Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed, alleluia!
Welcome to St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in the heart of the Parkrose neighborhood, where we have been serving God and the people of God since 1944. We are a Jesus-believing community that takes seriously the Great Commandment to love God with our whole heart, mind, and spirit, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Sunday worship is at 9:00 am. St. Matthew’s is the closest Episcopal Church to Portland International Airport so if you have some time before your flight, please come by and join the St. Matthew’s community for worship!
The Great 50 Days of Easter are drawing to a close. This coming Sunday, May 19, is the Feast of Pentecost. Our presider will be the Rev. Dr. Caroline Litzenberger, and Deacon Marla McGarry-Lawrence will preach. On this day we will be remembering the Holy Spirit being poured out upon the followers of Jesus. We’ll wear the colors of fire: red, orange, and yellow. Following worship we’ll celebrate with a Pentecost cake that symbolizes the Church: the cake is the foundation built on our relationship with Christ, the strawberries symbolize the outpouring of the Spirit, and the whipped cream is the “mortar” which binds us all together. On this day, we’ll also be bidding farewell to our Missioners, Deacon Marla McGarry-Lawrence and Dr. Caroline Litzenberger and to Deacon Marla’s husband Gary Lawrence.
Our Thursday evening “Pub Theology” series concludes on Thursday, May 23 at 6:30 pm at Good World Chinese Restaurant at NE 107th & Sandy Blvd. We’ve been exploring the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Holy Trinity and how she relates to us in her role as comforter, animator, and guide.
Our final Portland Chamber Music concert of the 2012-2013 season will be held on Friday, June 14 at 7:00 pm. You’ll love the comraderie shared between the musicians and the audience! Children are invited to see up front to see all the action and to ask questions between musical pieces. The concert is free but the Portland Chamber Music ensemble is deeply grateful for your donations to support their work of being able to provide music lessons on a sliding scale basis. This month’s concert will be hosted by parishioners Susan & Wilson Federici.
You’ll also want to be at St. Matthew’s the next morning, Saturday, June 15 for the “TAKE THE RIGHT STEPS”– FALLS PREVENTION PROGRAM from 11:00 am to noon. Every year in the United States, approximately one-third of older adults experience a fall. These falls often result in serious injury requiring hospitalization. At the very least, falls cause significant disruption in health and comfort, and contribute to increased health care costs. This free presentation will be done by the Legacy Emanuel Medical Center “Trauma Nurses Talk Tough” team. Come and find out how to make your life safer.
Know someone who is sad or burdened? We have many lovely prayer shawls crafted by our parishioners in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. When your friend or loved one wrap themselves in the prayer shawl, they will truly feel embraced by God’s love. We bless prayer shawls on the first Sunday of every month and they are free for the asking.
The Hebrew Scriptures call God’s people to “Seek the shalom of the place where I have sent you, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its shalom, you will find your own shalom.” (Jeremiah 29:7). The St. Matthew’s community strives to be “A Center for Christ’s Mission & Ministry in the Parkrose neighborhood & beyond,” seeking the well-being of our neighborhood as well as the larger world around us. And as former Presiding Bishop Edmund Browning stated back in 1986, “There will be no outcasts in this Church.” The St. Matthew’s community yearns to be a place of welcome for all:
–for seekers and people who are interested in learning more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ,
–for those drawn to meaningful, transformational worship that richly connects ancient Christian practices from the earliest ages with our soul’s yearning for the Holy in the 21st century,
–for those who are seeking a “safe harbor” during a difficult period of life,
–for those who have a passion for service and ministry,
–for those who want to be part of a community of faith undergoing re-birth,
–for those who are weary and burdened and who are in need of God’s friendship, love, grace, healing and wholeness,
–for those who want to be part of a community that “strives for justice and peace, and respects the dignity of every human being,”
–for all who hunger for a church that’s open, welcoming, and inclusive of all people .
In the Episcopal Church, including at St. Matthew’s, we believe that spiritual authority is based on what Anglicans have long referred to as “the three-legged stool”: Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. When decisions are to be made, we are to ask for God’s guidance through not just one but all three means of revelation. Over the centuries this has allowed us to embrace a variety of changes, such as the welcome of all baptized persons to the Communion table (previously one needed to be confirmed in order to receive Holy Communion), the decision to allow divorced persons to be re-married in the church, the decision to recognize the ministry of women in all levels of lay and ordained leadership, and more recently, the recognition that God’s call to ordained ministry can and does include gay and lesbian people. We support full and equal access to all the sacraments, including marriage, regardless of a person’s sexual orientation. God’s Spirit continues to open our minds and hearts to God’s wisdom and truth in many surprising and wonderful ways.
The Episcopal Church welcomes all who wish to worship Jesus Christ in 109 dioceses and three regional areas in 16 nations. The Episcopal Church is a member province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Please come and see all that the Spirit of God is up to at St. Matthew’s! The church is located at 11229 NE Prescott St., Portland, OR 97220, across from Senn’s Dairy Park. The parish office is generally open Tuesday through Friday mornings and we are available at other times by appointment. The office is closed on Mondays. Our phone number is 503.252.5720 and phone messages are checked regularly so please don’t hesitate to call! We would love to hear from you — and if you’re looking for a faith community, we would love to be your church!
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- South Wall of St. Matthew’s, facing the Altar
