Details to come

Our disagreements aren’t causing the divisions in our country; it’s what we do when we disagree. Do we treat the other side with dignity or contempt? The Dignity Index was created to show us the difference. Join us to see how the words we use can increase peace in the world.

Our whole community is encouraged to join our middle school youth and families to learn more about an exciting opportunity for our young adults to participate in an ecumenical youth group under the umbrella of Together Lab. West Side Collective youth group leader Jessica Putland will share the mission of the West Side Youth Collective and how it can meet the community and spiritual needs of our teens. If we decide to join, there is financial commitment so we would love to have as many members of our community in attendance as possible. 

Paxton Stewart (they/them) will begin serving as our Lutheran intern pastor beginning August 26! This online forum will describe what an internship is, our congregation’s role, and a bit more about Pax, followed by time for questions and comments.

We'd love your help over Pastor Robyn's summer sabbatical.

Join in person at the following times to help out in any of the following ways:

• 9:45-10:10 am:  Organizing ways to communicate with the office and Deacon Vinci regarding new people

• 10:10-10:30 am:  Serve as Sunday morning worship coordinator at one of the summer Sunday services to help orient any of the five Protestant guest pastors 

If you are willing to help with caring ministries for members in need, contact Pastoral Care Team Coordinators Mary Minor, Cyndy Heisler, Linda Fenner, or Deacon Vinci. 

More volunteers are always welcome for worship services, too, including people to write prayers, read, be presiders, etc. Contact Rose Russell or a pastoral leader to find out how you can help! 

Join us for this educational forum between Sunday services, as Kate Bernklau Halvor and Sarah Hallberg share insights on autism. The session will explore what autism is and how it presents in areas like social differences, sensory needs, repetitive behaviors, masking, and overload. This is a great opportunity to deepen your understanding and engage in meaningful conversation on neurodiversity.

Join us as we explore and share practices, actions, and efforts we can undertake during Lent that will plant and germinate justice and hope in our world.

Have you wondered about the Bible, Israel, and U.S. politics? Join us between services for the second of this two-part series, presented by our Holy Land Ministry. 

Have you wondered about the Bible, Israel, and U.S. politics? Join us between services for the first of this two-part series, presented by our Holy Land Ministry. 

With threats of mass deportation in the news, many immigrants are feeling scared for themselves or their family and friends. Our current pastoral leaders and newer members were not a part of our community's previous efforts to support sanctuary for immigrants. Join us as we learn more about the decision in February 2018 to become a “sanctuary-supporting church.” Pastor Robyn will converse with Christie Bernklau-Halvor on what we voted to approve and what the very active Sanctuary Team did from 2017-2020. Your questions, comments, and conversation will also be invited. 

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. 

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.

Janet Cruz will join us to speak about Viva Village, one of ten Villages NW in the Portland metro area. Viva Village is a volunteer-driven membership organization that helps seniors stay in their homes as long as they choose by providing services such as transportation, yard work, minor home repairs, technical support, and social events. People often join a village for the services, but they stay because of the community. If you are interested in resources for ‘aging in place,’ please attend. Questions? Contact David Taylor, a member and Villages NW volunteer.

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.

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.

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?

At this time of challenge for our community we are not alone. One of our founding priests will be joining us to share more about our history and his enthusiasm for us to continue living out our Catholic identity. Sandwich fixings will be provided. If you would like to contribute a salad or dessert to share, it is optional but welcome.  

This past summer many of our community members gathered to discuss the Catholic archbishop's statement on gender that went out to Catholic schools in our area in January 2023. Please join us to learn more about what has happened since then, how this has been playing out in Catholic schools, and how we can continue to support affected and vulnerable students.

Director Vinci will lead us in exploring possibilities for the future as we continue to live into and celebrate our Catholic identity. She will address the question many have been asking— how can we continue to be Catholic while not being permitted to have Roman Catholic priests celebrate mass? We will center on the needs of our Catholic members, but all non-Catholic members and actively participating friends are invited to listen in on this rich conversation.

Grab a cup of coffee or tea and a snack and come join Pastor Robyn and Director Vinci for a time of unprogrammed conversation where our only goal is to" get acquainted." They look forward to getting to know more about you and what brought you to Spirit of Grace. They will also be happy to answer any of your questions about Spirit of Grace!

Members and friends of Spirit of Grace are invited to join us to hear updates on what has unfolded since Archbishop Sample forbade our priests from saying mass at Spirit of Grace, and we’ll listen for God’s guidance regarding the challenges and opportunities that may lie ahead for our community.

Contact: Pr. Robyn

Members and friends of Spirit of Grace are invited to join us to hear updates on what has unfolded since Archbishop Sample forbade our priests from saying mass at Spirit of Grace, and listen for God’s guidance regarding the challenges and opportunities that may lie ahead for our community.

Contact: Pr. Robyn

Join seminarian Elizabeth Hofrichter for a forum all about preaching. We will examine questions like:  What is conversational preaching? Why do we do this? What should preaching do? What are you expecting or hoping for when you listen to a sermon/homily? What makes preaching unique here at Spirit of Grace? If you could change anything about preaching, what would it be? And more!

Far too often, the broader public associates churches as being exclusive and narrow-minded when the ministry of Jesus calls us to be just the opposite. To educate parents about the breadth of children’s books that are available for forming young minds that care about working for justice, we will use a grant as seed funds for a children’s social justice library and offer a forum educating parents about the value of exposing children to age-appropriate social justice books such as the ones we will purchase and share.

Contact: Sue Rae Bell, Rosanne Parry

Travel to an amazing ecumenical retreat center in the Washington North Cascades and build lasting friendships! Spirit of Gracers have been visiting Holden Village since the 1960s. Join us to learn more about Holden Village and the church trip being planned for July 13-21, 2024.

As a follow-up to the previous session, we will have time for writing our own psalms and engaging in mixed media expression (markers, paints, collage, etc.) using the transformative framework of the psalms of lamentation. Craft a psalm of lament that expresses your heart and experience the consolation that God brings when we come together as a community.