St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church

Weekly E-Blast

March 27, 2025

This Week at St. Francis

Thursday, March 27

10:00 am - Book Group

11:30 pm - Threads of Love

2:00 pm - Contemplative Prayer Group

7:00 pm - AA Men's Group

Sunday, March 30

8:00 am - Spoken Eucharist

9:00 am - Adult Formation

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

10:30 am - Sunday School

12:30 pm - Misa

5:00 pm - Dinner Church

Monday, March 31

9:30 am - Bell Choir Rehearsal

7:30 pm - AA

Tuesday, April 1

1:00 pm - Backpack Buddies Sorting and Packing

4:30 pm - The Chosen and Soup Supper in the Parish Hall

Wednesday, April 2

12:00 pm - Noon Eucharist

1:00 pm - Staff Meeting

7:00 pm - Choir Rehearsal

7:30 pm - AA

Thursday, April 3

2:00 pm - Contemplative Prayer Group

7:00 pm - AA Men's Group

Sunday, April 6

8:00 am - Spoken Eucharist

9:00 am - Adult Formation

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

10:30 am - Sunday School

12:30 pm - Misa

5:00 pm - Taize

Joyful Respite Care

Joyful Respite is an Adult Day Center located at St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church in Wilsonville. The Center provides short-term respite support for family caregivers who are looking to recharge while leaving their loved ones in a safe and engaging environment. Provided are delicious and nutritious morning and afternoon snacks along with lunch. Hours are 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Mondays thru Wednesdays. An assessment for all potential participants will be conducted as part of the enrollment process. This assessment helps us to better understand and care for your loved ones. Please call if you have any questions and to schedule a visit with Joyful Respite at 503-776-5068. Blessings to you all. 

Dinner Church

Our next gathering for Dinner Church will be on Sunday, March 30, at 5 pm in the Parish Hall. Father Brendan will make the main dish and we will have a potluck for sides, salads, and desserts. There is a sign-up sheet in the Information Center. We will have dinner, break bread, and celebrate the Eucharist.

Holy Week Labyrinth Walk

Ask…Listen…Receive…Gratitude

St. Francis is offering a labyrinth walk from 3:00 pm on Maundy Thursday, April 17 until 6:00 am Friday and open again at 10:00 am through 3:00 pm on Good Friday, April 18. The Labyrinth will be available overnight until 6:00 am. The Maundy Thursday service is at 7:00 pm and the Good Fridays services are at 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm. Please come walk before or after any of the services. If you have never done the walk, there will be a handout of suggestions for walking.



*Please be prepared to remove your shoes or use the provided shoe covers. For more information contact Susan Cheever or Kate Maclellan.

Movie Tuesday

Our next Movie Tuesday will be on April 1st. We will watch The Chosen in the Parish Hall, beginning at 4:30 pm and have soup for dinner.

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 Flower and Altar Guild members (also available in the Information 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 Debbi Kapp or Apryl Garmon if you have questions or suggestions. 

Memorial Gardens Prep for Easter

It’s time to plant for Easter! Please join us on Saturday, April 12, at 10 am. We’ll be adding beautiful flowering plants to the Memorial Gardens. We should be finished by noon and invite you to join us at the Butteville Store for lunch. Bring your gloves and trowels and enjoy the fun!

Lent at St. Francis 

Lent at St. Francis includes opportunities and choices for us to use at home or at church. We are all invited to observe the quiet, contemplative, and community opportunities that make Lent meaningful and prepare us for Holy Week and Easter. Choose what is best for you!

• Adult Formation will focus on the wisdom from Mary, the mother of Jesus. If you’d like a copy of a resource book (on sale at Amazon), you can order Mary: the Imagination of Her Heart, by Episcopal priest Penelope Duckworth. Contact Terri Hoffmann for more details.
• A Lenten booklet is available at the Welcome Table. It contains items of Lenten significance submitted by the congregation.
• Evening Prayer is shared every weekday evening at 5:30 pm in the library or conference room of the Parish Hall. We’ll read the stories in scripture, pray for needs, celebrate blessings, and focus on creation and lengthening days. Contact Terri Hoffmann or Christopher Onstad for more details.
• The movie ministry is focusing on The Chosen, beginning at 4:30 pm every Tuesday in Lent, with a simple (but tasty) soup supper and conversation following. Please sign up at the Information Center if you can provide soup or bread on a Tuesday or two.
• Devotional books are available again from the National Cathedral ($10). Based on the theme of pilgrimage, there are scripture readings, meditations, and short prayers for each day (except Sundays) of Lent. We are also offering Spanish devotional books to our Misa congregation. Buen Camino/Good journey!
• We have the Forward Movement Journey Maps for Lent available to take home, with a suggestion for each day.
• If you would like to sing or ring your way through Lent, join the choir or bell choir for the season! Both choirs have begun rehearsals of music for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter. Contact Jon Holland or Wendy Shrumm for more details.
• During Lent, we weave palm crosses and prepare the church for Easter. Both are wonderful opportunities to be in community and reflect on the seasons. Watch e-Blasts for more details.
• The walls of the Narthex/foyer are inviting us to imagine or join a pilgrimage. Photographs and text from parishioners, who have all made pilgrimages on the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain, are up for thoughtful viewing in the Narthex.

Contemplative Prayer Group

A contemplative prayer group meets twice per month on Thursday at 2 pm in the Parish Hall library. We do Lectio Divina and sit for Centering Prayer, among other devotions. Our next two meetings will be on March 27th and April 3rd at 2:00 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: lnebert@yahoo.com) or Marcia Burdon (text only: 503-380-7820, email: mlburdon@hotmail.com).

Taizé Prayer at St. Francis

For a time of prayer, reflection, and peace, please join us for Taizé prayers at the Cross of San Daminano. Come to the church at 5:00 pm for the service or 4:30 pm if you would like to sing through the chants prior to the service. 

Our next Taizé Prayer service will be April 6.

Did You Know? -Flag Pole

The flag pole between the parking lots was also a gift from Martha and Edwin Gunderson. On the hillside by the steps down to the parish hall, is a small St. Francis statue which also was a gift. There are many trees and shrubs that were purchased as memorial donations.

William Temple House Donations

As you clean out your cupboards and closets following the holidays, please consider giving your no-longer-needed (or wanted) items to William Temple House. The donation boxes are in the office hallway. Thank you for helping others! If you’d like a tax receipt, please let Jodi know. 

SAVE THE DATE! Outreach Auction 2025

Here’s a date to put on your calendar — June 14, 2025! Your Outreach Ministry will be holding an auction to raise funds for the many outreach programs supported by St Francis. The auction will be a very fun event where we come together to show our love for others, both locally and internationally.

Based on our experience in 2023, we have decided to focus on a live auction (plus a number of other fun events), so of course we need to be thinking about items that can be auctioned. We are particularly interested in experiences — dinners, vacation homes, fishing trips, airline miles, restaurant gift cards combined with theater or movie tickets, cases of wine or wine tastings, spa visits — these are just a few thoughts. No doubt you will have lots of other creative ideas. 

Please contact Carole Biskar (cbiskar@gmail.com) or Ann Frazier (annfrazier41@comcast.net) if you have questions or suggestions.