Thanks to the generosity of Joe and LaVonne Blowers, more than 90 PMCers made the trip to Molalla on a warm Saturday afternoon in August to enjoy an afternoon at the Blowers’ farm. There was T-shirt designing, rock painting, plenty of great food, and lots of time to relax and visit. We wrapped it all up with a bluegrass concert under the shady trees. What a fun day!

To Kevin and the staff at PMC. May this time of transformation itself be a blessing May it infuse your normal lives with peace and hopefulness bringing you together and sustaining you in times of storm and stress and may this final section of the blessing be something about smoothness and performing may you figure it out :)

May God's Shalom rest upon you 
May your relationships at PMC be righteous and life giving 
May they inspire you and us in the direction of God's will and God's desire for our future 
May your coffee always be dark roast and be at the right temperature and in the right amount 
May God grant that you find your traffic lights always turn green and your parking spots always appearing when you need them. 

May you find local nature unique and different than your expectations 
May you enjoy your neighbors the beauty that surrounds you and the joy of a body that propels you along the street
May you have safe travels to and from work on your bicycle 
May you find more room for books, joy, and discovering new authors and 
May  you find new friends that expand your creative outlets

May your mirror always reflect you 
May you reap the rewards of a heart left open 
May closed doors open again 
May bugs treat you how you want to be treated 
May you please watch wolf walkers and may you learn there every reason that life is worth living.

May you find space to be cozy and nosy 
May you find space for hiding as needed and writing 
May you find space for drinking and thinking 
May you find space for ringing and singing 
(Here are a few suggestions for where you may find these spaces, the myf room, red and ink, the furnace room, the Anne Frank room, and the bell tower.)

May your dog help you connect with your neighbors 
May there be room for error met with grace and room for beauty met with welcome 
May you be blessed with challenges 
May there be moving water to refresh your soul 
May you be blessed with people to share struggles and difficulties with to discern next steps while embracing unanswerable questions.

Like this beautiful Oak Grove perhaps beginning with two handfuls of acorns, which grew saplings that became home to all sorts of life - may you (may we) with deep roots broad branches in all the seasons participate in the abundance of our life together.

May you be like the woodpecker in the oak tree at Champoeg, knocking through the hard stuff to get to the good stuff surrounded by so much beauty that you find yourself singing while you do it with the courage to seek into yourself and the world around you and the inspiration to share what you find with us through it all may you have peace and love.

May your hands hold and may your hands release all the spirit has for you.
Blessings of growth, exploration, and joy 
May you find your home here.

Let there be balance in your days as you learn new things.
May you have peace and confidence as you live into being our pastor 
May you have joy in your quiet moments and hope as you carry the cares of our congregation 
May you have courage as you lead us through complex decisions 
Welcome to Portland Mennonite church may you find your full and authentic self in and among this community.

May the spirit of God fill you with joy as you join with us as we continue our joint journey of discovery here in the Pacific Northwest. May you be a channel for the Holy Spirit may you lean into conflict fussing and fuming with grace for all and deliver us from drama may you never walk in the rain with an umbrella so you don't look like a tourist.

Grace and peace in ordinary time 
contentment grace and peace 
in making lifelong friends 
in establishing rhythms of life 
that bring joy and growth 
grace and peace in seeing Jesus in new ways 
through the ordinary reality 
of the frailty and idiosyncrasies 
of wonder of us all 
at PMC.

May you be granted the perspective and clarity to lead us where we can't see yet 
May you bear the worst in us with grace and humor and draw out the best in us with the same 
May your entire family flourish. 

Hopes for your household:
May your tires never go flat in spite of inflation 
May the ants find your kitchen uninviting 
May the aroma of joyful meals fill your home 
May it only rain on the outside of your house 
May Phoebe find lots of squirrels 
May you strive to find the peace of the city 
and may it start in your living room.

Let you find this place to be filled with welcoming people with a deep sense of community 
May you find love, community, friendship, growth, and relationships 
May you meet lots of new friends and may you have fun.

Let there be times of rejoicing and feelings of being surrounded by love and care and comfort in this new beloved community 
May you have opportunities for renewal and restoration within your own faith while in our midst
May the memories of your previous community sustain you like a hammock while the pool hours and the lap availability match the rhythm of your days.

On June 6th, with nearly 30 volunteers from at least 4 churches in Bend and Portland (13 of those volunteers from PMC) we were able to disarm 20 guns, two of which were assault rifles.  The volunteers were greeters, guns cutters, food preparers, and those who walked with each gun donor to hear their stories and offer words of support.  Additionally, a blacksmith from Bend was actively making garden tools from gun pieces on the spot.  We gave out $2600 dollars worth of grocery gift cards in exchange for the guns, to those who wanted them.  It was a sobering and inspiring day.  (Written by Bruce Kuhns)

​On November 7-9, Portland Mennonite Church offered a symposium with the theme “Anabaptism @ 501: Practicing Faith – Weaving the Work of Justice.” Nekeisha Alayna Alexis and Jamie Pitts, both from AMBS (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary), led the gathered group through a reflection on the 500 year anniversary of our Anabaptist faith, what it means to practice our faith today, and how we might look forward into the next 500 years. 

Throughout the weekend, leaders used the imagery of weaving and we had a visual centerpiece that featured a large loom. People brought items that represented their Anabaptist identity and practice to place around the loom. We talked about weaving together various threads of our Anabaptist story and practice. When PMC has recently talked about the church we dream of becoming, we have named some contrasting themes. We want to be true to our Anabaptist history and clear about who we are in this identity. On the other hand, we want to be inclusive of people who are new and different. How do we hold these two very different things together or how might we weave these themes together? We might think that these are easy things to do. But, holding our Anabaptist story well could take some work. And, being inclusive is not just a name we give ourselves, we must continually work at how we are engaging the “other” and breaking down social injustices. So, we invited some special speakers here to help us reflect on some of these threads and invited folks from PNMC churches to join us.

Similarly, Jamie and Nekeisha work in different disciplines and brought us different threads of learning. Nekeisha Alayna Alexis is a speaker/consultant for AMBS. She supports individuals, communities and organizations, as they grow in intercultural competence, challenge systems of White and other domination, work at undoing racism, and create spaces of justice, belonging, right relationships and joy. Jamie Pitts is professor of Anabaptist theology and history, and his teaching includes an emphasis on global Anabaptist traditions past and present. His current research interests include theological method, pneumatology, reconciliation, and postcolonial mission. During the weekend, Nekeisha offered us the thread of being strategic about our work at intercultural competence and undoing racism, and Jamie offered us the thread of reflecting on how Anabaptists throughout history have related to the Holy Spirit. We attempted to weave these ideas together, and through these lenses we had conversations about what it means to be Anabaptist in this world today and into our future.

The weekend started on Friday night with a worshipful introduction to our themes. Saturday morning, Jamie led us in a workshop on the Holy Spirit, and Nekeisha did consulting work with PMC’s Racial Justice and Sanctuary of Belonging teams. We had a delicious lunch of Venezuelan food made by the Lopez family. We then heard from Jamie and Nekeisha about some of the ways that we can weave together the threads they brought us. We got a chance to have some discussion about the recent books they have both published. Throughout the weekend we shared times of prayer, discussion, and singing together. Nekeisha and Jamie stayed to preach for PMC’s Sunday morning service and had a Q&A during our Sunday School hour following the service. Nekeisha also joined Ministerios Restauración on Sunday afternoon for their worship service and preached a sermon which was translated by Nelly Ascencio.

Various people joined us this weekend. We had many PMCers involved, an average of 30-40 at any given time, and somewhere around 50 people throughout the weekend. We had one attender from Salem Mennonite Church and several from Ministerios Restauración. We are grateful for the work of Madga Moreno who we hired to interpret during the weekend and for a generous grant from the PNMC that made this interpretation possible. Additionally, we had many volunteers help out in different ways. We are so grateful for all those who helped make this event possible for people at PMC and our larger regional conference!

During this weekend we worked at weaving various threads together. In celebrating our 500 year history as Anabaptists, we drew the thread of Anabaptist history and stories, and thought about what these things mean for us today. We drew the thread of wondering what it means to practice our faith today – and noted that working at peace and justice are integral to how we enact our faith. We drew the thread of thinking theologically about the Holy Spirit with questions like: what does it mean to listen for the Holy Spirit’s calling in our lives, not just in movements that arise but in our institutions? We drew on the thread of antiracism work and how to be strategic about making change. These threads and frameworks will continue to give us inspiration as we move into 501 years of Anabaptism and beyond.

On the weekend of October 24-26, women from Mennonite Women USA joined with the women of Portland Mennonite Church (PMC) for their annual retreat, held in the lush beauty of Canby Grove, Oregon in the great Pacific Northwest  The partnership began through Nelly Ascencio, whose congregation shares a building with PMC. From the first welcome, it was clear this would be a weekend of warmth, curiosity, and spiritual connection—a sacred time to rest together. 

Hi all,

I am sure an update is in order. So here goes... so much has happened in the last two months. We have enjoyed our first two months in Windsor, though we have done some traveling. (More on that below.) We have been really surprised by how welcoming and friendly everyone has been -- people from church, neighbors, workers in stores, random people we meet, the random driver in the car behind us at Starbucks who saw our Oregon license plate and bought our drinks because they wanted us to feel welcomed. Maybe we shouldn't have been surprised, but it has definitely been encouraging. 

Another thing that caught us a little off guard was the frequency of thunderstorms and the prevalence of fireflies -- at least for July and the first part of August. This has been a little like living back in Georgia or North Carolina. We adjusted pretty quickly to the afternoon/evening storms, the fireflies just after sundown, and the humidity. (Okay, maybe the humidity will take more time to get used to again!)

We have enjoyed being near so many bodies of water. The Detroit River (5 minutes away), Lake St Clair (15 minutes), and Lake Erie (40 minutes) are ones we have visited. Lake Huron is around an hour north and is on our to-visit list. There is a calming beauty in watching the river water flow by, or the lakes gently ripple or crash against the shore. 

We did settle into some small routines in the house where we have been living. However, we have known it was temporary, and we have also been traveling. This has made routines challenging, but both the temporary housing and the travel will be coming to an end soon. First, about the travels. After we arrived in late June, around one week later Clara was off to join the PMC MYF at MennoCon in North Carolina. The rest of July was fairly settled, but August has been anything but. Clara and I traveled to Georgia on August 1 to spend the weekend with my family. (My dad had just returned from a hospital stay due to congestive heart failure. He is now at home in hospice care, which is a good thing given his ongoing health challenges.) Clara stayed for another week, while I flew on to Oregon, where I was near Mt Hood for a few days with my work. From there, I drove to Seattle (long story) and then flew to Vancouver, BC, to spend a couple of days visiting Peter before flying back to Ontario. Meanwhile, back in Ontario, Lucy took a flight to Vancouver to see Peter and to stay with some good friends from elementary school for a couple of weeks. (Lucy and I did cross paths briefly in Vancouver.) That two-week stay for Lucy turned into three because of the Air Canada strike last week. Now Lucy (and Peter) will ferry from Vancouver to Victoria, BC on Saturday where they will join Sarah and Clara, who are, as I type, currently in flight from Detroit to Seattle. (I am home with the cats.) Tomorrow morning, Sarah and Clara will ferry to Victoria from Port Angeles and prepare for Clara to move into the dorm at UVic for her first year of university. Move in day for Clara is Sunday. Next Tuesday, Sarah and Lucy will fly back to Detroit / Windsor, and we will enjoy some downtime. Whew!

Except, we are buying a house, and the closing date is September 25. So, we will be thinking about what we need to do to move in. Remember all that furniture we did not move with us from Milwaukie? Now we will need replacements. We are also wondering about any renovations before we move in or early on. Plus, the three of us will spend a week in Georgia in October with my family. We looked at a number of houses in Windsor over the past few weeks with our realtor and at various open houses. The one we chose is one we really like. Even better, three families from Windsor Mennonite live within a 10 minute walk! And we did not know this before we visited the house, so the proximity to others is a real bonus!

A constant over the past few months (actually the past 5+ years) is my work-from-home with Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest. While I will travel to Portland twice each year for work (August and sometimes in the spring), working from Windsor is no different than working from the house in Milwaukie. Our employees are spread across the US (and me in Canada), so this constant has been good (and not just because of the income). While Sarah's old job ended in June, since mid-July she has been working half-time as a contract worker with a mental health company in Oregon. It is a small company started by one of her former bosses. She can continue with this through November. This work has been a gift -- able to work from home, flexibility, reconnecting with former colleagues, etc. God has been good to us all.

It would be a mistake not to mention our Milwaukie house. All of you had some part in helping us move out, for which we are forever grateful. We are also grateful to Tim Manickam, who helped us sell our house quickly. We had three offers in the first few days, and the closing was around three weeks later! Also, thanks to Ed for help with many projects around the house, and also to Bruce and Fernando for cleaning and staining the decks! Totally a group effort.

Enough for now. We are so very thankful for your place in our lives and in our hearts. Peace to you all!

David (for the family)

P.S. Notes on the photos:
Clara, Lucy, and Sarah at a park along the Detroit River
The Tourist Tomato in Leamington, Ontario (on Lake Erie)