This Week at St Stephen's

More to celebrate and more to thank!

The basement crew meets again tomorrow to finish cleaning up for our new food pantry on Sept 22. Plus, Robbie Ashenberner (Saturday Breakfast founder ten years ago, at age 11) has volunteered to build new shelves for our pantry storage in the Handel Room. John Lafrentz has offered to fund it. Thank You and Thank You!


Last Friday, thanks to an invitation from Operation Nightwatch to join them, we signed up 38 students from Lewis & Clark College interested in volunteering at St. Stephen’s (StSt) Table! Our new brochure by Faye Tayler was a great way of inviting folks to join us. Maybe you have a friend to invite too? If so, get a brochure Sunday! Thanks again, Faye!

We are also pleased and excited to welcome Erin Burns as our new Program Assistant to StSt Table! Erin’s work study position with us is totally funded by University of Portland. Erin is a junior, majoring in German and Psychology, and minoring in Education. She spent the summer serving breakfast at a meals program in Santa Cruz. She brings organizational skills that will be a great help coordinating volunteers and keeping track of our food supplies. Erin's first day with us is this Saturday at StSt Table breakfast. Welcome, Erin!

This Sunday, remembering 9/11

9 a.m. Adult Inquiry resumes with a special discussion on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. "Pathways to Faith" will be a four week conversation about Islam. Jean and Mic Fleming will give an overview this Sunday, followed in subsequent weeks by guest speakers from the Portland Mosque.

Rev. Dr. Caroline Litzenberger is our guest presider at 7:45 and 10am Eucharist. She will also preach at 7:45am. At 10am, a Noh theater production by Rev. Deacon Ken Arnold replaces the sermon. Noh Garden is presented in memory of the victims of 9/11. The original music was composed by Portland’s Joan McMillen. Featured soloists are Andy McQuery (from St. John the Baptist) as Jesus, and Erin Walker, a recent graduate in Vocal Performance from PSU, as Mary Magdalene. Ken filmed a full version of Noh Garden this summer and plans a DVD for screening in Spring 2012. This is part of a larger work, The Gospel According to Noh, that Ken is developing for stage production. Please mark your calendar for this remembrance Sunday.


After a summer break, Choir resumes rehearsals this Thursday to prepare to sing the Noh Garden on Sunday. Contact Matt Smith for more details at: MSmith215@gmail.com.


Fr. Dennis, Paul, Jim Hryncewich, and StSt Table volunteer Jeremy Chase will be in NYC this weekend to perform a special concert on 9/11 with the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus. Sue Rossiter and Anne Kennedy from StSt also plan to attend. More details about the “Day of Community, Day of Faith” events at the (Episcopal) Cathedral of St John the Divine are at http://www.stjohndivine.org/911.html. Paul is also pleased to have scheduled some study time at Union Theological Seminary for our meals program; he will discuss the idea of trauma among those who come to StSt Table with Dr. Serene Jones, seminary president, who has written Trauma & Grace: Theology in a Ruptured World.

At St Stephen’s (StSt), we celebrate one message spoken by many voices. The message is that we are all welcome at the Table. Clipboards with weekly bulletins for the children are at the back of the church.

Next Sunday, Commissioning Sunday

On 9/18, we are pleased to welcome Rev. Canon Neysa Elgren, from the office of the Bishop, as our preacher and presider. In a special litany by Fr. Dennis and Paul, we will lift up and recognize all the expressions of our inclusive Table at StSt, where our mission is to feed those who are hungry in body and spirit! Please plan to attend this kick-off service of the program year. Maybe you want to invite a newcomer to join you! Look for more details in next week.

May our thoughts this week be thoughtful ones.
Paul
Minister for Outreach