Dear Wanderers, Searchers, Bicyclists, Unicyclists, Stilt Walkers, Friends, and Family members,
Hard to imagine, but we are coming to the end of our church calendar! Next Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018, is The Reign of Christ Sunday, or our way of saying “Happy New Year” in the life of the Church. This is followed by the first Sunday of Advent on Dec. 2, 2018, and off we begin with a new year on the Church calendar.
The focus Scripture this week is Hebrews 10:25: “Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” This verse is encouraging to those of us in the Community of Pilgrims, as modeled by Benedictine communities, in which we are called to be an intentional Christian community of faith. There are two things that are being said here: first, don’t neglect to get together with each other. The second? To “provoke” or encourage one another with love and good deeds. Sometimes, acts or deeds of love are more powerful than words. Yet what is most powerful about this instruction is the sense of how mutual it all is. In other words, we are to love one another, through the practice of good deeds with one another, as we encourage or “provoke” one another in acts of love. What a lovely charge to Christian communities of faith. May we practice this not only weekly, but daily.
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Events!
Sunday, Nov. 18, 10:30 am, Pastor Brett will be preaching at First UMC in Seattle, WA;
Sunday, Nov. 18, 4 pm, Colonial Heights Presbyterian Church, Portland, OR, Thanksgiving Memory Bags.
Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018, the Reign of Christ Sunday! Gathering and Worship at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church’s Chapel;
Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018, First Sunday of Advent! Gathering and Worship at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church’s Chapel
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Requests
*Regarding the t-shirts: Please pick up your t-shirt this Sunday, and bring cash or a check made out to Community of Pilgrims, in the amount of $8 for adult M, L, and XL, and youth; and $12 for adult 2XL. Thank you!
* We also have plenty of beautiful leather bracelets for each member of the community! Pick one up this Sunday!
* In the coming months, Pastor Chris and I will be quoting from and referencing sections from the book, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily by Joan Chittister, a Benedictine monk, who, in this book, focuses on the nature of living life in an intentional Christian community, which is our aim as Community of Pilgrims. We can either order books for those interested and sending in a request for so-many copies, or feel free to order it or buy it from your favorite book distributor. Wisdom Distilled from the Daily, Joan Chittister, San Francisco: Harper One.
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Poem
In November, by Lisal Mueller
Outside the house the wind is howling
and the trees are creaking horribly.
This is an old story
with its old beginning,
as I lay me down to sleep.
But when I wake up, sunlight
has taken over the room.
You have already made the coffee
and the radio brings us music
from a confident age. In the paper
bad news is set in distant places.
Whatever was bound to happen
in my story did not happen.
But I know there are rules that cannot be broken.
Perhaps a name was changed.
A small mistake. Perhaps
a woman I do not know
is facing the day with the heavy heart
that, by all rights, should have been mine.
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Buen Camino!
Pastors Brett & Chris
Rev. Dr. Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com Rev. Chris Dungan (503) 724-7060; chrisdungan1@msn.com