KMUCC News & Events

On January 12, 2020, we took 3 full truckloads and at least 5 carloads of styrofoam in for recycling. Wow!

We found out that a local Milwaukie non-profit called Exceed Enterprises has a styrofoam pickup location near Bob’s Red Mill restaurant. They take it to Agilyx for recycling. Exceed is a supported employment agency for disabled people, but a group called Milwaukie Environmental Alliance has set up this pickup location in the Exceed parking lot. They are only doing pickup Mon-Fri daytime through March of this year. It appears to be a trial setup but they seemed thrilled to have us bring so much stuff!

An interesting note is when we returned to the church for our last load (that we thought would be a light one), we were surprised that someone had dropped off a big stack of containers!

Some notes about this project: We need to check what people give. That was done well right after church but later donations had random junk plastics and some flexible stuff that resembled styrofoam but isn't. We bundled things in plastic bags which is good for handling, but we now have maybe 20 bags (we need to reuse those next time).

We would say the styrofoam recycling project was an awesome success! Thanks to everyone that contributed.... and it was a lot of people!

The Second Sunday of Every Month from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm

We gather to cook and eat a meal together, to talk and laugh, sing and pray.
Everyone of every age is welcome!

We are all meant to be mothers of God.
What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son
takes place unceasingly, but does not take place within myself?
And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace?
What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to a Son
if I do not also give birth to him in my time and my culture?
This, then, is the fullness of time: When the Son of Man is begotten in us.
-- Meister Eckhart

For the last six weeks, the flow of the church year has focused our attention on the events of 2000 years ago, retelling and celebrating our ancient stories about divine presence with and for us.

As we approached a new decade many people, especially on social media, have spent time reflecting on the decade that was… where they personally were in 2009 and the successes, failures, adventures, and resiliencies that had brought them to 2019.

But the invitation of standing on the edge of a new year and a new decade and the yearly invitation of the Christmas story is to turn from what has been, to what will be.

This moment invites us to consider where we hear God speaking to us in our individual lives, to listen for where God might be leading us.

This moment invites us to consider where we hear God speaking to us as a congregation. With all of the challenges facing our Portland community and our country, with immigrants and refugees being scapegoated, with an uptick in antisemitic violence shocking us all, with the climate crisis facing the whole globe; with all the challenges of 2019 rolling over into 2020, how are WE being called to be the body of Christ in the world?

What gifts and graces do we have as a community and how are we being called to use those gifts to speak peace and justice into the world in new ways? The promise is that God will not leave us on our own; the challenge is to bring that presence to a world longing still for peace, for love and for hope.

Peace and blessings as we journey together.

The Green Team and Pastor Jeanne have invited Milwaukie Mayor Mark Gamba to deliver a “Mission Message” on January 19, 2020 during worship and speak on the current Climate Crisis and what Milwaukie city government is doing to address this issue, as well as fair housing and other issues related to climate justice.

Mayor Gamba, formerly a nature photographer for such magazines as National Geographic, saw first-hand the destruction of such important ecosystems as the Great Barrier Reef. Read more about Mayor Gamba at the City of Milwaukie website (click here).

We will be ready to pick up all your Styrofoam on Sunday, January 12th at church. The Styrofoam should be clean, please. If it is small pieces, please put them in a bag. The Green Team will be taking it to a company called Agilyx in Tigard. And you can feel good that they actually re-processes the Styrofoam for reuse! It won't just go to a landfill! The company is Agilyx and you can learn more at their website (click here). Agilyx recycles not just Styrofoam, but any #6 plastic.

If you have a recycling question of any kind, you can call Ask Metro at 503-234-3000.

If you want to find a recycler near you, there is a nice tool on the Metro website (click here).

The Word was first,
the Word present to God,
God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
in readiness for God from day one.
Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out.
(John 1: 1- 15, The Message)

In this dark season of the year we connect with our longing for the coming of the life-light.

As our stores, neighborhoods and our own houses and sanctuary come alive with decorations and lights, as the background music in malls and offices turns to Christmas songs, as tv ads wrap every item being marketed with a red bow and add the sound of sleigh bells to every pitch they make …. As the culture becomes soaked with almost relentless cheer; here in the church we take a long, gentle breath.

During the weeks of advent we remind ourselves to pause among all the bright celebration. To be aware of the bleakness in this present world, and to sit in the soft, quiet darkness and allow the life within it to awaken in us.

We pause to be in touch with our longing for a better world. A world where the wolf and lamb live together in peace and the leopard lies down with the kid; a time when o one shall hurt or destroy in all God’s holy world. A life in which refugee children are not separated from their parents and where everyone has food and housing.

As we connect with our deep longing we can welcome in the deep joy of the incarnation – God’s presence among us in frail and vulnerable form. We can rejoice in the promise that God is always with us and for us, on the side of our thriving. That together we belong to the body of Christ – called to seek and share that life-light, that Word of peace, hope, and justice with the world.

Wishing you a blessed advent, a joyous Christmas, and a Happy New Year!