CELEBRATIONS AND EVENTS
1 Brotherhood of St. Andrew, 8am, Fellowship Hall
2 Morning Prayer, 8:30am, Chapel
Godly Play, 9am, Upstairs Classroom
Adult Forum, 9am, Fellowship Hall
Holy Eucharist, 10am, Sanctuary
3 Bible Study. 2:30pm, Library
4 Game Night, 6:30pm, Fellowship Hall
5 Holy Eucharist 10am, Chapel
6 Evening Prayer, 5pm, Chapel, followed by Pub
Fellowship at Old Town Vault
9 Morning Prayer, 8:30am, Chapel
Godly Play, 9am, Upstairs Classroom
Adult Forum, 9am, Fellowship Hall
Holy Eucharist, 10am, Sanctuary
10 Bible Study, 2:30pm, Library
12 Morning Prayer, 10am, Chapel
13 Evening Prayer, 5pm, Chapel, followed by Pub
Fellowship at Old Town Vault
15 Brotherhood of St Andrew, 8am, Fellowship Hall
16 Morning Prayer, 8:30am, Chapel
Godly Play, 9am, Upstairs Classroom
Adult Forum, 9am, Fellowship Hall
Holy Eucharist, 10am, Sanctuary
Outreach: Gift wrapping after service,
Fellowship Hall
Christmas Tea, 2pm, Fellowship Hall
17 Dairy Creek Community Food Web Board
meeting, 6pm, Fellowship Hall
19 Holy Eucharist. 10am, Chapel
20 Evening Prayer, 5pm, Chapel, followed by Pub
Fellowship at Old Town Vault
23 Morning Prayer, 8:30am, Chapel
Godly Play, 9am, Upstairs Classroom
Adult Forum, 9am, Fellowship Hall
Holy Eucharist, 10am, Sanctuary
24 Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist, 5pm, Sanctuary
25 Christmas Day Holy Eucharist, 10am, Sanctuary
26 Morning Prayer, 10am, Chapel
27 Evening Prayer, 5pm, Chapel, followed by Pub
Fellowship at Old Town Vault
30 Morning Prayer, 8:30am, Chapel
Godly Play, 9am, Upstairs Classroom
Adult Forum, 9am, Fellowship Hall
Holy Eucharist, 10am, Sanctuary
Consecration of new communion pottery at the Bishop's Close
ADULT EDUCATION AND FORMATION
The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation by Richard Rohr
For the next four
Sundays in Advent
(December 2nd, 9th,
16th and 23rd) we
shall together seek
to understand the
God of Hebrew
scripture, passionately desiring relationship with those whom God had created. So great was this desire that when all
else seemed to have failed this same mighty God sought to experience life on Earth and be known physically in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
Join us at 9am in the Fellowship Hall for the Adult Forums each Sunday.
December
ST. BEDE ORGELKIDS DAY: REVIEW
Orgelkids makes the King of Instruments accessible. What is accessible is then knowable and lovable.
On Tuesday, November 20th, the Parish Hall of St. Bede was filled with people of every age, discovering the amazing intricacies of a tracker pipe organ – not by looking at one or attending a lecture or reading about a tracker pipe organ – but by building an exquisite miniature playable pipe organ. We took these parts – over 100 of them – and built a pipe
organ. Not one time – but three times that day!
Our first “build” was for and by adults. 22 adults from the Portland metro area, South Beach and Pacific City, Oregon and as far away as Salina, Kansas (sister-in-law of Tim Rake) joined David and me, my student helpers Xoe Chapman and Sarah Gheorghita, and St. Bede assistant Linda Jackson, to build the organ. Everyone was captivated and enthralled with the process and the sound of this
amazing pipe organ.
Our second “build” was for and by children (kindergarten-6th grade). The Parish Hall became a lively exciting place for two hours in the early afternoon as 20 kids plus their adults once again built the organ. The kids loved answering the question, “Do we have a pipe organ yet?” When the bellows were finally installed, and the organ got its breath, the excitement reached a peak with every little one taking a turn to play the organ and then serve as the calcant (bellows pumper).
The late afternoon saw our third “build” with youth
taking the lead and younger kids eagerly assisting –
some for the second time. With this busy group the
organ was built in record time. My student
assistants, Xoe and Sarah, then shared some of their
favorite pieces playing our sanctuary organ.
We did it! We built a two octave, fully functional and playable miniature pipe organ at St. Bede three times in one day. What a marvelous experience for David and me to share this amazing project with our church and community. Thank you, St. Bede, for your support!
Dr. Jeannine Jordan, Minister of Music
We strive to know Christ more deeply and bring others to his redeeming grace.
ST. BEDE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
1609 Elm St. Forest Grove, OR
MESSAGE FROM OUR VICAR
Advent is almost here. This time of introspective
waiting for the Christ child to be reborn in our midst
reminds me of learning for the first time that I would be a
parent. I really had no idea what I was doing. I read lots of
books, which tends to be my self-calming technique when I
feel out of my depth. In my quest to be a good mom I
searched high and low. Everywhere I turned, I saw classes
that I should take and products that I should have. Friends
who had children asked me if I had decked out my nursery
yet. I shrugged and felt worthless for having made so little
progress. I made hopelessly long lists of things that I
should do. I had the impression that there was MUCH to do
and I would never have enough time, energy, money, or
baby products to welcome this little person. Was I ever
wrong!
By baby number three, the kids were starting to teach
me something. Edward had a saying that has stayed with
me. He loved to sit on my lap and read books or just
snuggle together. When I was busy or preoccupied with
something else, he would come up to me with a book or toy
and say, “Make a hole for me mommy.” This was a sign
for me to stop what I was doing, sit cross-legged making a
space for him to sit on the floor between my knees so we
could talk, sing, read books, or play together -- and for the
most part we did.
The world is literally trying to sell us something. It
wants to tell us that we are not enough, and that the answer
to problems is to fill our incompleteness with stuff. The
amazing thing is that what makes us beautiful to God is our
ability to be empty and available. Often what makes us
most useful is that we have nothing to offer but our selves.
Here comes this baby, the Word made flesh. He doesn’t need a fancy crib. Anything we have at hand will suffice --
a sock drawer, a manger, our hearts. The thing that will
matter in our relationship with Jesus is not the stuff we
have, but what we have surrendered to welcome him. Stuff
just gets in the way.
The Christ child asks that we make space for him. As in
the letter to the Hebrews, Jesus is not asking us to pile up
stuff or offerings, but asks for our openness and
willingness to follow him. Advent calls us not merely to
dedicate our stuff to God, but our very beings.
Liturgically we will mark the change of seasons in our worship in various ways. We will be using the color blue in our linens and vestments, often used to remember Mary. You will see an Advent wreath marking the weeks to Christmas, a Christmas tree decked with Christian symbols, and we will use new prayers and service music. New this year to celebrate Advent, we will be using a pottery set in place of our normal communion vessels. As a gift in honor of the 30th Anniversary of Deacon Theresa's ordination to the
Diaconate and to commemorate St. Bede's call of a new
vicar, Ken and Theresa Floyd have donated this new
ceramic liturgical ware. With permission from the Altar
Guild, Theresa and I located a craftsman and had this set
made to order. Last Wednesday, our Altar Guild Director,
Robin Ten Brooke, Deacon Theresa, Deacon David, and
Ken Floyd joined me for a trip to the Bishop's Close,
where it was consecrated for sacred use by Bishop Hanley.
In the future this set may also be used during and Lent and
possibly for Mass on the Grass and Bede's at the Beach."
Thanks be to God!
This Advent we welcome a baby who needs not the
latest baby gadget, but our unique selves. I look forward to
celebrating Advent with you all as we make space in our
hearts for God’s incarnation in the Christ child.
In Advent hope,
Marlene+
St. Bede Episcopal Church ©