Community of ChristChurch
Faith News Update for July 30, 2020

Online Interactive Worship with Holy Communion 
 Sunday, August 2, 2020 at 9:30am

 

Moving from Welcome to Belonging

Ruth 1:1-19, 2:1-3 

 

Click the link below on Sunday:

https://zoom.us/j/669927281?pwd=S0Qvdzh5cUY2akhmM2VoeTlUUVFBZz09

Meeting ID: 669 927 281
If prompted enter password: 080114 

Joining by phone:

If you are not able to join worship via your personal computer, tablet or smartphone you are welcome to join using your phone.

  1. Call this number: 1-669-900-6833 
  2. Use the meeting ID: 669 927 281
  3. Enter password 080114 

You will find yourself in our Zoom worship space.

 Online Worship Logistics: 

  • The online doors to our Zoom worship will open at 9:00am. 
  • From 9am to 9:30am, the worship space will be open for folks to gather and get settled in. Our worship service will begin at 9:30am. 
  •  Holy Communion will be a part of our online worship, so we encourage everyone to prepare by putting together your own communion set from whatever you have handy in your kitchens and pantries. Please have these items nearby and handy when you join us online.

Forgotten Books of the Bible Preaching Series: 

“Ruth” or “The ‘On the Road’ Edition”

 

Over the next two Sundays, I will be preaching from the book of Ruth. On the Jewish calendar, Ruth is typically read during the Festival of Shavuot, or Feast of Weeks, in part because Shavuot is a harvest festival and the story takes place during the time of the harvest.

 

Many scholars believe that Ruth was written toward the end of the Babylonian exile, when Persian rule allowed the Judean exiles to return home and re-establish themselves, and also in light of anti-immigrant sentiments raised in the book of Ezra-Nehemiah. Read in this light, Ruth seems to be a corrective to the narrative of cultural and ethnic purity. 

 

This is especially powerful when we get to the end of this short four-chapter story and notice that the book may have also been written to remind its readers that the genealogy of their beloved King David includes not only an immigrant but also a Moabite immigrant, a people famously despised and excluded from entering into fellowship with the Israelites.

 

We will delve more deeply into the ways this text subverts (and sometimes problematically supports) anti-immigrant rhetoric on Sunday, August 9th.

 

However for this Sunday, August 2nd, I cannot help but notice how a story that touches on such themes as family, leaving what’s familiar, and also venturing into unknown and risky territory, resonates deeply with our own story as we bid farewell to a building that has been home to our community for over two decades.

 

Let’s walk together on this journey, shall we?

Hope to see you this Sunday!

 

Pastor David

 

If you are curious, take a look at the outline of the summer preaching series, available via PDF here. 
We will be holding an online memorial service to celebrate Ron's life and mourn his death on Saturday, August 1st, beginning at 1pm. 
We will use the online meeting platform, Zoom.
We invite you all to attend.
 
Below is the link for the meeting, including ways to participate by phone. 
Please share this with all who knew and loved Ronnie.
 
Below is the link for the meeting, including ways to participate by phone.
Please share this with all who knew and loved Ronnie.
Meeting ID: 857 3674 1897
Passcode: 837838

To join via phone, call this number: 1 669-900-6833,
Meeting ID: 857 3674 1897
Passcode: 837838
This information is posted on our Facebook page we encourage those of you who use Facebook to share the post on your page.
Building Farewell Open House
 

The warehouse building at 5170 NE Five Oaks Drive has been our home for over two decades. Our departure brings with it not only excitement and possibility, but also grief and sadness. This Sunday, from 11:00am to Noon, we are opening the building for anyone who would like to come by for a last farewell.
 
Pastor David will be there to greet you (masked and gloved).
Please follow these safety guidelines:
  • All visitors must wear a mask.
  • There will be a sanitizing station at the front doors.
  • Please fill out the contact tracing form and sanitize your hands before entering.
  • All the interior doors will be opened ahead of time so please refrain from touching any surfaces as you walk about the building.
  • Please maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet.
  • Please refrain from using the restrooms.
Pastor David will make sure there are no more than ten people in the building at any given time, so you may be asked to wait a few minutes in your vehicle after checking in before you are invited to enter.
 
Together let's give thanks to our God for the gift that this building has been for our congregation and for the surrounding communities we have served.

Building Update 7.30.20
This is the final building update before we are officially moved out!

- Last weekend we successfully moved all furniture that could not be donated to a dumpster. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped! The church is fully cleaned out.

-Final walk-through is set for Tuesday, August 4th. 

- The only remaining furniture item is a copier/printer, free to anyone, ideally going to a non-profit.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1199789423708558 
Canon ImageRunner 32351; black and white only; extra ink cartridges available.  Please contact Jane Jackson ASAP if you would like it or know a non-profit that would. 

-Chris Radford
Transition Coordinator
Four Computers Available
Until the lockdown these computers were used by the ChristChurch staff.  They are now excess and being given first to church members then to family and friends.  They are all in good working order.  If interested please send an email to Rachael with a brief statement of need, and if you have questions contact Larry Wade at 503-312-7745 or lpwade@gmail.com..
 
The computers are Dell OptiPlex model 790 or 7010 desktops, "small tower"
configurations.  They use the Intel I5 processor running at 3 Ghz, have 4 GB of RAM (expandable to 16), a 250GB hard drive, a DVD, hardwired Ethernet and a flat panel monitor with sizes ranging from 17" to 22". Each has a keyboard and mouse.
 
They have been upgraded to Windows 10 and have Microsoft Office 2016 installed.  All previous programs and data were removed and the unused space was scrubbed.
 
Ages vary but they are all six to eight years old.  The positive aspects are they should be reliable, fast enough for office or student work, run Windows 10, and have Microsoft Office 2016 installed.  The downsides are they are not Zoom-ready because they have no camera or microphone, but those could be added.  The disk is small by contemporary standards but each has at least 150 GB of free space and can be augmented with flash drives.
 
If interested please send your request to Rachael who will forward it for decision.  If there are too many requests preference will go to supporting families with insufficient computing resources for school or work. 

You are welcome to forward requests from others in your circle of friends and family who have needs.

Rest & Renewal: Pastor David’s summer vacation

 

Pastor David will be on vacation beginning Monday, August 3. He will be back in the online office on Tuesday, August 18.

Members of the worship team will be hosting and leading our online interactive Zoom worship service. A special thank you to the worship team for helping out while Pastor David is away. 

 

Pastor Bob Stebe (Hillsboro Presbyterian Church) and Pastor Adam Hange (Hillsboro First Congregational UCC) will cover pastoral emergency calls while Pastor David is away. Call the church phone (503-617-9526) & press 4.

 

Reconciling in Christ Welcome Statement

What is RIC?

The Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Program is for congregations, synods, colleges, seminaries, and other Lutheran organizations and ministry communities who have made a public commitment to welcome, include and celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) people. By having a statement affirming this welcome that specifically names either, "LGBTQIA+ people" or "people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions" in their statement, these faith communities are accepted into the Reconciling in Christ partnership with ReconcilingWorks. There are now around 886 RIC Partners throughout the United States and Canada.

 

Clunky Questions video: Why can’t church just say all are welcome and leave it at that?

https://youtu.be/KeJ8_umyMc0


RIC at Community of Christ Church

We have been meeting monthly for almost 2 years and we became a formal ChristChurch Team approved by the council on January 9, 2019. We have attended trainings and workshops on how to become a welcoming Reconciling In Christ (RIC) sanctioned church. A big part of the work of our exploratory team is to put forth a welcoming statement to the congregation for your consideration as we move forward on our journey and as we continue to learn how to open our doors and our hearts to all people.

 

Why are we doing a welcoming statement?

It is important to develop a Welcoming Statement to show others that your faith community has publicly committed to living as a Welcoming faith community on a lifelong journey. This statement becomes a great tool to show visitors as well as members what you believe and how you intend to live it out. Each faith community will develop a statement that fits their community. Every faith community’s Welcome Statement is as diverse as they are.

 

Please read the statement below after watching the Clunky Questions video. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Welcome Statement for Community of ChristChurch-July 2020

Community of ChristChurch is an open and affirming Christian community who lives in God’s love and grace. We strive to welcome and include all people because we believe God loves and welcomes all people. Regardless of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, ethnicity, marital status, physical or mental ability, political stance or theological perspective or anything else that might divide us, you are welcome here.

 

What this means is:

 

No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here:

If you are young or old, you are welcome

If you have brown skin, black skin, white skin, or any color of skin, you are welcome

If you are an immigrant or refugee, you are welcome here.

If you are married or single or partnered, separated or divorced, you are welcome

If you are gay or straight or queer, you are welcome

If you are transgender, you are welcome

If you are a man or a woman or non-binary, you are welcome

If you cannot hear or see or speak, you are welcome

If you are sick or well, you are welcome

If you are happy or sad, you are welcome

If you are rich or poor, powerful or weak, you are welcome

If you believe in God some of the time or none of the time or all of the time, you are welcome

 

You are welcome here.

Come with your gifts, your pain, your hope, your fears

Come with the traditions that have helped you and hurt you

Come with your experiences that have made you and broken you

Come with a mind ready to engage, and a heart open to discern

Come and listen for the Sacred Spirit that calls you to love your neighbor wholeheartedly, seek justice, create peace and practice compassion

You are welcome here!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

After reading the statement, please click on this link to participate in a non-binding, anonymous, straw poll regarding the proposed Welcoming Statement. The poll will not ask for your email address. The poll will show the welcome statement and five options.

Select which option you agree with and click the purple submit button (screenshot is below). If you have any issues with the poll please contact Admin@comchristchurch.org.

Thank you to everyone that already filled out the poll! The poll will close after today (July 30, 2020). We thank you in advance for your willingness to participate. You have until today to voice your thoughts!
 

This is not an official congregational vote to approve or disapprove the statement. This will simply help our team to take the temperature of the congregation at this moment in time. With this information we can determine where we are in our process and what steps we will take moving forward.  

 

  • Respectfully Submitted by your RIC Exploratory Team
Reconciling in Christ Team 
Online Meeting
Thursday, August 6, 2020
6:30pm

Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/571159077?pwd=Z1ZuM09hdXR0dTlqaXl3bWR5TlFwdz09

Meeting ID: 571 159 077
Password: 041672

Reconciling in Christ is a program for Lutheran congregations who want to publicly welcome people of all sexual orientations, gender identity, and gender expression into their communities.
Church Council Update - New Financial Controls policy

At the July 22, 2020 Church Council meeting a new set of procedures regarding financial controls was unanimously approved. Due to the COVID 19 crisis AND the building move the previous financial controls needed to be adjusted. You can download a PDF of the policy here. These policies will be in place as long as we continue to exist without a building or interim space. Many thanks to the Finance Team, Council and Staff for working to have a policy in place that includes oversight and separation of duties. If you have any questions about the policy please email Rachael at Admin@comchristchurch.org.
Sacred Circles

Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice (IMIrJ) invite you into new ways of being, loving, and acting together by engaging in immigrant justice and anti-racism work. 

Sacred Circles will provide accountability, direction and support for people of faith and fierce love as we collectively learn and live our way into courageous action for racial and immigrant justice. Small groups of 7-15 people will join together to provide each other with spiritual practice and grounding, relationship-building, education and shared action as we are called to walk together in the remarkable times in which we find ourselves.
Click here for a PDF detailing more information on Sacred Circles. 

There's still time to join! If this sounds like something you may be interested in, please contact Violet Thetford or Tracy Litterer. You can find IMIrJ on Facebook here.
Collection extended through
Sunday, August 30th!

UPDATE FROM ELSA:
Thank you to those of you who have given generous donations of supplies to PERIOD in the last month, and thank you for the congregation’s continued support of the cause in this difficult time. 
===================================================
Continuing through August, ChristChurch is collecting donations to the nonprofit organization PERIOD, whom we have helped in past years with donations of feminine hygiene products for care packages. PERIOD helps those who are in need of feminine hygiene products, and do not have access to them or cannot afford them. This is an issue in many countries across the world, but also in our own community.
 
Items needed:
This year especially, many people need help, and PERIOD has expressed the need for supplies other than exclusively feminine hygiene products, including:
-band-aids -goggles (i.e. chemistry goggles, safety goggles, etc.)
-water bottles -antibiotic cream
-earplugs -gauze -energy bars
-face shields -face masks -gloves
-ibuprofen -saline solution
-backpacks -drawstring bags
-pads -tampons

Where are the supplies going?
These items are needed in PERIOD’s Seattle, Washington chapter. They are being distributed to those in need, as well as those helping with the pandemic and Northwest People's Aid, which is supporting people of color in the Seattle area.

3 ways to donate:
1) There is a box on our doorstep for donations. Leave items there. Our address is 1154 NE Alexandria St., Hillsboro OR, 97124.
 
2) If you have supplies to be donated to PERIOD, email me and let me know. Then leave the supplies on your doorstep, and I will pick them up.

3) Alternately, if you would like to order supplies online, you can have the package shipped to our house.
Hopefully, this will make it easier to donate supplies.

Once the collection is over, I will deliver the supplies to PERIOD, so they will make it to the Seattle chapter and those who are in need of these supplies. . 

Thank you all for your continued support and donations! If you have questions please feel free to reach out to me directly via email. 

-Elsa Buchholz 

Pandemic Emergency Economic Relief (PEER)

In the midst of this pandemic, many families who were already marginalized and pressured are now facing acute economic and food insecurity.  At the same time, most of us are feeling isolated and longing to act.  What if we could GROW connection during this time and ACT together to relieve pressure in our communities?

 

How it works:

ChristChurch has received a $500 matching gift grant from the Oregon Synod (ELCA). We are combining that with funds dollars from our benevolence fund and the pastor’s compassion fund for a total of $2,000. We will then buy grocery gift cards and deliver them to counselors at Evergreen Middle School, who will in turn get these grocery gift cards to families.

What can you do:

Help us double these funds by clicking on the PEER category in our online GIVE button so that we can purchase even more grocery gift cards to impact local families in need. 

Thank you to everyone that has already donated!
To date, we have received $1,650.00 Total!


If you have questions about the program please contact Rachael Jans or Pastor David Eppelsheimer. 

Opportunities to stay connected online are listed below:
Crafting, Gardening and Creativity Share (online gathering)
Saturdays @10am

https://zoom.us/j/226185003?pwd=b0tzLzBDaTJlc1RvVEV2dFQyRTZ2QT09

Meeting ID: 226 185 003
Password: 012822

Our Saturday Crafting and Gardening online meetings have been going well. We’d like to get more of you involved by asking you to share your creative talent. We want to hear what your hobbies and interests are.

You are more than welcome to invite a friend or relative to share their creative talent as well.

If you’d like to share with the group please contact Violet Thetford. 
ChristChurch
Online Coffee/Tea Hour Open House
Every Wednesday 10am to Noon

Save this Zoom link: 
https://zoom.us/j/301147732?pwd=OHdrNDJDVC9pNkZKVnI5eFRzZXNhQT09  

Meeting ID: 301 147 732 
Password: 005805

Need a mid-week pick me up!? 
Visit on Zoom every Wednesday morning.

The meeting room will be open from 10am -noon on Wednesdays and hosted by Violet Thetford.
This will be an open house format for folks who want to drop in any time during the 2 hours. Feel free to come and go as you like.
Thank you to Violet for hosting!
Electronic Giving
Since we can't pass our offering basket during virtual worship, we encourage you to automate your giving. Electronic giving also offers an easy way to give on a recurring basis.

THANK YOU to everyone that has signed up!
We are so grateful for the response. 

Go to https://app.easytithe.com/App/Giving/comchristchurch and select the checkbox ‘Make this gift recurring’. You will then be walked through the steps for setting up an account with Easy Tithe.
Our new mailing address:
 
Community of ChristChurch
3300 NW 185th Ave #224
Portland, OR  97229
 
Please update your address books - make sure it includes #224.

If you are mailing donations (thank you!) please note the change...or help us save our resources and sign up for online giving. Online giving reduces staff and volunteer processing time. Thank you!
Community of ChristChurch

This is Christ's church. There is a place for you here.

Mailing address:
 Community of ChristChurch

3300 NW 185th Ave #224
Portland, OR 97229

(503) 617-9526
www.comchristchurch.org
This message was sent to admin@comchristchurch.org by admin@comchristchurch.org
Community of ChristChurch - Mailing address 3300 NW 185th Ave #224 Portland, OR 97229 - www.comchristchurch.org

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