Beloved,

Alleluia, it feels as if summer is finally arriving, or spring, at least. It never ceases to amaze me how a little sunshine and warmth can really change my mood and outlook. It reminds me that while I live most of the time in my mind, we are still embodied creatures, and our physical bodies have both wisdom and needs. Something to ponder.

Last Sunday we had a very good ‘state of the parish’ forum. It was clear at the meeting that there are still unresolved feelings around the trauma of the three year covid pandemic, as well as what happened around Mother Anne’s resignation last summer. I am in conversation with Salem Pastoral Counseling, and they are willing to work with us over the summer to help us, as a community, move towards deeper healing and reconciliation. I will share updates on this work as

I know more, but just to say that I and the vestry are aware that there are some or many of you who have complicated feelings around what happened in the church community over the last few years, and that we are committed to healing and reconciliation.

Talking of complicated things, this coming Sunday is Mother’s Day. Over the last few years many church communities have expanded their celebration of our mothers and grandmothers (and great grandmothers!) to include all of the many women who have loved and nurtured us, and who stand as role models for our own lives – aunts, big sisters, mentors, educators… We will celebrate the occasion in this spirit.

Also… we will be welcoming the Rev. Ryan Zavacky to St. Paul’s this coming weekend. Fr. Ryan is a candidate as we search for a new assistant priest-in-charge. Robin Ellis, Hollie Groves, Cott Thompson and Ann Lovejoy are our discernment team, and will be shepherding his time with us. I hope that you have an opportunity to meet him this coming Sunday. Please keep Fr.

Ryan in your prayers as we discern together God’s call for us and him.

Love and prayers,

Simon+

Vestry Corner

2023 Vestry Members:

Ann Lovejoy, Sr. Warden

Roy Bryan, Jr. Warden

Chuck Chamberlain

Jeanne Clark

Hollie Groves

Barb Leque

Doug Lusk

Elaine Sanchez

Johana St. Clair

Betsy Steinberg

Cott Thompson

Michelle Wardrip

Kathy Gordon, Treasurer Pro Tem

Linda Gilbert, Clerk of the Vestry



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Click here to view Vestry minutes, reports, and updates on our website!

Click here to view COVID-19 updates from the Oregon Health Authority.

Watch services online:

Do you have some community appreciation that you would like to share? Send your shout outs to [email protected] to be included in an upcoming newsletter!

Parish Events and Information

From the Lay Pastoral Care Team

May 2023

Dear Parishioners,

Our Lay Pastoral Care Team that was recently commissioned by Fr. Simon would like to invite you to our May gatherings. This will be a time to meet in a safe, confidential setting to reflect on losses in our lives and share ways that we have coped on this journey of grief. It will be in room 112 at St. Paul’s on Wednesday, May 17th at 1:30 pm or May 24th at 6:00 pm. This is about an hour’s visit to emotionally check in. Perhaps your loss is recent or many years ago. Loss affects everyone differently. You do not have to sign up – just come and plan to visit for about an hour. We want to structure these gatherings to be helpful to you. Let us learn and help one another together. If you would like to participate in a more comprehensive reflection, a program is being developed. Watch this space for details.

Blessings – Lynda Bush

St. Paul's Graduate Sunday

May 21st



High school and college graduates will be recognized during the 10:00am service with a reception to follow. If you are graduating or know someone who is, complete this 2023 Graduate information form before May 15th. We look forward to celebrating your accomplishment!

Contact Amy Goerger ([email protected]) with any questions.  

The Order of the Daughters of the King

May 24th

The Order of the Daughters of the King Women of Hope chapter is now meeting on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 4:00 PM in room 112. If you are a woman interested in this ministry of prayer and service please join us. Pick up a brochure near the library or connect with one of the DOK's who can be identified by the little silver cross that is worn daily.

For His Sake, I am but one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do, What I ought to do, by the grace of God, I will do. Lord, what will you have me do?

Hazel Patton Riverfront Carousel Renaming

June 3rd

On Saturday, June 3rd, 2023, at Noon, the Salem Riverfront Carousel will be renamed and dedicated in honor of long-time St. Paul's member Hazel Patton.

Hazel was the founder of Carousel. She shepherded it through the construction process involving hundreds of carvers, painters, and other volunteers. It is one of Salem's largest and most beloved community projects.

The celebration is open to the public, and refreshments will be served after a short dedication ceremony to honor Hazel and the 22nd anniversary of the Carousel's opening.

This event will also jumpstart a campaign to fund Hazel's next dream for the Carousel: the construction of the Carousel Stables Annex, where the public can watch artisans hand carve and paint new additions to the Carousel family.

Everyone is welcome!

Click here to read the full event invitation.

Evensong Concert

June 4, 2023 at 4 pm

The June 4th Evensong Concert features vocalist/saxophonist Camille Thurman and bassist Jennifer Vincent. Both artists are first-call musicians from New York. (Jennifer grew up in Salem at St. Paul's.) They will be joined by pianist, George Colligan and drummer, Christopher Brown, both based in Portland.

The group will offer gospel and jazz infused sacred music by Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and Charles Minugus along with original compositions by Ms. Thurman.

The concert follows the service of Evensong at 4:00pm.

The public is invited. Masks are optional, but recommended to protect the most vulnerable in our audience.

Donations at the door or online at stpaulsoregon.org are appreciated.

The concert will be live-streamed on the St. Paul's YouTube channel.

Wednesday Night Service

Please join us Wednesdays through the end of May at 6:15pm (following the community dinner) in the chapel for a Celtic-inspired Evening Prayer service. There will be music, a commemoration of a saint, and time to request prayers and pray for each other.

All are welcome!

We will be taking a break for the summer starting in June, but we are excited to welcome you back in the fall!

Wednesday Community Dinners 



Meals will be served in person on Wednesdays from 5:00-6:00pm. 

Registration is required. Please submit your registration on Realm by noon on Monday each week.

Contact Shauna for more information at [email protected]

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May 17th - Ethiopian Style Beef and Onion with Berbere

May 24th - Creamy Basil Chicken Pasta

May 31st - Breakfast for Dinner

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St. Paul’s offers this ministry and welcomes donations to help cover the expenses. If you would like to donate to support this effort, please click here.

Suggested donations: $7 per person, $15 per family.

Community Caring

Property Committee

Would you like to serve on St. Paul's Property Committee? We are charged with addressing the ongoing maintenance and upgrading of our four (4) properties: the Church Building, the Parsonage, the Green House and the Goulet Building.

Currently there are four (4) members and we would like to add two more. We meet at 4:00 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month.If you have an interest and especially if you have experience in any way related to the upkeep and care of buildings and grounds, please contact Neale Quenzel, Chairperson, at [email protected]. Thank you!

Kitchen Volunteers

Would you like to help out in the St. Paul's kitchen? Are you part of a group who helps prepare or serve food at events?

Here's what you need to know:

• You'll need a current Food Handler's Card that's valid in Marion County. You can click here to complete your training online!

• We'll reimburse the $10 fee for your Food Handler's Card! Just email your receipt to Colleen ([email protected]). If you need funding assistance, we can do that too!

• You can email Shauna ([email protected]) for more information and to get your name on the list of kitchen volunteers!

Safe, Caring Drivers Needed!

Here at St. Paul’s we’re in the midst of developing a solid caregiving ministry. We believe it’s time to establish a Safe, Caring Drivers group. That could include you! At all times in the life of the congregation there are several people who are unable to drive. It would be helpful to have a group of 12-15 drivers who can provide safe transportation for parishioners on an occasional basis. If you are a safe driver, have a good-working vehicle, necessary insurance and would be willing to serve as a safe, caring driver, please contact Liz Mills, (503-932-8923), Sally Shackleford, (503-798-7722) or Jon Langenwalter, (503-378-1343). We would like to have this ministry available by June 1.

Episcopal Relief and Development

Episcopal Relief and Development is working to provide critical relief to communities in Turkey and Syria impacted by the earthquake. In supporting local partners with life-saving supplies and resources, medicine and emergency support, we can help communities rebuild and heal.

You can click here to donate.

In the beauty of Holiness: Invitation to Dedicate Altar Flowers



The beautiful floral arrangements adorning our altar for Sunday services are the generous gifts from parishioners like you. Flowers are often given in dedication of celebration of anniversaries, memory of departed loved ones, or in thanksgiving for a special blessing in your life.

To select a Sunday or learn more, please call Judy Rankin 503-931-3512. Payment is made to St. Paul’s and the cost is $75.00. On the check memo line, please write ‘flowers’ and the date flowers were on the altar. 

Firewood for Sale

The Woodcutters still have firewood for those in need and for sale. The price is the same, no inflation. The wood comes in three categories; hard wood, soft wood, or a mixture. It comes in two length categoies of regular (14"-17") and short pieces (4"-12").

Please call Gary Brandt at 503-428-7169, Martin Loring at 503-551-1515, or the church office at 503-362-3661 to place an order. We work on Tuesday mornings so that’s when we’ll deliver the firewood. Thank you for supporting our ministry.

All the profits from firewood sales go to local charitable organizations, including St. Paul’s. We are also looking for new members and you don’t need a truck or chainsaw to join.

Notes from Dot

Dot the Free Pantry: Community Mutual Aid

Thank you to everyone who continues to care for our community through Dot! 

Most needed items: grab-n-go meals and snacks such as breakfast/granola bars, applesauces, ramen noodles, bottled water, electrolyte drinks and hygiene products.

Follow Dot_thefreepantry on Instagram to stay up-to-date on ways you can take direct action to love our neighbors!

Community Gas Cards

Every week, St. Paul's purchases and distributes $25 dollar Fred Meyer gift cards (generally just called "Gas Cards") to folks in need in our community.

These individuals are often living in their cars or are struggling to commute to work. These cards are good for the purchase of gas at any Fred Meyer gas station and can also be used to purchase snacks and drinks.

With the continuing spike in gas and housing prices, the need in our community has grown rapidly. We now have a line of people outside the doors every Monday morning at 9am, and we run out of cards immediately.

If you are able to help support this effort, please click here to donate.

Spanish Language Immersion Program

July 29th - August 12th

Have you ever thought about learning to speak Spanish, or did you study Spanish years ago but have lost most of your ability to speak it through lack of use? 

The Anglican Diocese of Cuernavaca offers a two week Spanish language immersion program to members of the Diocese of Oregon every summer. 

Click here to view the flier and learn how you can participate!

St. Paul's Children, Youth, and Families

Parents and Guardians please complete a NEW Annual Permission form linked below for each child participating in St. Paul's Children, Youth and Families activities.

Look at the newest addition to the children's library found in the PrayGround! Written by Daneen Akers and illustrated by Gillian Gamble, Dear Mama God is a beautiful children's picture book with an expansive, simple, wonder-filled prayer addressed to God as a Mother. The language we use as we try to understand the Mystery we call God is important. "It is how we symbolize that which we hold as ideal." For more on this book please visit dearmamagod.com.

If you'd like to check out this book or any of the other books in our library, you are welcome to do so! Email [email protected] to let me know which books you have at home.

As we approach Mother's Day, I offer up this prayer has been revised by The Rev. Heidi Carrington Heath (based on a version originally by Amy Young).

Know that I see and love all of you, whether this day is your greatest joy, or deepest heartache. You are loved.

I want you to know I'm praying for you if you are like Tamar, struggling with infertility, or a miscarriage.

I want you to know that I'm praying for you if you are like Rachel, counting the women among your family and friends who year by year and month by month get pregnant, while you wait.

I want you to know I'm praying for you if you are like Naomi, and have known the bitter sting of a child's death.

I want you to know I am praying for you if you are like Joseph and Benjamin, and your Mom has died.

I want you to know that I am praying for you if your relationship with your Mom was marked by trauma, abuse, or abandonment, or she just couldn't parent you the way you needed.

I want you to know I am praying for you if you've been like Moses' mother and put a child up for adoption, trusting another family to love the child you birthed into adulthood.

I want you to know I am praying for you if you've been like Pharaoh's daughter, called to love children who are not yours by birth (and thus the mother who brought that child into your life, even if it is complicated).

I want you to know I am praying for you if you, like many, are watching (or have watched) your mother age, and disappear into the long goodbye of dementia.

I want you to know that I am praying for you if you, like Mary, are pregnant for the very first time and waiting breathlessly for the miracle of your first child.

I want you to know that i am praying for you if you, also like Mary, have watched your beautiful, black or brown-skinned baby murdered by the empire. And even still all you can do is weep and rage.

I want you to know that I am praying for you if you are a queer mama, or a trans mama doing the work of mothering your babies in a radical way that was not modeled for you.

I want you to know that I am praying for you if your children have turned away from you, painfully closing the door on relationship, leaving you holding your broken heart in your hands. And like Hagar, now you are mothering alone.

I want you to know that I am praying for you if motherhood is your greatest joy and toughest struggle all rolled into one.

I want you to know that I am praying for you if you are watching your child battle substance abuse, a public legal situation, mental illness, or another situation which you can merely watch unfold.

I want you to know that I am praying for you if you like so many women before you do not wish to be a mother, are not married, or in so many other ways do not fit into societal expectations.

I want you to know that I am praying for you if you carry the beautiful, exhausting, maddening, heart breaking, wonderful labor of mothering even though you do not have children of your own.

I want you to know that I am praying for you if you see yourself reflected in all, or none of these stories.

This mother's day, wherever and whoever you are, we walk with you. You are loved. You are seen. You are worthy.

And may you know the deep love without end of our big, wild, beautiful God who is the very best example of a parent that we know.

Amen.

Little Wonders

Infant-Preschool  (Must be accompanied by an adult.)

Next gathering: May 14th

Families with young children explore God's love for us and the world through story and song! Infants through preschoolers along with their grown-ups gather on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month in Room 110 at 10:00am. Families join the service during the Peace for Communion.

Godly Play

K-5th

Next gathering: May 14th

Godly Play will have an additional gathering on the first Sundays of May and June! All children grades K-5 are welcome. Children who sing in the Primary Choir are invited to join after they sing their song in the service. 

Godly Play is a way for children to experience faith stories in a Montessori style setting and wonder together about God's love for us. Children grades K-5 gather in Room 114 on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month at 10:00am. They join their families in the service at the Peace.

Sign Up for SPARK 2023!

St. Paul’s Rhythm and Arts for Kids returns this summer! This beloved week long day camp allows children ages 6-11 to experience the music, art and culture of a different country right here in Salem. Each day from 9am to 3pm campers will be immersed in the literature, songs, arts, animals and geography of the Philippines! 

Click here for the Registration Form.

Click here for more information.

SPY (St. Paul's Youth)

Upcoming Events:

May 14: Youth Group/Dinner 4:00-5:30pm

May 21: Graduate Sunday and Roller Skating Event (Please register below!)

June 16-17: Hope & Fire overnight in Lincoln City

July 12 (1-4pm): Lake Day with West Pres Youth

August 13-17: City Camp (Register NOW at link listed below!)

St. Paul's Graduate Sunday

May 21st



High school and college graduates will be recognized during the 10:00am service with a reception to follow. If you are graduating or know someone who is, complete this 2023 Graduate information form before May 15th. We look forward to celebrating your accomplishment! Contact Amy Goerger ([email protected]) with any questions.  

City Camp

City Camp is a fun and exciting four day OVERNIGHT CAMP adventure for middle school youth who have completed grades 5-8. High School students can register to serve as resource staff by filling out this form as well. 

Location: Westminster Presbyterian in Salem

Dates: Sunday, August 13-Thursday, August 17

Fun Activities: Night games, outdoor movie night, pool day, silent disco dance party, costume dinner, kickball competition, Kona Shave Ice truck and more!

Help Serve: Sunnyslope Community Garden, Free Fridge Salem, Fircrest Park, and more!

Cost: $125 and includes all meals, group stay, and all activities.

Scholarships/financial assistance are available.

Contact Amy Goerger [email protected] for more information.

Click this link to register.

Children's Bulletins



Here are some fun ways for children to engage with the scripture readings each week.



The bulletins may be printed off and games accessed online.

• Ages 3-6 Children's Bulletin
• Ages 7+ Children's Bulletin

There is a secret code on the front cover page that is unique to our church and allows SAFE and secure access to online games to reinforce the message for the week. The games are geared toward all age levels so everyone can join in the fun!

        Step 1: Print the age-appropriate bulletin with a secret code on the front.

        Step 2: Enter the secret code at Games.ChildrensBulletins.com

        Step 3: Pick a game and play!

May 14th

Lilly Phillips

Florish Leo

May 16th

Natasha Tiffany

Will Hoffman

Cover Image: Apostle Paul Preaching on the Ruins, Giovanni Paolo Pannini, oil on canvas, 1744. A capriccio of Saint Paul preaching to classical figures among Roman ruins. In painting, a capriccio; (in older English works often anglicized as "caprice") means an architectural fantasy, placing together buildings, archaeological ruins and other architectural elements in fictional and often fantastical combinations. The scene depicted is Paul preaching to the Athenians on the Areopagus. The Areo Pagus (Ares Rock or Mars Hill) was the meeting place of the council of elders of the city in pre-classical times (before the 5th century BC), through Roman times. It was from this location, drawing from the potential significance of the Athenian altar to the Unknown God, that the Apostle Paul is said to have delivered the famous speech, "Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands." (Acts 17:24). Visitors to the Acropolis today are likely to have a tour guide point out the rock, and be told: Paul stood right there and preached! Collection of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.