Posts from February 2023

Posts from February 2023

New (to us) Sanctuary Chairs!

This last week St. Philip picked up over one hundred solid maple chairs from Multnomah County Libraries. Rebecca, Thomas (her son), Tony, Aimee, and Rev. Maria loaded the chairs, a lovely meeting table, a whiteboard, and few other office items into one uHaul, a minivan, and a small pickup truck. Meanwhile, Bernadine swung a drill and took apart the plywood desk in the office, and Janet helped sort all our hymn books and BCP into neat piles. Over the course…

Financial Pledge Update

Pledges are up by 65% for 2023! This is incredibly good news, and we thank you for your generosity. As we commenced discussing our future, one financial fact stood out: in order to stay open and have full-time clergy and a small paid staff, St. Philip needs to raise at least $200K a year. We delayed our pledges for 2023 so that we could have an honest conversation about our financial future. St. Philip has liquid assets, that is, money…

The Alcena: Congregational Input Update

Alcena Affordable Housing Project Update from Gary Carroll, II At the annual meeting of the St. Philip’s congregation, Gary Carroll and Rev. Maria presented the progress and process of The Alcena, and included information on the latest discussions between St. Philip’s and our project partner, PCRI.  Additionally, they shared the new project parameters that the vestry requested our consultant, Second Stories, to explore. Second Stories produced additional options for St. Philips to consider and the congregation was asked to rank-choice…

Shrove Tuesday Shrimp & Grits Dinner

St. Philip the Deacon continues its tradition of celebrating Shrove Tuesday with a Shrimp & Grits Dinner at the church on Tuesday, February 21st at 5:30pm. Kitchen volunteers will begin chopping and prepping at 2pm, and anyone interested in helping set up tables should come at 4:00. Dinner will be served at 5:30. After dinner, around 6:45, we will burn palms to make ashes for the Ash Wednesday Service (held at 6pm on Wednesday, February 22nd). Please consider staying afterwards…

Crisis De-escalation Skills Training

On the 17th of January, there was a de-escalation training held at St. Peter and Paul Episcopal Church, where Rev. Sara Fischer is the rector. For those of you interested, yes there was coffee and snacks.  The training was given by two women who had worked together as part of Portland Street Response’s Crisis Response Team. One was still with the CRT. Their training centered around what situations volunteers may experience while offering services to unhoused people, or people who…

Land & Housing Coalition Mass Assembly

Leaven Community’s Land & Housing Coalition is organizing a tri-county Mass Assembly of over 400 people on Sunday, February 26th from 4-6pm at First Unitarian Church (1211 SW Main St, Portland). Their purpose is “to show our people power and invite our elected officials to join us in more creative, community-centered policy and action so that all Oregonians can find wholeness and belonging in our communities.“ Join them and bring your families and neighbors, so that we can change the answer to…