Audubon Park United Methodist Church

08/25/2026

Please join us at 1 p.m. this Friday, Aug. 28, at Audubon Park United Methodist church to honor the life of longtime member Gordon Mero, who passed away June 17, 2026.
(Please note the change of venue from the one mentioned in the obituary.)

View Gordon Duane MERO's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.

08/19/2026

Remember to bring your kids' - or your own! - backpacks to church at 10 a.m. Sunday Aug. 23 for the annual Blessing of the Backpacks 🎒.
This fun and sweet tradition invites us to send kids of all ages off to a new school year with our prayers, love, and support.
Please don't hesitate to bring your work briefcase, grown-up navy blue JanSport, or that cute, small crossbody you now tote after wisely whittling things down to keys, wallet, and cellphone 📱
😉
All (backpacks, bags, and people) are welcome!

08/15/2026

You are not alone.
If the catastrophic fires in Spokane taught us anything it's that we are surrounded by good, loving people.
Firefighters far from their own homes and families, working all day and night through life-threatening danger.
Neighbors we normally only see driving past, now pulling over to connect and commiserate.
Insurance adjustors driving from across the country to inspect our homes for ash and smoke damage, or to offer solace and financial aid if we lost everything.
Pastors and church friends 🧡 extending the gift of time and small, mood-lifting gifts to get us through.
Please consider joining us at 10 a.m. this Sunday, Aug. 16, wherever you are in your experience of this community trauma. Grief is welcome. Gratitude too. "Come as you are," as Pastor Geoff Helton says - and he means it. 💔❤️‍🩹🙏🏻😇
"When we planned our Faith We Sing series, we didn’t know we would be gathering in the wake of wildfire evacuations. But the true test of a song isn’t whether it sounds triumphant on an easy morning—it’s whether it can hold weight when the smoke begins to clear.
This Sunday, our series turns to "There’s A Peace I’ve Come to Know" by the COR Worship Collective. This song opens with an honest confession: "I was broken, tired, and worn..." - something many of us are feeling right now. It continues to share about the peace of Christ which can anchor us when life gets chaotic.
The peace Christ offers doesn’t pretend the fire never happened. Peace after a disaster begins like fragile roots—in small moments of grace, shared care, and quiet breath. Whether you are feeling weary, disrupted, or simply in need of rest, come as you are this Sunday as we find comfort together in worship."
- Pastor Geoff Helton

08/10/2026

Friends,

Thank you for coming together in worship and fellowship yesterday to support one another. It was so good to see each other, hear each other’s stories, and just be together.

The hard work of fire fighters and other emergency personal along with better weather conditions has meant significant progress in containing and putting out the fires. I’m so thankful that many in our church have been able to return home. For others, recovery will take much longer.

Pastor Glen and I are working to identify and care for those who have lost their homes or are still unable to return home. If this is you or someone you know, please contact us! We want to be able to support you, and we have resources that we’d love to share with you.

As I mentioned in worship yesterday, our church is preparing to host Early Response Teams trained by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). They’re working on scheduling their work and want to know who may need help.

So, if your home is covered by red fire retardant or you're looking for treasured personal items and need support, our PNWUMC Early Response Team may be able to help. They're UMCOR-trained, equipped and serve with their caring, Christian presence. The team will be in the Spokane area August 28 through 30. Please take a moment to fill out this form if you're interested in this free service. ERTs serve as the hands and feet of Christ. May they walk with you in this time of grief.

If you want to support our work of caring for those impacted by the fires, here are links where you can give:

Audubon Park Church’s Wildfire Recovery Fund - https://subsplash.com/u/audubonparkunitedmethodi/give?next_process_date=08%2F10%2F2026&fund_id=980451cb-d0ea-41f3-870c-b8254655373d

Pacific Northwest Conference Disaster Relief Fund - https://secure.givelively.org/donate/pacific-northwest-conference-of-the-united-methodist-church/pacific-northwest-conference-disaster-fund-advance-352

United Methodist Committee on Relief US Disaster Response Fund - https://gbhem-umc.my.site.com/hemgm/s/campaign/a3fPo000000D49rIAC/umcor-us-disaster-response-and-recovery-usdr?fbclid=IwY2xjawTm7K1wZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMUVmSlFOMDNpaXBaY2c1N2lzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeGoBQ6aTJ6ajoCRWnizM-FkC4PO7lyevMi_XVvXydwpRenCZ8q6zEPd2jhbU_aem_fR1IRArVQwjZWN310T59dA&utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e0_tv2_a1demo0dk3w82j

Continue praying for each other and checking in which each other. Remember that grief, anger, sadness, worry, fear, gratitude, determination - all of these are faithful responses to what we’ve experienced this week. Be kind to yourself and to others and know that we’re not alone in this.

grace & peace,
- Pastor Geoff

08/08/2026

This has been a hard week for Spokane. Hundreds of families have lost their homes. Neighborhoods we know are gone. Many of us are still waiting to hear how friends and loved ones are doing, and some of us are grieving losses of our own.

This Sunday, we gather to bring that grief into worship — not to explain it away, but to hold it together in the presence of God. We’ll sit with Scripture that doesn’t rush past loss, and we’ll ask what it means to trust God’s presence when the everything around us has literally burned away.

Whatever you’re carrying this week — fear, exhaustion, anger, numbness, or a strange kind of gratitude for what wasn’t lost — there’s room for it here. Come as you are.

I look forward to being together on Sunday at 10am to support one another and worship together.

- Pastor Geoff

08/04/2026

We've heard from many people asking how they can help right now.

Please hold off on sending any physical help like clothes, food, even water. Evacuation centers and relief organizations are being inundated with supplies, much of which is not needed right now.

The best thing to do right now is to give financially. There are three United Methodist Funds that will go to support our relief efforts:

- UMCOR - United Methodist Committee On Relief (https://bit.ly/umcorusdr) This is a US disaster relief fund and we've already received word that we're getting a grant from this fund for Spokane Disaster Relief.
- The Pacific Northwest Conference of The United Methodist Church (https://secure.givelively.org/donate/pacific-northwest-conference-of-the-united-methodist-church/pacific-northwest-conference-disaster-fund-advance-352) This is fund is more regional and is also contributing supplies and equipment to relief efforts.

Our Church has also set up a fund to help families from our church as well as others in our community impacted by the wildfires. You can give to the Audubon Park Church fund here: https://subsplash.com/u/audubonparkunitedmethodi/give? (please select the "Spokane Wildfire Relief 2026" fund).

Thank you to everyone who is reaching out to help out and support those who've been evacuated and who have lost their homes. We'll share more ways to help in the coming days and weeks.

- Pastor Geoff

08/03/2026

A Pastoral Message, Wildfire Updates, and a Request to Check-In

Friends,

From the Old Trails and Fairview fires to the Autumn Lane fire—our hearts are heavy with a depth of grief that is difficult to put into words. As I write this, these three fires are still burning across our community. Tens of thousands of our neighbors have been ordered from their homes. Some of you reading this are among them. Some of you have already lost what you cannot get back. Others of you are watching, waiting, checking the evacuation maps every hour, unsure yet what you'll find when this is over.

I don't want to rush past what we’re feeling right now. I'm not going to open with a verse about God working all things for good, because right now that would land like a hand placed too quickly over a wound. Scripture itself doesn't rush. The psalmists spent whole poems in the ash before they found their way to praise — How long, O Lord? — and I think this week calls us to sit in that question rather than resolve it too soon.

So, let's start there. In moments like this, when the landscape around us changes in a matter of hours, it is normal to feel overwhelmed, anxious, or exhausted. It is right to grieve a house. It is right to grieve a neighborhood, a familiar street, the particular light through a particular window that will never look that way again. It is right to be afraid, and to be angry — at the dryness, at the wind, at the fires, at how fragile all our permanence turns out to be. None of that is a failure of faith. It may be the most honest form faith takes this week.

And still — I want you to hear this too — we are not people who grieve without hope. Scripture reminds us that God is “our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble—even when the earth gives way.” Right now, faith does not demand that we have neat answers or suppress our grief. It gives us permission to weep, to process, and to hold tightly to one another trusting that God is holding us too.

We are not a people who grieve without hope. We are a people who show up at each other's doors with casseroles and box fans and spare rooms. That instinct is already alive in you. I've heard about it happening in the last two days. Keep doing it.

If you are safe and your home is safe, consider reaching out to your friends if you haven’t already - particularly someone who might not be your first phone call. A text or phone call this week matters more than it might seem to.

If you are one of the ones who evacuated, or who lost something, please let us know. We’d love to know where you are and how you’re doing. Send us an email with an update or leave a comment below. You don't have to carry this alone, and you don't have to wait until you have the words for it. We would rather sit with you in the not-knowing than wait for a tidy update.

I also want you to know that we are our church is not alone. I have received numerous texts and emails from United Methodist pastors and churches sharing their concerns, their plans to pray, and their support when we know what we need. Our bishop is closely monitoring the situation, and our United Methodist Disaster Response team is already marshalling resources and volunteers to help. My fellow superintendents are working with me and other local UMC pastors to coordinate all of this. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has been appraised and is planning a response. We are not alone.

Spokane Valley United Methodist Church is setting up as a shelter for those being displaced in addition to main shelters at the Spokane Convention Center, Spokane Community College, and the Spokane Fairgrounds. In all likelihood, Spokane Valley UMC will also serve as the hub for our UMC response teams, relief supplies, and disaster response teams. I’ll share more about this as soon as I have more info, but if you need help, reach out to me now so that we can start working on getting you assistance - please don’t wait.

Pastor Glenn and I will continue checking on our church members, particularly those in the direct path of the fire and those who have already lost homes. If you know of someone who has lost their home, is in need of a place to stay while evacuated, or just worried about someone, please reach out to us.

I do want to share with you that we are currently aware of two families from our church who have lost their homes - Jeff & Robin Johnson and another family who we are still trying to connect with. Please pray for them and know that we are supporting them as best as we can in this difficult time.

Spokane is a resilient community, and our church family is bound together by a love that no fire can consume. In the days and weeks ahead, the road to recovery and rebuild will be long, but we will walk every step of it together.

Take a deep breath, stay safe, and continue to follow official emergency guidance and evacuation orders.

With deep love and continuous prayer,

- Pastor Geoff

08/03/2026

Here’s a message from our bishop regarding the wildfires in our community and the deadly shooting in Twin Falls, ID.

Thanks to you all for checking on each each other, supporting each other, even taking each other in when evacuated.

As you hear about people from the church who have lost their homes, please contact Pastor Geoff or Pastor Glenn so that we can reach out and offer support.

Beloved friends in the Greater Northwest Area, Our hearts continue to ache as disaster unfolds in our communities once more this week.  While lives are still shattered in Seattle from gun viol…

08/02/2026

Audubon Park Church is canceling service for tomorrow, Sunday, August 2. The building will be closed and we will not hold worship.

Many of our church members have had to evacuate including Pastor Geoff and the entire worship team.

The city has also asked that we stay off the roads to allow evacuees to flee safely and for emergency service personnel to travel safely to where they need be to keep people safe.

Our prayers continue for all those impacted by the fires. Please reach out to Pastor Geoff if you need assistance.

08/02/2026

Please pray for our community and the many people who have had to evacuate due to the fires including many from our church.

We’re currently evaluating whether or not we will hold worship tomorrow morning. Pastor Geoff and much of our worship team has had to evacuate. We’ll post an update here, by email, and on our website.

Please be safe and follow all evacuation orders. If you need assistance pastor Geoff is monitoring his email closely.

Our church has at times been used as a shelter by the Red Cross. If this happens, we’ll reach out for help.