KMUCC News & Events

Saturday, October 16, 2021 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

Quilts, scarves, pottery, puzzles, jams and jellies, crafts, baked goods, books and more.

In the church parking lot at 4790 SE Logus Road, Milwaukie OR 97222.

Please observe appropriate masking and social distancing. Thank you.

This fall, we are spending eight weeks putting Valerie Kaur's book, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love, in conversation with the Gospel of Jesus.

Kaur is a civil rights activist, filmmaker, and Sikh faith leader; a visionary calling diverse allies to transform the world in revolutionary love. She asks, "What if the darkness of our world just now is the darness, not of the tomb, but of the womb?"

We're forming a weekly book group to engage in this work together.

Wednesday Evenings at 7:00 pm, September 15, to November 3, 2021

Meeting on Zoom

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82042176033?pwd=VGxjc3c4cUVRcFBBL3pmSmtUbXRpdz09

Meeting ID: 820 4217 6033
Passcode: 502327
Or by calling: 253-215-8782 or 301-715-8592

“Oh sisters, let’s go down.  Let’s go down, come on down.  Oh sisters, let’s go down, down in the river to pray.”  

Sunday, August 8, 2021, was a memorable day for our church.  Not only was it an outdoor service at Camp Adams, but it was the baptism of Kathi Malcom in Milk Creek, which runs through the camp.  When Pastor Jeanne asked me the week prior if I could help her, I said sure, not realizing what exactly I would be doing.  Well, the experience was not at all like the Baptist Church baptisms of my youth!

The area of the creek was very “rustic.”  We worked our way downhill, through the “brambles” to stand next to the water.  As I stood next to Jeanne and Kathy, facing the hillside, it was a beautiful sight to see our congregation make their way “down to the river to pray.” 

Kathy (Walden) was playing violin, Dan and Lily were singing as were the rest of us.  I had a lump in my throat looking at “us,” with the observation that we are a beautiful, quirky, loving group of people whom I deeply cherish.  

In the creek, Jeanne, Kathi, and I managed to not fall from the slick rocks on the bottom and performed the (completely underwater) ceremony.  Kathi said that the ritual symbolizes her love of Jesus and her ability to follow the teachings of Jesus.  I felt honored and humbled to participate.  This was truly an experience of love and commitment.

“Oh sisters, let’s go down, down to the river to pray.”

We cannot attain
the presence of God
because we are always already
totally in the presence of God.
What is absent is awareness.

~ Richard Rohr

(Almost) every year the Randall-Bodman family travels to Maine for vacation.  We don’t go just anywhere in Maine, but to the REAL Maine.  The part of the state that is too far “down east” for wealthy tourists from Boston and points south to even think about visiting.  There on a piece of property bought by David’s great, great-grandparents, we stay in a tiny cabin built by David’s great-grandfather and grandparents, lovingly renovated by his parents, and now in our care.  It’s not quite wilderness – there are many camps on the lake and we have plumbing, electricity, and these days even Wi-Fi (well, some days). But there are bears and moose in the woods, eagles, osprey, kingfisher and loons fishing in the lake and beaver and otter living along its banks.  

We go back to that same small place of all the possible places in the wide earth, to be immersed in family history, to play and read and relax, together.  And to let the familiar wild beauty remind us that we are, indeed, always, already in the presence of God.

We thought when we scheduled this year’s trip that we would be coming back to a world returned to something closer to “normal.”  Instead, we are returning to more covid uncertainty, more and continuing politicization of mask wearing and being vaccinated, more and continuing effects of the climate crisis, more and intensifying refugee news. More of everything that made 2020 difficult.

As we move forward together here at Kairos into an uncertain future I am holding on to the reminder of God’s presence.  Not just in the splendor of the Maine woods, but in every place where there is life.  In the life we share together, in the space between and among us, and in each one of us.  As we move into our sermon series and book study based on Valerie Kaur’s book “See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love,” we will develop practices for seeing and loving the God-light in all human life – in each person.  I hope you will pick up a copy of the book and read along with the sermon series and join in conversation on Wednesday evenings as we go forward, together, in wonder, love and solidarity.

Together, let us love.

Theology On Tap: 7:00 pm on the 3rd Tuesday each month.

This isn't a closed group or an event you need to have been to before.  If you like to talk with your church friends about life, the universe, and everything, come on in!

ZOOM gathering

Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85270896249?pwd=TnJPeGRUSEpuekdlMGNHRHkrMi9UZz09 

Meeting ID: 852 7089 6249
Passcode: 752672

What a joy it has been to worship together with so many of you these last few weeks, in the building and on zoom. Lee Burleson, who makes the technology work, and I are so grateful for your patience as we experiment with how to make the hybrid experience rich and satisfying for everyone. We welcome your feedback on what’s working well for you and what needs to be changed or refined.

Although many in our congregation are vaccinated, there are some who for health, age, or personal reasons, are not. It is tempting for those of us in the “I and all my household are fully vaccinated” group to throw caution to the wind and “go back to normal life.” But consideration for the unvaccinated and humility about things we don’t yet know about all the variants of covid call us to move forward carefully, together. So, for the time being, we will continue to use masks during worship and encourage folks who are able to move outside during coffee hour. And together we’ll be able to gather to play at our August 1 barbecue, to mourn at our August 2 service for our beloved friend Corinne Morton, and rejoice with Kathi Malcolm as she is baptized at our August 8 service at Camp Adams.

The 33rd General Synod of the UCC wrapped up on July 18. I encourage you to head over to https://www.generalsynod.org/ to read all the news and to find videos of the worship services. It was a rich and wonderful week of work, worship, and learning. Our Associate General Minister of Justice & Local Church Ministries, Traci Blackmon, introduced the newest initiative of the national church, “Join The Movement toward Racial Justice.” Our first keynote speaker, Valerie Kaur, echoed the call for revolutionary love to lead the way to justice. You can hear Ms. Kaur’s earlier ted talk “Lessons of Revolutionary Love in a Time of Rage” at https://valariekaur.com/ted-valarie-kaur/ .

My husband David (pastor of Bethel Congregational UCC, Beaverton) and I were so moved by Ms. Kaur’s address that we are working together on a September sermon series based on her “See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love.” I hope that many of you will pick up a copy of the book and join me in studying her call to love others, opponents, and ourselves in ways that will bring us all closer to Beloved Community.

“Love” is more than a feeling. Love is a form of sweet labor: fierce, bloody, imperfect, and life-giving – a choice we make over and over again. If love is sweet labor,
love can be taught, modeled, and practiced. This labor engages all our emotions. Joy is the gift of love. Grief is the price of love. Anger protects that which is loved. And when we think we have reached our limit, wonder is the act that returns us to love. Revolutionary love is the choice to enter into wonder and labor for others, for our opponents and for ourselves in order to transform the world around us…. revolutionary love can only be practiced in community.”

Together, let us love.