THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, April 10, 2022, Palm Sunday. Zoom! If you want the link, let me know. 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!
This Sunday is Palm Sunday! It is the beginning of Holy Week, or Passion Week, as some denominations call it. There are a host of readings that are listed in the Revised Common Lectionary, with a choice between the Liturgy of the Palms, or the Liturgy of the Passion. I always choose the Liturgy of the Palms on Palm Sunday, because I enjoy a parade. And Palm Sunday was always a parade of sorts when I was growing up as a child.
There are really only two kinds of parades or large, happy throngs of people showing up en masse, in the Bible. One is with King David, 2 Sam. 6:14-22: “And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns.” The second example of a kind of parade is this passage from Luke 19:28-40: As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Bring on the parade! What is interesting about a parade is that they are usually communal events, in which the whole community shows up and celebrates, whether one is marching or on the side-lines. They are a uniquely human invention, meant to celebrate, or show strength, or to provide people a display of musical talent or creative artistic skill in a float design or large balloons floating over our heads. And yet what always amazes me about this story on Palm Sunday, in which the people “turned out” to celebrate Jesus, is how the crowd turned on Jesus later in the week. Join us this Sunday as we celebrate Palm Sunday, and begin our Holy Week together.
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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 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!
May 1, Second Sunday in Easter, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
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Prayers of Celebration and Concern
We pray to the Creator of all creation:
Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Ethiopia, and all countries in civil strife.
Mass shooting in Sacramento.
Laws restricting voter suppression in the US.
Approval of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as a US Supreme Court Assoc. Justice.
Get booster shots for COVID 19, and COVID 19 in other parts of the world
Yarrow Halstead and her pain in experiencing cancer.
Christian’s brother in law, Jules, for prostate surgery.
Thankful for Spring.
Ukraine, in light of horrific impact, especially in light of the mass killings in towns like Bucha.
Climate change, drought especially in the SW US.
Gun safety.
Violence in the streets of Portland.
For family healing.
Roberta: “Britany had COVID vaccine reaction, was unable to walk, in pain. Slowly back able to walk and mostly pain free.
God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen.
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Poem
Palm Sunday, by Malcolm Guite
Now to the gate of my Jerusalem,
The seething holy city of my heart,
The saviour comes. But will I welcome him?
Oh crowds of easy feelings make a start;
They raise their hands, get caught up in the singing,
And think the battle won. Too soon they’ll find
The challenge, the reversal he is bringing
Changes their tune. I know what lies behind
The surface flourish that so quickly fades;
Self-interest, and fearful guardedness,
The hardness of the heart, its barricades,
And at the core, the dreadful emptiness
Of a perverted temple. Jesus come
Break my resistance and make me your home.
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Buen Camino! Pastors Brett & Karen Cornwell Fortlander.