in transgender-friendly pages is, well, "Jeanette", after the Spanish singer, who is one of hier favorite singers.

Ever since she was about three years old, she identified as a female but did not know how to outwardly express this.

Accordingly, she sometimes dresses male and other times, female.

She has been involved in a number of relationships, including one on her younger days with a fan of his named Angela. She was engaged to Rosemary (Rosa Maria) Guerrero for six months in 1996 and 1997, having met her only two weeks before their engagement, and they almost got married during August of 1996, about one month after they had met. They went to a court to get married by a judge, but upon arriving at the judge's office, they decided they were not ready for marriage and, holding hands, ran from the place. She also had an on and off relationship to another lady for many years until meeting Amna Zamir of Pakistan. Ultimately,  she and Zamir also broke up.

Working as an ice cream saleswoman led Jeanette to dating a number of her clients. This and her many antics as a "bombastic, loud, funny and crazy showwoman" saleswoman led her to claim on a number of times that she was "the long lost (sister)" of such people as Madonna, Macho Camacho and Gloria Trevi (the latter two of whom Jeanette met in person) among others.

Jeanette has no children of her own.

*Culture

Culturally-wise, she enjoys the American culture but specially all the Hispanic ones-specially, among those, the Puerto Rican and the Mexican ones. Being Puerto Rican but having lived 31 years in Arizona where she has met several Mexican friends and celebrities, (as well as one Mexican fiance, Rosemary Guerrero), she identifies first with the Puerto Rican culture, secondly with the Mexican and Mexican-American ones, and thirdly with those of other Latin-Hispanic countries, although, again, she also enjoys American culture and finds British and Australian culture interesting as well. She has been told by some Puerto Rican family and friends that her Spanish accent has taken a bit of a Mexican tinge, which, after 31 years living in Arizona, can be expected. she, her brother and sister have also spent time touring Sonora, Mexico, where they enjoy the people, the tourist sites, food and beaches.

Since dating Guerrero, and influenced by movies such as The Craft, Jeanette has enjoyed shopping at stores such as Hot Topic, Spencer's and the such. Jeanette enjoys the goth culture but does not demonstrate it in public as much as she used to during his young age.

*Religion

Jeanette believes in God deeply and identifies as protestant Christian. She has been baptized at various churches, including Disciples of Christ as a child, United Methodist as a teen and the Baptist church as a young adult. She prays on an almost daily basis.

Her religion notwithstanding, she once dated a Muslim woman, Amna Zamir of Pakistan, dating her secretly. Due to their difference in religions, her parents did not know that they were dating, as they thought the couple to be just friends.

[firstumcschenectady]

“Hallelujah, It Is Finished!” based in theory on John 21:1-14 as a story of resurrection

Dear ones, it is official. The era of institutional discrimination against queer and trans people in the United Methodist church has ended.

The phrase that said that “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching” is gone, and our new statement on Human sexuality reads:

We affirm human sexuality as a sacred gift and acknowledge that sexual intimacy contributes to fostering the emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being of individuals and to nurturing healthy sexual relationships that are grounded in love, care and respect.

Human sexuality is a healthy and natural part of life that is expressed in wonderfully diverse ways from birth to death. It is shaped by a combination of nature and nurture: heredity and genetic factors on the one hand and childhood development and environment on the other. We further honor the diversity of choices and vocations in relation to sexuality such as celibacy, marriage and singleness.

We support the rights of all people to exercise personal consent in sexual

relationships, to make decisions about their own bodies and be supported in those decisions, to receive comprehensive sexual education, to be free from sexual exploitation and violence, and to have access to adequate sexual health care.

The “funding ban” is gone – church support at levels can be extended to organizations doing ministry with LGBTQIA+ folx.

We don't call anyone “self-proclaimed practicing homosexuals” anymore (PHEW), and now we affirm that queer clergy can be ordained and appointed in The United Methodist Church AND that if they can't be safely appointed at home they can be appointed across conference lines.

We now allow clergy to preside over and UM churches to host same-gender weddings.

There are no longer chargeable offenses for ones' sexual orientation or for doing same-gender weddings.

AND we've created a process to RESTORE CREDENTIALS of those who lost them because of their sexuality, gender identity, or presiding over a wedding. (It remains to be seen if anyone will use this.)

AND we've put in place a regionalization plan that allows for areas around the world to do ministry in ways that work for them, THANK GOD, and also means we can move from these NEUTRAL stances to POSTITIVE statements in the near future.

Friends, that first one, the “incompatibility clause” was added in 1972 and we've been fighting to remove it every since. 52 years.

The era of harm to God's beloved queer and trans people through The United Methodist Church is OVER.

HALLELUJAH.

I have a memory of being in junior high Sunday school and learning that The United Methodist Church was bigoted against queer people and being simply horrified that they didn't know better yet. I thought back then that it was just a matter of time for the church to catch up.

I remember going to General Conference in 2004 and learning how intentional and organized the homophobic movement was. It blew me away. It wasn't simply that the church forgot to notice they had this justice issue to fix. It was that people were working hard, with great intentionality, to do harm to God's beloveds.

I have done my part, to change the church. So have you. So have tens or hundreds of thousands of people. Maybe more. I can't quite process how many people have worked so hard to bring this day. The laborers have been many, and until this past two weeks the fruits have been few. But here we are.

THIS is the First Sunday of a fully inclusive United Methodist Church.

And, I thought it would feel better.

It is like I forgot about how pain works. I forgot that when the active harm stops coming, that's when you finally get to really feel it all. That's when the grief hits. That's when the anger is finally able to be let out.

Until this week the harms kept coming, and all we could do was survive.

And now we have to heal.

Darn it.

IT IS FINISHED, HALLELUJAH.

And.

And we lost beloveds to suicide. And we lost those called to other churches or professions. And we lost the full authenticity of those called and serving. And we lost members who were told they were incompatible, or they couldn't get married, or they couldn't have their kid baptized. And we lost those who just couldn't stay anymore. And those who have been WAITING have lost so many years.

52 years.

AND, sorry, I know I'm Debbie Downer, but we know we closed the Central Jurisdictions in 1968 to create a beautifully diverse fully shared body of Christ and racism is still alive and well anyway. And we also know that women have had full ordination rights since 1954 but don't have pay equity or any other kind of equity. So removing formal discrimination doesn't solve the whole problem.

You already knew that too.

Ever since the rules changed to allow all of our siblings their ordination rights, I've been humming Mark Miller's song “The Journey Isn't Over.” God's call in my life to bring justice in the church and the world for God's beloveds who are trans and queer hasn't changed. I'm so grateful, so very, very grateful not to be ashamed of my denomination more. But the journey isn't over:

From Seneca Falls,

from Selma to Stonewall

we've come a long way,

we've come a long way.

From Seneca Falls,

from Selma to Stonewall

we've come a long way,

but the journey isn't over.

Friends, THIS journey will be over when God's beloveds who are trans and queer, God's beloveds who are women and non-binary people, God's beloveds who are BIPOC, God's beloveds with disabilities, AND ALL of God's beloveds are able to live in fullness and abundance in the kindom of God.

From now until then, we're called to make it so.

Hallelujah, THIS STAGE is finished, AND the journey isn't over. Amen

[hiwerethemountaingoats]

This is a song about the organ harvesting colonies on the moon that, uh, that men and women work on six months out of the year, and the other six months they live in utter secrecy in locations that they are not allowed to disclose. Without families, without friends, without other occupations than giant televisions granted to them by the government. I alone seem to be bearing witness to this phenomenon. This is called Surrounded.

John Darnielle introducing Surrounded (First United Methodist Church | Ames, IA | September 12th, 2015)

[cartermagazine]

Today In History

Leontyne Price, world-renowned opera singer, and the first African American singer to achieve an international reputation in opera—made her formal debut at the Metropolitan Opera House on this date January 27, 1961.

Both of Price’s grandfathers had been Methodist ministers in Black churches in Mississippi, and she sang in her church choir as a girl. Only when she graduated from the College of Education and Industrial Arts (now Central State College) in Wilberforce, Ohio, in 1948 did she decide to seek a career as a singer.

She studied for four years at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, where she worked under the former concert singer Florence Page Kimball, who remained her coach in later years. Her debut took place in April 1952 in a Broadway revival of Four Saints in Three Acts by Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein.

Leontyne Price performance in that production, which subsequently traveled to Paris, prompted Ira Gershwin to choose her to sing the role of Bess in his revival of Porgy and Bess, which played in New York City from 1952 to 1954 and then toured the United States and Europe. The year 1955 saw her triumphant performance of the title role in the National Broadcasting Company’s television production of Tosca, and she sang leading roles in other operas on television in the next few years.

CARTER™️ Magazine

[divinum-pacis]

First United Methodist Church in Charlotte, N.C., hosted hundreds of LGBTQ people and their allies May 1, 2024, for a celebratory sing-along after the United Methodist General Conference lifted a ban on gay ordination. (RNS photos/Yonat Shimron)

[firstchurchmesa]

"A Point of View" Tracy and Scott Thompson Sunday, October 15th 2023

Tracy and Scott Thompson preaches "A Point of View" based on Philippians 4: 1-9 during 9 am Worship on Sunday October 15th, 2023. 

 Want to support the ministry at First United Methodist Church of Mesa? 

Donate at https://app.sharefaith.com/app/giving/firs6957441

 Watch the full Worship Service at Livestream.com/FirstChurchMesa

[whencyclopedia]

John Wesley Gilbert

Born into slavery in rural Georgia, John Wesley Gilbert (1863-1923) rose to national prominence as a scholar, teacher, community leader, and Christian missionary. During 1890-91, he was the first African American member of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. He was among the first 50 Americans of any race, ethnicity, or background to conduct professional archaeological work in Greece.

For much of the 20th century, Gilbert was best known for his 1911-1912 mission to the Belgian Congo with white bishop Walter Russell Lambuth of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South or MECS (the MECS has since become part of the United Methodist Church). Gilbert's 1890-1891 sojourn in Greece at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, in contrast, often received passing word but never serious study. In 2011, the newly founded Society of Black Archaeologists recognized Gilbert as the first professionally trained African American archaeologist. Today, he is often called "the first black archaeologist." Yet his life, and especially his year in Greece, has never received the in-depth exploration it deserves, until now.

Lost Records

No one was sure how the fire started. In the pre-dawn hours of 3 August 1968, flames swept through Haygood Memorial Hall, the main building of historically black Paine College in Augusta, Georgia. Bystanders gathered to watch helplessly as the blaze climbed up, engulfing Haygood's famous clock tower, which for nearly 70 years had rung out the hours loud enough to be heard across town. The structure was still smoldering at sunrise. The clock tower stood but was too damaged to save and had to be pulled down. Inside was devastation. Though fireproof cabinets protected recent student records, the offices of Paine's president and vice president were destroyed, along with a priceless collection of African artifacts. Many of the school's early catalogues, newspapers, and other records also perished.

Author Promotion

Continue reading...

[istandonsnowpiles]

First United Methodist Church of Chicago

[crossdreamers]

Rev. Andi Woodworth: The transgender minister representing trans rights in Georgia

Rev. Andi Woodworth, a transgender United Methodist minister in Georgia. Rev. Woodworth, who transitioned in 2018, has faced both acceptance and challenges within her church community, Advocate reports.

Despite the United Methodist Church's official stance against LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage, Woodworth has found support from her congregation and colleagues.

Advocate delves into Woodworth's journey of self-discovery, her decision to transition, and her commitment to advocating for LGBTQ rights within the church.

Overall, Woodworth's story serves as a testament to resilience and the ongoing fight for equality and acceptance within religious communities.

Advocate writes:

This year, on March 11, she became the first out trans clergy member to address the Georgia House of Representatives during its morning prayer. She had been invited by her state rep, Democrat Saira Draper. “My hunch is just being there humanized me and humanized my community,” Woodworth says. Georgia lawmakers had been considering several pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ and specifically anti-trans legislation, mostly tacked on to other bills, she notes. The most concerning ones included a trans athlete ban, restrictions on sex education, parental notification on library books children check out, and a ban on puberty blockers for trans minors (a Georgia law being challenged in court prohibits other gender-affirming treatment for youth). But the session closed March 28 with none of them passing. “I want to say this had something to do with my presence at the capitol,” Woodworth says, but she gives primary credit to all the activists and citizens who worked against this legislation.

More here!

Photo from Advocate/Neighborhood Church

[apenitentialprayer]

The Christianization of African-Americans

Postcolonial American culture's preoccupation with breaking away from Europe was far removed from the situation among Africans in the United States at the time. The initial tenacity with which African Americans held onto their indigenous practices and the reluctance of many Southern white slaveholders to teach Christianity to the slaves limited the Christianizing process in the early period. Even the Great Awakening of the 1740s, which swept the country like a hurricane, failed to reach the masses of slaves. Only with the Great Western Revival at the turn of the nineteenth century did the Christianizing process gain a significant foothold among black people. The central questions at this junction are: Why did large numbers of American black people become Christians? What features of Protestant Christianity persuaded them to become Christian? The Baptist separatists and the Methodists, religious dissenters in American religious culture, gained the attention of the majority of slaves in the Christianizing process. The evangelical outlook of these denominations stressed individual experience, equality before God, and institutional autonomy. Baptism by immersion, practiced by Baptists, may indeed have reminded slaves from Nigeria and Dahomey of African river cults, but fails to fully explain the success of the Christianizing process among Africans. Black people became Christians for intellectual, existential, and political reasons. Christianity is, as Friedrich Nietzsche has taught us and liberation theologians remind us, a religion especially fitted to the oppressed. It looks at the world from the perspective of those below. The African slaves' search for identity could find historical purpose in the exodus of Israel out of slavery and personal meaning in the bold identification of Jesus Christ with the lowly and downtrodden. Christianity also is first and foremost a theodicy, a triumphant account of good over evil. The intellectual life of the African slaves in the United States —like that of all oppressed peoples— consisted primarily of reckoning with the dominant form of evil in their lives. The Christian emphasis on against-the-evidence hope for triumph over evil struck deep among many of them. The existential appeal of Christianity to black people was the stress of Protestant evangelicalism on individual experience, and especially the conversion experience. The "holy dance" of Protestant evangelical conversion experience closely resembled the "ring shout" of West African novitiate rites: both are religious forms of ecstatic bodily behavior in which everyday time is infused with meaning and value through unrestrained rejoicing. The conversion experience played a central role in the Christianizing process. It not only created deep bonds of fellowship and a reference point for self-assurance during times of doubt and distress; it also democratized and equalized the status of all before God. The conversion experience initiated a profoundly personal relationship with God, which gave slaves a special self-identity and self-esteem in stark contrast with the roles imposed upon them by American society. The primary political appeal of the Methodists and especially of the Baptists for black people was their church polity and organizational form, free from hierarchical control, open and easy access to leadership roles, and relatively loose, uncomplicated requirements for membership. The adoption of the Baptist polity by a majority of Christian slave marked a turning point in the Afro-American experience [...] Independent control over their churches promoted the proliferation of African styles and manners within the black Christian tradition and liturgy. It also produced community-minded political leaders, polished orators, and activist journalists and scholars. In fact, the unique variant of American life that we call Afro-American culture germinated in the bosom of this Afro-Christianity, in the Afro-Christian church congregations.

- Cornel West ("Race and Modernity," from his Reader, pages 61-63, 63)

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Christopher Wiggins at The Advocate:

In Missouri, the race for secretary of state has become a highly charged ideological showdown, marked by personal attacks and divisive rhetoric. At the heart of this conflict is Democratic state Rep. Barbara Phifer, who has responded forcefully to a recent attack on her transgender grandchild by Republican candidate Valentina Gomez.

Gomez, a 25-year-old real estate investor, has gained notoriety for her aggressive stance against LGBTQ+ rights. Her campaign, characterized by incendiary remarks and controversial actions, has appealed to right-wing extremists with messages starkly contrasting with Phifer’s inclusive vision. Phifer is a Democratic candidate for secretary of state. The tension escalated when Gomez launched a personal attack on Phifer via social media in June, accusing her of raising a “groomer” and suggesting she belongs in a nursing home. “You have a trans grandchild,” Gomez wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “That means you raised a groomer. You failed your children, and they failed your grandchildren. Also, you’re irrelevant and belong in a nursing home.” Her attack followed Phifer’s condemnation of Gomez’s campaign tactics, which include a video of Gomez burning LGBTQ-themed books with a flamethrower and another in which Gomez urged voters not to be “weak and gay.”

[...] Phifer, who has served in office since 2021 and brings over 40 years of experience as a United Methodist Church pastor, addressed these attacks in an interview with The Advocate. “It’s concerning any time a person attacks a child. Attacks on children have no place anywhere on anything,” Phifer said, highlighting the moral and ethical implications of Gomez’s rhetoric. Phifer, who has lived and worked in the St. Louis area for 34 years, emphasized her role as a parent and grandparent. “First and foremost, I am a parent and a grandparent, and that’s going to be my primary responsibility in life,” she said. Phifer also highlighted the broader issues at play, criticizing her opponent’s lack of substantive ideas. “When you don’t have anything to give, nothing to add to a conversation, you just start throwing verbal bombs,” she remarked.

Missouri State Rep. and Secretary of State candidate Barbara Phifer (D) posted on X that she supports her trans grandchild.

Unhinged anti-LGBTQ+ extremist Republican Secretary of State candidate Valentina Gomez responded to Phifer’s post with unhinged anti-trans hatred by falsely insinuating that Phifer is a “groomer” and should be in a nursing home. #MOSoS

[blackqueernotables]

Rev. Dr. Pamela Lightsey: the first out Black lesbian elder in The United Methodist Church.