Facilitated by palliative care chaplain Kaitlin Pabo-Eulberg, learn more about preparing for your future healthcare and life decisions. This is especially vital work for people who are marginalized by healthcare institutions, but advance care planning empowers all folks to explicitly state their wishes regarding end-of-life care to ensure their trusted people can make decisions on their behalf in the event of a crisis or health change. 

Storytellers: Lisa & Lige Armstrong

Are you striving for peace within your family? Are you wondering how to set limits and support self-regulation with your child, while also strengthening the parent-child connection?

Healthy families are pivotal to building just and peaceful communities, and the root of healthy families are healthy parents. Join parent educator Julie Salwasser for this FREE three-part series of gatherings in which parents and caregivers are invited to learn concrete strategies to support their children's behavior with grace, connection, and joy. Julie is trained in the "Empowered to Connect" and "Trauma Based Relational Intervention" parenting methods. The workshop, cosponsored by the Oregon Synod, will lead parents from permissive or authoritative approaches to parenting with grace, connection, and joy. By equipping those at the front lines (parents, whose daily interactions shape how children show up in the world), we can raise regulated, secure, peace-filled, compassionate change-makers. Join us on the following Sundays from 1-3:30 pm: September 15, October 20, and November 17. Each session can stand alone, but are most impactful when taken as a series. Attend as many as you can!

Register here.

Join us for Queer Grace and a Dance Party. This month’s storyteller celebrates 35 years of ordained ministry this year. Pastor Janet Parker (she/her) will reflect on her journey of self-acceptance and coming out as a lesbian woman in ministry. She will then be joined by a panel of LGBTQIA+ conversation partners before opening up to a Q&A session. Queer Grace will begin at 7:00 pm, followed by the dance party at 8:30. Refreshments will be provided. All are welcome whether you are queer or straight/cis! RSVPs are appreciated, but not required.

Are you striving for peace within your family? Are you wondering how to set limits and support self-regulation with your child, while also strengthening the parent-child connection?

Healthy families are pivotal to building just and peaceful communities, and the root of healthy families are healthy parents. Join parent educator Julie Salwasser for this FREE three-part series of gatherings in which parents and caregivers are invited to learn concrete strategies to support their children's behavior with grace, connection, and joy. Julie is trained in the "Empowered to Connect" and "Trauma Based Relational Intervention" parenting methods. The workshop, cosponsored by the Oregon Synod, will lead parents from permissive or authoritative approaches to parenting with grace, connection, and joy. By equipping those at the front lines (parents, whose daily interactions shape how children show up in the world), we can raise regulated, secure, peace-filled, compassionate change-makers. Join us on the following Sundays from 1-3:30 pm: September 15, October 20, and November 17. Each session can stand alone, but are most impactful when taken as a series. Attend as many as you can!

Register here.

Our September storyteller—Deacon Bonnie— will share her story of place and healing from religious trauma. She will then be joined by a panel of queer conversation partners, followed by a Q&A session. Refreshments will be provided. All are welcome whether you are queer or straight/cis! RSVPs are appreciated, but not required.

Are you striving for peace within your family? Are you wondering how to set limits and support self-regulation with your child, while also strengthening the parent-child connection?

Healthy families are pivotal to building just and peaceful communities, and the root of healthy families are healthy parents. Join parent educator Julie Salwasser for this FREE three-part series of gatherings in which parents and caregivers are invited to learn concrete strategies to support their children's behavior with grace, connection, and joy. Julie is trained in the "Empowered to Connect" and "Trauma Based Relational Intervention" parenting methods. The workshop, cosponsored by the Oregon Synod, will lead parents from permissive or authoritative approaches to parenting with grace, connection, and joy. By equipping those at the front lines (parents, whose daily interactions shape how children show up in the world), we can raise regulated, secure, peace-filled, compassionate change-makers. Join us on the following Sundays from 1-3:30 pm: September 15, October 20, and November 17. Each session can stand alone, but are most impactful when taken as a series. Attend as many as you can!

Register here.

Please join between services in the community room to:

• Share a personal experience that causes you to work against gun violence

• Help the Nonviolence Team select signs and questions for our poll for the Welcoming Nonviolence event at the Beaverton Library lawn on September 21 from 10-2 pm

Welcoming Nonviolence is a community event in which folks from Spirit of Grace can reach out to potential voters with our concerns about gun violence.

Our July storyteller—Kate Bernklau Halvor— will share their journey of self-discovery around asexuality, aromanticism, gender, and neurodivergence while growing up in a supportive family and faith community. Kate will then be joined by a panel of queer conversation partners, followed by a Q&A session. Refreshments will be provided. All are welcome whether you are queer or straight/cis! RSVPs are appreciated, but not required.

This month’s storyteller— Kelsey Khaw— will share her perspectives on how being queer has affected her relationship with faith, the Bible, church, God, and being a parent. She will be joined by a panel of queer conversation partners, followed by a Q&A session. All are welcome whether you are queer or straight/cis! Refreshments will be provided.

A dance party will follow from 8:30-9:30 pm.

RSVPs to PastorRobyn@spiritofgracepdx.org are appreciated but not required.

We are again invited to work with "Reclaim our Vote," a grassroots, 501(c)(3) campaign that focuses on increasing voter turnout through postcards, texts, and phone banking in voter suppression states.
 
Andrea Miller will share why people of faith should care about voter suppression and how this movement is engaging voters of color. As the founding board member of the Center for Common Ground, executive director of People Demanding Action, and founding president of the National Women’s Political Caucus of Virginia, Andrea has expertise in voting rights, climate, and the Equal Rights Amendment. In 2008 she was the Democratic nominee for the Virginia 4th congressional district. This event is being co-sponsored by Spirit of Grace and EcoFaith Recovery. Click here for more information or to register. 
 
Schedule
12:45 pm: Gathering on Zoom
1:00 pm:  Andrea Miller shares her story and leads discussion 
2:00 pm:  Training to engage our community in postcard writing with "Reclaim our Vote"
2:30 pm:  Close

After our three previous forums on Eucharist, we'll meet in the community room to reflect and share on how sharing in the Eucharist changes and challenges you. How does it support and equip you to live out your faith the other six days of the week?

Additional reflections on the Eucharist with Rev. Dr. Matta Ghaly.

In Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm, author Kazu Haga blazingly reclaims the energy and assertiveness of nonviolent practice and shows that a principled approach to nonviolence is the way to transform not only unjust systems but broken relationships. Facilitation of this group will be shared by group members.

Contact: Mary Ryan Hotchkiss

This series runs from February 5-April 15 on the 1st and 3rd Mondays. Registration deadline is Monday, February 5.

This forum will continue our overview of the shared understandings and differences in Roman Catholic and Lutheran teachings using U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' statement on "The Eucharist" with the ELCA’s “Use of the Means of Grace” document, with Rev. Michael Keys, retired ELCA bishop.

This forum will be an overview of the shared understandings and differences in Roman Catholic and Lutheran teachings using U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' statement on "The Eucharist" with the ELCA’s “Use of the Means of Grace” document, with Rev. Michael Keys, retired ELCA bishop.

This Wednesday evening series offers an adult version of the class being offered to our middle school confirmation students, exploring how the core components of Christian faith apply to the challenges of daily life. It will run throughout the year with various presenters. Anyone 16 years of age and older is welcome to attend any single session or all of them.

In Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm, author Kazu Haga blazingly reclaims the energy and assertiveness of nonviolent practice and shows that a principled approach to nonviolence is the way to transform not only unjust systems but broken relationships. Facilitation of this group will be shared by group members.

Contact: Mary Ryan Hotchkiss

This series runs from February 5-April 15 on the 1st and 3rd Mondays. Registration deadline is Monday, February 5.

With Rev. Dr. Matta Ghaly. Donations welcome. Light snacks provided. For more information or to register visit mattaphaly.com/retreat. Please register by 6 pm on Friday, March 29.

This book study will read and discuss The Land is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery by Sarah Augustine. Led by Pastor Janet Parker and Scott Shurtleff jointly for Spirit of Grace and EcoFaith Recovery, we will unpack the ongoing harm done by the Doctrine of Discovery — a set of fifteenth-century papal bulls that gave European monarchs the legal right to seize lands they "discovered" and enslave the Indigenous people they found there, all in the name of Christ. Augustine issues a powerful call to address the root causes of a religious, legal, and political legacy that continues to devastate Indigenous peoples around the globe and our planetary ecology.

Contact: Rev. Dr. Janet Parker 

This series runs on Tuesdays, February 20-March 26, from 6:30-7:45 pm on Zoom. Registration deadline is February 14.

Join us in the community room as both Catholics and Protestants share experiences with reconciliation (aka confession, penance, forgiveness). How has your understanding of such things matured or evolved throughout your lifetime? What are your reflections following Director Vinci's sermon on this topic and our communal reconciliation service this past Wednesday? What do you consider to be a healthy understanding of reconciliation?

Centering prayer is another ancient form of Christian prayer. Deepen your connection to the sacred silence.

Contact: Benneth Husted 

Our Centering Prayer group meets weekly on Friday mornings from 9:30-11 am on Zoom.

Join Director Vinci and Rachel Miller as they "Journey with Jesus." His ministry, the journey to Jerusalem, his passion and death, and his resurrection through the lens of the Gospel of Mark will be explored in these Lenten sessions.

This Wednesday evening series offers an adult version of the class being offered to our middle school confirmation students, exploring how the core components of Christian faith apply to the challenges of daily life. It will run throughout the year with various presenters. Anyone 16 years of age and older is welcome to attend any single session or all of them.

This book study will read and discuss The Land is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery by Sarah Augustine. Led by Pastor Janet Parker and Scott Shurtleff jointly for Spirit of Grace and EcoFaith Recovery, we will unpack the ongoing harm done by the Doctrine of Discovery — a set of fifteenth-century papal bulls that gave European monarchs the legal right to seize lands they "discovered" and enslave the Indigenous people they found there, all in the name of Christ. Augustine issues a powerful call to address the root causes of a religious, legal, and political legacy that continues to devastate Indigenous peoples around the globe and our planetary ecology.

Contact: Rev. Dr. Janet Parker 

This series runs on Tuesdays, February 20-March 26, from 6:30-7:45 pm on Zoom. Registration deadline is February 14.

In Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm, author Kazu Haga blazingly reclaims the energy and assertiveness of nonviolent practice and shows that a principled approach to nonviolence is the way to transform not only unjust systems but broken relationships. Facilitation of this group will be shared by group members.

Contact: Mary Ryan Hotchkiss

This series runs from February 5-April 15 on the 1st and 3rd Mondays. Registration deadline is Monday, February 5.

Our March storyteller— David Stevens (he/they)— will share his experience with queerness and faith as it relates to trauma within the institutional church. From 7-8:30 pm David will share their story and then be joined by a panel of LGBTQIA+ conversation partners before opening up to a Q&A session.

A dance party will follow from 8:30-9:30.

Refreshments will be provided. All are welcome whether you are queer or straight/cis! 

RSVPs are appreciated, but not required.

Join us in the community room to experience a preschool faith formation lesson and gain a deeper understanding of the program as well as build relationships with our preschool families.

Contact: Katie Furgison

Centering prayer is another ancient form of Christian prayer. Deepen your connection to the sacred silence.

Contact: Benneth Husted 

Our Centering Prayer group meets weekly on Friday mornings from 9:30-11 am on Zoom.

Bonnie Owens will lead this in-person Visio Divina prayer practice, an ancient form of Christian prayer in which we allow our hearts and imaginations to enter into a sacred image, in silence, to see what God might have to say to us. Silence will be followed by small-group sharing.

This prayer practice will run on Thursday afternoons, beginning February 15 to March 21.

This book study will read and discuss The Land is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery by Sarah Augustine. Led by Pastor Janet Parker and Scott Shurtleff jointly for Spirit of Grace and EcoFaith Recovery, we will unpack the ongoing harm done by the Doctrine of Discovery — a set of fifteenth-century papal bulls that gave European monarchs the legal right to seize lands they "discovered" and enslave the Indigenous people they found there, all in the name of Christ. Augustine issues a powerful call to address the root causes of a religious, legal, and political legacy that continues to devastate Indigenous peoples around the globe and our planetary ecology.

Contact: Rev. Dr. Janet Parker 

This series runs on Tuesdays, February 20-March 26, from 6:30-7:45 pm on Zoom. Registration deadline is February 14.