St. James Lutheran Church Newsletter November 2020
1315 SW Park Ave, Portland OR 97201 | www.stjamespdx.org
“…straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal…” Worship Opportunities - Philippians 3 In-person: Sundays at 9:30
Fareed Zakaria, the author and journalist, gives us eyes to see a and 11am in our sanctuary. future after this pandemic. In his latest book, he writes, “This Sign up online to reserve a ugly pandemic has… opened up a path to a new world.” While spot. many see only despair, he points to the aftermath of the 1918 Audio Worship: Sundays on flu pandemic: the jazz era and the roaring 20’s. our website, Can we be so hopeful? www.stjamespdx.org This Thanksgiving, I thank God that we at St. James have the gifts and talents to move ministry forward. This newsletter Find Us Online reveals that positive direction: Online Worship: Turning the needs of the houseless to acts of giving five stjamespdx.org/ times a week; communications/sermons/ Voting “Yes” unanimously to advance our St. James (updated weekly) Apartments/Church building ministry; Sharing $20,000 with Lutheran World Relief’s work in St. James November Jazz Beirut, Lebanon; Vespers: stjamespdx.org/ Challenging ourselves to see and act against systemic communications/music/ racism; and (available November 15) Celebrating a Season of Gratitude in worship amid a St. James Virtual Art Gallery: pandemic. stjamespdx.org/life/groups/ Our God gives us a future. Can you imagine it? Can you see it? visual-artists-group/ We claim it by faith. - Pastor David
St. James Exceeds its Goal $22,500 You saw the need. You acted generously, giving over $20,000 in one month. On August 4 we learned of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon that damaged our Lutheran World Relief quilts and school/health kits. The St. James Council announced a fund drive to help with a goal of “$20,000 in 2020.” A month later, you exceeded that goal with your gifts to Lutheran World Relief. Additionally, we earmarked all monies above $20,000 to go to help communities affected by the Oregon Wildfires. That check was also given in October. Thank you for reaching out to those in need around the world.
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October Council Highlights October18, 2020 Meeting was called to order at 12:58pm. Present were Becky Bolt, David Scott, Mandy Ellertson, Julie Hatch, Kathleen McDonald, Carl Cottingham, Paula Veseth, Sue Hammond, and Pastor David; Charlotte Cook and Jim Siverson were absent. Pastor David gave the opening prayer. Treasurer’s Report: September giving was lower than normal; however, the Capital Fund Drive brought over $20,000 in within a month. The CDC is operating at half-capacity and will not be able to make a full payment in October. Pastor’s Report: Pastor David reported that we are averaging a total of 50 for in-person attendance at the Sunday services. Online giving has increased. He is not aware of any other downtown church or Lutheran church conducting in-person services. He believes St. James needs to stay flexible regarding in-person services, especially as the flu season approaches. Pastor David outlined the ministries for the rest of the year. Fall Schedule: The fall ministries will come to a conclusion with the close of Stewardship and then Advent will begin. Once again, St. James will adopt a refugee family referred by Lutheran Community Services NW. Nominating Committee: Linda Larsen has agreed to chair the Nominating Committee. Becky Bolt will be leaving Council and is not eligible to run again. There are two openings on Endowment. Meeting adjourned: 1:19pm.
Worship Times Change Beginning in December On Sunday, December 6 we will move from two Sunday morning services to one. As the winter sets in, we return to one 9:30am Eucharistic Service in our sanctuary. We will also continue to record an audio version that you can access on our website. Governor Brown will allow up to 50 people for the service. Thus, our morning schedule will be: 9:30 am Eucharistic Worship (online sign-up is helpful) 11:00 am Open Space Adult Education (via Zoom) Second Sunday Zoom Coffee Hour (hosted by Cathie Coffman) As we continue to follow the Governor’s safety protocols for worship during this pandemic, St. James Council member and Health Department worker Julie Hatch shares these thoughts about keeping us all safe: “Wearing masks is a provision set out by the state for churches to abide by if they want to hold in- person worship. We want visitors and members to feel welcome and safe at St. James. Here are the reasons I wear a mask: I care about my family and friends. I care about myself. I care about my community. I care about humanity.”
Contact us at: 503-227-2439 St. James Lutheran Church Fax 503-227-0856 1315 SW Park Ave [email protected] Portland, OR 97201 Newsletter Production: Lilli Vellom Pastor David: [email protected] [email protected] Office Hours: 7:30am-2pm Newsletter editor: Kathleen McDonald
2 3 Unanimous “yes” vote Our thanks to the 56 members who participated in the Sunday, October 18 Special Congregational Meeting. Your vote will allow us to complete the refinancing of The St. James Apartments, install a new roof and seismic tie-downs to our church building and remove the old boiler and replace it with an efficient heating and cooling system in our building. We appreciate our St. James Housing Board for their good work.
St. James Council Nominations—Would You Like To Serve? St. James Council elections are right around the corner! Contact Linda Larsen or the front office this month to nominate a member.
Wedding Bells Congratulations to St. James members Justine Mims and Ruben Turner who will be united in marriage in December. The setting will be our beautifully decorated Advent sanctuary and Pastor David will officiate. Justine has chosen the day due to the celebration of St. Lucia.
Carol Wallis Interment St. James member Carol Wallis died in June and will be laid to rest on November 4. The family waited until a new area was added to Lincoln Memorial Cemetery on Mt. Scott. Pastor David will preside at service there for family. May God bless our memory of Carol.
Serving Those In Need Five times a week, you provide food and needed items for those who are newly unemployed or living on our streets. Your generous donations of in-kind items or money are the reason this ministry is possible. Thank you. Due to privacy issues, we are not able to provide photos of the those who receive these gifts each weekday in the park; we can only show you some of the items we provide. These include protein bars, socks, warm hats, cup of soup, fresh fruit, bottled water, hygiene items, Ensure, and more. Know that you are touching lives through this hands- on ministry.
Virtual Coffee Hour Have you missed seeing St. James friends during these challenging times? We are reinstating the St. James Virtual Coffee Hour! In November, Zoom coffee hour will be held the second Sunday of the month at 12:30p.m. In December, the coffee hour will be at 11am. The link to join the coffee hour will be found in the “Notes” section of our Daily Email Devotion. If you have any questions (or suggestions), Cathie Coffman would be happy to hear from you. We hope to see you there!
Contemplative Prayer Contemplative prayer will continue to meet virtually on November 7 and 21. Our theme for prayer will continue the stewardship theme of gratefulness and sharing.
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Adult Education at St. James We are presently engaging in Adult Education classes via Zoom at 12:30pm on Sundays. 1. Many thanks to Mandy for kicking us off with a four week discussion on the book “Dear Church.” The issue of racial justice keeps stirring in us and on our streets. 2. The month of November is dedicated again to issues of racial justice as we move from “building peace” to “waging peace,” in the words of Pastor Lenny Duncan. 3. On December 6 and 13 Matthew Schobert will teach and facilitate a Zoom class on the 500th anniversary of Luther’s publication of “The Freedom of a Christian.” We also thank Jan Nelson for providing learning material to our Sunday School children so they can learn from home.
Mandy Ellertson reflects on our Open Space on Racial Reckoning A group from our congregation read Lenny Duncan’s Dear Church: A Love Letter to the Whitest Church in America and gathered on Zoom for four weeks to discuss our church’s role with racial justice. The result included discussions that were honest, uncomfortable, reflective, and hopeful. As followers of Jesus we are called not only to reflect, discuss, and pray, but to act. The prophet Isaiah asks the people of God “to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free... You shall be called the repairer of the breach.” As a community of God that worships in the downtown blocks of the city of Portland, we are geographically in the center of racial reckoning. It is my hope and prayer that we do something to help break the yoke. Our group wants to continue to engage our church community in an effort to reflect on our own privilege as white people in America, educate each other about the issues, and to determine some action we can suggest to the Church Council that helps us to participate in this country’s racial reckoning. If you want to join us, we will be picking up the weekly discussion on Sunday, November 1.
December Open Space Series The core tenets of Lutheran theology burst onto the scene five hundred years ago. In quick succession, Martin Luther published To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (August 1520), On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church (September 1520), and The Freedom of a Christian (November 1520). Five hundred years later, another revolutionary movement, this one against systemic racism and violence, roils our country, our cities, and our churches. If, as Pastor, Prophet, and Public Theologian Lenny Duncan claims, the whiteness of the ELCA is a theological problem rather than a sociological problem, how might we read Luther’s The Freedom of a Christian with Dear Church eyes? Join us December 6 and 13 as we gather via Zoom for Open Space. With a copy of Dear Church in one hand and a copy of The Freedom of a Christian in another, we’ll push our theological imaginations to help us reimagine and shape anew our public witness.
Organ Recital—November 15, 3pm A virtual recital of organ duet transcriptions will be presented by Portland organists Timothy and Nancy LeRoi Nickel on Trinity Episcopal Cathedral’s Rosales Organ. The program, which is jointly sponsored by the Portland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and Trinity Cathedral, includes Tim Nickel’s transcriptions of J. S. Bach’s Third Orchestral Suite, Ravel’s popular Mother Goose Suite, and Les Preludes, the large symphonic tone poem by Franz Liszt. Watch live on Facebook (facebook.com/trinitymusicpdx/live) or YouTube (youtube.com/trinitymusicpdx/live). 4
5 St. James Child Development Center The center is operating as emergency childcare, and enrollment is holding steady at 54 children. Classrooms have been busy exploring all things autumn. As you move through the CDC, you see colors of red, yellow, brown, and orange reflected in the seasonal artwork. We’re very excited to celebrate Halloween, and all children will be wearing costumes to school. Teachers have been creative in planning activities that can be done in the stable cohorts. While we won’t be doing our typical trick-or-treating from classroom to classroom, there are so many fun alternative activities taking place. The St. James Courtyard has been a blessing during a time when we’re all feeling a bit trapped indoors. We have also began to venture out on walks in the neighborhood. Given all of the restrictions, our walks in the community are very appreciated and something we look forward to. Teachers are hopeful to get out and about as much as possible even when the temperature drops.
We Welcome Eight New Members On December 6 at 9:30am we will welcome eight people into our St. James family. They will be introduced at worship and you can greet them (six feet apart) at the close of the service. We welcome: Peggy Toole. Peggy is a former nurse and attorney who found St. James through our online services. Julie MacSwain. Julie spent most of her working life in Stillwater, MN before moving to Portland recently. Richard Bishop. Richard lives a few blocks from St. James and was invited by his neighbors. Loretta Carson. Loretta lives in our St. James Apartments and assists with our Houseless Ministry. Shelley Immel. Shelley was a St. James member twenty years ago and will be received by reinstatement. Bill and Lynda Strand are former St. James members who assist with our Houseless Ministry. Henry Pierce, the infant son of Ryan Pierce and Meaghan Wheeler who prepares for baptism.
All Creation Sings All Creation Sings is a new supplement to Evangelical Lutheran Worship. It provides more material around four major topics: creation care; lament in times of crisis; healing and wholeness; and justice and peace. The finished work contains liturgies, prayers, and two hundred new hymns and songs. The title reminds us that even during the pandemic, we are still connected through worship and song. The supplement will be published in November: find a preview at augsburgfortress.org/allcreationsings. We have ordered three copies. E-GIVING IS LIVE AT ST. JAMES! Open the camera on your smartphone and direct it to the image to the right. It will take you to the e-giving page: stjamespdx.org/egiving. You can also access the page from any internet enabled device (desktop or laptop computer, tablet, phone, etc.) or use the Give+ Church mobile app to donate.
5 6 November Commemorations November 1: All Saints Day The custom of commemorating all of the saints of the church on a single day goes back at least to the third century. All Saints celebrates the baptized people of God, living and dead, who make up the body of Christ. We remember all who have died in the faith and now serve God around the heavenly throne.
November 11: Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, teacher, +1855 Kierkegaard was a Danish theologian whose writings also gave rise to the modern philosophy of existentialism. He frequently attacked the complacency of the state church of his day, as well as its desire to be accepted by polite society rather than be a stumbling block.
November 17: Elizabeth of Hungary, renewer of society, +1231 Born in Hungary, Elizabeth was betrothed to the son of the Landgrave of Thuringia, and at age four was taken to be raised with him at the Wartburg Castle. Ten years later they were married. She was very generous to the poor, and after her husband’s death she lived in cruel hardship.
November 25: Isaac Watts, hymnwriter, +1748 Thought by many to be the greatest hymnwriter in the English language, Watts as a youth was critical of the quality of the metrical psalter of the time. He wrote about 600 hymns—many based on the psalms, but others that are not. Ten of Watts’s hymn texts are in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, including “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” (ELW 632).
November 30: Andrew, Apostle The first of the disciples to be called by Jesus, Andrew quickly began to bring others to the Savior, including Simon Peter. The Bible also shows him leading some Greeks to meet Jesus, and he brought forward the boy with five loaves and two fish, with which Jesus fed thousands.
St. James Ministries and Groups St. James Jazz Vespers This month’s Jazz Vespers service will be available online beginning November 15. This month, the theme is “Pure Imagination,” after the song sung by Gene Wilder in the movie “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” Imagination goes well with the text appointed for the day (Matthew 25) about parable of the talents. As always, our talented musicians will enhance our worship: Mike Horsfall, Laurent Nickel, Brent Follis, Valerie Brown, and a special guest musician.
St. James “Bun Run” St. James “Bun Run” bakery donations and miscellaneous food items for this past month have totaled 612 pounds. The donations have been delivered to Shepherd’s Door, a division of the Portland Rescue Mission. 6 7 Caring for Creation “I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil— to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society.” So begins Henry David Thoreau’s landmark essay “Walking,” which was first published in The Atlantic in 1862. And herein lies a refreshing thought for today—how WOULD our world be different if we took the time to remind ourselves that we are a part of nature, not just part of society— not users of nature, controllers of it, or destroyers of it for our own purposes—but to see ourselves as a harmonious part of nature that honors all life on Earth? [From The Atlantic, “Planet” publication October 16, 2020]
St. James Book Group Book Club decided to meet virtually in both November and December this year, but we've moved it to Monday, and pushed it late in the month. On November 30 we'll talk about The Sacrament: A Novel by Olaf Olafsson, about a French nun sent to investigate misconduct in an Icelandic school. In December, we'll read Diane Chamberlain's Big Lies in a Small Town. If you'd like to join our Zoom group, contact Linda Rickert.
St. James Art Group: “The Joy of Color” Our Artist of the Month for November is Joel Nickel. Most of our members will recognize his art from images seen on bulletins for Sunday worship and Jazz Vespers. Joel shares, “During the gloomy days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I hope my ‘joy of color’ can lighten and invigorate the spaces from which you view this virtual exhibit. All pieces were created in 2020.” This exhibit will be another virtual show that you can find on the Art Group website.
In Our Prayers For comfort, healing, and care: Ken Turner, healing well from five broken ribs; Margie Lee (moving to Schnitzer Manor); Dennis Roggen (recovering from surgeries at OHSU); Joyce Amundson (palliative care at home); Bill Hamann (home); Vicki Manning; LaVon Holden; Roy Bolt; Jules Auger; Michael Veseth, father of Paula Veseth; Bill and Sandra Arbaugh; TJ, sister-in-law of Sue McBerry; Ruthie, former student of Sue McBerry; Beth Boyce; Beth Lawson.
November Birthdays and Anniversaries
Joel Davis & Kathleen McDonald 11/1 Kristine Zellmer 11/16 Donna Dunlap 11/7 Meaghan Wheeler & Ryan Pierce 11/16 Cecilia Schobert 11/7 Kristine Almquist 11/19 Larry Larsen 11/11 Josh Peters-McBride 11/20 Chriss Kisanga 11/16
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St. James shares God’s inclusive and eternal love with everyone 1315 SW Park Ave Portland, OR 97201 www.stjamespdx.org Office Hours: 7:30am-2pm Tel: 503.227.2439 Fax: 503.227.0856
STAFF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Full Time: Pastor: David Knapp Becky Bolt, President Patrick Earnest, Director, Child Dev. Center David Scott, Vice President Part Time: Kathleen McDonald, Secretary Karin Hatch, M.S., Parish Administrator Paula Veseth, Treasurer Sharon Kurtz, Bookkeeper Lillian Vellom, Receptionist/Building Assistant Michael Lindner, Interim Music Director Mike Horsfall, Director of Jazz Ministry Lucy Knopf, Sunday Childcare Coordinator
St. James Lutheran Church 1315 SW Park Ave Portland OR 97201
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