In December of 2020, as we approached a new year together, all of us wondered what that new year might bring. Most of us had high hopes that within a few months, we might be gathering again in our sacred spaces for worship, seeing friends face to face that we may not have seen in …
An Update from the Pastoral Team about Worship Development Read More »
The holy week provides me a time and space to reflect on my faith journey. It has been a long journey of twenty-eight years in my island Kingdom, Tonga, and thirty-eight years in the Democracy United States of America. I had lived in two worlds, one classed as an under-developed, agrarian society. The other is …
I like to write. It’s a good way for me to process my feelings about things, to clarify what is important to me, and to think about how my thoughts might be received by others. I also like to play around with words and how words help us express and understand images. And, I’ll confess, …
Recently I was in Arizona to officiate my sister’s wedding. While in Arizona my dad took me to Papago Park to show me The Hole in the Rock. I learned that, “There is evidence that the Hohokam, early inhabitants of the region, used and recorded the position of the sunlight shining through the latter opening …
Hello everyone, this is Rev. Jeff Lowery, Director of Youth Ministry for Open Door Churches. One of the ways that I live out my call is to write and record songs. Over the past 15 years I have had 3 collections of my original songs recorded, mixed, and manufactured into CD’s. The first project was …
Yesterday, my friend, Dr. Janet G, emailed me and said, “that may be we are free-er than we think we are.” She recalled the things she did this time in the past two years and found they are incomparable to the things she loves and enjoys doing now. She hardly feels restricted in one form …
Today is Ash Wednesday which marks the start of the Lenten Season on the Christian Calendar. Many people choose to engage in the spiritual discipline of giving something up during the season of lent in hopes of growing deeper in their connection with God. Some people give up television, social media, coffee or chocolate. Some …
“Basic religious faith is a vote for some coherence, purpose, benevolence, and direction in the universe. Unfortunately, the notion of faith that emerged in the West was much more a rational assent to the truth of certain mental beliefs rather than a calm and hopeful trust that God is inherent in all things, and that …
To care for the environment is an essential concept of life that I’ve always liked to learn, explore and support. My interest grew when I took my Senior Capstone project for my undergraduate degree in Environmental studies. Tryon Creek State Park offered this project. This state park is located within Portland metropolitan area close to …
The Sound of Silence The following was originally shared by Pastor John Fleming as a post of Facebook. Solitude. Silence. I thought I knew what those words meant. Today I discovered I was wrong. Way wrong. In the past five weeks, I’ve driven through Moab, Utah, four times. It sorta killed my soul, though, because …