All are invited to participate in this 4-week series as we explore scriptures through a disability lens. We will be focusing on this article, "Even The Resurrection Bears Scars: Introduction to Disability Theology." If you feel you have lived experience or context around disability you'd like to contribute, please reach out to Intern Pax to collaborate. Sign up in the entry hall to participate. 

All are invited to participate in this 4-week series as we explore scriptures through a disability lens. We will be focusing on this article, "Even The Resurrection Bears Scars: Introduction to Disability Theology." If you feel you have lived experience or context around disability you'd like to contribute, please reach out to Intern Pax to collaborate. Sign up in the entry hall to participate. 

All are invited to participate in this 4-week series as we explore scriptures through a disability lens. We will be focusing on this article, "Even The Resurrection Bears Scars: Introduction to Disability Theology." If you feel you have lived experience or context around disability you'd like to contribute, please reach out to Intern Pax to collaborate. Sign up in the entry hall to participate. 

All are invited to participate in this 4-week series as we explore scriptures through a disability lens. We will be focusing on this article, "Even The Resurrection Bears Scars: Introduction to Disability Theology." If you feel you have lived experience or context around disability you'd like to contribute, please reach out to Intern Pax to collaborate. Sign up in the entry hall to participate. 

Help Intern Pax prepare for their next sermon! Bring curiosity, wonder, challenge, and a snack of your choice (simple snacks will also be provided) as we dive into Matthew 13:24-30. It would be a joy to see you there!

How does polarization shape our communities, relationships, and spiritual lives? Join us for an engaging workshop exploring the social psychology of polarization in both historical and contemporary contexts. Together, we will examine how polarization affects progressive communities, including spiritual communities, and discuss practical ways to mitigate its impact.

This interactive session will combine brief lecture-style presentations of key concepts with thoughtful discussion and reflection.

Presenter:
Joe Hromco, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with a long history in community mental health and currently serves as a professor in the School of Graduate Psychology at Pacific University. He is also a longtime member of Spirit of Grace, husband, and father of four.

Register here (a Zoom link will be included in the confirmation email for those who would like to join online).

Join in person or on Zoom as Carson Varnum (he/him)—Head of Education and Outreach for TransActive, a project of Lewis & Clark’s Graduation School of Education and Counseling—shares insights on queer imagination as spiritual practice and how we can think about trans leadership today. A queer conversation panel, will then be followed by a Q&A session. A light lunch will be provided. Childcare available by request at least one week in advance.

All are welcome whether you are queer or straight/cis!

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

To attend on Zoom, register at https://tinyurl.com/QC260503

Dr. Joe Hromco, who teaches social psychology at Pacific University’s Graduate School of Psychology, will lead an introductory exploration of polarization with a particular focus on the effects on progressive-leaning communities. A future workshop will delve further into the causes, effects, and solutions to our current political divide. 

Joy has been worshiping with us for the past several months, along with her husband Garry and guide dog, Vikki. This Sunday, she will be sharing the children’s homily at both services using Braille cards for the children to touch. During this adult forum between services, we'll have an opportunity to get to know Joy better and learn about her life with blindness, including her education, work, family life, and spiritual journey.

This month—Lazarus Jameson (he/him)—will share perspectives on how being queer has affected his relationship with faith, the Bible, church, God, and herself. He will then be joined by a panel of queer conversation partners, followed by a Q&A session.

Join us in person or on Zoom! Register to attend on Zoom at https://tinyurl.com/QG260301

All are welcome whether you are queer or straight/cis!

Refreshments will be provided. Childcare available by request at least one week in advance.

EcoFaith Recovery invites you to a practical, hopeful training to help households, congregations, and neighborhoods prepare together for emergencies so we’re not alone when crises come. Using Oregon’s Be 2 Weeks Ready program, this 90-minute session offers simple, doable, steps for preparedness while strengthening relationships and mutual aid.  A light lunch will be available at noon, and a raffle will be held at the end for some free disaster supplies. Learn more and register here.

Our forum between services will introduce the Lenten devotional created by Intern Pax, Journeying Towards Liberation Together, as well as our Lenten book study on James Cone's The Cross and the Lynching Tree. We'll explore the connection between these tools of violence and how the oppressed have resisted and created liberation despite the threats of empire.

This month’s storyteller—Brittany Huckey (she/her)— will share perspectives on how being queer has affected her relationship with faith, the Bible, church, God, and herself. She will then 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. Childcare is available by request at least one week in advance at office@spiritofgracepdx.org.

You are invited to explore what unity consciousness is and how it can inform both our practice of centering prayer and our life in this challenging world of separation, distraction, and rapid change. Some prior experience with centering prayer is helpful. Donations accepted at the door. Email Gini Graham to register. 

Optional events include Centering Prayer (9-9:30 am) and a BYO lunch for an informal discussion (12:30-1:30 pm)

David Frenette is the author of The Path of Centering Prayer: Deepening Your Experience of God, and a spiritual director/transpersonal counselor (now retired). He studied and worked closely with Father Thomas Keating for 35 years, and co-founded and co-led Chrysalis House, a Christian contemplative retreat community under Fr. Keating’s guidance.

Bring a friend to share this documentary by Pierre Sauvage.

A light lunch will be provided at 12:30. Film will start promptly at 1:00 pm with a discussion from 2:35-3:00 pm. RSVP at https://tinyurl.com/WeaponsSpirit. Presented by the Cocreating Beloved Community and Solidarity & Sanctuary teams.

The Dignity Index can help us ease divisions, prevent violence, and solve problems. This free workshop will help deepen our understanding. All are welcome, but reservations are required. To register, email Mary Ryan Hotchkiss with your name and email (the exact location will be sent after registration).

This month’s storyteller—Tyler Bieber (he/him)—a queer education professional, will read from his debut book, “Against the Current: Father Tom Oddo and the New American Catholic,” a biography of the University of Portland President, co-founder of DignityUSA, and an early leader of the gay rights movement. All are welcome, whether you are queer or straight/cis! Refreshments will be provided. Childcare is available by request at least one week in advance. RSVP’s to PastorRobyn@SpiritofGracePDX.org are appreciated but not required.

Join us in the community room as April Brenden-Locke shares the latest about Hogar Infantil, a children's home in Chiapas, Mexico, providing an opportunity to strengthen friendships across the border during this time of isolationism.

Join a six-week online study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, led by Rev. Dr. Mark Brocker, editor of volume 16 of Bonhoeffer's Works. Written from Bonhoeffer’s experience leading the underground seminary of the Confessing Church during the rise of Nazi Germany, Life Together witnesses to faith in times of crisis and explores how prayer, service, and confession sustain Christian community. Bonhoeffer’s leadership in the Confessing Church and his ultimate resistance to the Nazi regime have made his writings relevant for the global church today.

Sponsored by the Sunset Cluster of the Oregon Synod (ELCA) and hosted by Spirit of Grace. Free-will donation invited. 

Join us in the community room between services to review our history as an inclusive and welcoming congregation for LGBTQIA folks and discuss how we can expand that welcome. 

Join a six-week online study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, led by Rev. Dr. Mark Brocker, editor of volume 16 of Bonhoeffer's Works. Written from Bonhoeffer’s experience leading the underground seminary of the Confessing Church during the rise of Nazi Germany, Life Together witnesses to faith in times of crisis and explores how prayer, service, and confession sustain Christian community. Bonhoeffer’s leadership in the Confessing Church and his ultimate resistance to the Nazi regime have made his writings relevant for the global church today.

Sponsored by the Sunset Cluster of the Oregon Synod (ELCA) and hosted by Spirit of Grace. Free-will donation invited. 

Join us in the community room for a time of sharing and lament as we face genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. Our Holy Land Ministry leads—Rev. Brian Brandt, Benneth Husted, and Jennifer Grosvenor—will open our discussion with our new ELCA policy Toward Ending the Occupation of Palestine and a message from our Palestinian Lutheran siblings. Together, we will wrestle with biblical Israel not being the State of Israel today, and the actions we might take.

Join a six-week online study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, led by Rev. Dr. Mark Brocker, editor of volume 16 of Bonhoeffer's Works. Written from Bonhoeffer’s experience leading the underground seminary of the Confessing Church during the rise of Nazi Germany, Life Together witnesses to faith in times of crisis and explores how prayer, service, and confession sustain Christian community. Bonhoeffer’s leadership in the Confessing Church and his ultimate resistance to the Nazi regime have made his writings relevant for the global church today.

Sponsored by the Sunset Cluster of the Oregon Synod (ELCA) and hosted by Spirit of Grace. Free-will donation invited. 

Storyteller—Rev. Kevin Yell

Join a six-week online study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, led by Rev. Dr. Mark Brocker, editor of volume 16 of Bonhoeffer's Works. Written from Bonhoeffer’s experience leading the underground seminary of the Confessing Church during the rise of Nazi Germany, Life Together witnesses to faith in times of crisis and explores how prayer, service, and confession sustain Christian community. Bonhoeffer’s leadership in the Confessing Church and his ultimate resistance to the Nazi regime have made his writings relevant for the global church today.

Sponsored by the Sunset Cluster of the Oregon Synod (ELCA) and hosted by Spirit of Grace. Free-will donation invited. 

Join a six-week online study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, led by Rev. Dr. Mark Brocker, editor of volume 16 of Bonhoeffer's Works. Written from Bonhoeffer’s experience leading the underground seminary of the Confessing Church during the rise of Nazi Germany, Life Together witnesses to faith in times of crisis and explores how prayer, service, and confession sustain Christian community. Bonhoeffer’s leadership in the Confessing Church and his ultimate resistance to the Nazi regime have made his writings relevant for the global church today.

Sponsored by the Sunset Cluster of the Oregon Synod (ELCA) and hosted by Spirit of Grace. Free-will donation invited. 

Join a six-week online study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, led by Rev. Dr. Mark Brocker, editor of volume 16 of Bonhoeffer's Works. Written from Bonhoeffer’s experience leading the underground seminary of the Confessing Church during the rise of Nazi Germany, Life Together witnesses to faith in times of crisis and explores how prayer, service, and confession sustain Christian community. Bonhoeffer’s leadership in the Confessing Church and his ultimate resistance to the Nazi regime have made his writings relevant for the global church today. Learn more or register here.

Sponsored by the Sunset Cluster of the Oregon Synod (ELCA) and hosted by Spirit of Grace. Free-will donation invited.