Give and Share on the Feast of All Saints

Dear Friends,

On Sunday we will celebrate the Feast of All Saints.  On this pinnacle celebration of the Church year we remember, honor, and pray with all the saints—those officially recognized by the church and all the faithful departed.  This great cloud of witnesses urges us to work on behalf of the poor and the oppressed, challenges us to persist through all sorts of adversity and hardship, and cheers for us to keep the faith and muster hope as the heart of Christian community.

This week, many of the most vulnerable of our community face a potentially catastrophic expiration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds, which provide food benefits to low-income households.  We have heard directly from parishioners who are afraid and unsure how they will provide food for their families if SNAP does indeed remain unfunded.

After consulting with vestry, ministry leaders, and community partners, I urgently invite us to pull together as a parish family to create an emergency (and temporary) food pantry with essential staples and sanitary products for those of our community in need. This Sunday, please considering making an extra financial gift to the discretionary funds of the rector or associate rector (stmaa.org/giving) and/or bringing donations of bags of rice, dry beans, peanut butter, tortillas and bread, toilet paper, and menstrual care products with you to church on Sunday. On Sunday evening, our youth will work together to sort the donations and create care boxes/bags for easy distribution on Sundays.

These gifts will enable us to respond over the next days and possibly weeks to increased need.

As we continue in our 2026 Stewardship Campaign, “Many & One, in the Spirit,” this opportunity for extra generosity is a reminder of the community of care that we give to uphold through our annual pledges.  I am grateful for you and the myriad ways you show up for one another and for our neighbors during times of distress.  This is what it looks like to be church.

With you,

Scott+

The Rev. R. Scott Painter, Rector

From the Rector

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dear Friends,

This Sunday, we will hear the parable of the persistent widow (and the unjust judge) from the Gospel of Luke. Jesus says the example is given to encourage us not to let up with our prayers and not to let faith falter. In these perilous times, the story encourages to persist in witnessing and working for a world of justice, love, and true freedom.

On Saturday, protests are planned for cities and communities across the country. The stated goal of the organizers is to mobilize millions of Americans to declare “America has no Kings,” and that “power belongs to the people.”

As Christians, we can heartily concur with such a message and take it, for ourselves, a step further: to say that we have no king but Jesus, whose power is love, whose reign is justice, and whose way brings true freedom to all who are oppressed. In this conviction, we can stand together as siblings with all who are in danger or vulnerable, and with all who seek to serve the common good: shoulder-to-shoulder with others who will rise up to bear witness.

I will be in Salem with delegates and other clergy for Diocesan Convention this weekend. With the Bishop’s encouragement, many of us will join the Salem protest during our lunch hour outside the convention center.

In Portland, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon invites people and communities of faith to meet together and bear witness as they walk to the rally at Waterfront Park.

If you will be on the streets this weekend, please go together with others, and be filled with the Spirit to speak boldly of God’s dream for this world and the whole human family.

With you,

Scott+

The Rev. R. Scott Painter, Rector

Email: mailto:ScottP@stmaa.org