THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, July 17, 2022, Sixth Sunday After Pentecost. Join us on Zoom at 4 pm. Contact me if you need a 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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Dear Community of Pilgrims,
What a joy it is to be writing this newsletter from outside on our extended deck. This is what I’m always eager to do in the summer months: write sermons and newsletters and blogs outside, with a gentle breeze, surrounded by flowers, blue sky above, and just a slight scent of jasmine now and then.
The Scripture focus this week is about Jesus’ friends, Mary and Martha, Luke 10:38-42. We have two people with different personality types meeting Jesus’ needs. This story is the "stuff'" of Enneagrams and Myer-Briggs assessment tests. I know I am far more like Martha than Mary. Mary is the quieter of the two, showing Jesus hospitality by dropping everything she could be doing and listening attentively to Jesus. Meanwhile, Martha is busy around the house, prepping for a meal, doing all the last minute things, like putting away extraneous objects around the house, dusting, and asking for Mary’s help in a round-about, triangulated-like manner, through Jesus. While Jesus lifts up Mary’s gift of presence, it would probably not have been possible without some of the careful work of Martha in being sure the household, itself, was already prepared for a meeting with Jesus. Both Mary and Martha bring something to appreciate in the gift of hospitality, which is the core message of this short passage. Hospitality. Being present with one another, in the presence of one another, but prepping as well so we could all enjoy one another's company. For in doing so, we welcome none other than the Spirit of Christ in all of us. Join us this Sunday as we consider the gifts of hospitality in the Marys and Marthas among us.
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The Community of Pilgrims will celebrate our five-year anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022! And you all are the Community of Pilgrims. Please mark this in your calendars. More details will be coming. This is a big anniversary for the Community of Pilgrims, and we look forward to celebrating it with one another, and with the world around us as we continue to serve and love God and serve and love neighbor in creative and meaningful ways.
** The Community of Pilgrims will continue to meet on Zoom and will also soon include meeting in person in the small chapel space at Rise Church, which used to be Calvin Presbyterian Church, from 4-6 pm. The address is 10445 SW Canterbury Ln., Tigard, OR, 97224. This Sunday, July 17, we will discuss our schedule for such a move as a faith community. We thank Rise Church for generously donating this space and time to our gathering.
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Events!
July 17, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
July 24, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or Rise Church.
July 31, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or Rise Church.
Aug. 7, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom or Rise Church.
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Prayers of Celebration and Concern
We pray to the Creator of all creation:
Thankfulness
* Thankful for the Community of Pilgrims!
* Thankful for summer weather.
* Thankful birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, meeting of old friends and making new friends.
Thanksgiving and Prayer Concerns
* Kathy Fukuyama’s sister and brother-in-law. Her brother-in-law is suffering from dementia.
* Continued prayers for Linda Fuqua-Anderson and her brother Gary.
* Lorinda’s friend, Louise, who recently passed away.
* Kate Butler is moving to Clackamas county and asks for our prayers for a safe transition.
* Notwithstanding political and cultural polarization and adversity, keep your eyes on the prize (God)!
* Prayers for Michael’s transition to a new job.
*Roxanne’s daughter’s graduation. For improved experience in her trip to Europe.
* Prayers for Roxanne’s daughter-in-law and son, who are undergoing divorce, and their two grandchildren.
* For everyone with family challenges.
* For Christian, Ric, and others who have Covid-19.
* For women in reproductive age and affected by the Supreme Court abortion decision.
* Peace in world, with war in Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and the Sudan.
* For correction to harm by anarchists protesting the abortion decision and other issues with which they disagree.
God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen
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Poem
Plenitude, Jan Richardson
At lunch today
It was the purple
Of the olive pits
Against my cobalt plate
That stunned me.
At tea,
The gold of peach
Bloodstained by its stone.
I do not know
Where the greater part
Of the miracle lies:
That I should pause
To notice this,
Or that I,
A woman of
Such great hungers,
Should be so well satisfied
By such small things.
Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander