When: Wednesday January 27th
5:40pm – 8:30pm
Where: St. Andrew Lutheran Church 12405 SW Butner Rd, Beaverton, OR 97005
RSVP: Sunday January 24th, 2016
Our kick off event to our 2016 Theme: Returning to the Rhythms of God will launch EcoFaith Recovery’s Spring renewal focus, share exciting and updates and invitations from a few different EcoFaith initiatives, and try out a pilot rehearsal of the EcoFaith choir for the sake of fun and experimentation! The kick off will take place on Wednesday, January 27 from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. in the St. Andrew Lutheran, Beaverton fellowship hall and chapel with the subtitle of, “Our Stories, Our Song.
If you have not already signed up and/or invited others, it would be great if you could do so today. Dinner will be provided for you so that all you have to do is show up! Okay, so we aren’t actually cooking but are hiring Carol Hogan to do that for all of us so we can tend deeply to our enjoyment of the food and time with you.
Please let us know if you can join us on Wednesday evening, January 27th, and remind us of your current dietary needs so we can be sure they are met.
The Wednesday, January 27th “Returning to the Rhythms of God: Our Stories, Our Song,” schedule will be as follows:
- 5:40 p.m. Informal Gathering Time in which I hope to have some nice time to hang out with those of you who come early to enjoy some tea, coffee or hot apple cider together.
- 6:00 p.m. Promptly begin with our Opening by David Eppelsheimer followed immediately by delicious food and conversation.
- 6:25 pm Our EcoFaith Story: Returning to the Rhythms of God with EcoFaith Recovery in 2016 This will include
- a brief overview of the three upcoming all-EcoFaith retreats (being carried out in partnership with St. Andrew Lutheran Church with funding from their Lilly grant) focused on the theme of “Returning to the Rhythms of God” and of my three month sabbatical on this same focus which will begin on February 1st. The purpose will be to help you consider how your community of faith might benefit by participating in the retreats and exploring this theme with the EcoFaith community;
- an introduction to how our pilot permaculture extension agent initiative will engage congregations in weekend workshops in biblical ecotheology as well as design and implementation of food-bearing, pollinator friendly, or native habitat landscapes;
- a brief lay-out of the 2016 strategy for how our Beyond Fossil Fuels Initiative will help us engage interested faith communities in taking public action for a sustainable energy future;
- a proposal that we move towards an internship cohort model that will kick off with a weekend EcoFaith catechism in which the larger EcoFaith network will be invited to participate;
- an introduction of Chris Bekemeier as our 35 hour per month interim organizer to work with Rachael Johnson while I am on sabbatical;
- references to how we will more deeply cultivate our “Practices for Awakening Leadership” in all of this.
- Update on where we are at in our shared efforts to meet the matching grant offered by Bishop Dave Brauer-Rieke of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America here in Oregon with thanks to all of you who are becoming monthly sustaining contributors by January 31stin order to have your entire year’s gift matched now!
- 7:20 pm Our Individual Stories:Sharing with another what interests us most deeply, how we might like to engage our communities, and what support we need from one another.
- 7:45 pm Our Song: Solveig Nilsen-Goodin will lead us in raising our voices together as part of an emerging EcoFaith Choir of Leaders who can lead public song and utilize the gift of music as a means of engaging our communities in all of this important work in the months to come.
- 8:15 pm Time of Blessings for me as I head off on a three-month Sabbatical and for Chris as interim organizer and Rachael as retreat coordinator
- 8:30 pm End (with optional additional 15 minute evaluation and “next steps” for those who desire to participate)
We would love to have you with us as we celebrate what is happening among us and as we each consider how we may want to “Return to the Rhythms of God” in the months ahead and invite our communities to join us.
Please let us know if you can join us on Wednesday evening, January 27th, and remind us of your current dietary needs so we can be sure they are met.