St. Francis E-Blast, March 23, 2023

My big dogs, Bones and Blue, like to hike with me. Large, enthusiastic, and of course energetic, they dart to and fro across trails hunting for squirrels and field mice. By the end of each adventure, Bones and Blue are very, very dirty, so I take them down to the river to clean up. Sometimes one of the dogs will end up in an eddy, water swirling about, holding and buffering the dog from rocks but preventing them from swimming in straight lines.

Reading John’s Gospel can be like swimming in an eddy; straight lines are impossible. Reducing John’s meaning to a two-dimensional framework frustrates and reduces a John-like faith to meaninglessness.

“They did not understand,” John writes, but what he doesn’t ask is, “How could they?” Instead of batting about and trying to reduce an eddy of words into something manageable, John and Jesus invite us to rest in the eddy, letting the words buffer us against the boulders and enabling us to gently move into deeper relationship with the Father.

Preparing for Sunday

St. Francis subscribes to a weekly service called Preparing for Sunday, which provides some brief commentary on the bible readings for the upcoming weeks. It can be found on the Sermons & Services page on the St. Francis website (https://tinyurl.com/sermonspage). I encourage all of you to consider looking at it prior to Sunday, particularly if you are a lector for the week.

Father Brendan

Holy Week Schedule

Sunday, April 2 - Palm Sunday

8:00 am - Palm Sunday Service

10:30 am - Palm Sunday with Children's Passion Play

Wednesday, April 5

2:00 pm - Stations of the Cross

Thursday, April 6 - Maundy Thursday

6:00 pm - Maundy Thursday Soup Supper

7:00 pm - Maundy Thursday Liturgy

8:00 pm - Overnight Vigil

Friday, April 7 - Good Friday

12:00 pm - Good Friday Liturgy

1:00 pm - Stations of the Cross

7:00 pm - Good Friday Liturgy

Saturday, April 8

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm - Reconciliation of a Penitent (by appt. only)

6:00 pm - Easter Vigil

Sunday, April 9 - Easter Sunday

8:00 am - Spoken Eucharist

10:30 am - Eucharist, Live on YouTube/Facebook

11:30 am - Easter Egg Hunt

Participants in this Week's Services

Serving at 8 am

LEM: Peggy Danford

Intercessor: Marilyn Morgan

Lector: Mary Kirk

Lector: Ron Coleman

Ushers/Greeters: Jim and Mary Kirk

Altar Guild: Ron and Sue Coleman

Serving at 10:30 am

LEMs: John Wisecaver and Susy Mekarski

Intercessor: Marianne Burnside

Lector: Bruce Schroeder

Lector: Mary Ann Schroeder

Ushers/Greeters: Rob Campbell and Clair Wilkins

Usher/Videographer: Jason Olson

Altar Guild: Apryl Garmon and Shirley Treadwell

Flower Guild: Terri Hoffmann and Sandi Wilson

Click here for the Full Church Calendar

This Week at St. Francis

Thursday, March 23

10:00 am - Book Group

1:00 pm- Threads of Love

7:00 pm - AA Men’s Group

Friday, March 24

10:00 am - Al Anon

Saturday, March 25

9:00 am - Pruning in the Memorial Gardens

Sunday, March 26

8:00 am - Spoken Eucharist

9:00 am - Adult Formation

10:30 am - Sunday School

10:30 am - Eucharist, Live Eucharist on YouTube/Facebook

12:30 pm - Misa

Monday, March 27

7:30 pm - AA

Tuesday, March 28

1:00 pm - Caring Ministry Meeting

3:50 pm - Champions at Wilsonville Regal T

7:00 pm - RA

Wednesday, March 29

12:00 pm - Noon Eucharist

1:00 pm - Staff Meeting

7:00 pm - Choir Rehearsal

7:30 pm - AA

Thursday, March 30

10:00 am - Book Group

7:00 pm - AA Men’s Group

Friday, March 31

10:00 am - Al Anon

Saturday, April 1

9:00 am - Outreach Committee Meeting

10:00 am - Planting in the Memorial Garden

Sunday, April 2 - Palm Sunday

8:00 am - Spoken Eucharist

9:00 am - Adult Formation

10:30 am - Sunday School

10:30 am - Eucharist, Live Eucharist on YouTube/Facebook

12:30 pm - Misa

Parish Activities

If you would like your announcements to be included in this newsletter, or in the Sunday bulletin, please email them to the office at [email protected] by Tuesday evening (7:30 pm). Please include a contact person within the announcement in case there are questions. Announcements will run for two weeks or until the event takes place.

Tuesday Movie

We will go see Champions on Tuesday, March 28th, at 3:50pm at the Wilsonville Regal. Champions stars Woody Harrelson as a coach for a basketball team of disabled kids.

Children’s Passion Play

The children of St. Francis will be performing the Passion from the Gospel of Luke on Palm Sunday. All children are invited to participate. Simply arrive at church by 10:15 am to pick a costume and join the play!

Pruning in the Memorial Gardens

Bring some pruning tools and please come help us clean up the gardens on March 25, from 9:00 am - noon. Masa Mijuno, master fine pruner, will be our guide! We'll learn great techniques that your plants at home will thank you for. And we'll thank you for helping keep the gardens beautiful!

April Fool’s Day in the Gardens

It’s time to prepare the gardens for Easter! Please join us at about 10:00 am Saturday morning, April 1, to put flowers in the Memorial Gardens. Bring your diggers and dress for the weather! We should be finished before noon.

St. Francis, Inc.

St. Francis, Inc. will meet again on Wednesday, March 29th at 2pm in the classroom in the parish hall. Please join us, particularly if you think this is an awful idea.

Maundy Thursday

Fr. Brendan will again lead an all-night vigil on Maundy Thursday, which is April 6th. The vigil will begin after our Maundy Thursday evening service, which will include foot washing.

Adult Formation

All of us are endowed with spiritual gifts for ministry and life! In this joyful season of Easter, let’s take some time to explore our individual spiritual gifts and how we might use them. Please join us beginning April 16 at 9:15 in the Parish Hall. We’ll begin with coffee and a gifts assessment used by our diocesan Commission on Ministry Committee for all the Baptized (COMB) and then we’ll look at various spiritual gifts and ministries. If you have questions or would like the assessment sent to you early by email, contact Terri Hoffmann.

Mite Boxes

Many thanks to the young people of all ages who are supporting Episcopal Relief and Development with donations to their Mite Boxes as a daily Lenten practice. The Sunday School youth would like to purchase goats with their donations again this year. The goats are a valuable and useful part of small farms in many parts of the world - providing milk, cheese, fertilizer, and weed control. The initial gift of goats expands its benefit over time as the herd grows and the assets of small farmers grow. They are then able to share with others. A lovely program in Ghana called “Passing on the Gift” becomes a lifeline to many widowed women.

Easter Flowers

On Easter Sunday, the veil of Lent has been lifted, and flowers and joy come out in abundance. St. Francis looks breathtakingly beautiful on Easter Sunday, and our hearts feel this happiness. Many hands make this possible, so on Easter Saturday, April 8th, we gather and create beauty with lovely flowers. We gather at 9 am for a few hours, and have a fun time of creating and sharing friendships - old and new. All flowers are provided. Previous flower arranging experience is not necessary. A sign up sheet is in the Information Center for those who would to help on this glorious day.

Thank you.

Apryl Garmon and Jane Domagalski ([email protected])

Flower Guild

The Flower Guild at St. Francis has the fun of offering bouquets of flowers to parishioners after the 10:30 service on Sundays. Each team works once a month (no work in Advent or Lent!). If you would like to share in the fun, please contact Terri Hoffmann to volunteer! If you would like to take flowers to a home-bound parishioner, please let us know! If you would like to contribute money toward flowers in memory or honor or just because, use any flower envelope in the drawers of the Information Center, filling in dates and people on the envelope, and leaving it in the office! If you would like to donate flowers for our glorious Easter celebrations, yay! The same envelopes work for that, too. And thank you!

Easter Flower Donations

Easter Flowers transform our worship space for the celebration of the resurrection. Please consider donating to support the transformation. You can use the flower donation envelopes being handed out by Altar Guild members (also available in the Communications Center) or send a check to the office to donate. Let us know the names of people you’d like named for remembrance, and come celebrate with us on Easter! Contact Apryl Garmon or Kay Sharp if you have questions or suggestions.

Small Dinner Groups Forming Again

If you are new to St. Francis and would like to get to know some other members of the congregation - or if you have been attending St. Francis for a while and would like to welcome and get to know more about newer members - consider signing up for a Small Dinner Group.

The groups of six to eight people can be singles or couples and set their own schedule and format. Often they will commit to meeting anywhere from monthly to quarterly for the rest of the year to share a potluck meal and to tell their stories. Groups can meet virtually. It’s a very fun way to get to know the good people at St. Francis.

If you are interested in joining a group, please register on the sign-up sheet in the Narthex or let Jodi in the office know by March 26th. Phone: 503-678-5422; Email: [email protected]. We will form the groups in April and you will have the rest of the year to enjoy meeting together. If you have questions, feel free to call Susy Mekarski at 708-415-1685.

Stations of the Cross

The liturgy of the Stations of the Cross is a way for us to walk with Jesus as he went from Pilate’s palace to his place of crucifixion. The practice started in Jerusalem where the faithful would mark that last walk of Christ by stopping and praying at significant points of that walk. The liturgy consists of walking 14 “stations,” which are marked and correspond to those stops made in Jerusalem.

At 2:00 pm on April 5th, we will leave the church and go to Mt. Angel Abbey and walk the Stations of the Cross there. The liturgy will be also offered at St. Francis on Good Friday (April 7) after the noon service.

Please let Deacon Ken know (503-887-5587 or [email protected]) if you would like to join us for either (or both!) of the days at Mt. Angel or have any questions.

Palm Crosses

If you still have your palm crosses from last year, please save them and bring them to the church for the Easter Vigil. Please bring them by Palm Sunday (April 2nd). There is a basket in the Information Center where you can place them. We will be using these palm crosses as kindling for our fire at the Vigil. Also, save your crosses from this year for next year’s Vigil.

Contemplative Prayer Group

A Contemplative Prayer Group meets twice per month on Monday at 2 pm in the Parish Hall library. We do Lectio Divina and sit for Centering Prayer, among other devotions. Our next meeting will be on April 17th at 2 pm. If you are interested in Silent Prayer or Contemplation and want to join the prayer group or ask for more information, please contact Lucia Jorge-Nebert (call or text: 971-341-2068, email: [email protected]) or Marcia Burdon (text only: 503-380-7820, email: [email protected]).

Did You Know? - Ceiling

Standing at the foot of the sanctuary steps, one looks up at painted panels depicting the life and ministry of St. Francis of Assisi, as rendered by artist Dorothy Hagerty, Ph.D. from Albany Oregon. There are 1,100 pieces of wood in the ceiling panels.

Done in oil on mahogany panels, scenes from the life of Francis take the form of a cross with the first panel being the top of the cross. Numbered in order, panels 1 through 6 move toward the back of the church, with panels 7 and 8 forming the arms of the cross on each side of panel 2.

Stay tuned for more information on each panel in the weeks to come.

Parish Outreach

Step Right Up!

St Francis Outreach Carnival

June 17, 2023

Your Outreach Auction Committee is planning a very fun event and needs your help! We are looking for donations for our live and silent auctions. Here is a sampling of donations that have been received already:

· African Safari

· Six nights at a timeshare

· Several rounds of golf

· Italian dinner

· Strings of garden lights

· Bicycles

What could you donate?

1. Silent or Live Auction items – just a few suggestions

· Gift certificates from businesses

· Dinners or other experiences such as boat rides

· Jewelry or collectibles

· Home made items

For more suggestions go to https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZsSuE_dx8i3FPp8vJdCwx-qZU6xNRigqEgI9xcnzj7s/edit

Fill out a donation form – they are at the church Information Center, or you can download one here file:///C:/Users/offic/Downloads/2023%20Donation%20Form%20letter%20size%20PDF%20(2).pdf

Drop off you donation and the completed form to the church office or contact a committee member for help.

2. Bottles of quality wine for the Wall of Wine

Drop off you wine donation ($15 value or more) at the church office or bring to a church service and leave it in the wine box in the Narthex. We will store your wine safely until the event.

Questions or help? Contact one of the Auction Steering Committee members:

Carole Biskar [email protected]; 503-680-1213

Linda Hammersley [email protected]; 503-678-5086

Kay Sharp [email protected]; (541) 905-6014

Ann Frazier [email protected]; 503-657-0739 (not March 2-27)

Marianne Burnside [email protected]; (310) 387-5883

Arnie Myhra [email protected]; (504) 352-1175

Apryl Garmon [email protected]; (503) 781-2628

Nyla Emory [email protected]; (503) 678-1140

Maureen Hamlin [email protected]; (503) 203-8626

Wilsonville Food Bank

They need peanut butter and storable fresh fruit such as apples and oranges. NO CEREAL, please. You can drop off your donations to the church. A volunteer takes the food to the Food Bank every Tuesday.

Thank you all for helping with this important need!