THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, July 3, 2022, Fourth 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,
Greetings from sunny, hot, muggy Louisville, KY! At least this is where I’ve started writing this newsletter. I’ll continue to write it in the air from Louisville to Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW), and email it out from DFW.
I had a wonderful time in Louisville. I got to cross off one of my “bucket list” items: attending a General Assembly of the PCUSA as a Commissioner. This was my fifth General Assembly. I’ve preached at one of them, which is a high honor. I’ve been “gopher” on issues pertaining to people with disabilities and LGBTQIA2S+ people in two of them. I’ve prepared Welcoming Ceremony and co-designed opening daily worship when it was in Portland, OR in 2016. But this was the first time I got to attend as a Commissioner. As one retired Exec. Presbyter said to me years ago, when she finally went as a Commissioner, she always wanted to go to a General Assembly where the “sausage is made,” and that was in the Committee meetings and voting plenary sessions. And we made some sausage on the Committee I served. I’m glad I got to represent the Presbytery of the Cascades during this time, and look forward to reporting back to the Presbytery in the months to come.
The focus Scripture this Sunday is from Luke 10:1-11, 16-20. Jesus sends out 70 of his disciples to not only preach the Good News, but to live the Good News in the world. Jesus sends them out two by two. There were certain instructions that went along with this “sending out,” in which disciples were given options on whether or not they were welcomed or not welcomed to where they went. What I prize most about this passage as I read it this time is that the disciples were instructed to take the Good News out to the world in which they lived. They didn’t sit in the synagogue, waiting for people to come to them. They went deep into the world of Nazareth, Cana, and the various villages around the Sea of Galilee. This is a pilgrimage that they were sent on, which spread the news of God’s realm of love near and far. And the realization is this: we are called to do the same. We aren’t to sit and wait for people to come to us. We are sent out into the world, to bring the Good News to people right where they live. Join us this Sunday as we explore in great depth the work of the earliest disciples.
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Good news! The Community of Pilgrims request for $16,000 for 2022 was granted by the New Ministry Team of the Presbytery of the Cascades. Also: Tom Letts, our church coach, was provided funds from the New Ministry Team to be with us in 2022-2023. We are deeply thankful for the funding from the Presbytery of the Cascades. For my birthday request on Facebook, in which people are invited to give to a non-profit in the birthday-person’s name, I asked for people to donate to the Community of Pilgrims. So far, we have raised over $1,000! And thanks for keeping up with your pledges this year. YOU ALL are the Community of Pilgrims. This is your Community. Thank you for your support!
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The Community of Pilgrims will celebrate our five-year anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022! 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.
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Events!
July 3, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion and Holy Communion on Zoom!
July 10, Holy Holiday!
July 17, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom OR Rise Church! Stay Tuned! TBD!
July 24, 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
* Lorinda and Ray celebrate 61 years of marriage!
* Commendations to Chuck for getting a pacemaker.
* Successful Beaverton Pride day.
* Thankful for the financial support of the Community of Pilgrims!
Thankfulness and Concerns
* Brett’s Birthday is on Friday! And Brett and Christian’s wedding on July 9! And Brett will attend the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly before the wedding. Prayers for good experiences in all these activities.
* Dean’s leukemia permits treatment with pills. Prayers for effective treatment.
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.
* 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)! Per Brett’s sermon, the prize is a goal of God’s ideals, for equality, freedom and respect, not mere tolerance. Keep hands on the gospel plow. Go forward!
* Prayers for Michael B.
*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.
* Michelle Ware’s father is 102 years-old and got Covid-19. Prayers for recovery.
* 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
Rough Translations, by Jan Richardson (from Circle of Grace).
Hope nonetheless.
Hope despite.
Hope regardless.
Hope still.
Hope where we had ceased to hope.
Hope amid what threatens hope.
Hope with those who feed our hope.
Hope beyond what we had hoped.
Hope that draws us past our limits.
Hope that defies expectations.
Hope that questions what we have known.
Hope that makes a way where there is none.
Hope that takes us past our fear.
Hope that calls us into life.
Hope that holds us beyond death.
Hope that blesses those to come.
Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander