Brett Webb-Mitchell <brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com>
3:19 PM (11 minutes ago)
THIS SUNDAY: April 14, 2019, Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, 1907 NE 45thAve., Portland, OR 97213; Questions? Contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com
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Dear Holy Week Pilgrims!
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, he writes, “When in April the sweet showers fall that pierce March’s drought to the root and all, and bathed every vein in liquor that has power to generate therein and sire the flower…” This observation seems most fitting for our current wet weather pattern in Portland.
This Sunday, we take a turn from our Lenten pilgrimage into Holy Week with the celebration and honoring of Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday, with the focus on Luke 19:28-40. In this passage, there is no mention of the word “Hosanna,” nor mention of palm branches, but many cloaks are spread on the road. As some commentaries suggest, one could call this “Cloak Sunday.” And as Pilate was supposedly entering Jerusalem on the same day at the same hour that Jesus entered the city, on the back of a stallion with an army surrounding him, Jesus entered Jerusalem, after wandering in the wilderness, from the opposite side of the city, from the Mount of Olives, surrounded by his disciples, humbly sitting on the back of a small, borrowed colt. The contrast could not be more extreme. Join us this Sunday as we discuss the days spreading before us during Holy Week as a Christian faith community on a pilgrimage mapped out by Jesus's life story.
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Events!
Friday, April 12, 2019, 7 am, Lorinda Moholt’s Birthday Party, Multnomah Art Center, 7688 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR 97219.
Saturday, April 13, 2019, 4 pm, Sacred Flight Concert, Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, Portland, OR.
Sunday, April 14, 2019, Palm Sunday, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park PCUSA;
Thursday, April 18, Maundy Thursday, Place and Time TBA;
Sunday, April 21, 2019, 8 am, Easter “Sunrise” Service, at Moholt’s Home.
Sunday, April 28, 2019, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park PCUSA;
May 5, 2019, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park PCUSA;
May 12, 2019, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park PCUSA;
May 19, 2019, Pastor Brett preaching at First UMC Ashland, OR
May 19, 2019, 2:00 pm., Bach Cantata Choir Concert, Rose City Park PCUSA;
May 26, 2019, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park PCUSA;
June 2, 2019, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park PCUSA;
June 9, 2019, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park, PCUSA;
June 16, 2019: LGBTQ+ Pride Parade, Portland, OR, Time TBD;
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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 Dailyby 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.
* Another book for our consideration: The Intentional Christian Community Handbookby David Janzen (Paraclete Press, 2013). We may use this book as we delve deeper into understanding what it means to be an intentional Christian community of faith.
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Poem
The Donkey, by G. K. Chesterton
When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born.
With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil’s walking parody
On all four-footed things.
The tattered outlaw of the earth,
Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
I keep my secret still.
Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.
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Buen Camino!
Pastors Brett & Chris
Rev. Dr. Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.comRev. Chris Dungan (503) 724-7060; chrisdungan1@msn.com