St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church

Weekly E-Blast

October 31, 2024

This Week at St. Francis

Thursday, October 31

10:00 am - Book Group

7:00 pm - AA Men's Group

Sunday, November 3

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

Monday, November 4

10:30 am - Bell Choir Rehearsal

7:30 pm - AA

Wednesday, November 6

12:00 pm - Eucharist

1:00 pm - Staff Meeting

7:00 pm - Choir Rehearsal

7:30 pm - AA

Thursday, November 7

11:30 am - Threads of Love

7:00 pm - AA Men's Group

Saturday, November 9

5:00 pm - Fall Potluck Party

Sunday, November 10

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

"Vote Faithfully" Election Engagement Resources Released

The Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations (OGR) has released a set of materials in both English and Spanish focused on "getting souls to the polls." Regardless of political affiliation, these resources can help churches and other organizations mobilize their members to participate in local, non-partisan election engagement efforts. Materials include information on Episcopal Election Activators; addressing political violence; civil discourse training; and misinformation, disinformation, and fake news. Visit the Vote Faithfully website to find out more.

Labyrinth Walk on Election Day

As Election Day approaches in the United States, we encourage you to vote and we encourage you to hold your neighbors and this naton in prayer. On Election Day, Val Hornburg and friends of the Franciscan Center will host an open labyrinth. Join us for the contemplative practive and pray in community.

Join us during lunchtime on Election Day in the Willow Room of Clark Commons at the Franciscan Spiritual Center (3162 Furman Drive, Marylhurst, OR 97036). The labyrinth will be open from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm. No prior labyrinth experience is necessary.

One of the best known benefits of labyrinths is that walking them can calm you, center you, and help you get in touch with your heart and soul. We offer this time on Election Day for you to take a few minutes way from media coverage. Come pray for peace for yourself, for our country, and the world.

RSVP if you can, but rest assured you may also drop-in.

The labyrinth will be hosted by one of our board members, Val Hornburg, a trained Labyrinth facilitator and host of our Contemplative First Friday gatherings.

Come as you are. Open to all. This is a free event.

Book Group

St. Francis Book Group meets the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 10 am in the Conference Room. We are starting a new book on Thursday, November 14: Rembrandt is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art Through the Eyes of Faith by Russ Ramsey. Please join us!

Questions? Contact Sandi Thompson.

St. Francis Fall Potluck Party

We will have a Fall Potluck on Saturday, November 9, at 5 pm in the Parish Hall. Let's get together for some fun, good food, fellowship, and a little line dancing with our church family. Bring your favorite party food or dessert, not dinner, and bring your dancing shoes. Let's have some fun. See you there!

St. Francis Parish Life

Ladies Lunch

Our next Ladies Lunch will be on Tuesday, November 12, at 11:45 am, at La Industria Tex Mex in Tualatin. The address is 20185 112th Ave. Tualatin, OR 97062. A sign-up sheet is in the Information Center.

Questions? Contact Peggy Danford or Sandi Thompson.

All Souls' Day

For All Souls' Day, we will have an altar of remembrance, so please bring photos of your loved ones so we can adorn our altar. We will keep it up through All Saints' Day.

Dinner Church

We will gather for Friendsgiving Dinner Church on Sunday, November 24, at 4:00 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.

“This is Us”...a Narthex Gallery Show

Opening Sunday, November 17, this inaugural show is planned to be the first of many to celebrate the various talents of our St. Francis Family.  Every member is invited to take a turn to share his/her talents.  Any talent can be shared – it does not have to be art.  

Gary Thompson, Coordinator.

Calling All Knitters

The weather is turning cooler, and a ball of yarn will feel good in your hands! It is time to begin knitting newborn baby hats for Salud Medical Clinic in Woodburn. These will be paired with little blankets made by Threads of Love Ministry and collected during our celebration on Epiphany Sunday, January 12th. We will need a lot of little hats to keep up with the busy people in this ministry, so we welcome all knitters!! Any pattern and any color would be wonderful! Some yarn and patterns are available in the Information Center. If you would like to learn to knit, or if you have any questions, please contact me.

Thank you.

Jane Domagalski

Confirmation/Reception on December 22

If you have been through the catechumenate or are a new member of the church, you are invited to have your faith confirmed or be received into the church by our bishop, Diana. Please let Brendan or Terri know if you are interested or have questions!

Adult Formation

Beginning November 10, Adult Formation will focus on The Crisis of Christian Nationalism, a report from the Episcopal House of Bishops. We’ll read from the report and discuss the realities and threats of a “Christian” movement that favors only some us, try to make sense of the movement’s priorities, and look for ways to respond as faithful people. The coffee will be ready (thank you, Peggy!). Please join us!

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 this Sunday, November 3.

Did You Know? – Kneelers

The kneelers at the Altar rail were made as a celebration of God’s creatures. The artistic design was created by Susan Stewart and her daughter in 1997. The needlepoint was done by 24 members and friends of the church. The needlepoint instructor and finisher was Bette Lurmann.

One of the needle pointers was a man. The materials and costs were paid for by the Fundsters, an early ministry of the church. St. Francis also has wedding cushions completed in 1992 by seven members. They were designed by Martha Gunderson. 

Ministry Prayers – Memorial Gardens Ministry

Each week, in our Prayers of the People, we pray for a ministry here at St. Francis. This week, we pray for our Memorial Gardens Ministry. The Memorial Gardens Ministry has the privilege of planning, planting, pruning, and maintaining the Tower Garden and the East Garden, which are where the ashes of friends and family who’ve gone before us are buried. The gardens are beautiful, and many of the plants have been here as long as the church has!

Every year, we wake the gardens up for Easter with spring-flowering plants and add summer-flowering plants before Memorial Sunday. In autumn, we put the gardens to bed, pruning and pulling spent annuals. In winter, we put on our foul-weather gear and prune the woody plants under the direction of Masa Mijuno, master fine pruner (we always learn a lot from him!).

If you like having your hands in good soil, or would like to honor folks whose ashes are in the gardens, or would like to know more about plants or other gardeners at St. Francis, we invite you to join the Memorial Gardens Ministry! Our tasks are infrequent and the beauty of the lovely gardens is inspiring. Check the e-Blast or bulletin for upcoming gardening dates and please join us!

St. Timothy Update

Paul Kyllo and I delivered a van filled with St. Francis’s donations of jeans, rain gear, tarps, and coats on October 23. We were humbled by the gratitude of the many people we met there and by the giving spirit of those working to help the unsheltered in that community. I honestly have never met any group as generous with their time and resources as those at St. Timothy’s. Fr. Bernie and Deacon Linda and everybody else we met sent their thanks for the St. Francis donations. Paul and I would also like to thank you for giving us the opportunity for such a positive experience.

Susan Huffman

William Temple House

I’ll be delivering St. Francis’s donations to the William Temple Thrift Store next week. Please continue to bring your gently used clothes, electronics, furniture, media, and household goods to the donation box in the hallway outside Jon Holland’s office. If you have questions about donations, you can check the website for the thrift store or contact me at huffmase@gmail.com or 503-804-4992.

Thank you!

Susan Huffman