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Church News for January 8th, 2017
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What Will We do in Worship – January 8th?
The lectionary calls this Sunday, Baptism of the Lord Sunday. Jesus got dipped. It is a great Sunday to think about the summons, the calling, the quest to act, to be named Daughter and Son of God. We are excited to welcome three new members, Judy Widen, Warren Bull, and Jean Wakefield. We will celebrate communion. The choir will sing and the sermon text will be about subversive midwives of the Bible. Can you guess who they might be?
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MLK JR. Service and Panel
Southminster will host the Martin Luther King Jr. service on January 15 th at 4 pm. This is a beautiful program with music, videos, presentations, and keynote speaker Verna Bailey.
Panel Discussion, “Dream Under Siege” Jan. 17th @ 7pm
The entire community is invited to this panel discussion. We will have three panelists who are leaders in racial justice movements in the Portland metro lead us in a discussion on race and the challenges we face. The three panelists are:
1) JoAnn Hardesty, president of the Portland Chapter of the NAACP and host of “Voices from the Edge” every Thursday morning at 8 on 90.7, KBOO.
2) Teressa Raiford, Community activist and lead organizer of “Don’t Shoot Portland.”
3) Ibrahim Mubarak, houseless activist and co-founder of Portland’s Right 2 Dream Too and Dignity Village.
This event that is sponsored by Southminster Presbyterian Church, Cedar Hills United Church of Christ, Spirit of Grace, Murray Hills Christian Church, and Christ United Methodist Church is open to the public and will be held in the sanctuary at Southminster.
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Read the Bible – Cover to Cover
Read the Torah for January, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Read Exodus this week. To inspire you, I have ordered a case of five dollar Bibles-Contemporary English Version. There are more where those came from. Here is the guide!
We are ordering some of these Family Story Bibles for the children to read with families. For January, read pages 10-37. Here is the quiz!
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Eyes on the Prize for Building the Beloved Community – (Tues. Jan 10th through Mar 14th)
Beginning Tuesday January tenth we will watch the six-part series, “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965” produced by PBS. This is an incredibly well-done video series that we will watch and discuss on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 8:30 in Room 7. On January 17 th , instead of the video will be a panel discussion with Joann Hardesty, Teressa Raiford, and Ibrahim Mubarak on the topic, “What Happened to the Dream?”
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Using Facebook and Twitter
Southminster has two Facebook sites, A Group Page and our All Are Welcome Page. In the group page any member can post. But you have to ask to join to be a member. Go to the Group Page and do that now. This is a place to share stuff going on in your life. It is a virtual coffee hour. I am posting minutes from session meetings and committee meeting summaries there under “Files.” Check it out! Minutes are also posted across from my office.
The All Are Welcome Page is open for anyone to see. Only administrators (staff) can post. It is a place for a lot of church announcements. It is a great vehicle for outreach as well. Please go there now and “Like” it and share with your friends.
Southminster is also on Twitter @southminpcpdx. The news is getting out about Southminster 140 characters at a time! |
Memorial Service for Lionel de Mello – Sat. Jan 14th
Join us for a service in honor and memory of Lionel C. de Mello on Saturday, January 14th at 11:00am. Lionel passed away on December 15th; join his loved ones and fellow Southminsters Saturday in remembrance. You can read his obituary here.
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Care to join the Welcome Team?
First impressions are a big deal around here! We need some helping hands for the rest of January–can you help? If so, please sign-up for a spot on the sheet in the Peterson Gallery.
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Women’s Retreat May 5-7th
Women’s Retreat is May 5-7, 2017. Our theme is storytelling and we are really excited about our invited speaker!
The full retreat cost for 2 nights, 5 meals, and a great facilitated program is $175. In response to your feedback and requests, we are offering an early bird special discount and payment options.
Register for the full weekend by Feb 15th to receive $15 off the full retreat price. Pay in full with a check for $160 or provide a check for $50 for the first of three installments. Installments would be due Feb
15th ($50), Mar 15th ($50), Apr 15th ($60 or remainder due – e.g. medical diet requests). Of course, if you want to pay the full retreat price, we won’t turn you away.
If 25 women register by Feb. 15th for the full weekend, then we can offer the Saturday-only retreat option for women who cannot join us for the entire time. We CANNOT offer a Saturday-only option unless we have 25 women register for the full weekend. Please sign up to be one of our core attendees, helping to make the retreat possible for a broader group of women!
You can find the registration form here.Please contact Karen Wittenburg or Sue Kozak for more details.
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Open Art Show Committee Meeting
Committee members and others interested in learning about the Celebration of Creativity Art Show are invited to attend a committee meeting on Thursday, January 12th at 7:00pm in room 7. There are only two meetings left before the show, so we encourage you to come and learn about final preparations and how you can participate!
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Family Promise Week January 15th the 22nd
We are participating in the Family Promise program again this month. Keep in the loop through this newsletter as well as our Facebook page. We are developing a way for volunteers to sign-up for particular days and tasks online, so stay tuned!
If you have yet to volunteer, please pick up a registration form from outside the church office. Any volunteer that intends to stay the night will need a background check done with the church office. Please see Elizabeth for a form.
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Caryl Ladd fell and has a hairline fracture in her skull; she is home and with her children.
Connie Clark fell and fractured her hip; she is recovering and surrounded by family.
Kate Nelson’s brother, Lon Hotchkiss, passed away on New Years Eve. Please keep them both in your prayers.
Our Facebook group page is the place for you to share prayer request, post events, post pictures, and connect on line. Also session, deacon, committee minutes and financial reports are posted here. You must be a member of the group to see posts and to post. Contact John or Liz if you need assistance. The website is https://www.facebook.com/groups/southminstershare/ Our Visitation Team is active and visiting with those who are unable to attend worship. If you know of someone who might like to have this connection with the church contact John.
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Upcoming Southminster Events
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This Week on Progressive Spirit!
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John speaks with Penpa Tsering, the new Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Office of Tibet, based in Washington DC. He was elected to this post in May. Previously he was a member of the Tibetan Parliament in exile where he served as speaker since 2011. In this exclusive interview they discuss Tibet’s history, geography and spirituality.
What does it mean to be a country-in-exile?
How does a people who value spirituality above all else express their need to an atheistic, materialistic colonial power?
They discuss China’s demographic aggression, its exploitation of Tibet’s natural resources and environmental abuses of Tibet’s land and rivers, and the urgency before the United States to pressure China to solve peacefully the Tibet crisis. They also discuss how 13 centuries of Buddhism has shaped the people of Tibet and may be the spiritual resource that can be a beacon in a dark time of destruction for our shared Earth home.
Listen Here
Beloved Community (January 13th)
John interviews the panelists who will speak on the 17th, Teressa Raiford, Jo Ann Hardesty, and Ibrahim Mubarak. The show airs at 9 am January 13th on 90.7 KBOO or www.kboo.fm
Podcasts are uploaded every Sunday by 11 a.m.
Follow Progressive Spirit:
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Contact John
Won’t you be my friend?
Phone:1-423-943-0634 (Yup, I text)
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