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Benevolence Team Update Jan 2022
What is the Benevolence Team?
The Benevolence Team is responsible for proposing the recipient(s) for our quarterly benevolence giving.
How do we arrive at the amount to donate?
The benevolence fund amount is based on general giving, 4% of general giving is calculated each quarter. The Benevolence team then meets to discuss needs in the community and make a designation for the special gifts. Your giving to ChristChurch also impacts local organizations with financial gifts.
2021 Contributions and Recipients:
2021 Q1 HomePlate Youth Services: $452.57 & Bienestar OR: $452.57
2021 Q2 St. Matthew Food Pantry: $786.94
2021 Q3 Project Homeless Connect Washington County: $1,058.00
2021 Q 4: Direct relief to victims of Hillsboro fire through the Hillsboro Community Foundation. 100% of the money donated will go directly to assist victims: $887
Total donated to community groups from 2021 giving: $3,637.08
Who is on the Team?
There are about 10 volunteers on the team. The team chair is Eileen Gross and the council liaison is Cindy Kinnie.
How can I get involved?
The team meets on Zoom and via email. If you are interested in joining the team, please contact Eileen.
The Benevolence Team is responsible for proposing the recipient(s) for our quarterly benevolence giving.
How do we arrive at the amount to donate?
The benevolence fund amount is based on general giving, 4% of general giving is calculated each quarter. The Benevolence team then meets to discuss needs in the community and make a designation for the special gifts. Your giving to ChristChurch also impacts local organizations with financial gifts.
2021 Contributions and Recipients:
2021 Q1 HomePlate Youth Services: $452.57 & Bienestar OR: $452.57
2021 Q2 St. Matthew Food Pantry: $786.94
2021 Q3 Project Homeless Connect Washington County: $1,058.00
2021 Q 4: Direct relief to victims of Hillsboro fire through the Hillsboro Community Foundation. 100% of the money donated will go directly to assist victims: $887
Total donated to community groups from 2021 giving: $3,637.08
Who is on the Team?
There are about 10 volunteers on the team. The team chair is Eileen Gross and the council liaison is Cindy Kinnie.
How can I get involved?
The team meets on Zoom and via email. If you are interested in joining the team, please contact Eileen.
Worship Transition Team Update: November 23, 2021
The worship transition team has defined a goal to host monthly in-person worship in the new year. In preparation for that, the team compiled this list of COVID-19 safety protocols:
Safety protocols for the congregation when worshiping in person Stay home if sick or have been near someone who is sick Wear a mask Practice social distancing Protocols to create a safe worship environment Communicating the safety protocols through email, verbally, and on signs Providing hand sanitizer and spare masks Selecting a well-ventilated space Creating socially distanced seating areas Limiting indoor activities to one hour Please connect with the Worship Transition Team through Tom Litterer if you have any questions or concerns about these COVID safety protocols.
The team continues to work with Pastor David on finding a short-term in-person worship space. Space criteria include being in a convenient location, requiring little setup time, and being well-ventilated.
Safety protocols for the congregation when worshiping in person Stay home if sick or have been near someone who is sick Wear a mask Practice social distancing Protocols to create a safe worship environment Communicating the safety protocols through email, verbally, and on signs Providing hand sanitizer and spare masks Selecting a well-ventilated space Creating socially distanced seating areas Limiting indoor activities to one hour Please connect with the Worship Transition Team through Tom Litterer if you have any questions or concerns about these COVID safety protocols.
The team continues to work with Pastor David on finding a short-term in-person worship space. Space criteria include being in a convenient location, requiring little setup time, and being well-ventilated.
Worship Transition Team Update - September 1, 2021
Returning to in-person services: The dramatic rise in virus cases precludes us from even considering any form of in-person services until at least after Christmas. We all wish it wasn’t so. The transition team will keep the congregation updated if anything changes between now and Christmas. The church council, worship team, and others are exploring ways to invigorate our Zoom worship experience.
The Worship Transition Team would like to encourage everyone to get vaccinated unless a physician has said you shouldn’t. Getting vaccinated is one way to love your neighbor. Also, if you are exposed to COVID-19 or have any symptoms, please get tested before interacting with others.
Below are links on how to find testing locations near you:
Below are excerpts from a letter Martin Luther wrote in 1527 during the Bubonic Plague.
Returning to in-person services: The dramatic rise in virus cases precludes us from even considering any form of in-person services until at least after Christmas. We all wish it wasn’t so. The transition team will keep the congregation updated if anything changes between now and Christmas. The church council, worship team, and others are exploring ways to invigorate our Zoom worship experience.
The Worship Transition Team would like to encourage everyone to get vaccinated unless a physician has said you shouldn’t. Getting vaccinated is one way to love your neighbor. Also, if you are exposed to COVID-19 or have any symptoms, please get tested before interacting with others.
Below are links on how to find testing locations near you:
- Testing Information (washington.or.us)
- COVID-19 Testing in Oregon
- Get Tested COVID-19: enters Zipcode
- Google COVID testing near me
Below are excerpts from a letter Martin Luther wrote in 1527 during the Bubonic Plague.
To the Reverend Doctor Johann Hess, pastor at Breslau, and to his fellow-servants of the gospel of Jesus Christ (1527 A.D.):
Others sin on the right hand. They are much too rash and reckless, tempting God and disregarding everything which might counteract death and the plague. They disdain the use of medicines; they do not avoid places and persons infected by the plague, but lightheartedly make sport of it and wish to prove how independent they are. They say that it is God’s punishment; if he wants to protect them he can do so without medicines or our carefulness. This is not trusting God but tempting him. God has created medicines and provided us with intelligence to guard and take good care of the body so that we can live in good health.
It is even more shameful for a person to pay no heed to his own body and to fail to protect it against the plague the best he is able, and then to infect and poison others who might have remained alive if he had taken care of his body as he should have.
No, my dear friends, that is no good. Use medicine; take potions which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street; shun persons and places wherever your neighbor does not need your presence or has recovered, and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city. What else is the epidemic but a fire which instead of consuming wood and straw devours life and body?
You ought to think this way: “Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison and deadly offal. Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence.
If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely, as stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.
Excerpted from Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague (1527)
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 43: Devotional Writings II, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 43 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 119–38.
To read the complete letter, click here.
Others sin on the right hand. They are much too rash and reckless, tempting God and disregarding everything which might counteract death and the plague. They disdain the use of medicines; they do not avoid places and persons infected by the plague, but lightheartedly make sport of it and wish to prove how independent they are. They say that it is God’s punishment; if he wants to protect them he can do so without medicines or our carefulness. This is not trusting God but tempting him. God has created medicines and provided us with intelligence to guard and take good care of the body so that we can live in good health.
It is even more shameful for a person to pay no heed to his own body and to fail to protect it against the plague the best he is able, and then to infect and poison others who might have remained alive if he had taken care of his body as he should have.
No, my dear friends, that is no good. Use medicine; take potions which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street; shun persons and places wherever your neighbor does not need your presence or has recovered, and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city. What else is the epidemic but a fire which instead of consuming wood and straw devours life and body?
You ought to think this way: “Very well, by God’s decree the enemy has sent us poison and deadly offal. Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence.
If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely, as stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.
Excerpted from Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague (1527)
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 43: Devotional Writings II, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 43 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 119–38.
To read the complete letter, click here.
Blessing of the Animals October 3, 2021
Let’s be honest, during these last 18 months, those of us with animals in our households have already been bringing our pets into our worship space. So let’s really invite them in - to give thanks for them, to acknowledge the gift they are to us, and to bless them! On Sunday, October 3rd, during our 9:30am worship time, we will be celebrating the Feast of St. Francis by blessing our pets and beloved creatures! We invite you to share your beloved animals with the whole worshiping community in two ways…
First, consider sending in a picture… it could be a faithful companion of many years, it could be a pandemic puppy or COVID kitty, it could be the birds or other creatures that you have been sharing your outdoor space with. Please attach your photos to an email and send it to [email protected] by Thursday, September 30th.
Second, if possible, have your furry (or scaly, or feathered) family member with you in your sacred Zoom worship space. Together we will give thanks for and bless all God’s creatures!
Let’s be honest, during these last 18 months, those of us with animals in our households have already been bringing our pets into our worship space. So let’s really invite them in - to give thanks for them, to acknowledge the gift they are to us, and to bless them! On Sunday, October 3rd, during our 9:30am worship time, we will be celebrating the Feast of St. Francis by blessing our pets and beloved creatures! We invite you to share your beloved animals with the whole worshiping community in two ways…
First, consider sending in a picture… it could be a faithful companion of many years, it could be a pandemic puppy or COVID kitty, it could be the birds or other creatures that you have been sharing your outdoor space with. Please attach your photos to an email and send it to [email protected] by Thursday, September 30th.
Second, if possible, have your furry (or scaly, or feathered) family member with you in your sacred Zoom worship space. Together we will give thanks for and bless all God’s creatures!
