St. Francis E-Blast February 26, 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: Linda Nash

Intercessor: Mary Kirk

Lector: Dale Rushton

Lector: Peggy Danford

Ushers/Greeters: Jim and Mary Kirk

Altar Guild: Jean Atwell and Traci Cronkrite

Serving at 10:30 am

LEMs: Susy Mekarski and John Wisecaver

Intercessor: Sharon Janovicz

Lector: Oliver Meskell

Lector: Marcia Burdon

Ushers: Ed and Marianne Burnside

Usher/Videographer: John Vaught

Welcome Table: Paul Kyllo

Altar Guild: Linda Ocheltree and Joe Schiwek, Jr.

Flower Guild: Maureen Hamlin and Nancy Stephenson

Coffee Hour Hosts: The Vaught Family

Click here for the Full Church Calendar

This Week at St. Francis

Thursday, February 26

10:00 am - Book Group

12:00 pm - Threads of Love

7:00 pm - AA Men’s Group

Sunday, March 1

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, March 2

7:30 pm - AA

Tuesday, March 3

10:00 am - Backpack Buddies Sorting

12:30 pm - Bell Choir Rehearsal

1:00 pm - Backpack Buddies Packing

1:30 pm - Mahjong Group

Wednesday, March 4

12:00 pm - Noon Eucharist

4:00 - 6:30 pm - Drop-in hours with Mtr. Jaime

7:00 pm - Choir Rehearsal

7:30 pm - AA

Thursday, March 5

2:00 pm - Contemplative Prayer Group

7:00 pm - AA Men’s Group

Sunday, March 8

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

What a lot of good energy at the Annual Meeting last Sunday! Thank you to everyone who attended! A major topic for the meeting was the clergy transition. Please mark your calendars for Sunday March 15^th, when our guest preacher at both services will be The Rev. Christopher Craun, Canon to the Ordinary. Chris+ will be available to answer your questions after the services.

We are a week into Lent, and I pray that your Lent is being prayerful and insightful. A reminder that Lenten resources are available at the church. The basket of resources has been moved to inside the sanctuary, on the beautiful new bell console.

If a product of your Lenten reflection is a desire to be more involved in worship, you might be interested in two opportunities that are now open. We have openings for a few new Eucharistic Ministers and members of the Altar Guild. Eucharistic Ministers are confirmed members of the church who are trained and licensed to serve the chalice at the altar. Altar Guild members have a more behind-the-scenes but no less important role. They make the altar beautiful for the service, working in the sacristy and (some) at home. If you are interested in learning more about either of these ministries, talk to me and I will connect you with the heads of the ministries here.

Blessings,

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.

Parish Profile Committee Update

The Parish Profile Committee has been meeting weekly since our commissioning service on January 18th and we are currently working on outlining the process and timeline for creating a Parish Profile for our search for a new Rector.

We view our team as the “truth tellers” for our congregation with a goal of telling the story of St. Francis Wilsonville as accurately as possible. To achieve this goal we need your assistance and currently invite you join us in the following ways:

1) Include the Transition Prayer (printed in the Sunday bulletin) in your daily devotions. The power of prayer is invaluable.

2) Review your email address to ensure it is current and accurate and includes all members of your family that are active St. Francis parishioners. We will have members of the Profile Committee available after each Sunday service to assist you.

3) Plan to attend the Parish Annual Meeting on Sunday, February 22nd for additional information and the opportunity to ask questions that you may have.

Please realize that every parishioner has a valuable and important role in helping us tell our story.

Thank you,

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

Dinner Church

Our next gathering for Dinner Church will be March 22 at 4 pm in the Parish Hall. Mtr. Jaime 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 pray, share about scripture, and have dinner.

Caution! Scam Artists at Work!

If you receive an email or message apparently from me asking you for gift cards, this is a scam. I will never ask you to buy gift cards for any church purpose. This is a common scam on faithful church members. Sometimes it is presented as needed for pastoral care. Sometimes it is presented as some other “need.” The scammers are very skilled. Do not respond. If it is a call, hang up. It is not me. Mother Jaime

Mite Boxes

St. Francis has been using Mite Boxes as a spiritual Lenten practice for many years. These are intended for regular contributions of "mites," little monies, which are then collected at Easter. The money collected is sent to Episcopal Relief and Development for their work in Third World countries to help purchase goats. The boxes are in the Information Center for anyone, adult or child, who would like to try a daily practice of gratitude, thanksgiving, or remembrance. Please turn in your mite box as close to Easter as possible.

Lent at St. Francis

Lenten resources for personal and family devotions are available for you in the Narthex. Whether your household prefers a fun map or devotional books, we have them! If you are using Life Stories this Lent, please make the following correction to a typo: on page 21, correct the READ to John 9:1-41.

Small Dinner Groups 2026

It’s time to sign up for this year’s small dinner groups. This is an opportunity to meet the great people of St. Francis with whom you share Sunday mornings. The groups are made up of couples and singles who meet on a schedule decided upon by your group. Dinners are typically potluck meals in your homes, but you can be creative and meet at a restaurant or whatever you decide. Typical group size is eight people, but if you would prefer a group of six, please note that on the sign-up sheet. Groups will be selected by the end of February. There are so many interesting people in our St. Francis family - here is your opportunity to hear their stories. Don’t miss out on the fun! Questions? Contact Nyla Emory at 503 539-1857 or Nylaemory@mac.com or Lynne Tucker at 503 704-3344 or tuckerfamily@onlinenw.com.

Adult Formation

Adult Formation in Lent will explore spirituality for our own lives, based on wisdom of Richard Rohr. God is such a mystery! Most of us can remember turning points in our lives that have led us to reimagine how we relate to God and others. We move forward in ways that we likely don’t understand, hopefully growing through the quiet workings of time and grace. Once we have lived into an understanding of who/what/how we are - critical work! - we can move on to other questions, other meaning, other work, toward our own soul’s wholeness. ‘God has no grandchildren. God only has children.’ We each make our own discoveries.

We meet 9:00 - 10:00ish on Sunday mornings. If you’d like to read Rohr’s wisdom directly, look for ‘Falling Upward;’ otherwise just join us on Sunday mornings!

Memorial Gardens Work Day

Garden putterers, unite! Please come help us make the Memorial Gardens beautiful for Easter on Saturday, March 21, beginning at 9:30 am. Bring gloves, pruners and diggers if you have them, maybe a mug of coffee. We’ll clean up winter damage and fill the gardens with blooming plants, should be finished by noon—come and work as you can. If you’d like to help choose the plants, join us Saturday, March 14 at 10am; we’ll start at N&M Nursery on Feller Rd. (Donald) and move on from there!

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 March 5th at 2:00 pm. If you are interested in Silent Prayer or Contemplation and want to attend 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, March 1st.

Parish Outreach

William Temple House

Update: The St. Francis congregation provided ten van loads of donations to the William Temple House Thrift Store last year!

As we continue through 2026, please continue to donate clothing, electronics, furniture, and household goods so William Temple House can provide counseling services, food, and other items to those in need. Thank you!

Cold weather items including blankets, sleeping bags, and warm clothing are especially needed now; please consider donating any of these items if you are no longer using them. Again, thank you.

Wilsonville Food Bank

St. Francis had no food donations this past week. For those who can contribute 1 or 2 items a month, please know that each and every donation is one for which the staff and volunteers are grateful. After various community groups gather food and other donations for Thanksgiving and Christmas, the relief is felt by families, lasting a month or two. By the end of February, the families have run out of the extra supplies and are seeking more help. With SNAP benefits reduced and work requirements in place, rent going up, cost of food increasing, families are feeling the crunch, elderly living on their own are seeking more assistance, and more persons are becoming displaced. I can well imagine that may be the scenario with the person sitting next to you in church. Outside appearances may be deceiving. We just don't know who is drowning in medical debt, whose spouse was just laid off, who is taking care of a disabled person whose medicaid benefits were just reduced. As we are able, let's continue to aid our neighbors. Even I am guilty of not taking advantage of the BOGO sales, thinking that because it is more than just my husband and I would use and/or I don't have space. (And what a luxory it is to say that my pantry doesn't have space!). Let's try to take advantage of that sale and bring at least one item a month to church for donation. Thank you and please know that the Food Bank does appreciate the donations from the congregation.