A Missional Portfolio

Our Bishop’s Advisory Committee has approved a Missional Portfolio with three general directions to develop and support. The hope is to address both local and wider initiatives, make a positive statement within our immediate community, and find ways of bringing the Gospel to bear on some of the issues that confront our lives and communities today.
 
The first area will focus on alleviating hunger within our local area, focusing on children and families. An initial venue will be working with the Nehalem Elementary School backpack program, which targets children from food-challenged families, and provides basic, nutritious food for the child to eat over the weekend.
 
The second area is optimizing our grounds to be more welcoming and provide accessible venues for reflection and
spirituality. Ideas under consideration include revisiting a Pet Memorial Garden in the back area of our property, building a Labyrinth on the main lawn, and better utilization of the shed in the parking lot area.
 
The third area has us looking at more complex social issues, and looking at ways to promote distinctively Christian responses within our local communities. Here, we may be looking at dialogue events, anti-racism training, and focusing on partnering with other local organizations that promote social justice.

In order to continue our work in these areas, a Mission Committee has been created. This committee will meet regularly, explore these areas in depth, and make recommendations to the BAC. I invite all of you to stay informed about these developments, and we will keep you posted as we move forward.
 
In Christ,
Patricia+
 

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Update on the Memorial Garden Utilization Policy
 
The St. Catherine’s Memorial Garden is an affordable, yet respectful and beautiful option for returning our bodily remains to the ground from which they came.
 
In order to ensure our ability to maintain both present and future needs, the BAC has approved research into building a new Memorial Wall, and also approved raising the fee for interment and engraving to $400.  This will allow us to maintain the garden, while also ensuring funds are available to build a new Memorial Wall to support future use of the garden.
 

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 Celebrating Year End Finances
 
The BAC wishes to thank our members and friends for generous contributions in 2015. If you take a look at our financial statements for the year, you will notice that pledge income was 121% of what we budgeted. This is an amazing level of support!  Thank you for contributions past and present that allow our small community to continue to grow and flourish.

Patricia+
 

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Conversations With God: learning to pray

It’s never too late to learn how prayer can change your relationship with God.

Come join us for bread and soup on Wednesday at 5:00 PM. We are having a very invigorating discussion on the topic of prayer, from our Lenten Book Study, Prayer: Beginning Conversations with God, by Richard J. Beckman.

Becky Berg and Kay Stolz
 

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THIS SATURDAY! 
Portland Opera to Perform at St. Catherine's

Saturday February 27 at 1 PM Enjoy listening to excerpts from the 2016 Season featuring Portland Opera's Resident Artists and Chorus Master and Assistant Conductor Nicholas Fox. Resident Artists will perform highlights from Mozart's The Magic Flute, Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, and Rossini's The Italian Girl in Algiers. For more information about Portland Opera click here.  FREE - invite friends to this wonderful concert.


 

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Retreat at St Mary's Rockaway February 27

You are invited to a Morning of Mercy Retreat at St. Mary By the Sea Parish Hall:

Saturday, February 27
9:00 am to 12:30 pm
Dress comfortably, join us, and bring a friend
275 S Pacific Street
Rockaway Beach, OR

Julia Saunders, St Mary's Catholic Church
 

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Thanks for the Christmas Day Luncheon