Sunday Worship
O Come, Thou Wisdom On High
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While the speakers in the stores jingle cheerily at us about “the most wonderful time of the year,” in the church we try to hold onto a deeper truth, a more lasting joy: "Christmas is the day that holds all time together.” (Alexander Smith) The day we celebrate the mystery of the incarnation and the ongoing presence of the Christ in the very fabric of the universe. The light that no darkness can contain or extinguish.
This advent, as we wait and prepare for Christmas we are focusing in worship on the angels – the messengers - in the nativity stories found in Matthew and Luke. We are listening for the words of the angels of old to tune our ears for the messengers among us today. Listening to the songs of response that Zechariah and Mary make, and watching the actions Joseph and the shepherds take in response—watching how each recipient of an angelic pronouncement becomes a messenger in their own right. We listen and watch not merely to admire their words and actions, but also to learn how to speak and act ourselves in response to the messages of the angels in our midst now.
The stories of Jesus’ birth announce the coming of a true King of the Jews (Matthew), a real Son of God (Luke) who will bring peace not through victory and conquest, as the Roman “son of God” Caesar does, but through justice.
And so through advent we wait, not just for God’s action in the world, but for God’s Wisdom to be born in us and show us the way to go, to make us messengers of peace through justice in a weary world.
One way to proclaim peace as we shop and give gifts and celebrate, might be to listen to the messengers telling us about working conditions of people around the world, and about the climate impact of over consumption. We can choose to shop and give intentionally and thoughtfully, in a morally conscious way. Our Consumer choices matter. With our purchases, we cast a vote for a more just world in which people are paid a living wage, children get to be children, animals don’t suffer, and environmental impact is reduced. You can find a list of lower-impact Christmas ideas to spark your imagination on the News and Events page of the Kairos-Milwaukie UCC webpage.
Wishing you a blessed advent, a heartfelt Christmas, and a hope-filled New Year.
Photo by Mario Losereit on Unsplash
Lower-Impact Christmas Gift Ideas for 2022
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An incomplete but heartfelt list of lower-impact Christmas gift suggestions (some are 501C3s):
(Collected by the Rev. Jennifer Seaich and edited by Pastor Jeanne)
Gifts of time or experience…
Spend some time together doing something you enjoy -- Hockey tickets, concert tickets, a season pass to the Hillsboro Hops, a Portland Broadway subscription, a membership to OMSI the Portland Art Museum or the Zoo.
Take a class with someone: learn together how to dance or kayak, bake or create jewelry.
Give a donation to a cause that someone cares about: our church, Planned Parenthood, American Diabetes Association, Trevor Project, Nature Conservancy, Earth Justice, Rainforest Alliance, the Oregon Humane Society, Best Friends animal rescue…
Donors Choose lets you look at teachers’ classroom wishlists- want to buy art supplies for a kindergarten class in New Hampshire? Library books by diverse authors for a middle school in Montana? Science equipment for a high school in Oklahoma?
Lower-impact shopping ideas:
Support local artists and artisans, like our own Wendy Wallin Malinow (https://www.etsy.com/shop/eyefun//) or Andy Balmer and Patricia Burns (https://www.fernhillpottery.com/).
World HeARTS fair trade store in Oregon City has a variety of items that benefit artisans around the world: Palestinian olive oil soaps, jewelry and scarves from Bangladesh, cute nativities and ornaments, and much more.
Tirzah Bazaar. Gorgeous fair trade, ethically-sourced goods made by women artisans in safe, clean, community-based workshops. Tirzah International also provides microbusiness training and loans to their women makers so they can support themselves and their families long term. Their motto is "When women rise, the world rises with them". Their partnership programs focus on core issues affecting marginalized women, centering on micro-enterprise, leadership development and local sustainability and are led by local women
Gifts from Palestine. My favorites (hard to choose) are the olive wood Samaritan woman and the sterling olive leaf jewelry, but there is so much.
Kairos Christmas Bazaar
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Come join us for this cozy, fun-filled, fund-raising event.
Sunday, December 11, 2022 at 11:00 am
We’ll start with a delicious luncheon, after which there will be an ornament making table and a wide assortment of baked goods, books, puzzles, handmade crafts and Christmas decor to purchase.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Sunday Worship: In person and live on Zoom
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We gather for worship at 10:00 am every Sunday
Together is a good place to be! Whoever you are, you're welcome here.
Gathering in person at the church building (map and directions).
Masks are required inside the building.
Live-streaming over the KMUCC Zoom Worship Space.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/984869259?pwd=YzQ0MEpRZXdYdE5JWDZ2SUYvZXc3UT09
Meeting ID: 984 869 259
Passcode: 314810
Join us by phone: (253) 215-8782 USA, or (301) 715-8592 USA
Living Life in Covenant
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Clergy and delegates from UCC congregations across the Central Pacific Conference met as usual on the last weekend of September. This was our first ever “hybrid” gathering, with people participating digitally and many others gathered on-site.
It was both wonderful and a little overwhelming to be gathered for so many hours in a row with so many people at once -- something which seemed so ordinary before Covid. And that was a theme of our conversation. How shall we live together in covenant relationship in a world that will continue to be informed by pandemic, a world changed by political unrest and sharp divisions.
In his Conference Minister’s Report, the Rev. Tyler Connoley pointed out that after the stresses of the past few years many of us are operating with very little emotional margin. Challenges that we might have navigated with ease in the past, suddenly seem herculean. As my friends in the Shenandoah valley might have put it, it doesn’t take much until we want to laugh, or maybe snap -- “you are getting on my last nerve.” It’s a time when we are all in need of extra grace and tenderness.
As we work to keep our community vital, it is important to remember that that need for tenderness extends not just to individuals but to whole communities. Tyler likened the conference and each congregation in it to a hanging mobile with pieces that have been lost, upsetting the stability of the whole. It will take time and creativity to bring the restored mobile into balance.
As we move forward at Kairos -- strengthening our practice of hybrid worship, enjoying a restored choir, adding a discussion and spiritual practice group, deciding what activities to renew and what to let go of -- it may be time to refresh our own vision and mission priorities. The council will take the first steps at our retreat this fall. As we move forward with joyful urgency, we will be wise to take Tyler’s wisdom to heart and move forward also with tenderness, patience, and gratitude for each other and the life we share together.
Photo by Alisa Anton on Unsplash
No matter who ...
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No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here!
If you know that God's love embraces all persons equally, no matter their gender, race, or sexual identity...
If you understand that faith is a matter of mind as well as heart, and that taking the Bible seriously means it cannot always be taken literally...
If, for you, diversity, tolerance, and inclusion are strengths to be taught...
If you believe that Christ calls us to be nothing less than global citizens, that the social expression of love is justice and that spiritual concerns are inseparable from a commitment to the natural world...
If you have wished for a more open and embracing community of faith to nurture your spirit and raise your children, and haven't yet found a place of belonging...
... then please know that Kairos-Milwaukie United Church of Christ is the place for you.
Kairos-Milwaukie UCC seeks to create a community where participants can experience intellectual and spiritual excitement; a spirit of openness and acceptance, as well as love and laughter. We are a community where evangelism is in partnership with social justice; where personal spiritual growth and concern for the poor and disenfranchised go hand in hand; where nurture and action are two sides of the same coin; where love for tradition and a sense of urgency about the future are integrally linked. We are a community of faithful people who have known the joy of having been loved, accepted and affirmed by God. We are a community that celebrates our diversity as a way to understand and respond to the inclusiveness of God's love and the wideness of God's mercy.