Education hour at 11:00am — following the 9:30am service and coffee
Sundays Year-Round, 11:00am-12:00pm
Open Space takes place most Sunday mornings in the Main Sanctuary of St. James Lutheran Church. All are invited to attend and listen, participate, learn, grow, and share as we develop a stronger sense of our individual faith and also who we are as a community of believers in our world today. Topics range from biblical study to current events, social issues, and information session about local organizations. Open Space is a safe environment where all questions and viewpoints have the right to be heard respectfully.
Open Space Schedule:
Much of the fall will be devoted to exploring Pastor Mark Brocker’s published book on faith and ecology entitled Coming Home to Earth. We will kick off the adult class with one session on September 17th titled “Same and Different.” The Eco Social Justice Committee will help facilitate. The time will be spent exploring our similarities and differences as St. James members. The goal is to discover the richness of our congregation and how what we have in common is just as important as what makes us different.
Calendar is as follows:
September 17th: Same and Different — What do we have in common at St. James and where do we find differences?
September 24th: Begin the Coming Home to Earth series with Pastor Mark Brocker
October 1st: Coming Home to Earth: Loss of Love for Earth
October 8th: Coming Home to Earth: Grieving with Earth
October 15th: Coming Home to Earth: The Things that Make for Peace
October 22nd: Endowment Luncheon
October 29th: Reformation Themes
November 5th: Coming Home to Earth: Conversion to Earth
November 12th: Coming Home to Earth: Taking Up Our Ecological Cross
November 19th: Guided Imagery of Oregon History
November 26th: No Open Space
December 3rd: All Creation Sings with Colin Stave.
December 10th: The Christmas Story told by the Old Masters with Paula Carlson
December 17th: Scandinavian Coffee Hour
December 24th: No Open Space
December 31st: Cookies and Carols
January 7th: Pastor David’s Sabbatical Trip
January 14th: Archery Summit Wine Tasting
January 21st: St. James Annual Congregational Meeting and Meal
January 28th: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Faith Under Fire
February 4th: Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Faith Under Fire with Pastor Mark Brocker
February 11th: No Open Space
February 18th: The Creative Spirit with Monica Setziol-Phillips
February 25th: Wine Tasting with Pastor Barry Rogge
March 3rd: ELCA World Hunger Relief Drive Presentation
March 10th: Wealth Redistribution for Housing Justice in Portland
March 17th: ELCA Statement on Civic Engagement and Faith
March 24th: Scott Baby Shower
March 31st: Easter Festival Coffee Hour
April 7th: Join Esther Portnoy to hear about the Crop Walk – another facet of fighting hunger in our community and world
April 14th: Historian Friedrich Schuler will share some of his expertise on South America in his presentation entitled “Miracles in Amazon: New Discoveries of Ancient Civilizations”
April 21st: Colin Stave previews Bach Cantata Vespers
April 28th: Harris Zafar of Rizwan Mosque and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community will be our guest. He will bring a greeting in worship and present “Hamas/Israeli War – A Muslim Perspective” at our 11:00am Open Space class.
Join us for an exciting series of Open Spaces Sundays this May at 11:00am!
May 5: Cancelling the Classics: Join Mandy Ellertson for an engaging and challenging discussion on issues associated with some classic literature. Come contrast the racially charged language of Mark Twain’s Huck Finn with the book James: A Novel by Percival Everett.
May 12: Gaza and Israel: Our Voices for Peace series continues with Zmira Lovejoy, a spiritual leader from Portland’s P’nai Or Jewish Community.
May 19: Follow-Up to PDX Housing Solidarity: Join the Eco Social Justice committee help set a path forward for how we, as a congregation, might join forces to help a BIPOC family find a way to purchase a home.
May 26: Memorial Weekend – Day Off!
