In response to the countless souls in our world who are living under the duress of war and fleeing their homes, PMC focused our Advent giving on assisting refugees here in Portland as well as abroad.  In this time of national fear of strangers, we reflect on the fact that Mary and Joseph were refugees in Egypt.
 
PMC partnered with Sponsors Organized to Assist Refugees (SOAR) here in Portland to welcome 4 recently arrived refugee families by providing them with household goods and clothing.  PMCers were invited to pick donation tags off our Advent giving tree and by December 27th, the Old Chapel was overflowing with items!  On New Year’s Eve, LeRoy and Shirley Chupp helped take the items to the SOAR office, where they were delivered to the families by case workers.  At our Christmas Eve service,  a generous offering of over $26,000 was given to Mennonite Central Committee’s efforts to provide support, shelter and supplies to families in Syria, Iraq and other war-torn countries.  

Thank you to everyone who donated items this year!  May God bless our efforts to welcome the stranger and seek peace in our world.  

Thank you to all the volunteers and families that came out and made PUMPKINS FOR PEACE a fun event. People of all ages had a fun time carving pumpkins, pressing cider and eating delicious soup! The money raised will benefit the work of MCC and refugees around the world.

Playing for an End to Homelessness
The Justice Committee of PMC is glad to co-sponsor the Rob Scheps Trio with New City Initiative. The Committee is focusing on homelessness in Portland as we “seek the peace of the city.”  

The Justice Committee at PMC is Chris Harder, Joe Blowers, Dale Stitt, Annalisa Brenneman, Karyn Keating, Matt Newell-Ching, and Rod Stafford

There is still a lot of disagreement among scholars as to just how much of an effect violent games have on players, partly because faster processors have made these games much more realistic in recent years. While ongoing research needs to be conducted, there is now enough evidence to comfortably say that playing first-person shooters can be a hindrance to the formation and wellbeing of today’s young people.

Researchers Lavinia McLean and Mark Griffiths published an article in 2013 titled “The psychological effects of videogames on young people: A review” in which the authors catalog and review all the existing data on the subject up to that point. Here is how they conclude their analysis: