This week at St Stephen's

Welcome new volunteers!
We are pleased to have 3 new volunteers at St. Stephen’s (StSt) Table: Jeremy Chase on Tuesdays; and Liz McCoy and Colby Aley on Saturdays.  Colby is also volunteering to design a webpage for http://www.stst.org/ about our feeding program.

How did they find out about us?  Jeremy got invited by one of our Tuesday Chili guests to join him at the Table for lunch.  Liz read a posting from Jean Fleming’s Facebook page.  (Thanks, Jean!)  And Colby, like our own Robbie Ashenberner, was looking for a community service project for school.  (Robbie’s still serving 10 years later!)

Welcome, Jeremy, Liz and Colby.  Thanks for helping us set a Table where everyone is valued and fed!

This Sunday
9 a.m. Adult Inquiry continues with a discussion of Marcus Borg’s new book, Speaking Christian.

Fr. Dennis is our preacher at 7:45 & 10 a.m. Eucharist.  The choir returns at 10am after a post-Easter break.

At StSt, we celebrate one message spoken by many voices.  The message is that we are all welcome at the Table.  Clipboards with a special bulletin for the children are at the back of the church.

Fr. Dennis and Paul out of the office
Wednesday-Friday, Fr. Dennis is at Diocesan Vocations Conference, where he is Chair of the Commission on Ministry.  The Commission is interviewing 7 aspirants (including our own Marcos Domingues) who are discerning a call to Holy Orders in The Episcopal Church.

Thursday & Friday, Paul is representing StSt Table at the Oregon Food Bank all-agencies conference.  Friday night and Saturday, he will be in Seattle for a “Companioning Training” workshop led by Rev. Dr. Craig Rennebohm, founder of The Mental Health Chaplaincy and author of Souls in the Hands of a Tender God.  Craig has invited Paul to spend Saturday afternoon with him reaching out to those on the streets of Seattle and discussing how The Chaplaincy might be adapted for our “companioning” presence at StSt Table.

Fr. Dennis and Paul ask your prayers for wisdom, insight, and inspiration.  They look forward to sharing their experiences with you on Sunday during announcements.  There are good things happening at StSt!

An excerpt from ONW’s Gary Davis
Rev Gary Davis, who heads Operation Nightwatch (ONW), wrote a moving mediation for their newsletter.  He reflects on Jesus’ parable where the people ask at the end of time when it was that they had seen Jesus thirsty or hungry or naked and cared for him; and the answer comes, “When you did it for the least of these, you did it to me.”  Gary writes: 
“This parable is not just a call to serve.  It is a call to carry a certain attitude in our service.  For if it is true that in every needy individual we meet God incarnates himself to us anew, then how can we reach out to the individual without the greatest humility, care, and respect?  How can we possibly be condescending, patronizing, or judgmental?  How can we help without wanting to know that individual as he really is?  Because if that truly is God coming to us in the tattered clothing with the bedroll on his back, we’re not the ones doing him the favor in the encounter—God’s doing us the favor by allowing us to meet him once again in this time and in this place.”  [Bold added for emphasis.]   To read more from ONW, see their newsletter at http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/371712/6c3b17ec33/1666000281/83e4ef520b/.

Remember our ONW Saturday is May 14
Every 2nd Saturday, 6:30pm-11:30pm, StSt serves as the hosts for Operation Nightwatch in the parish hall.  For more details or to volunteer, email Paul at Outreach@stst.org.

Matt invites us to Sunday, May 15, 3pm Concert
Director on Music Matt Smith asks us all to make a special effort next Sunday to come and provide a great audience for the final concert in our 2010-2011 StSt series.  “The Julians,” Portland's genre-defying lady vocal quartet, perform Melodies & Desires.”  This program runs the indie/pop/classical/jazz gamut with works by Leonard Cohen, Mountain Man, Veljo Tormis, Florence & the Machine, Cat Stevens, Fleet Foxes and Einojuhani Rautavaara to name a few.  The Julians will be joined by violinist Chris Fotinakis and pianist Anita Lundgren.  Many StSt folk will remember Mel Downie, a soprano in the group, who has filled in with the StSt Choir on several occasions.  Next Sunday, May 15, at 3 pm.  $10 suggested donation as you are able.  Refreshments will follow.

Also, “Yamato Dawn,” featuring Peter Zisa and friends will perform a benefit concert for disaster relief in Japan on May 22 at 3 pm at First Christian Church, located at SW Park and Columbia.

As Gary from ONW suggests this week, let’s “carry a certain attitude in our service.”
See you at StSt,
Paul
Minister for Outreach