Community Sabbatical Art Engagement
@9:30-10:30 Sundays
Fellowship Hall
« Stay Tuned for our Last Session TBD
Come join us on these Sundays to experience a community art process that we can share in together. This is for all ages!
We will have 4 one-hour "hands on" workshops where we will practice painting and calligraphy. Calligraphy means "beautiful writing," and we will learn different ways to write beautifully and artistically each Sunday.
Our finished product will be a beautiful small booklet which will contain words from Scripture which make reference to water. We will also use our sea shells in creating the booklets. These will be "no stress" workshops, designed to be fun and enlightening, and you will find a supportive group of friends--of all ages--to work with.
The workshops will be facilitated by Peter Schmidt,an artist from Gresham, Oregon. Peter is a member of St. Luke's the Physician Episcopal Church in Gresham, where he has taughtcalligraphy and painting. He is a member of the Portland Society of
Calligraphy, and has participated in many local and regional shows. His work has been published by Oregon Catholic Press.
@9:30-10:30 Sundays
Fellowship Hall
« Stay Tuned for our Last Session TBD
Come join us on these Sundays to experience a community art process that we can share in together. This is for all ages!
We will have 4 one-hour "hands on" workshops where we will practice painting and calligraphy. Calligraphy means "beautiful writing," and we will learn different ways to write beautifully and artistically each Sunday.
Our finished product will be a beautiful small booklet which will contain words from Scripture which make reference to water. We will also use our sea shells in creating the booklets. These will be "no stress" workshops, designed to be fun and enlightening, and you will find a supportive group of friends--of all ages--to work with.
The workshops will be facilitated by Peter Schmidt,an artist from Gresham, Oregon. Peter is a member of St. Luke's the Physician Episcopal Church in Gresham, where he has taughtcalligraphy and painting. He is a member of the Portland Society of
Calligraphy, and has participated in many local and regional shows. His work has been published by Oregon Catholic Press.
Updates from Our Pastors on Sabbatical
JUNE 27, 2016
In this last week of our sabbatical leave, all of us are experiencing transitions. Our time on St. Croix ended with a wonderful week of having our children and their spouses/significant others visit. They were as enchanted with the island and its waters as we were! Our time together was full of conversation, laughter, board games, and beaches. Most of them joined Pastor Tim in a scuba diving excursion around the Frederiksted Pier. We all snorkeled and swam together at several different sites. At the end they treated us to brunch along the beach to celebrate Father's Day!
In our last few days on island we revisited favorite snorkeling sites, did some shopping, and took in the city sights. Pastor Donna took many photos of these places for us to have for our own memories and to share with you in the days to come. Now back at home we are reconnecting with our housemates - Virginia and Kila! And we are getting updates from Pastor Dayle and the staff about WLLC's sabbatical, too. We look forward to hosting our guests from Sacele, Lorant and Monika, and helping prepare for Day Camp. At the end of the summer we will all share in a celebration of sabbatical, and continue to discover the importance of making room for Sabbath on a daily basis, not just a once-in-a-career sabbatical!
In this last week of our sabbatical leave, all of us are experiencing transitions. Our time on St. Croix ended with a wonderful week of having our children and their spouses/significant others visit. They were as enchanted with the island and its waters as we were! Our time together was full of conversation, laughter, board games, and beaches. Most of them joined Pastor Tim in a scuba diving excursion around the Frederiksted Pier. We all snorkeled and swam together at several different sites. At the end they treated us to brunch along the beach to celebrate Father's Day!
In our last few days on island we revisited favorite snorkeling sites, did some shopping, and took in the city sights. Pastor Donna took many photos of these places for us to have for our own memories and to share with you in the days to come. Now back at home we are reconnecting with our housemates - Virginia and Kila! And we are getting updates from Pastor Dayle and the staff about WLLC's sabbatical, too. We look forward to hosting our guests from Sacele, Lorant and Monika, and helping prepare for Day Camp. At the end of the summer we will all share in a celebration of sabbatical, and continue to discover the importance of making room for Sabbath on a daily basis, not just a once-in-a-career sabbatical!
|
|
|
|
MAY 26, 2016
Today, Pastor Tim achieved a personal goal: he earned his certification as a diver! He was not able to certify in Oregon due to scheduling conflicts there and was referred to a dive shop on St. Croix. Working through Oregon City Scuba (www.oregoncityscuba.com) and Dive Experience in Christiansted (www.divexp.com) he did all the study, practice, and skill dives! It was a real pleasure to be able to do the 4 dives in the Caribbean waters! Spending time in the deep blue waters here has been a joy and challenge for both of us, giving us much to contemplate about life, death, creation, and baptism. Pastor Tim learned something about himself - and how to respect the power of water while at the same time learning to appreciate the beauty of the coral reef and all its inhabitants. Yes, he saw a shark; almost touched one in its hiding place; but realizes the important part within the cycle of nature they play. God is good! |
|
(Note about the video: Pastor Tim was with an instructor and did not see all that you see in the video; though he did have his own experience with a "Nurse Shark" (look it up!). Pastor Donna was on the boat and did some snorkeling above it all!)
|
|
MAY 18, 2016
We are about 45 days into the Sabbatical and wanted to provide an update for West Linn Lutheran on what we have been doing. Pastor Tim had 2 wonderful weeks at Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center, Carefree, Arizona (www.spiritinthedesert.org). He participated in a retreat on the different forms of prayer - you may recall we did a midweek Lent small group process on the various prayer practices to encourage the use of different senses and experiences in prayer. Pastor Tim thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to reflect on the importance of communication with God and felt it was a wonderful way to begin his portion of the sabbatical. He also spent time with his brother and family visiting, playing, and watching Cardinals baseball! He had the wonderful opportunity of visiting the Grand Canyon where a deep and abiding spiritual connection was experienced with the wonders of God in creation and nature. Pastor Donna had 2 weeks in Washington state - one week on a personal retreat and one week in a class at the Grunewald Guild (www.grunewaldguild.com) during the annual Sacred Arts Week. Her class was called "Altar-ed Books" and provided a wonderful hands-on creative experience working with the theme "Open". While on retreat, she was able to get out hiking and walking in new beautiful places around Leavenworth, and a lot of practice with her camera! |
Both of us have appreciated time at home as well, completing some important projects inside and outside our home. We have had time to rest and read and reconnect.
On May 12 we had a long day of travel to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. We are staying in a rental cottage mid-island - called "Bamboo Cottage"! Pastor Tim has made contact with a scuba shop in Christiansted to complete his certification for diving. Pastor Donna is continuing to learn about photography both as an art and as a spiritual practice. We have driven all around the island, gone snorkeling in a few different sites, and worshiped with Holy Trinity ELCA in Frederiksted. The history and politics of the island are fascinating - we even attended a rally featuring former president Bill Clinton speaking on the status of the islands as a territory of the U.S. (http://www.vinow.com/stcroix/history/) We miss our church community, but deeply trust you are caring for each other and being refreshed through your time of sabbatical, too! We'll send another update next month! |
Refreshment RetreatWest Linn Lutheran Church will create a “Refreshment Retreat” for Pastor Tim, Pastor Donna, and the congregation in the
Easter season of 2016. Proverbs 11:25 tells us, “...whoever refreshes others will be refreshed”! We depend on God to refresh us with the Spirit of new life in Christ that flows among us and between us in mutual ministry. Jesus’ act of stepping away to be alone becomes the model used in this sabbatical. The pastors will take time for renewal in Arizona, Washington State, and St. Croix USVI where they can see themselves and the world in new ways; the congregation will take time to revitalize through deepened experiences of worship and fellowship. |
Rest, Reflect, Recreate, RenewWe, as people and pastors, live in a community characterized by “busyness” often of our own creating. Our families and our pastors get caught up in these demands. Losing connections to family, whether affluent or struggling, is the cost of being too busy. Everyone has high expectations that create pressure. Sometimes it feels we wear this busyness as a badge of honor.
One Mutual Ministry Team member diagnosed it as “the tyranny of ambition.” Our congregation risks adding expectations to staff and members lives that may be laudable but overwhelming. One member observed frantically “There is so much offered here, I get FOMO!” (fear of missing out). It is time for us all to retreat! Sabbatical at West Linn Lutheran Church will be a break for both pastors and people to rest, reflect, recreate, and renew. We depend on God’s promise: “I will refresh the weary, and satisfy the faint.” (Jeremiah 31:25). |
Swimming in the Deep Waters of GraceThe intended benefits for this sabbatical are for all of us to deepen our culture of relationship and blessing by swimming in the deep waters of grace. Taking time for ourselves is gracious. Both congregation and pastors will have a renewed perspective for making decisions about what work and projects to let go of and engage in after the sabbatical.
Our Refreshment Retreat will include 4 Rs: rest, reflection, recreation, and renewal.
|