THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, April 3, 2022, Fifth Sunday of Lent. On Zoom! Contact Pastor Brett if you want the link. 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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Greetings, Community of Pilgrims!
How quickly this pilgrimage of Lent is drawing to an end. We began five weeks ago, with a cool and wet March day in Portland, though it was snowy for others of you in the Community, and sunny still for others. Each week we have followed Jesus’ pilgrimage to Jerusalem from Luke’s Gospel, or “good news” story, of Jesus. We have found ourselves passing through Daylight Saving Time, as well as welcoming Spring. In the coming weeks, we will pass through Holy Week, to our wonderful celebration of Easter. It is the hope of resurrection that keeps us hopeful in a day and age that knows war and civil strife around the globe, along with anxieties about global climate change, the never-ending and increasing refugee crisis, and a pandemic that still haunts this world. Yet God is here, in the midst of it all, encouraging us, through the Holy Spirit, to be ambassadors of Christly love.
One of the passages from the previous week that speaks eloquently about this role and service of “ambassadorship” that we are part of is from 2 Cor. 5:20. After being told previously that we are part of God’s new creation, reconciled with God through Christ, Paul writes this affirmation: “So we are ambassadors from Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” What does it mean to be an ambassador? It means to be an “accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country, promoting a specified activity” (dictionary.com). In other words, we, as followers of Jesus, the Pilgrim God, are sent out by God, as an “official representative” to a “foreign country,” which means the world in which we live, “promoting a specified activity.” And what is that activity? “To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8). And we don’t do the work as ambassadors as a solo activity, but as part of the mysterious yet real one body of Christ. I look forward to being with all of you “ambassadors” this coming Sunday.
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Community of Pilgrims! We got a “mention” in Brian Heron’s blogpost this week. Brian is the Presbyter for Vision and Mission of the Presbytery of the Cascades. Here’s the link to his blogpost: www.holybreadcrumbs.org/2022/03/30/church-camp-2-0/
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Service Project
Our Lenten/Easter Service Project. From Kathy Fukuyama:
For the past several years, the Community of Pilgrims has donated to Human Solutions and SnowCap in East Multnomah County. We will continue to support these organizations and also support HomePlate Youth Services for this year's Lenten/Easter Donation. Please check out their website https://www.homeplateyouth.org. They operate two centers, one in Beaverton and one in Hillsboro, and they are Washington County's only non-profit provider of drop-in centers and street outreach for young people experiencing homelessness. Their immediate needs include:
· Athletic shoes, boots, and long-sleeve t shirts - new or gently-used
· Men's boxer shorts - new
· 2-person tents and tarps - new or gently-used
· High-protein snacks, individually wrapped
· Applesauce and fruit snacks, individually wrapped
We ask everyone to collect items from this list starting Ash Wednesday March 2nd and to drop them off at Kathy Fukuyama's house before Thursday April 14th. We hope to deliver everything to the Beaverton drop-in center on Good Friday, April 15th or the following week. Please contact Kathy if you have any questions and thank you for your support.
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Events!
April 3, Fifth Sunday of Lent, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
April 10, Palm Sunday, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
April 14, Maundy Thursday.
April 15, Good Friday.
April 17, Easter Sunday, 10 am, Portsmouth Trinity Lutheran Church!
April 24, 2 pm, Bobby Jo Valentine, Portsmouth Trinity Lutheran Church!
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Prayers of Celebration and Concern
We pray to the Creator of all creation:
· Continued prayers for Linda to heal.
· Yarrow, Christian's sister, whose cancer is progressing.
· Jules, Christian’s brother-in-law, who had prostate surgery.
· Friend Guy who will have surgery for melanoma cancer on his back.
· People in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, and other countries where conflict is shattering lives.
· People in the developing world, who are experiencing shortages and inflation.
· Smooth sailing as the confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court start next week.
· The US Congress to pass voting rights legislation.
· An end to anti-LGBTQIA2S+ legislation being adopted by states across the country including anti-trans bills, youth healthcare bans, youth sports bans, and other legislation.
· An end to legislation restricting abortion as passed in Texas and recently passed in Idaho.
· Peace in our world.
· Adopting actions to slow global climate change.
· Women’s reproductive rights, and birth control, which are being attacked in this country.
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Poem
Christos, by Ahmad Almallah
Jesus: a prophet or a god
Because in the shop, he
Made, as every carpenter
Of the time:
Tables and chairs—
Out of wood came the
Word,
As the original impulse
Was to hide
Behind an act. One can’t
Be a prophet or a god with-
Out a cover. Something to
Do
Till the word
Gets around—
So to speak—and as metal
Was not a thing for laymen
To play around with, it had
To be wood,
The only dry thing
That could catch
Fire, and lead—like the
Word—peoples, animals
And angels—off course,
Toward the light.
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Buen Camino! Pastors Brett & Karen Cornwell Fortlander.