THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, March 14, 2021, Fourth Sunday in Lent, Gather and Devotion on Zoom. If you have any questions, or are interested in a conversation, contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com and visit www.communityofpilgrims.com.
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Dear Lenten Pilgrims,
Like many worship services, I thought I’d begin this newsletter with the announcements. First, set your clocks forward by one hour this Sunday, March 14. “Spring forward” is the old adage, and in autumn, “Fall backwards.” Second, there are eight days until Spring in the northern hemisphere, and we all can’t wait! Third there are only three more Sundays (March 14, 21, and 28) until Palm Sunday, and four Sundays until Easter. Time flies!
This Sunday’s focus Scripture will be John 3:14-21, in which there is a very famous verse: John 3: 16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son…” and you can probably figure out the rest of the verse in your head without my having to type it out in this email. It is hard to go to almost any sporting event in the US without seeing “John 3:16” popping up on a sign somewhere in a stadium or arena. The verse is found in a longer discussion between Jesus and the Pharisee named Nicodemus. And the focus of this Scripture verse has to do with love. God’s love to be exact. For us. For us all. How big is that love? This is what Martin Luther King, Jr., said about this love in a church in Montgomery, AL, at Dexter Ave. Baptist Church in 1954: “God’s love has breadth…It is a big love; it’s a broad love…God’s love is too big to be limited to a particular race. It is too big to be wrapped in a particularistic garment. It is too great to be encompassed by any single nation. God is a universal God.” Join us this Sunday as we focus on how broad, how wide, how high and how deep this love of God is for all of creation.
** Remember: our Lenten service project is providing parts of a breakfast program for Human Solution’s Gresham Emergency Women’s Shelter. Items are to be dropped off at Kathy’s house on April 3, and she will deliver the items on April 4.
· Cold cereals & granola
· Instant oatmeal
· Jams and peanut butter
· Granola bars
· Dried fruits and nuts
· Ground coffee & creamer
** It still isn’t too late to send in a pledge form 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!
March 14, Fourth Sunday in Lent, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
March 21, Fifth Sunday in Lent, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
March 28, Palm Sunday, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
April 4, EASTER! 8:30 am! Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
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Prayers of Celebration and Concern
· Michael and others in his church grieving the loss of four of their members this past week and a half.
· Brett's friend Don Frueh in Astoria who died this morning unexpectedly of liver disease.
· Roberta's friend Angela, her husband Levy, and daughter Emily after learning that Angela has a tumor outside of her brain and they are waiting to determine the best course of treatment.
· Thanksgiving for COVID vaccines.
· Those who have died and suffered the effects of COVID.
· Thanksgiving for the efficacy of masks meaning fewer cases of the flu are being reported.
· Scientists and the work they do.
· The mural art in downtown Portland.
· Cities such as Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., to be able to return to life soon, knowing that they will all be different.
· Other parts of the world such as Syria and Yemen who only know fighting.
· The Abraham Peace Accords to be successful in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East.
· Brett’s former student, Marty Cauley, who is dying of cancer;
· Brett’s friend, Jimmy Creech, whose wife died of ovarian cancer;
· Richard Rodriguez’s healing.
... and new job prospects for Brett.
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Poem
Jesus Considers Pronouns, by Padraig O’Tuama
The way He has never worked for you,
She neither. The way They sounds
Plural, and that’s just how you like it.
The way Them makes you feel
Like you belong. The way Their
Can be possessed and you’ve never
Felt like anything you owned would
Fit. The way you like conjugating
Your selves in the first, and the second
And the many. The Way we are Legion
Makes sense in a way like nothing else
Make sense. The way you breathe now
That your plurals are made more personal.
The way you are the singular and the slew.
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Buen Camino!
Pastors Brett & Karen Cornwell Fortlander.