This Week at St Stephen's

Give thanks for friends! 

This Friday morning our downstairs freezer, full of supplies for our Food Pantry, quit working. Offers of partial space for the food came from Mike McCabe at Hamilton West Apartments (hamiltonwest@cascade-management.com), Melinda Tashnick at Loaves & Fishes (mtashnick@lfcpdx.org), and Doug & Sean at West Café (eat@westcafepdx.com). In the end, Patrick Daley at Blanchet House (chezblanchet@aol.com) was able to store all our food in one of their 12 freezers. It is good to know we have such friends willing to help! Saints Sue Rossiter and Alan and Robbie Ashenberner discovered the problem and got the food moved in time!

Bring a can if you can this Sunday… 

To celebrate the opening of our new Food Pantry this Thursday, Sept 22, 2-6pm, in the Parish Hall, everyone is invited to bring a can for the pantry this Sunday. We want to distribute 750 meals of food! In addition, you can: - Donate grocery bags for people to carry food home - Donate paper supplies and hygiene products (food stamps cannot be used to buy these items) - Volunteer to pick up food at the Food Bank this coming week - Volunteer to help Thursday: set up at noon; greet and assist guests 2-6pm; clean up 6-6:30pm. - Donate cash to buy food wholesale at Oregon Food Bank (OFB). Canned vegetables, tuna, chili, and stew cost us about $15-20 a case at OFB, so a cash donation might be a more effective use of your funds. - Email Roberta Taussig at rmtaussig@gmail.com about what we need this week for the pantry.

And celebrate a new partner for the Table…

Voodoo Donuts (http://voodoodoughnut.com/index.php) is partnering with us to provide St. Stephen’s (StSt) Table their day-old’s every Saturday morning to serve as we open the doors for breakfast. They will go perfectly with our hot coffee! Guest and volunteer Mike Perez took our information to Voodoo and made the connection for us. Roberta Taussig will pick up the donuts at 7am every week. Thanks to Mike, Voodoo, and Roberta!

Conversation with Islam, 9am Sunday 

9am Adult Inquiry continues its series on the tenets and practices of Islam. This week: Our guest will be Tawab Kamawal, a member of the Portland Mosque, who will lead a Q&A about the Islamic declaration of faith, prayer and spiritual practice. September 25: The practice of Zakat (charity) and pilgrimage. Hajj is pilgrimage to Mecca, the fifth pillar of Islam. All Muslims who are physically able must make this journey once in a lifetime. Departures from Portland begin Oct. 22. October 2: Women in Islam and any other questions you ever wanted to ask. The rights and responsibilities of women in Islam are equal to those of men but they are not necessarily identical. For Westerners it is often not easy to sort out what is imposed by ancient cultural tradition vs. what the Qur’an actually says.

This Sunday is “Consecrating Sunday” 

We are pleased to welcome Rev. Canon Neysa Elgren, from the office of the Bishop, as our preacher and presider at 7:45 and 10am Eucharist this week. Neysa will also be volunteering at StSt Table this Saturday. At 10am, we will lift up and recognize all the expressions of our inclusive Table at St. Stephen’s, where all are invited to be fed in body and spirit! A special litany by Fr. Dennis and Paul will celebrate our partnerships and ministries including: the Choir and sacramental ministries, StSt Table, Communion in the Park, Operation Nightwatch, Journey Koinonia Catholic Community, Portland Chamber Music, 12-step groups, and Ranger the service dog. Rev. Gary Davis, Rev. Roger Fuchs, and Jesuit Volunteer James “Jimbo” Antonio from Operation Nightwatch will join us, as well as last year’s J.V., Cole Merkel (now at Street Roots newspaper). Come help us kickoff the new program year with this uplifting service about all StSt is doing. Invite a newcomer to join you and find out about us!

 At 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.

Friends of StSt Music concert, Sunday at 2pm

Sunday at 2:00pm, as part of our 2011-2012 concert series, The Wildwood Consort presents a survey of the French Baroque with the music of Louis-Nicolas Clérambault (1676-1749), master of the Cantate Française: L'Ile de Délos - a musical depiction of the birthplace of Apollo, where wisdom and pleasure coexist in pastoral tranquility; Léandre et Héro - the tragic tale of lovers separated by water and a fateful tempest; Sonata I "L'Anonima" and other instrumental works. Suggested donation to support the music program is $10.

Last Week’s Noh Garden 

The Choir’s performance of Noh Garden, dedicated to the victims of 9/11, can be seen in excerpts at www.nohgarden.com. Rev. Deacon Ken Arnold hopes to have a film screening in the spring of 2012.