THIS SUNDAY: Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, December 13, 2020, Third Sunday of Advent, and Zoom; Contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com and visit www.communityofpilgrims.com.
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Dear Pilgrims of Advent,
What I love about December is that it is a month of holidays, including Advent, Christmas, and Hanukkah. Happy Hanukkah! Let us celebrate with our Jewish friends on this first day of Hanukkah, Dec. 10, 2020. This festival of lights stretches from December 10-18, 2020. Hanukkah is the celebration that God can make miracles for those who stand up for truth and justice. Lighting each candle symbolizes chasing away evil, which the faithful Jews did with light.
Among the options given for us to focus upon in the Revised Common Lectionary, one of the readings is Mary’s song, Luke 1:46-55 (NRSV), or “The Magnificat.” In the Benedictine prayer book, which I use for daily devotions, the Canticle of Zechariah is repeated in the morning prayers every day, and the Magnificat is part of the evening prayers. Reading and praying these words of Mary in today’s times was both uplifting and unsettling. They are uplifting and unsettling because they are still, to this day, prophetic! Hear these words and sit with them for a bit: “God has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty… according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and Sarah and to their descendants forever” (Luke 1: 51-53, 55). The power of Mary’s witness is captured well in Kaitlin Hardy Shetler’s poem at the end of the newsletter today. What is always striking in reading this passage is the verb tense, which is in the past. In other words, Mary is witnessing what God is doing and has already been doing. In Jesus, God does these things. And in the Church today, in our Community of Pilgrims, we are called to do these very things, lifting up the lowly and filling the hungry with good things, which we attempt to do in our work with such organizations like Human Solutions and SnowCap, and in support of other Presbytery-wide programs. Join us this Sunday as we continue to explore Mary’s words in our world today!
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A reminder:
Our Holiday giving this year will, again, focus on Human Solutions. They serve 220 residents in 3 shelters, 3 meals each day, and the shelter's cook's pantry can use:
Cans of Veggies (corn, carrots, green beans
Crushed tomatoes
Chili
Canned fruit
Cream of chicken or mushroom soup
Chicken, vegetables, and beef broth or stock.
Also, warm winter gear is much needed by families in the emergency shelters and affordable housing communities, especially since they are meeting outside as much as possible. New or unused clothing is requested, including warm puffy coats, hats, scarves, gloves, pajamas, slippers, and warm socks, and there is often a need for large women's sizes.
Our holiday giving will start this Sunday, Nov. 29th, and run through all four weeks of Advent. We hope that each household can give a shopping bag full of canned goods and/or a shopping bag full of warm clothing. Please bring your donations to Kathy Fukuyama's house, 6221 SW Tower Way, Portland, OR 97221, 502-793-4758, by Saturday, December 19th! We will deliver our holiday giving to the Gresham Women's Shelter on Sunday, December, 20!
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Thank you, all, for your contribution of time, talent, service, and financial gifts to us and to the wider PCUSA in 2020. As we draw to the end of the year 2020, there is still time to give to the Community of Pilgrims in terms of what people have pledged for 2020. You can either send a check to the Community of Pilgrims c/o Brett Webb-Mitchell, 9460 SW Martha St., Tigard, OR 97224, or go to the www.communityofpilgrims.com, and go to the “Take Action” page and give on our website. During Advent 2020, consider how much you would like to pledge—in terms of time, talent, service, and financial support—to the Community of Pilgrims and to the healing of this world. Many thanks!
Likewise, in a separate email I will send out a pledge form for everyone to download and fill out for 2021. As all of you know, we have been supported in large part by the generous gifts of the PCUSA 1001 New Worshiping Communities and the Presbytery of the Cascades New Ministries Team funds since we began in 2017. We are one of the rare new communities of faith ventures that have been granted funds from the Seed Grants, Investment Grants, and Growth Grants! At the end of 2021, we will be dependent upon the financial gifts, time, service, and talents of the membership of the Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, with possible help from other non-profits. Thank you for considering your gift in support of the Community of Pilgrims in 2021!
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Events!
Dec. 13, Third Sunday of Advent, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
Dec. 20, Fourth Sunday of Advent, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, Gather and Devotion on Zoom! Join us at 4 pm (Pacific Coast time) for a short time of reflecting on the meaning of Christmas!
Dec. 25, Christmas!
Dec. 27, Christmastide, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
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Prayers of Celebration and Concern
· Thankful for the vaccines and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
· Thankful Coronavirus vaccinations have started in the UK.
· Everyone to stay safe and be smart for the next 100 days.
· Continued prayers for Lois Hansen who has the Coronavirus.
· Continued prayers for Linda's brother Gary whose Parkinson's Disease is progressing.
· The University of Virginia which seems to be managing pretty well with the Coronavirus and has sent everyone home until February at the earliest.
· Thankful for the medical professionals and chaplains who provide physical and spiritual care during the Coronavirus pandemic.
· Small businesses to be able to survive now and in the next few months.
· Continued healing for Cory at St. Andrew's who appears to be getting better after sepsis and two hospitalizations.
· Strength and good health for friend Stephen who had a pacemaker implanted and was then diagnosed with an infection.
· Bill's former work colleague Joe who recently died.
· Strength to get through the day for all front-line workers.
· Shu's friend Terry who works at Providence SE Medical Center and spends long hours caring for newborns.
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Poem
Mary, by Kaitlin Hardy Shetler
Sometimes I wonder
if Mary breast fed Jesus.
if she cried out when he bit her
or if she sobbed when he would not latch.
and sometimes I wonder
if this is all too vulgar
to ask in a church
full of men
without milk stains on their shirts
or coconut oil on their breasts
preaching from pulpits off limits to the Mother of God.
but then I think of feeding Jesus,
birthing Jesus,
the expulsion of blood
and smell of sweat,
the salt of a mother’s tears
onto the soft head of the Salt of the Earth,
feeling lonely
and tired
hungry
annoyed
overwhelmed
loving
and I think,
if the vulgarity of birth is not
honestly preached
by men who carry power but not burden,
who carry privilege but not labor,
who carry authority but not submission,
then it should not be preached at all.
because the real scandal of the Birth of God
lies in the cracked nipples of a
14-year-old
and not in the sermons of ministers
who say women
are too delicate
to lead.
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Buen Camino!
Pastors Brett & Karen Cornwell Fortlander.