St. Francis E-Blast April 30, 2026

St. Francis subscribes to a weekly service called Working Preacher, 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.

Participants in this Week's Services

Serving at 8 am

LEM: Peggy Danford

Intercessor: Dale Rushton

Lector: Dale Rushton

Lector: Joyce Skogen

Ushers/Greeters: Rebecca Engen and Jeff Krausse

Altar Guild: Jean Atwell and Traci Cronkrite

Serving at 10:30 am

LEMs: Joe Schiwek, Jr. and Pat Brett

Intercessor: Ann Frazier

Lector: John Wisecaver

Lector: John Meissner

Ushers: Richard Martens and PJ Janovicz

Usher/Videographer: John Vaught

Welcome Table: Paul Kyllo

Altar Guild: Joe Schiwek, Jr. and Linda Ocheltree

Flower Guild: Nancy Stephenson and Maureen Hamlin

Coffee Hour Hosts: Barbara Lauinger, Sandy Wilson, and Carole Biskar

Click here for the Full Church Calendar

This Week at St. Francis

Thursday, April 30

2:00 pm - Contemplative Prayer Group

7:00 pm - AA Men’s Group

Saturday, May 2

10:00 am - Safe Church Training

Sunday, May 3

8:00 am - Spoken Eucharist

9:00 am - Adult Formation

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

10:30 am - Church School

12:30 pm - Misa

5:00 pm - Taize

Monday, May 4

7:30 pm - AA

Tuesday, May 5

10:00 am - Backpack Buddies Sorting

12:30 pm - Bell Choir Rehearsal

1:00 pm - Backpack Buddies Packing

1:30 pm - Mahjong Group

6:30 pm - Profile Committee Meeting

Wednesday, May 6

12:00 pm - Noon Eucharist

4:30 - 6:30 pm - Drop-in Office Hours with Mtr. Jaime

7:00 pm - Choir Rehearsal

7:30 pm - AA

Thursday, May 7

7:00 pm - AA Men’s Group

Saturday, May 9

2:00 pm - Linda Hammersley's Funeral

Sunday, May 10

8:00 am - Spoken Eucharist

9:00 am - Adult Formation

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

10:30 am - Church School

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 saintfranciswilsonville@gmail.com 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.

Continuity & Change at St. Francis

Thank you to members of the Profile and Search Committees for their carefully crafted and facilitated Listening Sessions. I have heard positive things about them. Now I expect we should allow the Profile Committee some time to analyze and digest all they have heard and learned.

There are a couple of changes in the Sunday service that you might notice. One is that at the 10:30 service, the choir is now singing their anthem at the beginning of Communion, and coming up to receive after the rest of the congregation. This was a suggestion from within the choir, and we are trying it for a while. It allows choristers to focus together on their anthem before separating to receive communion. Ushers, take note!

A second is not so much a change as a return to former practice. It has been brought to my attention that the practice in the past was for the presider to issue a single invitation to people travelling and celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. That is actually my preference also – I just for some reason thought that your practice was to issue three separate invitations. I am happy to return this to the way it used to be done.

I also got a question about why we are no longer praying for people in the congregation by name in the printed Prayers of the People. (Of course, you are welcome to ask for prayers for anyone in the time given for prayer requests.) I made this change because of the dynamic and changing composition of the congregation and a desire for newer people who might not yet be in the directory to not feel excluded by omission. To pray for some people in alphabetical order, and perhaps not everyone present in that alphabetical sequence, conveys a sense of a “closed club” that is contrary to the welcoming and inclusive spirit of this congregation.

I enjoy talking about liturgy – my four liturgy classes and sacristan experience in seminary get to be put to use! If you have a question about why we do something in worship, please ask! This summer I am planning a class on Worship in the Episcopal Church where we will look into this in a more systematic way.

Jaime+

We ask your prayers for St. Francis’ clergy transition

Eternal God, heavenly Father, we lift our congregation to you at this time of clergy transition. Give to us open hearts and discerning minds, a vision of the future to which you call us, and the grace and faith to live into it. This we pray in the name of the One who calls us to be instruments of your peace, Jesus our Savior. Amen.

Opportunities this Saturday

This Saturday, we are hosting an in-person viewing of the Safe Church videos that are required by The Episcopal Church for people in leadership positions. If you signed up – or if you didn’t sign up but want to attend – this begins at 10 am in the Cummins Hall Classroom. Lunch will be provided. The viewing takes around 5 hours, depending on how many breaks we take.

If you are not attending Safe Church, you are invited by one of our members, Anne Louise Sterry, to a “Virtual Book Launch” at noon on her YouTube channel @auntlena. You may remember Anne Louise as a gifted storyteller. She has written a book of reflections and prompts for journaling to increase the joy in our lives, “Joy Unleashed.” More information at www.annelouisesterry.com.

Jaime+

Profile Committee Update

Listening Sessions

A BIG thanks to everyone who attended a Listening Session over the past two weeks. In all we had over 100 participants - WOW! Our data gathering is now complete.

Next Steps

Profile Document

The Profile Committee is currently working hard to consolidate the information from our Parish Survey and the Listening Sessions and incorporate it into a Profile Document that accurately describes who we are and what we value most as a faith community, how we live our Mission Statement (To Know Christ, To Worship Christ, To Serve Christ) and what we most desire in our next rector. When this document is complete and approved by the Vestry and the Diocese, it will be available for all to view on our parish website.

Survey Feedback

Simultaneously, we will work to develop a summary of the results of our Parish Survey that will be shared with the entire congregation. Stay tuned for future details.

Our deepest thanks to everyone who took the time to complete a survey, attend a Listening Session and share thoughts and comments with us!

Parish Profile Committee

Mary Kirk (chair), Susan Huffman, Marilyn Morgan, Christopher Onstad, Cindy Russell, and Jim Warram

Beware Scams

Unfortunately, much of our private information is more available than we think. Email addresses, cell phone numbers, addresses of property we own – it is bought and sold by enterprising people, some of whom are criminals. Sometimes those criminals can also find out what church we attend. Maybe you post something on Facebook about a church event. Maybe your name appears in the bulletin.

Scamming enterprises are big business, and sophisticated in their tools. One tried and true method of getting money from church members is to pretend to be the pastor and send an email asking for help with some need. It might be someone in the hospital. It might be staff appreciation. It might be a family in need. Whatever the purported need, there are two elements that don’t change: (1) a sense of urgency, and (2) an “ask” of gift cards.

If you get such a request, please ignore it! Whatever it says, it isn’t from your rector, or deacon, or other minister at your church. It is a criminal trying to prey on your compassion.

Jaime+

Flower Guild

Would you like to be part of the flower guild? Duties include dividing up the Sunday Altar flowers and distributing them once a month to those celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, or traveling. You would also assist with decorating the church for Christmas and Easter.

If you are interested (especially our youth), please contact Susan Cheever at ladysusanrose@yahoo.com.

Susan Cheever

Adult Formation

Adult Formation in Easter Season will focus on Christianity in the 21st century, and how the Episcopal Church fits in the shifting paradigm. Change is hard, and profound cultural changes are hard for millions of people! We find ourselves now with division and conflict in most of our institutions, the church among them. We’ll use the wisdom of our own experiences and Marcus Borg’s ‘The Heart of Christianity’, Rowan Williams' ‘Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief’, and Rebecca Solnit’s ‘The Beginning Comes After the End’. You may want to buy a book, but it’s not necessary. Join us Sundays, 9 am - 10 am. On May 3, we will focus on how we each understand faith and the Bible. Please think about words you associate with faith, and please choose and bring a bit of scripture that you have found meaningful.

Dinner Church

You are invited to an informal evening of food, conversation, study, and worship. This is a good way to explore what you believe and get to know other people. Please join us on May 17 at 5 pm in the Parish Hall. Mtr. Jaime will make the main dish and we will have a potluck for sides, salads, and desserts. We will pray, share about scripture, and have dinner.

Easter Thank You

The beauty of creation transformed our church into a radiant garden on Easter Saturday. We are so grateful to all of you who gave your time and talents to help. The flowers on Easter were beautiful - Linda's spectacular large altar bouquet, the sweetest little basket greeting people as they arrived, and all the other arrangements. They were beautiful because they were all done with great love and care. Many, many people worked that morning to create this Easter Joy, creating bouquets, sconces, altar vases, candle rings, Easter baskets, the cross, the flowering cross, hanging white ribbons, bringing goodies for us to munch on, cleaning up leaves and petals, and more. We are truly grateful for each hand and for each heart. We thank Mother Jaime for her enthusiastic support, and we thank each one of you there for sharing your talents and your St. Francis spirit. It was such a joy to create this lovely day together.

Thank you all.

Apryl and Jane

Pentecost (Wear Red)

May 24th is Pentecost Sunday. Remember to wear red! Everybody is invited to join in the festive procession behind the Dove Kite, waving streamers, which will be provided. That morning's coffee hour will feature many red foods.

Wear Red!!!

Origami Doves

One of the many traditions at St. Francis involves making origami doves, which are hung from the chandeliers in the nave for Pentecost Sunday, May24th.

Before the doves are folded, you are invited to write prayers of petition, praise, thanksgiving, or remembrance on a prayer paper.

The prayer papers will be available in the Narthex this coming Sunday and until we fold them on May 17th. You may also submit an online prayer through the website, News Page.

The doves flying over us on Pentecost are an awesome and powerful sight, and a remembrance of how we are uplifted and comforted by the prayers of others. Look for the prayer papers and take part in this beautiful connection with our loved ones.

Men's Retreat Coming Up!

Mark your calendar and sign-up sheet for a fun day retreat on Saturday, May 16th. We’ll meet at the church at 8am to carpool to breakfast, and then on to Dave White’s shop in Newberg, where he’ll lead us through a little hands-on project. We’ll gather after that for some intentional conversation, barbecue brats/burgers for lunch, then call it good and carpool back. Space is limited to 15 guys--Cost is $20 for materials and lunch (you’d spend more if you stayed home!) Questions?—look for Paul Kyllo, Norm Shrumm or Dave White at church.

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 meeting will be on April 30th 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 Sunday, May 3rd.

Parish Outreach

St. Francis Outreach

Supporting local, state, and international organizations.

This year, the Outreach committee will be featuring one or two programs each month supported by St. Francis through your generous contributions. This month we're focusing on the Wilsonville Community Sharing Food Bank.

Wilsonville Community Sharing is a non-profit social service agency that operates the local Wilsonville Food Bank and connects families in need with a variety of resources. It was founded approximately 30 years ago, after a group of volunteers banded together to help a family displaced by a fire.

WCS was incorporated and formed as a 501(c)3 non–profit in 1997. In 1999, they started the Wilsonville Food Bank and hired a part-time Food Bank coordinator. The Food Bank serves approximately 170 families per month - about 450 individuals. Fifty percent are children. St. Francis has been supporting Wilsonville Community Sharing and the Food Bank for over 10 years.

In 2025, St. Francis donated funds for the purchase of six grocery shopping carts and $1,000 for food. This was in addition to the food and hygiene items donated by you, our parishioners. If you aren’t yet a contributor to this Food Bank, you can become one by placing your donations in the shopping cart in the Narthex. The items you donate are delivered to the Food Bank on Tuesdays.

For more information about Wilsonville Community Sharing and their Food Bank check out our Outreach display in the Narthex.

William Temple House and Blanchet House - April Update

St. Francis continues to give generously to those in need! Another van load of donations was delivered to William Temple House Thrift Store in March. Please continue to bring your household and clean clothing items as spring progresses; just drop off items in the cardboard boxes in the hallway. The money from the sale of donations provides services to those in need.

Also, a huge thank you to all of you who provided sleeping bags and blankets for Blanchet House when the need was so great for many homeless people. I delivered 13 sleeping bags and 12 blankets when you responded to my request for help. Because of you, more people will be able to stay warm during the cold nights and days.

A special thank you goes to the parishioner who donated items for a dozen toiletry care kits that also went to Blanchet House and were given to their guests.

St. Francis congregation: Your generosity and concern for others is incredible.

Wilsonville Food Bank

This month, the Outreach Committee is featuring the Wilsonville Community Sharing and Food Bank. Please take a moment to look at the poster in the Narthex. I am challenging St. Francis parishioners to bring two items of food, hygiene products, or pet food for donation. This is the time of year when food donations drop and don't pick up again until October. Yesterday, we ran out of all canned vegetables except green beans. We also had requests for laundry detergent pods and we have not had any since the new location opened. So, whatever you can provide, as you are able, will be much appreciated.

I would like to offer another challenge to you. From these items that are typically available at the food bank, see if you can develop a recipe that will feed a family of four. Send the recipe to me (chihuahua1993@hotmail.com) and I will print the recipe and share it with the clientele. I will try to add the nutritional and caloric content. Thank you for puting your experience and creativity to work. Here are the ingredients; you don't have to use them all in the recipe:

14.5 oz can of sliced green beans
14.5 oz can of cannoli beans
11 oz can of mandarin oranges
12 oz bag of long-grain dry rice
10.5 oz can of cream of mushroom
5 oz can of tuna in water
12 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce with basil and oregano added
16 oz box of dry elbow macaroni
10 beef/pork meatballs
1 pint of 1% shelf stable cow's milk
1 6 ct. bag of bread rolls
1 yellow bell pepper
14 oz of canola oil
1 parfait of whipped cream, blueberries, and strawberries
salt and pepper in disposable shakers

Thank you St. Francis! Your neighbors appreciate you! Marilyn