Newsletter of Community of Pilgrims, for Sunday, June 2, 2019. Join us Sunday at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, on the corner of NE 45th Ave. and NE Sandy Blvd., 4-6 pm! Join us! Holy Communion! Potluck included! For questions, contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell, 919-444-9111!
Dear Park Strollers, Field Explorers, Mountain Climbers, and Pilgrims,
We welcome this season of backyard BBQs, picnics on lawns, meals on the patio, drinks on the porch, and a meal outside before the music concert, outdoor movie, dance performance, or parade begins in earnest!
The Scripture focus this Sunday is Acts 16:16-34, in which we pick up on Paul’s pilgrimage after welcoming Lydia and her household into the body of Christ. And what follows—from Paul and Silas’ best intentions to help others around the city as they proclaim the Gospel and heal others—is time spent in prison! Healing a young slave girl who is heckling Paul and Silas got them in trouble with the master of the young girl, which created a crowd, and they were charged for “disturbing the peace,” if you will, which landed them in prison. While in prison, they were liberated via an earthquake, and then had an opportunity to bring salvation to the household of the prison guard! The best of intentions led these two through an interesting, circuitous route on their mission-as-pilgrimage! Twists and turns with the unexpected Spirit is the major theme of this story, which reminds us that our unique story, as a community of faith, is also filled with fascinating, unplanned, serendipitous occasions of sharing the Gospel in word and deed. Join us this Sunday as we continue to explore the story of our faith, with all its twists and turns, through the prism of the Acts of the Apostles!
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On the morning of Sunday, June 16, 2019, we are going to be marching in the Portland LGBTQ+ Pride Parade, under the banner of Community of Welcoming Congregations (CWC), which is an interreligious group welcoming all communities of faith to walk together. They need to know how many want to walk with us. Please call, text, or email me only if you are wanting to walk with us by Sunday, June 2, 2019.Wear your Community of Pilgrims (CoP) t-shirt! And I’ll have plenty of flyers for CoP for folks to hand out to people in the parade. If someone wants to make a CoP sign to be carried, that would be great as well. I reserved seven spaces for our folks, and still have some openings! Grandchildren and friends and other family members are welcome!
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Events!
June 2, 2019, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park PCUSA;
June 9, 2019, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park, PCUSA;
June 12-15, Pastor Brett at OR-ID UMC Annual Conference, Eugene, OR;
June 16, 2019: LGBTQ+ Pride Parade, Portland, OR, Time TBD;
June 23, 2019, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park PCUSA;
June 30, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park PCUSA;
July 7, Gathering and Worship, Rose City Park PCUSA;
July 14, Moreland Presbyterian Church worship!
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Requests
* Regarding the CoP 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.
* Finally, Community and Growthby Jean Vanier will be picked up as a book for us to read together.
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Poem
Sonnet for Ascension Day, by Malcolm Guite
On May 30, the Church observed Ascension Day. On this day, we recognize that Jesus ascended to heaven. And now we await the descending of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday (June 9, 2019). In honor of Ascension Day, here is a poem by Malcolm Guite:
We saw his light break through the cloud of glory
Whilst we were rooted still in time and place
As earth became a part of Heaven’s story
And heaven opened to his human face.
We saw him go and yet we were not parted
He took us with him to the heart of things
The heart that broke for all the broken-hearted
Is whole and Heaven-centered now, and sings,
Sings in the strength that rises out of weakness,
Sings through the clouds that veil him from our sight,
Whilst we ourselves become his clouds of witness
And sing the waning darkness into light,
His light in us, and ours in him concealed,
Which all creation waits to see revealed .
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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