June 13, 2021

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Preparing for Our Annual Meeting

Ministry Support Forum: Sunday, June 13, 10:00 am

Annual Meeting of the Congregation
Tuesday, June 22, 2021, 6:30 pm

This Sunday, people are invited to gather via Zoom between services to learn more and share their questions/opinions about the proposed budget for 2021/2022. Voting to approve these items, as well as the nominations for new Council members and next year’s Nominating Committee, is conducted during the Annual Meeting itself, which will also be held remotely this year via Zoom.

Wednesday Evening Prayer

Midweek Evening Prayer services will continue to be offered through the summer months via Zoom. Meditations will be drawn from Devotional Classics. All are welcome this Wednesday, June 16, for social time at 6:30 pm, service at 7:00 pm, and Centering Prayer at 7:30 pm. Participate in all or part of our scheduled time together. Look for links to this worship service at mid-day on Wednesdays in Allison’s email.

Spirituality Book Group

The Spirituality Book Group will meet on Zoom to discuss Just Mercy, by Brian Stevenson, on Sunday, June 13, at 3:00 p.m. Barbara Gutzler will lead this discussion.

A Google Book Review calls this book “A powerful, bold true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix America’s broken system of justice — from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time.”

The Zoom link for this meeting will be sent to people on the Spirituality Book Group mailing list. If you would like to attend, contact Mary Smith to have a link sent to you.

Also, at this meeting, we will be selecting books for the next six months.

 

Future Reading:
July 18: The Murmur of Bees, by Sofia Segovia
Discussion Leader: Sharon Fako

Celebrating Juneteenth & the End of Slavery

What’s special about June 19th?

June 19th, also known as Juneteenth, is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19th, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that enslaved people were now free. For black people trying to establish a new status, annual celebrations of Juneteenth were times for reassuring one another, for praying, and for gathering remaining family members. Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Texas in 1980 and in Oregon last month.

This Juneteenth at 10:00 am, the Oregon Remembrance Project (https://www.oregonremembrance.com/) will be installing a historical marker in Coos Bay remembering the story of the only documented lynching in Oregon, that of Alonzo Tucker in 1902. The St. Andrew Reckoning with Racism cohort invites you to participate in person or via Zoom at 10:00 am on June 19th. [Details to follow.] We hope to find reconciliation and communal healing through a sober reflection on history.

Nifty Notters

The Nifty Notters are now back on our regular schedule (hurray!). We will meet Saturday, June 19, from 9:00 am-2:30 pm in Fellowship Hall. Bring a lunch and join us for all or part of the time as we work on quilts for LWR and Virginia Garcia Clinic. Because of some generous donations we have a lot of fabric to cut, as well as many tying and sewing projects to complete. All supplies are provided.

If you haven’t been back in the church building yet, but are vaccinated and willing to show us your vaccination card, you will not need to wear a mask. Please bring a picture/copy of your vaccine card so we can keep a record for the office. If you have questions, contact Mary Brown at 503-439-3917.

A Call for Worship Volunteers

As we prepare to return to in-person worship on July 4, perhaps you’ve been thinking about the role you might play in the services. Interested in reading  the scriptures? Offering the prayers of the people? Serving communion, or lighting the candles?

These are all roles handled by volunteers from the St. Andrew community, and you are invited to participate! No experience is necessary and you will receive all the training you need. We work with your schedule so you can attend your preferred service and still worship with your family or friends.

Please contact Minister of Music & Media Allison Katsufrakis at allisonk@standrewlutheran.com if you have questions or would like to volunteer.

Earth Camp Needs “Shadows”

The Earth Camp team needs a couple more people to volunteer as “Shadows” for camp week, July 12-16. The camp will consist of five groups of seven kids, with each group accompanied by two youth “Guides.” The Shadow’s role is to be an adult presence with one of the five groups throughout the week. It’s the easiest volun-teer role in Earth Camp! If you’d like to volunteer or have more questions about this opportunity, please contact the camp’s pro-gram director, Kyler Vogt, at kvogt@standrewlutheran.com.

Filling the Food Barrel

Things are beginning to return to something nearer normal. We learned earlier this week that St. Matthew Lutheran Church is once again accepting packaged and canned food for its food bank. Now that St. Andrew’s doors are unlocked during office hours, feel free to donate non-perishable food to the food barrel in the Narthex. We are resuming deliveries to St. Matt’s and know that there are many hungry people who will benefit from our gifts.

Western Farm Workers Association

Each year our church has supported the Western Farm Workers with donated clothes and food to help low-wage workers. The agency is seeking volunteers to do a variety of jobs, many of which can teach you new job skills. Learn desktop publishing from graphic designers to create leaflets about Farm Workers’ programs and events, for example. Training is also available to learn advocacy skills, enabling volunteers to work on legal issues such as stolen wages, illegal evictions, etc. Others are needed to help with monthly food gathering and distribution. If you can help, call Foster at 503-681-9399. To receive the quarterly newsletter, send a $20 donation to 725 SE 7th Ave, Hillsboro, OR  97123.

St. Andrew’s Service Committee is also looking for a member to lead the September Western Farm Workers donation drive to gather and deliver clothing and food.

Fran Miller
for the Service Committee

Men’s Book Club

Members of the Men’s Book Club will meet Monday, June 14, at 7:00 pm in the St. Andrew Room to discuss Tony Hillerman’s novel The Ghostway, the sixth book in the author’s 24-book series featuring Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Originally published in 1984, the novel is launched with a gunfight at a laundromat in Shiprock, NM, that dumps Los Angeles problems onto the Navajo Reservation. Touted as one of the best in Hillerman’s series, The New Yorker called The Ghostway “a first-rate story of suspense and mystery.” It was reprinted in 2009.

Future Reading
July12: A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
August: Summer Break/no meeting
September 13: The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah

Grunewald Guild Class Registration

Registration is now open for summer classes at the Grunewald Guild. A faith community fostering art and creativity along the banks of the Wenatchee River in Washington, the Grunewald Guild is offering a variety of intriguing classes in July, August, and September. Whether you’d like to explore journal making, songwriting, word collage with calligraphy, ceramics, writing, jewelry making and repair, extravagant beadwork, weaving, photography, or other arts, the Guild has a curriculum to nourish your soul and renew your spirit. One class title, “Hand Embroidery: Sinking into Slowness,” reveals the character of this community, which invites makers—whether absolute newcomers or experienced craftspeople—to slow their pace and consider how the process of creation itself can be a grounding force. To learn more, go to: https://grunewald.com/summer-program-2021/.

The Sweet Scent of Our Native Mock Orange

A profusion of blooms covers the native Mock Orange shrub just outside the church office windows this year. Stroll up among the plantings and you’ll catch the sweet scent for which the flowers are known.

The scientific name for Mock Orange, Philadelphus lewisii, originates from Pacific Northwest explorer Meriwether Lewis, who collected the plant in 1806. Native Americans have long used Mock Orange for a variety of purposes; the hard wood was ideal for furniture, hunting and fishing tools, snowshoes, pipes, netting shuttles, and cradles, while the leaves and bark were used with water to create a natural soap. 

Mock Orange gets its common name from the native plant’s sweet and citrusy scent, reminiscent of oranges with a hint of pineapple. At the end of their long stems, the Mock Orange produces clusters of flowers each with four white petals and yellow stamens. This round shrub grows to 1.5 to 3 meters tall. Along with the strong, fruity scent and showy flowers, Mock Orange’s tolerance to poor soils and drought make this an ideal choice for those seeking a low-maintenance deciduous shrub for almost any landscape or garden. This plant also attracts wildlife..

New Library Books at St. Andrew

Nonfiction
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home, by Rhoda Janzen
Without Buddha I Could not be a Christian, by Paul Knitter
Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope, by Jon Meacham
All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, edited by Ayana E. Johnson and Katherine K. Wilkinson
Rage, by Bob Woodward

Fiction
The Mountains Sing, by Nguyen Phan Que Mai
The Seagull, by Ann Cleeves
The Winter Soldier, by Daniel Mason

Camp Lutherwood Is Hiring

June 23-August 17
Starting Salary for Summer: $2,890

Deepen your faith and sense of adventure while growing personally and professionally. Visit Camp Lutherwood online to learn more: www.lutherwoodoregon.org/employment. If you have questions, please contact the camp office for more information. Call 541-998-6444 or email jobs@lutherwoodoregon.org.

In Need of Prayers…

If you know someone in need of prayers, please contact the church office by phone at 503-646-0629 or email office@standrewlutheran.com Tuesday-Friday, prayerchain@standrewlutheran.com Saturday-Monday.

Family and friends of Charles Covington Peace and God’s comfort at hisdeath Gordon Teifel
Carol Grover (sister) Peaceful passing Nan Thompson
Nan Thompson Acceptance and strength Nan Thompson
Carl (cousin) and family Comfort and strength Carol Hogan
Carl’s newborn grandson Healing after lung surgery Carol Hogan
Koby (son-in-law) Healing after surgery Jim & Teri Brosh
Bob Carlson (uncle) Healing and recovery from surgery Carol Hogan
India Jensen Kerr Healing and a quick recovery India Jensen Kerr
Gary Grafwallner Healing of his left eye from Bell’s palsy Gary Grafwallner
Carol Means Effective treatment Staff
Barton Robison Effective treatment and pain relief Staff
Marlene Maxwell Effective treatment and healing Bruce Maxwell
Everyone affected by COVID-19 Strength and support Staff
Those impacted by racial injustice Care in times of pain, violence, and crisis Staff
St. Andrew Council
Executive Committee
Staff
Wisdom and discernment Staff
Karen Klingelhafer, Kyler Vogt, and all seminarians
India Jensen Kerr and all theology students
Encouragement and support Staff
St. Andrew Foundation Blessings on their ministry Staff
Colton Lutheran Church (Colton, OR)
St. Paul of Damascus Lutheran Church (Damascus, OR)
Serving with us in the Oregon Synod Staff
Havurah Shalom (Portland, OR) Blessings on our interfaith partners Staff
Individual friends and loved ones in need of prayer Whatever they most need; say their names in your heart or aloud Everyone

On the Parables of the Mustard Seed

Who ever saw the mustard-plant,
wayside weed or tended crop,
grow tall as a shrub, let alone a tree, a treeful
of shade and nests and songs?
Acres of yellow,
not a bird of the air in sight.

No, He who knew
the west wind brings
the rain, the south wind
thunder, who walked the field-paths
running His hand along wheatstems to glean
those intimate milky kernels, good
to break on the tongue,

was talking of miracle, the seed
within us, so small
we take it for worthless, a mustard-seed, dust,
nothing.
Glib generations mistake
the metaphor, not looking at fields and trees,
not noticing paradox. Mountains
remain unmoved.

Faith is rare, He must have been saying,
prodigious, unique —
one infinitesimal grain divided
like loaves and fishes,

as if from a mustard-seed
a great shade-tree grew. That rare,
that strange: the kingdom

a tree. The soul
a bird. A great concourse of birds
at home there, wings among yellow flowers.
The waiting
kingdom of faith, the seed
waiting to be sown.

by Denise Levertov

A British-born naturalized American poet, Levertov (1923-1997) journeyed from young British intellectual to anti-war activist to surprising Catholic convert in her maturity. But unlike others who have retreated into the church as a way of cementing an ideological or political reaction against their youth, Levertov’s religious awakening marked not a break with her past, but simply the continued evolution of her singular vision — an integral vision where poetry, politics, and spirituality coinhere.  

Preparing for Sunday, June 20, 2021

First Reading: Job 38:1-11
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Gospel: Mark 4:35-41

Go to the “Preparing for Worship” webpage for the bulletins, the complete Lectionary, and more.

Highlights for the Week

Go to the complete online church calendar for the most up-to-date information.

Sunday, June 13

8:30 am Livestream Worship with Communion YouTube
9:30 am Virtual Coffee Time Zoom
10:00 am Ministry Support Forum (in preparation for Annual Meeting) Zoom
11:00 am Zoom Worship with Communion Zoom
12:00 pm Virtual Coffee Time Zoom
3:00 pm Spirituality Book Group Zoom

Monday, June 14

6:00 pm Troop 618 Meeting east parking lot
7:00 pm Men’s Book Club St. Andrew Room

Tuesday, June 15

7:30 am Men’s Breakfast and Bible Study Elmer’s Restaurant at 158th
7:30 am Women’s Sunrise Spirituality Group Elmer’s Restaurant at 158th
10:00 am T’ai Chi Garden Patio of former Orchards in Petercort Shopping Center
10:00 am Worship Planners Meeting Zoom
6:00 pm HR Meeting Zoom

Wednesday, June 16 – Weekly News submissions due by 4:00 pm

1:00 pm Caring Ministry Meeting Zoom
6:30 pm Informal Gathering Time Zoom
7:00 pm Wednesday Evening Prayer Zoom
7:30 pm Centering Prayer Zoom

Thursday, June 17

12:00 pm Team Ministry Meeting Chapel/Library
2:30 pm Communications Team Meeting Zoom

Friday, June 18

10:00 am T’ai Chi Garden Patio of former Orchards in Petercort Shopping Center
6:30 pm High School Youth End-of-School Picnic in the Park Off Site

Saturday, June 19

9:00 am Nifty Notters Fellowship Hall

Sunday, June 20

8:30 am Livestream Worship with Communion YouTube
9:30 am Virtual Coffee Time Zoom
11:00 am Zoom Worship with Communion Zoom
12:00 pm Virtual Coffee Time Zoom

Connecting to Worship

Ways to Give: Thank you for supporting our ministries!