​Given a little over 60 years ago, his speech can still bring one to tears and inspire other to participate in nonviolent protest movements worldwide. Not only do we remember Dr. King on the third Monday of January (his birthday is actually January 15th), but we are also encouraged to volunteer and improve our communities — to serve. Hopefully, the day provides us an opportunity to educate people about social justice and use nonviolence to promote change in our society.
 
Which brings me to the Angels around us. Being on staff, we have the privilege of being behind the scenes and seeing so many of our quiet volunteers who weekly make a difference in our church family and our community.
 
Probably the most obvious volunteers are those who make our Sunday services special. There is the entire Praise Team — all of those amazing musicians and singers. Our chancel and bell choirs rehearse weekly and bring moments of joy to our service. And there is the tech team — up in the balcony they do their best to seamlessly present and broadcast our Sunday service.
 
The Welcome team greets everyone as they enter Krueger Hall, answers questions, and assists in getting folks connected to others. They welcome us as we enter the sanctuary and serve as ushers during our offering — jobs they are so dedicated to as we love and grow our church.
 
Some might argue, the most important Sunday volunteers are the donut brigade! They arrive early Sunday morning after picking up the sugary treats, cutting and arranging them on trays, and placing them in Krueger Hall for all to enjoy.
 
We can’t leave Sundays without mentioning our Sunday School volunteers. With our classes growing, we’ve hired primary classroom teachers, but they couldn’t do their job without the help of other adults present.
 
You might not know who these many are, but our Sundays would be very different without them.
 
There are many other, less visible volunteers you may not know about. Of course there are the many church committees, chaired by Elders and Deacons but are supported by many volunteers: Adult Discipleship, Facilities, Community Outreach, Family Ministry, Finance/Stewardship, Human Resources, Missions, Nominating, Welcome/Membership, Worship Planning. Additionally, there are our wonderful Deacons and Bible Study leaders.
 
Weekly mailings go out to those who are homebound or have difficulty accessing our eNews electronically. These women come in each week to stuff, label, and mail out copies of Pastor McLane’s sermon, the weekly eNews edition, and any other important bits that might appear and need to be passed on to these treasured friends.
 
On Fridays, our knitting ladies gather (men are welcome) in the Fireside Room to knit, crochet, and pray as they create beautiful shawls and blankets. Available to anyone who might need to be lifted in prayer and surrounded by love and warmth, these comfort gifts can be found in the Fireside Room.
 
Our Reception Committee not only makes sure that the tables in Krueger Hall are seasonally decorated, but they also help with other services and events at the church, such as funerals and memorial services.
 
Do you know that there are weekly pickleball games in the gym? Not only does this group of intrepid athletes get in a little exercise, but they’re also the ones who make sure the pew card holders in the Sanctuary have Connection Cards, giving envelopes, and sharp pencils. Small things but so important.
 
Twice each year, the Facilities Team hosts clean-up days. This might be for needed repairs, removing leaves in the fall, or merely grounds cleanup. The volunteers who appear work together to make sure our campus is pristine and welcoming. There are also our secret gardeners who keep our flower beds along Lakeside Ave colorful during the spring and summer.
 
The Love 1st Neighborhood Closet, housed at and staffed by 1st Pres, serves our greater community. The Closet serves homeless and low-income at-risk families with children in grades K-8. Our Closeteers escort families as they ‘shop’ for brand-new clothing, footwear, outerwear, and personal hygiene and laundry products.
 
Last but not least, Family Promise. Our volunteers help set up and take down, provide and serve meals, and host as overnight chaperones. 1st Pres hosts families experiencing homelessness as they journey towards sustainable independence several times each calendar year.
 
I haven’t mentioned names for fear of inadvertently leaving someone out.  As I close, I also fear I may have left out yet another volunteer opportunity and pray for forgiveness if I have. There are so many who silently serve. That said, with our abundance of volunteer opportunities, I pray you might be inspired to consider how you can participate in our church family.  Call the office if you have a desire to serve and would like some guidance.
 
In His Name, Janet

​Traveling, especially overseas, is not for everyone. No matter where they are, I still think anyone can take these critical character traits and use them in their everyday lives.
Incorporating these values into the new year can bring profound changes:
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​By integrating these principles, you can cultivate a more peaceful, harmonious, and fulfilling life throughout 2025. I would love to know if anyone has any other ideas for incorporating values into the new year. I cannot wait to swap stories with anyone in our congregation who is of Japanese heritage or has also been lucky enough to travel to Japan.

O-Genki De (all the best), Tracee

​The ultimate luxury in this life is not to travel globally, eat amazing food, stay in beautiful hotels or homes, have exciting experiences, become famous, or make tons of money.
 
The ultimate luxury is to care for your soul -- to feed on God’s nourishing truth, develop a rich prayer life, pour your heart out to God on long walks outside, revel in the works of God all around you, meditate on God‘s fulfilled promises, unburden yourself by listening to soaring hymns and spiritual songs, serve your church in humble but meaningful ways, show love to the lost and needy, confess your sin to the God who delights to forgive you, and generally rejoice in the warm goodness of the Father who treasures you, the Son, who redeemed you, the Spirit who strengthens you.
 
Of course, it is good and right to enjoy all sorts of God’s blessings in this life. Don’t be a gloomy miser in the name of Jesus. Celebrate God’s kindness in all sorts of things. Eat good food; drink delicious drinks; go on fun trips; work hard in your vocation; watch good movies; laugh a lot; indulge in unhurried conversation; visit beautiful places; make wonderful memories, and all to the glory of our gracious God.
 
Don’t feel an ounce of guilt over these things. Recall to mind regularly that God is honored in our small joys as he is in our spiritual service. In fact, in the life of the mature Christian, the two blend as time goes on, and all of life (not just the roped-off sections of it) becomes worship. All of life becomes a celebration. All of life becomes praise and glory to God from the overflow of thankfulness for our salvation.

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​We all have much to grow in… But here is the good news: through the regular application of gospel grace, God will take “cold men”… and make us “warm men”— men like Jesus.
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~Dr. Owen Strachan

after the last jingle bell has been laid to rest until next December.

Not in the Stone household! Last night, after the kids had gone to bed, Charley and I spent the better part of an hour carefully removing each ornament, wrapping it in butcher paper, and placing it in storage to recover from a particularly difficult season (Leighton believes that each ornament deserves a place in the grandstands as his toy motorcycles jump distances that would make Evel Knievel gasp).

As we did our regretful duty, we couldn’t help but voice our sadness that the Christmas season is over. Like many of you, Christmas is a time for life. It is a celebration of the good gifts that God has given us. Joy is the theme, and we indulge it at every opportunity. Our Christmas tree stands at the center of this season of gratitude, and dragging it from the living room, its branches dropping needles in protest of its unjust sentence, feels not like life, but like death.

Reflecting on this dichotomy—life and death—I was reminded of my favorite poem, one I have shared before. I believe that good things never go out of style (just ask Taylor Swift), so I thought I would share it with you again. It is a poem about life and death and how the two are drawn together in the birth of Jesus Christ. A child is born, the old world is put to death. Joy!

​In Christ, McLane

touched my heart and gave me a sense of peace and more importantly hope.

​The document was from Orchard Ridge Senior Living. It was written by Ann Johnson, who is not only one of our members but also the Executive Director of this facility. For those of you who may be new to our community and/or our church, I would like to give you a little background on this establishment. First of all, it has been operational for over 100 years. During that time, it has grown and changed in some ways, but it has not changed its mission. This organization exists to provide compassionate and sometimes charitable care to individuals who find that they can no longer remain safely at home by themselves. This can be due to aging, illness, or other medical problems. Many residents enter the facility initially with insurance coverage but often their benefits run out during their stay. That is where Orchard Ridge's Resident Relief Fund becomes available to these people. None of them will ever be asked to leave due to financial issues. And at this point, their care is paid for solely through donations from area Churches such as First Pres and also individuals like you and me. 
 
No one ever expects that they will be in a position where they can no longer take care of themselves financially or physically. But unfortunately, the unthinkable can happen. And it happens more often than you may think. Examples of patients currently at Orchard Ridge receiving charitable care include a 62-year-old with early onset Alzheimer’s, a young man who suffered a traumatic brain injury in his 20s, a 40-year-old with ALS, and a myriad of other scenarios. These are the types of situations that are hard to plan for, especially as we get older, and of the 67 current residents, 29 are over the age of 90. However, as Ann so wisely stated in her letter, "God does have a plan”, which is why this organization exists.  
 
I do have some personal connections to this facility. A number of years ago, it was my honor to have served on the Board of Directors for six years. Having this role gave me a real appreciation of the respectful care and dignity these residents are offered. And currently, my youngest son works there as a nurse. He has learned so much about compassionate care and the importance of respecting each person he cares for. We both have been blessed to have had these experiences. I hope this information helps you understand what amazing work is done by Orchard Ridge and how our church helps fund the Resident Relief Fund.
 
And please remember God does have a plan. For you, for me, for all of us. 
 
As it says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding: In all your ways submit to Him and he shall make your paths straight.”
 
In His Name, Ellen

and celebrations of the Christmas season.

​As I reflect on the gifts we celebrate throughout the Advent season, I love inviting JOY into the season of hustle and bustle; it’s a season where I tend to experience many of the emotions of our human existence. For me, in the reflection of pain and sadness that often comes up at the holidays, is a deep gratitude and joy. It’s gratitude and joy for those we’re missing around the table because they were here and loved us so well. At Christmas, we celebrate a God who entered the world as a baby, to experience life WITH US and redeem us from death. What hope, peace, and JOY come with the celebration of a God who loves us in such a tangible way. 

This week’s Advent Challenges are probably two of my favorites. Our family loves music, and we love to have a good ole family dance party in the living room. It brings me much joy to watch our daughter dance with pure jubilation. We also LOVE receiving Christmas cards each year! Our daughter loves looking at pictures of friends and families she recognizes from real life, and we tell her stories about the friends she has yet to meet. Then, I hang them up on the wall and there they stay… until this year. Part of this week’s Advent Challenge is to take those cards off the fridge, or wherever you have them, and take a moment to pray for each of those families that sent you well wishes this Christmas season. Just as they have brought JOY in sharing their lives with you, you can pray blessings of JOY for their family as well. What a fun and intentional way to pray for and with JOY, in our season of waiting for the Light of the World! 

Joyful blessings, Kierstie

My church experiences were minimal; including some Vacation Bible School (VBS) weeks, a few Sunday school classes at a Baptist church — they provided The Joy Bus that children could just hop on and go to church (you could do that in the olden days) — and a bit of Methodist youth group gatherings. So, I’m sure you can excuse me that with my limited and shotgun-style church experiences, the depth of the traditional worship aspects caused me to wonder if I had mistakenly stepped into a Catholic church. I didn’t know a lot about church stuff, but I knew there were rules to being a Catholic: 1) You should be one to attend. 2) I wasn’t one.
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Once I convinced myself that 1st Pres was not a Catholic church and I wasn’t breaking any religious rules, I came to not just being comfortable with these traditional elements, but to find an interesting level of comfort and an assuring peace in them, as I do in the Contemplative service at 10:30 a.m. It was like a warm invitation to step into the current of a river flowing for centuries and join a rich and deep ensemble of believers.

Now, thirty years into a faith journey, I ironically find myself reading and studying several Catholic theologians, teachers, and authors as I look for how my God Creator, Father Encourager, and Mother Heart would have me mirror the life and love of Jesus Christ. One of these Catholic mentors is Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen (January 24, 1932 – September 21, 1996). He was a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian.

spot (weeks later, I found the resume on the desk – unopened). This was surprising as I did not truly have the experience needed to work this new position, but I’ve rarely been afraid to try something new. On the other hand, my family had a LOT to say about it. Steve was pretty sure I would not fit in, and both kids thought I was nuts. Little did I know that God was placing me in this experience to teach me a multitude of lessons.

Steve was right — I did not fit in. I had never worked in a food service job before and didn’t know anyone at the store. But I quickly learned so many things about life, meat and the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, my mom was convinced that the saw would ruin all her investments in my piano lessons and music career. However, I enjoyed what I was doing and learning, so I kept showing up! Eventually, I became part of the small seven-person team. Fast forward a couple of years, and I find myself with three jobs that I enjoy immensely and a side gig at the meat market on the holidays. They let me come in and man the cash register for the busy turkey season and the crazy busy prime rib season. The team there knows me better than anyone at school does, simply because of the time we’ve spent together wrapping thousands of pounds of hamburger into one-pound packages, processing a variety of game, and learning how to sell a steak. Our lifestyles are vastly different in some cases, but in others, not so much. I love seeing the different ways that our team takes care of our customers in these busy (and sometimes stressful) times.
 
I have also been witness to the thoughtfulness and consideration our team shows to one another. One of us was sick, so another gave up his opportunity to leave early so she could get some extra rest. One volunteered to carry out turkeys for the older generations, never complaining when I yelled his name that he had to go out into the cold or that I was interrupting his task. One has impeccable customer service phone skills. Someone was continuously checking to make sure that I was okay, even though they were the ones running around like crazy trying to provide top-notch customer service. They would even notice that I was low on bags, needed more water in my water bottle, was out of jerky bags, etc. One of them found the perfect solution to the fact that I’m tall and the cash register was relatively low.
 
People want to connect. They want to share.  I love being on the praise team at 1stPres because you can hear the congregation singing with you and it’s fantastic. The sound creates an overwhelming sense of joy, and it’s always such a rush. The same is true of leading the choir, but I’m usually a lot more nervous, so I don’t notice it nearly as much.  When I get to talk to every customer at the meat market, it’s a rush.  I met a guy from a local band who volunteered to help me out with a community service event I had coming up. I’ve talked to so many people who shared who was coming to dinner and why they were looking forward to the day. All the guys love sharing their Traeger stories and how they will fix their main dish this year.
 
I want to leave you with a lesson I’ve learned and one that I will carry with me, particularly through the month of December. Sometimes working in the service industry is a little dicey. Things will inevitably go wrong, mistakes will be made, and customers might be dissatisfied. In most cases, I can maneuver the situation to keep the line moving and the customer satisfied. However, in the situations where I feel overwhelmed, I know that the owner, Tim, and the team are right beside me when we navigate stressful times in the store. My goal this year is to keep my perspective and bounce back quickly in times of stress and hardship, knowing that God has placed the people and circumstances in my life to not only teach me things, but to grow from every experience. And for what it’s worth, Mom, I’ve never been allowed to touch the saw, and rarely the slicer, at the meat market. :)

​In His Name, Renee
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Have you ever thought that there is a difference between gratitude and thanksgiving? There actually is. Gratitude is a feeling whereas thanksgiving is more of an action. If someone does something for me, I can feel grateful. My offering of thanks to that person is an action. One can feel gratitude without thanksgiving. One cannot feel thankful without feeling grateful. Thanksgiving is gratitude in action.

Looking at life in general, the person who lives a grateful life counts his or her blessings privately. The person who is thankful honors the giver of those blessings. For instance, I’m grateful that I woke up feeling relatively healthy this morning. I’m thrilled that I’m not sick or in the hospital since many people in the world today woke up sick or in the hospital. Now what if I take my healthy day and squander it doing bad things—if I eat or drink to excess while sitting on the couch watching bad movies? What if I drive like a maniac, act like a jerk at work, and don’t help out around the house? I may have gratitude for health, but where is my thankfulness for my health? I have taken a healthy day and I have made it into a self-serving day. Again, thanksgiving is gratitude in action.

How do we feel about God’s gifts to us? Grateful or thankful? Do we express our gratitude with outward thanksgiving to God or are we privately grateful with no action? Using the example above, if I wake up healthy today, then I should go out and do something productive and wholesome in thanksgiving for my health. If my health is a gift from God, then I should honor Him with thanksgiving. If the two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbor, then a grateful heart becomes a thankful heart by becoming a charitable heart. The gratitude for health on a given day leads to a thankful heart that expresses it in service to others.

Another way to define these terms is that the grateful heart is content, while the thankful heart is helpful. Going to the Psalm verse above, to “magnify Him (God) with thanksgiving” calls us to action. To “magnify” the name of the Lord means to “make greater” His name by honoring Him. And we honor God not so much with praise but with action. For to love God means that one must love others. Gratitude is an inward feeling of joy and contentment. Thanksgiving is an outward display of gratitude. It is an outward display of joy shown in loving action.

The goal then is to develop a grateful heart, one that recognizes the gifts of God, and turn it into a thankful heart, which glorifies God through loving expressions toward others. Gratitude means we are pleased with ourselves. Thanksgiving offers things that please God. Thanksgiving is gratitude in action.

​Show your gratitude toward God by doing something selfless today.

Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis | November 2020 | Prayer Team 365 original article

Care program for congregations who commit to the Earth Care Pledge. This requires them to accomplish a certain number of actions toward caring for God’s earth in four areas: worship, outreach, education, and facilities. Last spring, Session approved a study committee to determine if our church should become an Earth Care congregation. The purpose of Earth Care is to promote proper stewardship of God’s creation while also seeking justice for those in need.

Over the summer, Session members completed evaluations in the above four areas. Using the evaluation form provided by the denomination, we ascertained that we qualified in three of the areas, with worship falling a bit short. Nonetheless, in September, Session approved the Earth Care pledge, which pledges our church to pursue Earth Care in all four areas throughout our ministry. It does not mean everything will be about Earth Care, it simply means we will incorporate elements of it in specific ways. It may be as simple as singing hymns that celebrate and honor God’s creation. The Green Summit which was held at our church last year is an example of outreach that earned us points toward accreditation as an Earth Care Congregation. The number of ways we can show honor to God by caring for His creation are innumerable. In general, any costs to be a part of this program would be channeled through our various ministries.

Now that the Earth Care pledge has been approved, next steps will include earning the necessary points in the area of worship, and completing an application to be certified as an Earth Care Congregation. That will be submitted at the beginning of next year. Once certified, we will need to earn the necessary points in each category to continue being certified.

The Earth Care Team has been brainstorming ways to incorporate earth care activities into some of our ministry. Current members of the team are myself, Logan and Rachel Hazard, Donna Brundage, Megan Marvil  and Warren Bakes. If you would like to be a part of the team, visit with any one of us and we would be happy to have you join the team.

There is a wonderful hymn I recently discovered which most of you know. It is titled “How Can I Keep From Singing”, and when I stop to fully consider the wonder and mystery of God’s handiwork, I want to break out in a song of praise. I bet you will feel the same way!

In His Name, George