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What does it mean to be a Lutheran in Oregon in the 21st Century? How can we keep our churches going (paying the light bills) while still meeting the needs of our congregation and community? How can we reach out to our neighbors and those in need? Are we who, what and where Jesus wants us to be?
These are some of the questions representatives from all over Oregon wrestled with at the 2011 Oregon Annual Synod Meeting in Eugene earlier this month. Representatives from the churches met in large sessions to hear reports on the state of the church, to be inspired by guest speaker Shane Claiborne, and to worship together in a jazz vespers Friday evening and traditional worship Sunday morning. Pastor Matthew was in charge of arranging music for the worship services. The band “Luther and the Monkey Minds”, whose members are mainly from Calvary, led the jazz vespers.
We were encouraged to see the many faces of the church at work throughout Oregon. The OLY (Oregon Lutheran Youth) group was enthusiastic and well-spoken. They met separately to encourage one another, worship, and plan activities for youth. I encourage our youth to consider attending one of the OLY gatherings this coming year.
Some congregations are answering the questions by opening their doors to their neighbors by allowing skateboarding on the church grounds, adding non-traditional worship services, and melding with congregations of other denominations.
The exciting “new thing” introduced at the assembly was Soul Cafe. Bishop Dave Brauer-Rieke was enthusiastic about the project, which is designed to connect Lutherans throughout the Northwest via internet conversation. According to the Oregon Synod website, the online community Soul Cafe is now up and running. You can view a video on the Synod website, www.OregonSynod.org, or “you can go straight to www.soulcafe.org and figure it out as you go along.
Soul Cafe will be in beta testing over the summer. That means we'll be ironing out a few bugs, adding additional features and screeching around that old learning curve. We will also be using this time to "seed the community." This means gathering up members, building discussion groups developing the resource library.
Feel free to share Soul Cafe with your friends. However, please remember to start with that this community is a resource for the Pacific Northwest. Once we establish a vibrant, Region 1, community we will look to sharing this fantastic resource.”
People of Calvary are working and worshiping in meaningful ways. We reach out through our Community Gardens, Family Bridge, Outpost at Shute Park and other activities. We explore ideas through adult forum, bible studies, book groups and conversations over coffee. We open our church to several community groups and share our building with Iglesias de Christo. We work with other churches through Family Bridge, LEM (Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist) Youth Group and in sharing Vacation Bible School with All Saints Episcopal. We do many things right. I think Shane would join the Apostle Paul in exhorting us to check our hearts, and pray that we do these things for the love of Christ. “We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:3
God’s Peace,
Ermine and Susan Todd
Calvary’s congregational representatives for Synod Assembly 2011
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