Community of Pilgrims Newsletter, June 17, 2018

THIS SUNDAY: June 17, 4:30 pm, we will be meeting at Chris Dungan’s home for a barbeque. 25140 Rancho Lobo Court, West Linn, OR. RSVP by tomorrow, Friday, June 15, 2018, Chris Dungan, chrisdungan1@msn.com  or 503.656.2095. Bring your own beverage. This is not a potluck.  This is a “post parade” event! 

Questions? Contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com

____

Dear Path Makers and Path Finders, Asylum Seekers and their children, Drivers and Passengers, Friends and Family Members, 

Greetings from Boise, Idaho, where I am a guest of the Oregon-Idaho United Methodist Church Annual Conference. The sun is out, it is nice and warm outside, and we are all sitting inside convention spaces.  Such is life!

The focus Scripture this coming Sunday is Mark 4:26-34, otherwise known as the Mustard Seed Parable. Such wonders and surprises lie within small seeds. The power of the seed parable reminded me of the story of the Nobel Prize winner scientist Barbara McClintock, who studied the way that genes communicate between organisms. She came to understand genetics by studying kernels of corn. She was the first person to create a genetic map of a chromosome for corn and theorized transference. She did this by having a “feel for the organism... learning to lean into the organism." Evelyn Fox Keller, who wrote the biography of Barbara McClintock, reminds us that the relationship that McClintock had with corn is the highest kind of intimacy and love that does not annihilate differences, but embraces them. It is the kind of relationship that God in Christ has with us as God leans in closely and has a feel for us as well.

____

Events!

Sunday, June 17, 2018, 11 am (at the latest), we are part of Creating Welcoming Congregations (CWC). We are contingent 74. Line up on Everett between NW 8th & Park. Kathy will have our t-shirts.  Feel free to wear any rainbow accessory. Let us remember that the first Pride parade was a “small seed” event in New York City on June 28, 1970. This was the one year anniversary of the Stonewall Riot, in which members of the LGBTQ+ community clashed with the police, who raided Stonewall Inn.

Sunday, June 17, 4:30 pm, we will be meeting at Chris Dungan’s (and collies) home for a barbeque. 25140 Rancho Lobo Court, West Linn, OR. RSVP by tomorrow, Friday, June 15, 2018, Chris Dungan, chrichrisdungan1@msn.com  or 503.656.2095. Bring your own beverage. This is not a potluck.  This is a “post parade” event!  

Sunday, June 24, 2018, Brett will be preaching and sharing stories from Community of Pilgrims at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Beaverton, OR;

Thursday, June 28, 2018, 7 pm, Steering/Guide Team Meeting; Chris Dungan’s Home;

Friday, June 29, 2018, 1:00 pm, Brett participating in Friday Lunch Speaking Series at Portland City Club, Portland, OR;

Friday, June 29 and Saturday, June 30, 2018, Presbytery of the Cascades, First Presbyterian Church, Salem, OR. Ask Brett or Chris for more information.

TBA: Group Outing to see: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” documentary on Mr. Roger’s life and ministry.  It is opening on June 15, 2018, Cinema 21 on NW 21st Ave., Portland, OR.

Sunday, July 29, 2018, Brett is preaching at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Waldport, OR.

Aug. 5, 2018, 10 am, Brett is preaching at Calvin Presbyterian Church, Tigard, OR.

____

Poem

PRIDE 

By Dahlia Ravikovitch

Even rocks crack, I'm telling you,
and not on account of age.                 
For years they lie on their backs
in the heat and the cold,
so many years,
it almost creates the illusion of calm.  
They don't move, so the cracks stay hidden.         
A kind of pride.
Years pass over them as they wait.
Whoever is going to shatter them
hasn't come yet.
And so the moss flourishes, the seaweed
whips around,
the sea bursts forth and rolls back --    
and still they seem motionless.                    
Till a little seal comes to rub up against the rocks,         
comes and goes.                             
And suddenly the rock has an open wound. 
I told you, when rocks crack, it comes as a surprise. 
All the more so, people.

____

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

Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, June 10, 2018 newsletter

THIS SUNDAY: June 10, 4 p.m. Worship at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church 1907 NE 45th Avenue – Portland, OR, 97213; Corner of NE Sandy Blvd. and NE 45th Ave.; two blocks east of Hollywood Theater.

Questions? Contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com
____

Dear Mystic Wanderers, Spiritual Dancers, Nomadic Souls, Searching Ones, Pilgrims of a Faith, Family Members, and Friends,

It is June! And the Rose City does not disappoint in finding something and everything to do, all in one day. So much to choose from! Options abound! And we are glad that you join us each and every Sunday, or many Sundays. Thank you!

The focus this Sunday is a story from the Gospel of Mark 3:20-35. In the ‘80s, the LGBTQ+ community, at the height of the AIDS/HIV epidemic, coined the term “families of choice”, when friends stepped up to being caretakers of those of us who were ill, because of the perceived failure of families (heterosexual) of origin and the state to respond adequately to the crisis. “Families of choice” is intended to capture the commitment of chosen, rather than fixed, relationships and ties of intimacy, care, and support. Mark’s Jesus already set before us this concept of families of choice. Here’s the scene: Jesus’ disciples brought Jesus’ mother, brothers, and sisters to Jesus’ side, because the disciples feared how Jesus was being perceived wrongly by the crowd. When he was told his family was there, Jesus replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers? … Here are my mother and my brothers (and sisters)! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother (and father).” Through baptism, hasn’t Brother Jesus reconfigured our relationship as mother, father, brother, and sister to one another as God’s “family of choice”? And what does that mean for our relationship with one another and God in the Community of Pilgrims?
____

Events!

Sunday, June 10, 2018, 4-6 pm: Gathering and Worshiping together, Rose City Park Presbyterian Church;

Sunday, June 17, 2018, 11 am (at the latest), we are part of Creating Welcoming Congregations (CWC). We are contingent 74. Line up on Everett between NW 8th & Park. No gathering and worship at 4 pm. Wear your new t-shirt, please!

Sunday, June 24, 2018, Brett will be preaching and sharing stories from Community of Pilgrims at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Beaverton, OR;

Thursday, June 28, 2018, 7 pm, Steering/Guide Team Meeting; Chris Dungan’s Home;

Friday, June 29, 2018, 1:00 pm, Brett participating in Friday Lunch Speaking Series at Portland City Club, Portland, OR;

Friday, June 29 and Saturday, June 30, 2018, Presbytery of the Cascades, First Presbyterian Church, Salem, OR. Ask Brett or Chris for more information.

TBA: Group Outing to see: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” documentary on Mr. Roger’s life and ministry. It is opening on June 15, 2018, Cinema 21 on NW 21st Ave., Portland, OR

Aug. 5, 2018, 10 am, Brett is preaching at Calvin Presbyterian Church, Tigard, OR. 
____

Poem
(month of) June, by Hilaire Beloc

Rise up, and do begin the day's adorning; 
The Summer dark is but the dawn of day. 
The last of sunset fades into the morning, 
The morning calls you from the dark away. 
The holy mist, the white mist of the morning, 
Was wreathing upward on my lonely way. 
The way was waiting for your own adorning
That should complete the broad adorned day. 

Rise up, and do begin the day's adorning; 
The little eastern clouds are dapple grey: 
There will be wind among the leaves to-day; 
It is the very promise of the morning. 
Lux Tua Via Mea: your light's my way - 
Then do rise up and make it perfect day. 

____
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

Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, June 3, 2018

THIS SUNDAY: June 3, 4-6 p.m. Worship at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church 1907 NE 45th Avenue – Portland, OR, 97213; Corner of NE Sandy Blvd. and NE 45th Ave.; two blocks east of Hollywood Theater.

Questions? Contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com
____

Dear Gadabouts, Globe-Trotters, Homeless Ones, Strangers, Family Members, and Friends,

This coming Sunday is the second Sunday after Pentecost in this liturgical calendar. We continue, many years, to live in the incredible gift of Spirit, unleashed unto the world who guides us, the people of the Way.

As we continue to live in the times of the Holy Spirit moving us forward, following Christ, as God beckons us home, the focus Scripture is Mark 2:23-3:6. There are two stories here, one of Jesus and the disciples in an open field, picking wheat, and the second is the story of Jesus healing the person with a hand that is disabled. Both stories are tied together by Sabbath: they were picking wheat on the Sabbath, and Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath. While Jesus broke no laws per se in picking grain or healing the man’s hand, Jesus also reminds, in small ways, that he—and now we, in Christ’s name—reveal the oppressive and corrosive tyrannies of fear, pretense, and religious hypocrisy wherever they reside, as we work to preserve and love life. Join us this Sunday as we explore the many ways of preserving and loving life, in small and grand ways, as Pilgrims of the Way, which may find us confronting the powers of the world around us, all at the same time!
____

Events!

Sunday, June 3, 2018, 4-6 pm: Gathering and Worshiping together, Rose City Park Presbyterian Church;

Sunday, June 17, 2018, 11 am, Gather at North Park Blocks and walk with Creating Welcoming Congregations as Community of Pilgrims, Portland, OR;

Sunday, June 24, 2018, Brett will be preaching and sharing stories from Community of Pilgrims at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Beaverton, OR;

Thursday, June 28, 2018, Steering/Guide Team Meeting; Chris Dungan’s Home;

Friday, June 29, 2018, 1:00 pm, Brett participating in Friday Lunch Speaking Series at Portland City Club, Portland, OR;

TBA: Group Outing to see: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” documentary on Mr. Roger’s life and ministry. It is opening on June 15, 2018;
____

Poem

“June Light,” by Richard Wilbur

Your voice, with clear location of June days,

Called me outside the window. You were there,

Light yet composed, as in the just soft stare

Of uncontested summer all things raise

Plainly their seeming into seamless air.

Then your love looked as simple and entire

As that picked pear you tossed me, and your face

As legible as pear skin’s fleck and trace,

Which promise always wine, by mottled fire

More fatal fleshed than ever human grace.

And your gay gift—Oh when I saw it fall

Into my hands, through all that naïve light,

It seemed as blessed with truth and new delight

As must have been the first great gift of all.

____

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

Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, May 27, 2018

Dear Sojourners, Emigres, Searcher, Outcasts, Commuter, Vagabonds, Friends, and Family Members,

Happy Trinity Sunday on Sunday, May 27, 2018! This Holy Day follows Pentecost, which makes sense since we just celebrated the gift of the Holy Spirit among us. While there is much debate about the theology of the Trinity, I like to simply call this “Community Sunday”.

The focus Scripture is Romans 8:12-17, is all about the Community of God. Religious scholar Stephen Prothero calls us Christians “mushy monotheists” rather than the radical monotheism of Judaism and Islam, in which we believe in one God-in-three-persons. Others argue about the basic tenets behind the theology of the Holy Trinity. How I’ve come to understand this connection between God-Christ-Spirit is that we model our communal life together as Christian community based upon this incredible relationship that God personifies and exemplifies, making God’s self known to us daily. As a Community of Pilgrims, the Community that is God demonstrates to us that we know God best through and in relationships, as God is in relationship with God’s self, Creator, Christ, and Spirit. So let us come together Sunday, in the presence of God who created us and the world in which we live, practicing the art of doing the work of Christ who accompanies us on the pilgrimage of life, and at taking time to pause and be in the Spirit of God.

***

Events!

Sunday, May 27, 2018, 10:30 am, Brett preaching at Bridgeport UCC, 621 NE 76th Ave., Portland, OR 97213

Sunday, May 27, 2018, 4-6 pm, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park Presbyterian Church’s Chapel; invite a friend or family member to join us this Sunday!

Sunday, June 17, 2018, 11 am, March in Pride Parade, Downtown Portland, Meeting place TBD; Also: let Kathy Fukuyama know what size of t-shirt you wear, so that we can all wear our Community of Pilgrims t-shirts.

***

Poem

Finally, knowing that this nation will focus on Memorial Day this weekend, a day to honor those who have died in service to the country that they love, a Memorial Day poem.

Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep by Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am in a thousand winds that blow;

I am the softly falling snow.

I am the gentle showers of rain;

I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush;

I am in the graceful rush.

Of beautiful birds in circling flight,

I am the star shine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,

I am in a quiet room.

I am the birds that sing,

I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there. I do not die.

***

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

Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, May 20, 2018

Gathering and Worship, 4-6 pm, Rose City Park Presbyterian Church’s Chapel

1907 NE 45th Ave., Portland, OR 97213;

Contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell, 919-444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com

____

Dear Refugees, Displaced Persons, Pathfinder, Pilgrim, Family Members, and Friends,

Welcome to a newly designed email newsletter! We are trying some new things with this newsletter, and invite your feedback, as we think of creative ways of sharing the ins and outs of life as a growing and changing Community of Pilgrim.

This week’s focus is Acts 2:1-21, a Scripture passage read on Pentecost! This is typically referred to as the “Birthday of the Church!” and the color of the day is red, so please wear something red this coming Sunday. And there is no doubt that Luke’s word-imagery, used in describing the presence of the Holy Spirit descending upon the masses, is incredible—then, and now. There are three parts of this holy fiasco: to begin, there is the “rush of a violent wind”. Next is the divided tongues, “as if fire,” with a tongue resting upon each person. Finally, there is the Spirit, causing each person to speak in a tongue or language, unlike their own. The question we will explore this week is simple: do we still believe God acts like this, blowing like a violent wind through closed doors and setting our heads on fire…a God who can change us, both individually and communally? Or is God tired and old, someone who listens to our prayer requests, but not able to change lives?

_____

Events!

Sat., May 19, 2018, 6-9 pm, Dinner at Tom Galey and Lee Ellis’ home for ASL Interpreters;

Sun., May 20, 2018, 10 am, Pentecost! Worship at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, Pastor Brett preaching;

Sunday, May 20, 2018, 4-6 pm, Gathering and Worship of Community of Pilgrims with Tom Letts, our Church Coach, visiting. Pentecost! We are also going to witness and celebrate the baptism of Kathy Fukuyama! Wear something red!

Thursday, May 24, 2018, 7-9 pm, Steering Team Meeting, Kathy Fukuyama’s home.

Sunday, June 17, 2018, 11 am, Portland Pride March, details TBD; give Kathy Fukuyama your t-shirt size Sun., May 20, to order shirts!

____

A Poem

Pentecost, by Malcolm Guite:

Today we feel the wind beneath our wings

Today the hidden fountain flows and plays

Today the church draws breath at last and sings

As every flame becomes a Tongue of praise.

This is the feast of fire, air, and water

Poured out and breathed and kindled into earth.

The earth herself awakens to her maker

And is translated out of death to birth.

The right words come today in their right order

And every word spells freedom and release

Today the gospel crosses every border

All tongues are loosened by the Prince of Peace

Today the lost are found in His translation.

Whose mother-tongue is Love, in every nation.

____

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

Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship News for May 13, 2018

Dear People of the Way, Devotee, Worshiper, Seeker, Novice, Family member, and Friends,

Greetings and salutations on a beautiful Portland spring day, in which the sunshine and blue skies are just above a cloud layer covering the Portland metro area.

Our focus Scripture this week is Acts 1:15-17, 21-26, in which we are re-introduced to the very first days of the life of the disciples after Jesus' ascension. Again, there is no "church on every corner" in Jerusalem. The early disciples were considered "outsiders" to the Jewish and Roman authorities in those days. They were a young, scrappy, and slightly anxious community of followers of Jesus--the way, the truth, and the life--with no place to meet, save a home here and there. In Jesus' absence, they were making decisions and new processes as they moved forward in life as a clandestine, rag-tag group of disciples and apostles. The first order of the day was to approve a new disciple, as the original 12 were now 11. The 11 were in transition, or what we call "interim" status, using an age old approach of choosing the next person: by casting lots. What is most powerful in this passage for us, as a Community of Pilgrims, is that our forbearers were like us: charged to be people of the Way (Acts 9:2), bringing hope and power of God's beloved community to people for whom the trials of religious and political oppression may have appeared as overwhelming... much like today. In that Spirit, let us invite people to join us as people of the Way as we move forward in life as a new community of faith!

____

A word of Thanks after filling 45 boxes of food for families and individuals connected with Human Solutions:

Hello All! Thank you so much for the food boxes for our families! The treats in each of them were well-received and very appreciated! We certainly hope to have you all again, and truly appreciate the support!

Best,

Christina Newcomb
Volunteer and Donations Coordinator

Pronouns: She / Her / Hers

Human Solutions
12350 SE Powell Blvd.
Portland, OR 97236
Phone: 503.278.1637

Human Solutions: Building Pathways Out of Poverty

____

Schedule and Events:

Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12, CoHo Theater, "Luna Gale". Go to the link for more information (Arlena Barnes mentioned this to many of us last Sunday). http://www.cohoproductions.org

Saturday, May 12, 4 pm, Sacred Flight Concert, Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, Chris Dungan narrating;

Sunday, May 13, 4-6 Community Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park Presbyterian Church. In honor of Mothers' Day, the men are invited to bring desserts.

Wed., May 16, 7-9 pm, documentary film, "Priced Out," St. Charles Parish, 5310 NE 42nd St., Portland, OR, 97218.

Sat., May 19, 6 pm, ASL Interpreters gathering at Tom Galey and Lee Ellis' home; RSVP with Tom and Lee, ASL folks;

Sun., May 20, 10 am worship, Rose City Park Presby. Church, Pentecost; Brett preaching.

Sunday, May 20, 4-6 pm, community gathering and worship, Kathy Fukuyama baptism and Tom Letts visit, Rose City Park PCUSA;

Thursday, May 24, 7 pm, Steering Team, Kathy Fukuyama home;

Sunday, June 17, 11 am, Portland Pride Parade, time and place to meet TBD (give Kathy F your shirt size);

____

Finally, a poem, in honor of spring, and peace...

In Perpetual Spring, by Amy Gerstler

Gardens are also good places
to sulk. You pass beds of
spiky voodoo lilies  
and trip over the roots  
of a sweet gum tree,  
in search of medieval  
plants whose leaves,  
when they drop off  
turn into birds
if they fall on land,
and colored carp if they  
plop into water.

Suddenly the archetypal  
human desire for peace  
with every other species  
wells up in you. The lion  
and the lamb cuddling up. 
The snake and the snail, kissing.
Even the prick of the thistle,  
queen of the weeds, revives  
your secret belief
in perpetual spring,
your faith that for every hurt  
there is a leaf to cure it.
____

Buen Camino! And bring a friend and a family member to our Fellowship!

Pastors Brett & Chris

Thank you for our work with Human Solutions!

We received this lovely note from Human Solutions after our great packing of 45 boxes for families in need of some support this month!

Hello all,

Thank you so much for the food boxes for our families!  The treats in each of them were well-received and very appreciated!  We certainly hope to have you all again, and truly appreciate the support!

Best,

Christina Newcomb

Volunteer and Donations Coordinator

Pronouns: She / Her / Hers

Human Solutions

12350 SE Powell Blvd.

Portland, OR 97236

Phone: 503.278.1637

cnewcomb@humansolutions.org

www.humansolutions.org

Human Solutions Shelter Wish List

Human Solutions: Building Pathways Out of Poverty

Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, May 6, 2018

Dear Movers, Shakers, Walkers, Bikers, Those who use Walkers, Canes, or Crutches,

Greetings from Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship!  We are entering the 6th Sunday of Eastertide, drawing closer to Pentecost, the birthday of the assembly, the gathering, of what we call today, "church".  It is always helpful to remember that Jesus and his 12 disciples were a small little group of communitarians, sharing food and money daily.  Even on Pentecost, there were no churches. My, how things have changed over the generations!

___

This Sunday we focus on John 15:9-17, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father." John's Jesus reveals a new relationship we have with Jesus: we are not "servants" only, but are elevated by Jesus (aka, God), to be called "friend". This is incredible! We are called to be friends with God, seeking the goodness of God as God seeks and nurtures goodness in us. In ancient Greek philosophy, there were three kinds of "friendship": friendship of use, and friendship in which we share things in common that we both enjoy. These two friendship are short-lived. The third kind of friendship is based on goodness, in which we admire the goodness in others, and help one another strive for goodness. This kind of friendship endures. It is this third kind of friendship that Jesus imagines with us when Jesus calls us "friends." Brother Jesus, who walks with us on the pilgrimage of life, calls us "friend", and off we go! Let the adventure of this incredible friendship with God continue to unfold!

___

Coming Events!

* Saturday, May 5, 2018, 11-5 pm, Deafopia Expo, OR Association of the Deaf, https://oad1921.org/event/deafopia-expo, Washington School for the Deaf, 611 Grand Blvd, Vancouver, WA 98661

* Sunday, May 6, 4-6 pm, we will not  meet at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, but will meet at Colonial Heights Presbyterian Church: we will meet together this Sunday to embody the above passage: "Love one another as I have loved you," packing food together for Human Solutions, in which we will help feed 45 individuals!

* Sunday, May 6, 7:30 pm, performance of Lake Oswego Millennium Community Band, Lake Ridge High School, Lake Oswego, OR.

* Saturday, May 12, 4 pm, Sacred Flight Concert, Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, Rev. Chris Dungan, Narrating;

* Wednesday, 7 pm, a showing of the film, Price Out, St. Charles Borromeo Parish, 5310 NE 42nd Ave., Portland, OR. 

* Saturday, May 19, 5 pm, Dinner and gathering of ASL Interpreters, Tom Galey and Lee Ellis home;

* Sunday, May 20, 10 am worship, Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, Brett preaching;

* Sunday, May 20, 4 pm, worship, Kathy Fukuyama's baptism; visit with Church Coach Tom Letts;

* Sunday, June 17, 11 am, Portland Pride March!  Place to meet TBD.

___

Prayer Concerns and Celebrations!

• Liz as she has her cardioversion procedure on May 3rd.  She is now healing and feeling better!
• Diana Zapata's mother health. 
• Ken and Ann Miller as Ken continues to live in intense pain.
• The family of David Gilkey, for a life well lived.
• Remembering Rosa Lee Brooks, who died this past week.
• Linda's friend Pat who recently lost her husband and whose daughter remains in the hospital and for her autistic teenage son.
• Celebration for the summit between North and South Korea that it may mean peace.
• People in Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Rohingya refugees, and Palestinians and their oppressors.
• People living on city streets as the gap between rich and poor widens.
• Craig Stein as he transitions back to Portland and in his search for a new home.
• Linda and Chuck's wedding anniversary. It would be 28 years of marriage today.
• Members of the Church at Eagle Creek who love Chris and she loves them.
• Our community of faith. We are part of a proud tradition of faith communities and more branches will come.
• Traveling mercies for Nina on her drive to Arizona and for her son's move to Portland.

___

Finally, a poem:

Instructions on Not Giving Up, by Ada Limon

More than the fuchsia funnels breaking out
of the crabapple tree, more than the neighbor’s
almost obscene display of cherry limbs shoving
their cotton candy-colored blossoms to the slate
sky of Spring rains, it’s the greening of the trees
that really gets to me. When all the shock of white
and taffy, the world’s baubles and trinkets, leave
the pavement strewn with the confetti of aftermath,
the leaves come. Patient, plodding, a green skin
growing over whatever winter did to us, a return
to the strange idea of continuous living despite
the mess of us, the hurt, the empty. Fine then,
I’ll take it, the tree seems to say, a new slick leaf
unfurling like a fist to an open palm, I’ll take it all.

___

Buen Camino!

Pastors Brett & Chris

Community of Pilgrims in the News! Cascade Connections!

Here we are!  In the news of Cascade Connections with the Presbytery of the Cascades!  Here's the link!

https://mailchi.mp/cascadespresbytery/cascades-connections-p3dl8fjer9-586301?e=d2d6e7b533

Weekly News! April 29, 2018

Dear Seekers, Excursionists, Transmigrants, Expedionists, Family Members, and Friends:

On this beautiful Oregon day, we are making our way to Pentecost, as we walk and move slowly to the next "mile marker" of Eastertide: the fifth Sunday of the season. It seems like only yesterday when we sang "Jesus Christ is risen today! Alleluia!" around the electric piano, and then having breakfast together on a cool Easter morning.

The focus Scripture this Sunday is a wine-lover's favorite: John 15:1-8. In this week's reading, the Gospel writer John uses an often used image of a grape vine and its branches to help and challenge the earlier community he was writing to, helping them to understand and claim their closer relationship with Jesus. A vine and its branches is an image commonly used in Hebrew Scriptures to describe Israel's relationship with Yahweh. In Portland, Oregon, we are surrounded by vineyards throughout the Willamette Valley. We are well aware of the story of Melissa and Ken's growing vineyard, fire, and re-birth in California, Lorinda and Ray's daughter and son-in-law. The pilgrimage, Camino de Santiago de Compostela, is well-known for incredible red wines to be supped along the way. Currently the French movie, "Back in Burgundy" (Living Room Theater), set in a French vineyard, looks at the intricate nature of being family, like vine, branches, and grapes. The movie reminds us of the art of wine growing, where to cut the grapes on the vine, when vines are cut back, when grapes should be picked, the craft of de-stemming the grapes, the art of tasting and smelling good wines, and the way branches wind and wind around each other, creating an intricate pattern of tight curls that make it impossible to tell where one branch starts or another one ends. It isn't just intricate: it's intimate, and the vine shares with its branches the nutrients that keep it growing, and is the life force of the whole plant. I have come to understand that the best grapes are those that grow close to the vine, where the food, the nutrients, are most concentrated. So let us learn from Brother Jesus who said: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit."  Sisters and brothers--branches all of the true vine--let us gather together this Sunday, 4-6 pm! 

***

We're in the news: Cascade Connections--the Presbytery of the Cascades weekly newsletter--included news of our Fellowship!  Please share with others and invite others to join us. Here's the link: 

https://mailchi.mp/cascadespresbytery/cascades-connections-p3dl8fjer9-586301?e=d2d6e7b533.

***

Our schedule for the next few weeks:

Tue., May 1, meet up at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church for the OR Symphony-related free concert; 7:30 pm.

Sun., May 6, meet at Colonial Heights Presbyterian Church, packing food for Human Solutions.

Saturday, May 12, Sacred Flight Concert, 4 pm, Rose City Park Presbyterian Church (Chris is narrating); 

Sat., May 19, Meeting and dinner with all ASL interpreters at Tom and Lee's House...red wine will be poured.

Sunday, May 20-21, Tom Letts church coach visit;

Sunday, May 20, Morning worship at Rose City Park, 10 am, Pentecost; sharing with Rose City Park stories of Community of Pilgrims;

Sunday, May 20: Kathy's baptism;

Fri. and Sat., June 29-30, Presbytery meeting in Salem, OR.

***

And finally, a poem:

Today, by Billy Collins:

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,

so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw

open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,

indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths

and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight

that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight

on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants

from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,

holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,

well, today is just that kind of day.

***

Buen Camino!

Pastors Brett & Chris