Dear Members and Friends of St. James,

Mahatma Ghandi is credited as saying:  Live as though you will die tomorrow.  Learn as if you will live forever.

September school and church activities prompt some learning reflections for me.  We swim through the Gospel of Luke this year.  While you read, mark, learn and inwardly digest Luke at home and hear it in worship, put these three thoughts from Prof. Barbara Rossing under your swim cap:

1.  Luke writes Luke in order to open our eyes to RECOGNIZE Jesus in daily bread and meal-sharing.

2.  Food in Luke teaches a radical economy of abundance and sufficiency for all -- the opposite of greed and hoarding.

3.  Food is boundary-crossing in Luke and Acts.  I plan to explore her essay and those three gems of thought this Fall in our Adult Forum time on Sundays after worship.  Come and share learning with one another.

+ Call Committee:  Our call committee met Aug 25 and anticipates a first group of pastoral candidate names from the Oregon Synod staff by the end of September.  If you wish to nominate a pastor, get a form from the church office and turn it in soon to the church office to send on to synod staff.

+ Another hat Pastor Jim wears:  As the Oregon Synod Coordinator for First Call for Theological Education, pastor connects with new pastors in their first three years of call to ministry.  This support for pastors is carried out by synods as they come together through the year at synod assemblies and other events.  Sept 20-23 pastor will be at Holden Village, WA with a regional gathering of such folks.

+ Do you love Sunday School and Kids?  Contact Charlie Tohlen or Pastor Jim to get connected at St. James and provide a helping hand.

+ Christine Doidge:  Follow Christine and her global mission with the ELCA in S. Africa on her blog at http://ourhandiwork.blogspot.com.

Live, love and learn,

Pastor Jim