"We share God's inclusive and eternal love with everyone!"
“Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.” -Isaiah 41:10
Welcome!
From Pastor David:
WELCOME TO ST. JAMES!
This website serves as our “front door” to ministry in downtown Portland. We offer an array of options. As the impact of this pandemic subsides, we invite you to consider — what fits you?
- Join us for Sunday in-person Eucharist worship (at 9:30am in our sanctuary), or participate via recorded video worship posted to our website each Sunday afternoon (Communications > Worship & Sermons).
- Feed those who live on our Portland streets five times a week by preparing food boxes, or donate to purchase food and needed supplies.
- Deepen your spiritual life with Saturday Contemplative Prayer via Zoom, in-person Wednesday morning Centering Prayer, or join our recorded Bible Study (3 series a year) or virtual Healing Prayer events.
- Help guide our St. James low-income Apartment ministry (122 units), or enroll your child at our St. James Child Development Center (infant through kindergarten-aged children). Presently over 80 children are enrolled.
- Share your creative imagination with our St. James Art Group, or offer your musical skills as our choir prepares to return this fall.
- Meditate on classical music and meaningful Sunday liturgy, or enjoy our monthly Jazz Vespers services on YouTube now and in-person beginning August 15th at 5:00pm.
- Jump onboard to live out your faith with acts of JUSTICE by exploring our embedded attitudes concerning race, gender and LGBTQ+ rights, or be hands-on with our Caring For Creation efforts.
- Partner with us to reach beyond our doors by supporting Lutheran World Relief’s efforts to bring the vaccine to all countries, or pack boxes of school/health kits to meet worldwide needs.
- Join us for the life-changing moments of baptism, fall Sunday School, weddings, celebrations, and memorials; stay connected through Book Club, WELCA, or our Card Ministry; or sit down for a cup of coffee with Pastor David.
There are lots of options at St. James. What fits you as we follow the Risen-Christ?
–Pastor David Knapp
Worship Services
WELCOME TO WORSHIP AT ST. JAMES!NOTE: Governor Brown has issued a statewide Oregon Indoor Mask Requirement, effective Friday, August 13th, 2021 -- in order to limit the spread of the Delta variant as much as possible indoors, where COVID-19 spreads more easily. Our official stance at St. James will be to follow this requirement of the Governor and the Oregon Health Authority. Masks will be required for our indoor services at St. James. Thanks to all for your adherence to these public health guidelines.
Sunday Morning Worship
- Every Sunday at 9:30am in our beautiful sanctuary.
- We have posted recordings of our 9:30am worship service to the St. James YouTube channel. They are available to view here on our website by Sunday afternoon: Click here to link to our "Worship & Sermons" page ...
Whether you physically attend in-person at St. James -- or you watch our video recording on your computer at home -- we invite you to join us for worship!
Jazz Vespers
This month, be sure to join us in-person on November 21st at 5:00pm when our Jazz Vespers series continues at St. James -- our special guest for this live performance will be Mieke Bruggeman on baritone sax.Musical accompaniment by Mike Horsfall on piano, Laurent Nickel on bass, and Brent Follis on drums. Pastor David Knapp is the liturgist, and Valarie Griffiths Brown is the vocalist. We invite you to attend here at St. James and we ask you to make a freewill donation (offering) to help support our musicians as we prepare for our 2021-2022 season. Although we are resuming our Jazz Vespers series in-person at St. James -- please remember that you may still enjoy our prior Jazz Vespers on video.
You can find links to all of our previous Jazz Vespers recordings by navigating to "Communications > Music" on the main navigation menu at the top of the page. Or you can click here to be linked directly to the "Music" page. Unfortunately -- there is no recording of our 5:00pm Jazz Vespers Service from September 19th, 2021.
NOTE: Please join us once again in-person on December 19th at 5:00pm when our 2021-2022 Jazz Vespers season continues at St. James -- our special guest for this live performance will be Allan Mair on flute & alto flute.
Advent & Christmas at St. James 2021
Sunday, November 28th
1st Candle of Advent
“Ready or Not, Here I Come”
Jeremiah 33
Sunday, December 5th
2nd Candle of Advent
“Paving the Way for Justice”
Malachi 3
Sunday, December 12th
3rd Candle of Advent
“Lucia Bride Arrives”
Philippians 4
Sunday, December 19th
4th Candle of Advent
“Mary Sings”
Luke 1
Friday, December 24th
Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship
4:30pm and 10:30pm
“From Seeking to Rejoicing”
Sunday, December 26th
1st Sunday of Christmas
Cookies and Carols
“Singing and Serving”
From the Pastor’s Desk …
“Hide and Go Seek”
-Children’s game
During the four weeks in Advent we explore. We seek. We search for God. It may seem like a preschool game of Hide-and-Go-Seek:
-Is God found in doomsday judgement stories we will hear?
-Is God found in the surprise and questioning of a young girl named Mary?
-Is God found in John the Baptizer’s demand for justice?
Then our four-week Advent “hide-and-seek” search leads us to a Christmas manger. Suddenly we discover that God doesn’t give an answer — God gives God’s very self. We don’t get a scripted solution — we get an enduring relationship with the Divine.
Join us as the Word becomes Flesh.
-Pastor David
From Director of Music Ministry Colin Stave: A “New” Liturgy for Advent and Christmastide
As we enter our Advent season of expectation, we will be singing a different liturgy. For the musical components, I have drawn on traditional Advent melodies. Some have liturgically applicable texts already, and the others have texts that I have crafted or adapted to fit the music. This liturgical setting incorporates the following tunes: TIF IN VELDELE “Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah” (hymn 240); VENI, EMMANUEL “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (hymn 257); CONDITOR ALME SIDERUM “Creator of the Stars of Night” (hymn 245); and PICARDY “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” (hymn 490). While this will be a “new” liturgy for St. James, these seasonal melodies, and their texts, will be familiar. I hope this liturgy will enrich our worship this season as we prepare for the coming of Christ.