1315 SW Park Ave , Port l and OR 97201www.stjamespdx.org

Worship Services at St. James

Worship w/Holy Communion Sunday 9:30 am

Mid-Week Eucharist

Wednesday 12pm

Every Friday Bach’s Lunch

12:15pm Join Cantor Joseph Z. Pettit

& Friends

Monthly Jazz Vesper Sunday, March 17, 5pm

with John Stowell

Artist of the Month: Bob Grover

Reception following

Jazz Vesper 6pm

See page 14

Lenten Soup/Suppers/Services

Wednesdays 6pm See page 8

“Don’t wait passively for history to hap-pen to you. Make the road by walking.”

-Author Brian McLaren On Sunday, March 3rd you will receive a book from St. James as a gift. We will explore it during the 6 weeks of Lent because it has the perfect title for us:

“We Make the Road by Walking”

Instead of waiting for lightning from heaven or a clear sign of di-rection from God, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount from Matthew tells us to begin walking. Then we can begin to notice how the Christ accompanies us along the way. From the moment I walked in the St. James’ door last July, many have asked how we can be part of the solution for those who are houseless on our streets. So on your behalf I have met with the CEO of the Portland Business Alliance to hear his advice. Then I met with the chief of staff for the Mayor of Portland. Next week I will sit down with our Portland Police Central Pre-cinct Coordinator and then with Commissioner Nick Fish of our City Council. As we walk with Christ we seek information on how we can best use our time, our resources and our volunteer hours. It all happens on the journey. Read the book. Dust off your shoes. Jump into a Wednesday or Sunday study of the book. Our Lord is on a journey from death to resurrection. He’ll meet you on the road. Pastor David

St. James Lutheran Church Newsletter March 2019

RESCHEDULED! Bach Cantata Vesper Sunday, March 3, 5pm

Wine & Cheese Open House, 4pm

For a full schedule of this year’s Lenten Season Book Study, see pages 7 & 8

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Contact us at: St. James Lutheran Church 1315 SW Park Ave Portland, Or 97201 Pastor David: pastordavid@stjamespdx.org 503-227-2439

Fax 503-227-0856 Newsletter Production: Morgan Shimshak office@stjamespdx.org Newsletter editor: Kathleen McDonald

February Council Highlights Council welcomed new members Emily Anderberg and Julie Hatch. Appreciation was expressed to those having served on the 2018 Council: Ralph Oyler, Dennis Roggen. The election of council officers was moved, seconded & motion carried to accept the following for 2019: President – Carl Cottingham, term expires Jan 2021 Vice-President – Kathleen McDonald, term expires Jan 2021 Secretary – David Zellmer, term expires Jan 2021 Treasurer – Becky Bolt, term expires Jan 2021 Pastor presented nine new members for membership at St. James: Bill and Cathie Coffman; Roseann Kessler; Ethan & Chelsea Kimmett; Chriss & Haika Kisanga, daughter Anna; Josh Peters McBride. New pictorial Directory is ready. Special thanks to Lucy, Karin & Morgan for their work on this. A question has been brought up of whether there is a policy regarding donated art. Having no policy in place, motion was made to have Pastor ask the art group to submit recommendation for Council review. Pastor and Paula (Chair, Christian Ed) shared that an inquiry is being made via Concordia University to have a student to be a Sunday School teacher at St. James. Pastor reminded Council of the California Lutheran Choir Concert at St. James on Wednesday, March 27. Linda Larsen will be posting a sign up sheet for 1-night hosts. We’ve invited our neighbors at The Ladd Tower Apartments to a “Wine and Cheese Open House at St. James” on Sunday, March 3, preceding the Bach Cantata. Council members will participate in the hospitality. A new altar in the Pioneer Chapel, in memory of former member Judy Juul, will be dedicated in March. President Carl Cottingham discussed the St. James’ seismic upgrade. This is a huge issue. The City hasn’t come to agreement. Our Seismic Com-mittee has not met recently, but we will move ahead on this issue. Stay tuned. He asked David Zell-mer if he would serve as Stewardship Chair for 2019. David accepted. In Committee reports, David Zellmer will be working with Pastor, Cantor Joe & ushers to streamline ushering for Communion. Council unanimously approved Paula’s request for funds to honor the great team of Sunday School teachers at the end of the school year. Pastor informed council that the Synod Assembly is May 10-11 in Eugene. David Scott expressed interest to be a voting member representing St. James.

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Bach’s Lunch Friday Organ Recitals, 12:15pm St. James Cantor, Joseph Z. Pettit is presenting an organ concert every Friday. Joe will be joined occasionally by guest musicians including organists, singers and other instrumentalists. Everyone is welcome to bring a quiet lunch to enjoy during the music. Find a musical respite at week's end here in the heart of the city on Friday. Recitals are free admission, although a freewill offering at the door will support Bach’s Lunch. Bach’s Lunch in Lent: Friday, March 8: Kellyn Haley, trombone, and Cantor Joseph Z. Pettit, organ Music of Alexandre Guilmant, Gustav Holst, and Anthony Plog Friday, March 15: Nick Stevens, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral tenor choral scholar David Boeckh, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral organ scholar A program of John Stainer for Lent, with excerpts from his famous The Crucifixion Friday, March 22: Paul Moyer, St. James bass choral scholar Music from Paul’s senior piano recital at Lewis & Clark College, featuring J. S. Bach, Alexander Scriabin, and Nikolai Kapustin Friday, March 29: Marissa Moultrie, St. John’s Episcopal Church soprano choral scholar (Gig Harbor, WA) Cantor Joseph Z. Pettit, organ

Bach Cantata Vesper RESCHEDULED Sunday, March 3, 5pm Due to unforeseen circumstances, the February 3 Bach Cantata Vesper has been rescheduled for

Sunday, March 3. We look forward to seeing you then! The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple: Cantata 125 Mit Fried’ und Freud’ ich fahr’ dahin (With Peace and Joy I De-part …) If you missed the December Bach Cantata Ves-per, don’t miss this one! It was a spectacular debut for Cantor Joseph Z. Pettit and the St. James Bach Choir

and Orchestra. The text in this Cantata is based on Martin Luther’s German translation of Simeon’s Canticle (Luke 2:29-32). Originally called the Feast of the Purification of Mary, the Can-tata deals with the Presentation of the baby Jesus in the Temple, and Simeon’s response. Bach cre-ates a most captivating, twenty-minute plus work opening with two superior movements, a fantasia chorus and alto aria using dance forms, respectively, of a pastorale and a sarabande for this 1725 Purification work. Please join us for a special Open House prior to the Cantata. Starting at 4pm, we wel-come residents of the Ladd Tower Apartments for a wine and cheese reception.

Worship and Mus ic

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Jazz Vespers at St. James in Pioneer Chapel With Guest Artist, John Stowell Sunday, March 17, 5pm John Stowell began his successful career in the early 1970's. While studying in New York City, he met bassist David Friesen; they formed a duo that recorded and toured the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. In 1983, John and David joined flutist Paul Horn for a historic tour of the Soviet Union. This was the first time in forty years that an American jazz group had been invited to play pub-lic performances in Russia. In 1993, 1995, 1998 and 2012 John returned to Russia, playing in numerous cities. His two sold-out performances in Kursk may have been

the first appearances there by an American jazz musician. John continues to tour, record and teach internationally. He has been Artist-In-Residence at schools in Germany, Indonesia, Argentina, and in the United States and Can-ada. Since 1995 has been a contributing columnist for a number of magazines, including "Downbeat", "Guitar Player", "Canadian Musician", "Soundcheck" (Germany), and "Guitar Club" (Italy). The jazz vespers has been described as "an alternative, contemplative, evening service". Last month The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver published an arti-cle about the jazz vespers service in St. Luke's - San Lucas Episcopal Church, which uses the same jazz format as St. James, due to the fact that Tim Nickel composed the liturgy that both churches use. Here is a link to that very good article. https://www.columbian.com/news/2019/feb/17/a-swing-and-a-prayer-at-

jazz-vespers/ The same trio of musicians that performs at St. James - Mike Horsfall on piano, Brent Follis on drums, Laurent Nickel on bass - is featured, along with special guest Marilyn Keller, who has sung at St. James before. Arrive at 4:50 for pre-Vespers music when John will be joined by our St. James house band, Mike Horsfall, piano; Laurent Nickel, bass; Brent Follis, drums and Valarie Brown, cantor. Freewill offering. Reception for Artist of the Month follows. See page 12.

Lifting up Our Choral Scholars: A Note from Cantor Joe The Choral Scholars program at St. James is the way our congregation forms young musicians for future service in church music. Current college students and recent graduates not only boost the choir's numbers, but they are exposed to the essentials of making church music: hymnody, chant, sacred choral reper-toire, and larger works such as Bach cantatas. They are also asked to do addi-tional musical tasks, depending on their individual skill sets. I actively seek op-portunities for them to develop their resumes and repertoire lists. To that end, for this March 3 Cantata Vespers I'm delighted to present two of our choral scholars, soprano Lilli Vellom and bass Paul Moyer, as soloists in Handel's As Pants the Hart, along with soprano Kayla Ray, a recent voice graduate of Idaho State University. The Bach soloists will be St. James's own opera veteran Dr. Scott Swope, baritone, and Dr. Lisa Neher, mezzosoprano. Speaking of choral scholars, two of my former choral scholars from St. John's Episcopal Church, Gig Harbor, WA, will visit St. James in March for Friday Bach's Lunch re-citals. In fact, there will be guest musicians for Bach's Lunch throughout the Lenten season. Please don't miss these brilliant performances of extraordinary music.

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Welcome New Members! On Sunday, February 24th, we welcomed nine new members to St. James. Please greet them when you see them around the church. They are: Roseann Kessler, Josh Peters McBride, Bill Coffman and Cathie Strong Coffman, Ethan and Chelsea Kimmett, and Chriss, Haika, and Anna Kisanga.

Endowment Board

The St. James Endowment Board met on Monday, February 25. They welcomed new member Walter Matera, who is replacing Carl Cottingham. Since Carl is currently president of the Council, he declined to run again, and serve as Treas-urer. However, he will remain on the board as a non-voting member, and assume the role of bookkeeper. Craig Gerke offered to serve as Treasurer of the board. Other current officers agreed to serve another term. Endowment Board officers for 2019 are: Kathleen McDonald, Chair Craig Gerke, Treasurer Donna Dunlap, Secretary Additional members of the Board are Judith Smith and Walter Matera. The Board approved a new request of $6,000 for the Annual Gift to Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS), which was started at St. James. Pastor David serves on the Advisory Board of the seminary. The Board also plans to hold an informa-tional luncheon on Endowment Giving later in the spring.

New 2019 Member Directory The new St. James Member Directories are here, and they look great! Have you picked up yours up yet? They are hot off the press and avail-able for pick-up at the church. This year’s edition was put together by Lucy Knopf, Karin Hatch, and Morgan Shimshak, and it features full-color printing with photos of members new and old! We appreciate all of their dedication and hard work for this important project. And, we thank all of our members and friends for participating. Come get your copy and be in touch with all members of our commu-nity.

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Warm Greetings from the Child Development Center, We have been keeping warm indoors the past month, and classrooms have been filled with so much love and learning. Our school is currently fully enrolled, and the wait list is strong with more than 200 children waiting to get in. We have suspended enrollments until children begin to graduate out this summer, at which point we will begin welcoming new families to our community.

Toddler classrooms have been exploring the theme of love during the month of February. As you move through the spaces you will definitely feel the love as most activities revolved in some way around this theme. Young preschoolers are wrapping up their study on Bread this month (Right) with a special celebration field trip to Sesame Donuts on Park Avenue to learn how donuts are made and to have a special sweet snack. The older preschool classroom is fin-ishing up their study on Pets this month, and are having a series of guest experts come in to the classroom with their own pets for a question and answer period. Kindergarten has been learning all about the solar system this month, and even built a cardboard rocket in their classroom complete with a pretend mission control. The kindergarten will be traveling to OMSI soon to see the film, My Cardboard Rocket in the planetarium.

Last October we hired Martha Thorniley (who many of you know as one of our head teachers in Toddler 2) to create a yoga and creative movement curriculum for our students at St. James. Martha has been teaching yoga to adults for 5 years, and working with young children full time for 8, so it has been a treat for her to combine her two worlds! Martha teaches half hour classes on Wednesday afternoons to all of our classes, starting with the Toddler 3 group (Left). Every week in yoga class, the kids practice breath work, creative movement and mindfulness, through dance, chants, songs and stories. In just three

months, many of the kids can recall up to 10 yoga poses through verbal cues alone. The kids are all having so much fun and learning a ton. Martha says she gets asked daily, if "today is yoga day?!," and that alone is high praise. Classroom teachers will begin really sprucing up their spaces in the next few weeks, as St. James Child Development Center plans to be a feature school on the Portland Preschool Crawl, an event hosted by the Oregon Association for the Education of Young Children. Early educators from across the metro region will come to our school to see our classrooms and learn more about what we do here at St. James. We are looking ahead to warmer and sunnier weather, as we love to get out and about in our beau-tiful city and enjoy all that it has to offer. Patrick Earnest Director St. James Child Development Center

Child Development Center News

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2

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4 5 5:30 Shrove Tuesday

Pancake Supper

6 7 8 9

10 11 12

13 14

15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

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26 27 28 29

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Centering

Prayer, 8:30am Noon Eucharist

Bible Study: 12:30pm

Planning Ahead: March 2019

Ash Wednesday Centering

Prayer, 8:30am Noon Worship

Bible Study: 12:30pm

Worship 7pm

9:30am Worship /Sunday School/

Open Space, 11am The Flame, 1pm Open House 4pm Bach Cantata 5pm

Centering

Prayer, 8:30am Noon Eucharist

Bible Study: 12:30pm California Lutheran, Choir Concert,7pm

Special Lenten Event, 9am

Contemplative Prayer, 9:30-11am

Bach’s Lunch Organ Concert 12:15-12:45pm

Contemplative Prayer, 9:30-11am Art Group 11am

Bach’s Lunch Organ Concert 12:15-12:45pm

Choir Practice 7:15pm

Advocacy Day- Salem

Choir Practice 7:15pm

Bach’s Lunch Organ Concert 12:15-12:45pm

Bach’s Lunch Organ Concert 12:15-12:45pm

Choir Practice 7:15pm

Choir Practice 7:15pm

9:30am Worship Sunday School/

Open Space, 11am Church Council

Installed The Flame, 1pm

Centering

Prayer, 8:30am Noon Eucharist

Bible Study: 12:30pm

Worship 9:30am

Sunday School/ Open Space, 11am The Flame, 1pm Mary E. Bishop

Memorial Service, 2pm Jazz Vesper, 5pm

Artists Reception, 6pm

St. James Book Club, 7:10pm

Finance Committee,

6pm

Wednesday Bible Study: “We Make the Road by Walking” 12:30pm, following Noon Eucharist

• March 6 Genesis 3 • March 13 Chapter 27: A New Identity • March 20 Chapter 28: A New Path to Aliveness • March 27 Chapter 29: Your Secret Life • April 3 Chapter 30: Why we Worry, Why we Judge

Worship

Committee 10am

Funeral for Pr. Rex Heidmann/ Beautiful Savior

Lutheran (Happy Valley)

WELCA, 11am Council, 7pm

CONTACTING PASTOR DAVID. You can usually catch him at the St. James office any day but Friday (unless he is out visiting). Call the church office, 503-227-2439, or email him at pastordavid@stjamespdx.org

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Open Space Spring Schedule

March 3 Pr. David

What it means to be Lutheran

March 10 Pr. David & Sue Hammond Lenten Study Book: “We Make the Road By Walking”

March 17 Pr. David & Sue Hammond Lenten Study Book: “We Make the Road By Walking”

March 24 Pr. David & Sue Hammond Lenten Study Book: “We Make the Road By Walking”

March 31 Rector Ray Pickett Your Ministry at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary

April 7 Cordoba, City of Light: Documentary

April 14 Pr. David Palm Sunday

April 21 Easter Egg Hunt

April 28 Free Geek

Christian Education See below for the full schedule of Open Space discussions. All sessions begin at 11am, Sundays

March Spotlight: We Make The Road By Walking This book by Brian McLaren has been purchased for you and will be available as a gift on Sunday, March 3rd. To-gether we will explore it during the Lenten Season in Open Space (11 am on Sundays), Wednesday 12:30 Bible Study, Wednesday evening devotions and woven into

Sunday sermons. Let’s journey to the cross and resurrection together.

Wednesday Lenten Evenings at St. James • March 6 Noon & 7pm Ash Wednesday Service • March 13 6pm Soup Dinner, 7pm Devotional • March 20 6pm Soup Dinner, 7pm Devotional • March 27 7pm California Lutheran University � Choir Concert • April 3 6pm Soup Dinner, 7pm Devotional • April 10 6pm Soup Dinner, 7pm Devotional

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Prayer at St. James Personal and small group prayer can be a powerful force in your life. It centers and expands - at the same time - your connection with God. St. James offers two separate opportunities for designated prayer throughout the week. Every-one is welcome. Centering Prayer Wednesdays, 8:30-9am, Pioneer Chapel Centering Prayer is an ancient tradition of mindful meditation and prayer that is guaranteed to get your day started in a good mood. Wednesday mornings at 8:30 a small gathering takes place in the Pioneer Chapel, focused around a seed verse and 20 min-utes of silence with closing prayer. We then adjourn to a nearby coffee shop for conversation. Former Lutheran/Episcopal PSU campus pastor Chris Laing is the convener. For more info: Chris Laing, 503-704-7254

Showing Our Hospitality St. James has been blessed with won-derful neighbors. Now we are inten-tionally inviting them to experience our hospitality. The Council has approved Pastor David’s Outreach Plan ( in line with the goals of Vision 20/20 ) to provide an Open House or meal for our clos-est neighbors. Here’s a quick look: • A Wine and Cheese Open House will take place at 4 pm Sun-

day, March 3rd immediately before our 5 pm Bach Vespers Can-tata. The residents of The Ladd Tower (just across the Park Blocks) have been invited. Ginny Buntrock of St. James is living there and has been personally inviting residents. Our Church Council will be present to welcome folk and share information on our ministry.

• A summer meal in our Courtyard will be held on Sunday, Au-gust 18 at 3:30 pm for the residents of The St. James Apart-ments. All will then be invited to our 5 pm Jazz Vespers Ser-vice.

• A fall Wine and Cheese event is scheduled for the residents of The Eliot and Museum Place on Sunday, October 20th at 4 pm, just prior to our Jazz Vespers service.

Contemplative Prayer & Labyrinth Walk: Times of Prayer during Lent: Join the contemplative prayer group during Lenten season from 9:30 - 11 AM on Satur-days, March 2 and April 6, plus a Morning time of Reflec-tion on March 16 from 9:30 am - 12:30 pm. We will not meet on Holy Saturday, April 20. For more information, contact the church office, 503-227-2439 or Susan McBerry at sumacberry@gmail.com. Lenten Labyrinth Walk Saturday, March 16

Join us for a morning reflection time on Saturday, March 16 from 9:30am – 12:30pm to contemplate the leaning into the dialogue of prayer and life during Lent as we cultivate opening our hearts to God and neighbor. We will experience various forms of prayer with silence, reflection, music, lectio divina, gesture, writing, art and laby-rinth walking as we are present to God’s voice. Facilitators include Pastor David Knapp, Susan McBerry and Albert Alter

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Coming Events It’s Time To Eat Pancakes We gather on Tuesday, March 5 at 5:30pm for our Shrove Tuesday celebration. His-torically celebrated the day before the season of Lent, shrove comes from the Latin word shrive which means to absolve. Before a season of Lenten fasting, households would use up oils and other foods. Pancakes are on the menu! Then join us the fol-lowing day for Ash Wednesday worship at noon and 7 pm for a solemn service with the imposition of ash upon our foreheads signifying repentance. The season con-cludes with the joyous celebration of Easter morning.

Memorial Service for Mary E. Bishop Sunday, March 17th, 2pm A memorial service for Mary E. Bishop, mother of Ann Tohlen, will be held at St. James, on Sunday, March 17 at 2pm. A reception follows the service. All are welcome.

Seminary President To Speak Sunday, March 31, 9:30am Service; 11am Open Space Rector Ray Pickett will step into our pulpit. He is the newly elected Rector (president) of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, CA. He will thank St. James for being the original 1910 site of the present day seminary. During Open Space at 11am he will share information on how you are training pastors and leaders for ministry. Our Endowment Committee will show our support by presenting him with a check for the school.

California Lutheran Choir Concert at St. James Wednesday, March 27, 7pm St. James will be the venue for the touring California Lutheran University choir (Thousand Oaks, CA) on Wednesday, March 27 at 7 pm. We will then provide host homes for the 60 students. A sign-up sheet is in Pioneer Chapel. Can you attend the concert, then bring two students home for the night and bring them back to St. James the following morning? Let’s show them our hospitality.

On Sunday, February 17, Pastor David drew the line during a ser-mon to illus-trate a point

Ushers Needed! We need your help! Ushers keep the flock moving, and the more the merrier. Please consider participating in this important service. Contact Sylvia Lee if you are interested.

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St . James Supports the Flame Filling the Snack Gap for CAP Cascade AIDS Project has lost their previous connection to their supply of snacks which they provide to their houseless clients who come in to get warm and get something to eat. While they are working on new ways to fill these sup plies, the clients are grateful for any assistance we can provide. Sometimes it’s the only meal they’ll get that day. They have requested - Cup of Ramen, granola bars, protein snack packs, applesauce etc. They requested we avoid peanut products. They are also requesting clothes, large socks, underwear, lightly used items like rain coats, blankets, tarps, sleeping bags, tents, jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, sneakers/boots, and belts. You can bring these items St. James Front Office, the Flame on Sundays, and we will deliver. Your contributions make a real difference. Thank you! The Flame, serving the LGBTQ community, meets each Sunday at 1pm in the Pioneer Chapel. Pas-tor Leo Bancroft leads this small congregation in worship and community activities. It is a warm and supportive environment in which all are welcome.

Planning Ahead St. James Community Care Day Saturday, May 4, 9am-Noon. Mark your calendars for some spring cleaning in this joint effort of the Child Develop-ment Center and the St. James Congregation to beautify our shared space. Breakfast will be served at 9am. Projects begin at 9:30am, including a permanent art installation led by Don and Doris Nielson for the CDC. Adults and children are welcome. Rolls for all!

Lutheran Ligaments It’s time to start airing out your walking shoes for spring training. Lutheran Ligaments needs additional walkers for their race-walk from Portland to Sea-side Aug 23-24, This is a long-standing community event that supports Lutheran Community Services, and is always a lot of fun, rain or shine. Please contact Linda or Larry Larsen for more information.

Jazz Standards from Jazz Vespers The recording, "Come Sunday", was jointly produced by St. James Lutheran and St. Lukes Episcopal (of Vancouver) churches to feature some of the artists featured at the Jazz Vespers at both churches. The Mike Horsfall Trio, with Laurent Nickel on bass and Brent Follis on drums, is featured on the CD, along with some guest performers, including Cheryl Alex, Paul Mazzio, Devin Phillips, Christopher Woitach, and John Moak. CDs are available at the front desk for $20.

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March Commemorations March 6 Ash Wednesday

March 12 Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, +604

Gregory was born into a politically influential fam-ily. At one time he held political office and at an-

other time he lived as a monk, all before he was elected to the papacy. Gregory’s work was extensive. He influenced public worship through the establishment of a lectionary and prayers to correlate with the readings. He established a school to train church musicians. Gregorian chant is named in his honor. He wrote a treatise underscoring what is required of a pastor serving a congregation. He sent missionaries to preach to the Anglo-Saxons who had invaded England. And at one time he organized distribution of grain during a shortage of food in Rome.

March 19 Joseph, Guardian of Jesus The gospels are silent about much of Joseph’s life. We know that he was a carpenter or builder by trade. The Gospel of Luke shows him acting in ac-cordance with both civil and religious law by returning to Bethlehem for the census and by presenting the child Jesus in the temple on the fortieth day after his birth. The Gospel of Matthew tells of Joseph’s trust in God, who led him through visionary dreams. Because Joseph is not mentioned after the story of a young Jesus teaching in the temple, it is assumed that he died before Jesus reached adulthood.

March 25

Annunciation of Our Lord Nine months before Christmas the church celebrates the annuncia-tion. In Luke the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will give birth to the Son of God, and she responds, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord.” Ancient scholars believed that March 25 was also the day on which creation began and was the date of Jesus’ death on the cross. Thus, from the sixth to eighth centuries, March 25 was ob-served as New Year’s Day in much of Christian Europe.

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WELCA Card Ministry In March of 2015, there was a concern that the home bound of St. James needed more contact with St. James, so WELCA created a card ministry so that mem-bers who were unable to get to church would know that they were remem-bered in prayer. We have expanded the ministry by sending notes to members facing surgery or illness. If you would like to be involved you may first and fore-most pray for those who are unable to worship with us on a regular basis. Gifts of stamps or money are most welcome. They may be placed in the offering plate or given to a WELCA member.

St. James Ministries and Groups

WELCA WINTER WARM-UPS

During the Sundays in March, WELCA (Women of the ELCA) is collecting new winter clothing (think socks, scarves, gloves, rain jackets....) for Lutheran Community Services to distribute to families in need. Look for the donation site in Pioneer Chapel.

WELCA's Fair Trade Coffee & Chocolate Sale Sunday, March 3 Stock up on your monthly supply of chocolate, cocoa and coffee. And a reminder that we provide the coffee for the weekly coffee hour following Sunday service. Your dona-tions are always appreciated! WELCA Monthly March 19, 11am Join this monthly gathering for news and updates on the various WELCA ministries. All are welcome. For more: contact Lucy Knopf: 503-267-7177; aaa-team@msn.com

Support WELCA’S Red Wagon Project WELCA is continuing to support the the PCC Rock Creek Panther Pantry. The PCC staff and students established food pantries on all four campuses. PCC does partner with the Oregon Food Bank, but still needs some of the following items: Rice, Cereal, Peanut Butter, Tuna and Hygiene Products (toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, conditioner), as well as basic school sup-plies including pencils, pens and notebooks. Items are collected all month and brought forth on the first Sunday of each month.

St. James Welcomes a New Baby: A baby shower reception was held in February celebrating the birth of Peipei’s daughter Jana. Her thank-you note: “We are blessed and exceedingly grateful for the generous gift and the well-wishing cards from the loving people at St. James. Please convey my heartfelt thanks on behalf of Jana to each and every one of the church friends who contributed to the gift card and to tell you how honored and appreciative we are to be a part of the thoughtful and heartwarming St. James family. Peace and blessings, Peipei.”

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St. James Ministries and Groups cont’d.

St. James Book Club Tuesday, March 26, 7:10pm Winner of the Booker Prize, “The Blind Assassin, “ by Margaret Atwood weaves to-gether strands of gothic suspense, romance, and science fiction into one utterly spell-binding narrative. (Amazon.) Linda Rickert, 503-224-9353

St. James Art Group March Artist: Bob Grover Rejuvenating Old Paintings and the Artist Artist Reception: Sunday, March 17, 6pm Bob Grover is our Artist of the Month for March. His work will be exhibited from March 2 through March 30 in our Pioneer Chapel Gallery. In his own words:

“My recent artistic focus has been on digitalizing paintings I have done in the past and placing them in Photoshop. In that program, I can redo parts of the painting by changing colors, rede-fining shapes, drawing new elements with a puzzle like effect and collaging (cut and paste) sections from another one of my digitalized paintings, photographs or clip art on the original image.

Then, I print the altered image on watercolor paper and end up with two paintings, the original and the altered one. The show will feature some of my rejuvenated paintings. You should know, the new focus has greatly rejuvenated this 91 year old artist. I love doing it. “

Hospitality & Social Ministry

This year St. James is again offering Wednesday evening Soup Suppers and Devotional Services. Soup will be served at 6pm, the service begins at 7pm. This is always a a good time for conversation and contemplation with friends new and old. Soups are homemade and the service is a short de-votional Holden Service. Plan to join us, and bring a friend!

FLOWERS BY JUDITH Do you have 10 green thumbs but no hands for flower arranging? You can still contribute to the weekly altar flower arrange-ments. You provide the flowers or cash and Judith Smith will make it hap-pen. An expert arranger, Judith’s gorgeous arrangements have bedecked the altar for years. And she won’t even tell people that you didn’t do it yourself. See the sign-up sheet on hallway bulletin board. Contact Judith Smith for help with flowers: 503-688-6827

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March Birthdays & Anniversaries

Sunday Refreshment Hosts and Altar Flower Sponsors COFFEE HOUR: Lutherans love their coffee!!! Have you noticed lately that the coffee table is a little bare? We’d love to have you contribute. Please add your name to the sign-up sheet in the hall-way. It’s easy and a fun way to get to know members. FLOWERS: Please add your name to the sign-up sheet in the hallway.

COFFEE FLOWERS

March 3 _ Open Grovers___ __________

March10 Open _ None (Lent)____ ___

March17 _ Open _____ None (Lent) ____

March 24 Open ______ __ None (Lent) ___ _

In Our Prayers For comfort, healing, and care: Lucille Nylander, aunt of Linda Rickert; Leon Gogl as his daughter Katie heals from an accident; Steve D., friend of Esther Portnoy; Hannah, granddaughter of Janet Weerts; Richard Biggs, friend of Jack Hammond; Ursula; Jerome Hodges, brother of Margie Antico; Cameron, grandson of Janet Weerts; Elise Shamblen, granddaughter of Bob and Gerry Grover; Pelagie Toldoum; Dick Tretheway; Salli Johnson, living with Alzheimers; Paul Siegmund; Bill and Sandra Arbaugh; Roger Lee; Allen Nelson;

Joseph Anderson-Bussie; Deb Aronson; Lynn Drake; Debbie Marr, best friend of Carol Wallis; Roy Bolt; Mary Ann Calvillo. For those receiving treatment for, or healing from, cancer: Bill Hamann; Tim Mongin, coworker of Ann Tohlen. The prayer list will be refreshed every month. Please contact Karin Hatch if you’d like your re-

quest to stay on longer. Email: karinh@stjamespdx.org or call the

Church Office: 503-227-2439

Neil Jorgenson 3/3 Dar Isensee 3/8 Shirley Roggen 3/8 Eric Deitrick 3/10 Charles & Chelsea Ellertson 3/14 Kennedy Reamer 3/15 Joel Davis 3/16 Margie Lee 3/16 Jack Hammond 3/19 Eric Myers 3/19

Lydia Holden 3/20 David Knapp 3/20 LaVon Holden 3/23 Megan Myers 3/23 Sue Hammond 3/29 Brenna Reamer 3/29 Becky Bolt 3/30 Robert Bolt 3/30 David Zellmer 3/30

St. James Inclement Weather Policy OUR ST. JAMES PROMISE: St. James does not cancel worship services due to inclement weather. If the streets look too bad, please don’t risk it. But if you come, we’ll have the doors open.

16

1315 SW Park Ave

Portland, Or 97201

www.stjamespdx.org

Tel: 503.227.2439

Fax: 503.227.0856

St. James Lutheran Church 1315 SW Park Ave Portland OR 97201

STAFF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Full Time:

Pastor: David Knapp Carl Cottingham, President

Cantor: Joseph Z Pettit Kathleen McDonald, Vice President

Patrick Earnest, Director, Child Dev. Center David Zellmer, Secretary

Morgan Shimshak, Front Office Assistant. Becky Bolt, Treasurer

Part Time:

Karin Hatch, M.S., Parish Administrator

Sharon Kurtz, Bookkeeper

Mike Horsfall, Director of Jazz Ministry

Scott Keane, RN, Foot Care Clinic

Lucy Knopf, Nursery Coordinator

St. James shares God’s inclusive and

eternal love with everyone.