Next Steps in Our Multicultural Life Together

Dear Siblings,

Last Sunday was a wonderful and joy-filled gathering for our Annual All-Parish Picnic! It was a celebration of our life together as a diverse and multi-cultural parish family, and it was a beautiful occasion of thanks and appreciation for the ministry of Padre Beto. We sent him forth with love and blessing. My heart is overflowing with gratitude for all that we are as the people of St. Michael’s, and full of hope in looking toward God’s future together.

As we are on the cusp of autumn and a new program year for the parish, I am mindful – and I know that you are mindful, too – that we are entering into some unsettledness and uncertainty after Padre Beto’s departure. Here I would like to share a few notes about our plans for the next few months, as we work on bigger plans for longer-term ministry to the 1:00 worshiping community. 

First, and most importantly, we are fully committed to being a multicultural community and to continuing worship and pastoral ministry in Spanish. This commitment is unwavering. This means that you can know for sure that, however we have to be flexible in the short term to support Spanish-language and Latino/a/x ministry, we are working toward calling an associate rector to be the primary priest and pastor for the 1:00 Community.  

Secondly, we all must understand that it will take some time to be ready to call another associate rector. We need to create a ministry description for this position, engage work on the 2025 budget, and engage a search for the right person to embrace our vision and join us in ministry. You should know that there are not many candidates for this ministry in Oregon or close by. In order to recruit someone from further away, we may need to explore financial options to expand the role to full-time and include additional ministry responsibilities for the whole parish.  This may or may not be possible, but it is important to consider all of the needs, opportunities, and possibilities while we are in this transition period.

Finally, please know that we have plans in place for the next few months. I am excited to share more of my own time with folks who worship at 1:00, and there will be Sundays where we will have associate or guest clergy at the 9:00 service to help me serve better at the 11:00 and 1:00. For September, October, and November, we will have a schedule of clergy who will preside and preach in the 1:00 service – including myself, The Rev. Marla McGarry-Lawrence, The Rev. Scott Dolph, The Rev. Laura Truby, and guest clergy from further in the national church. We will rely more heavily on Los Ministerios (coordinators of the ministries) in the 1:00 community to help foster consistency and attention to needs throughout the community.

We all know that this will be an intense time, with more pressure on the staff and me to support all expressions of our parish community. I ask your prayers, and your patience, and your persistence as we navigate some unfamiliar waters together. In all of this, let us remain convinced that we are better together and that God is calling us forward into a good future.

With you,

Scott+

The Rev. R. Scott Painter, Rector

Email: ScottP@stmaa.org

Baptism, Beloving, Becoming

Dear Friends, 

On Sunday, July 7, we celebrated the baptism of baby Anders. Many have shared that it was a deeply meaningful and moving experience. And I share those feelings. As I said then, baptism “is pure gift for this child of God: nothing professed or proclaimed or accomplished to earn it. It is the beginning of a life nested in God’s love, marked as Christ’s own for ever, beloved by a community of deep commitment and care.”

What a joy it is to celebrate the rite of initiation into the life of God and the Church. And what a great honor and responsibility it is to walk together in our common life: learning and sharing, caring and growing, loving and being loved as we are and as we shall become.

In this spirit of love and community, there is more welcome to be extended.

I am excited to share with you that Lenia Salas has accepted the call to serve as our Missioner for Youth at St. Michael’s. In this role, Lenia (lin-ee-uh) will work with us to build connectivity among our middle- and high-school youth, plan and organize programming and activities across the spectrum of our multicultural youth community, and provide care and support for our youth and their families during these pre-/teenage years. The title for this position is Missioner, because it indicates the movement and responsiveness that is involved in dynamic youth ministry. These days, ministry is less about building and tending than it is journey and accompaniment. Lenia will be a wonderful companion and guide for all of us, and our youth in particular. Please check out the introduction from Lenia below. When you see her in the coming days, I hope you will introduce yourself, get to know one another, and offer to help support our youth ministry as it grows and develops over the coming year. Welcome, Lenia!

As anticipated, on Sunday, we will also welcome James Walker for the first time. James will be our long-term substitute organist for the duration of Hannah’s parental leave. Brian Fairbanks and I look forward to collaborating with James and welcoming his presence and gifts among us during the coming weeks. Please join me in extending a warm welcome to James.

Finally, I want to share that The Rev. Canon Christopher Craun and her family will worship with us this Sunday. Many will know that Chris+ served as my immediate predecessor, Rector of St. Michael’s, for nearly 12 years. She departed near the end of 2021 to join the Bishop’s staff and now serves as Canon to the Ordinary in the diocese.

I have invited Chris+ to worship among us and participate in the community.  The timing is keeping with custom, allowing at least a full year for a new rector to establish relationships and ministry identity within the parish before a former rector returns. At St. Michael’s, many clergy who formerly led or served in the parish are now embraced and enfolded as participants in healthy and celebrated ways. We will be blessed to see Chris and her family from time to time, and I invite us to express our welcome this Sunday. As a bonus, Chris and Jack will host coffee hour this week, so there will be a good opportunity to greet one another there.

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

With you,

Scott+

The Rev. R. Scott Painter, Rector
Email: ScottP@stmaa.org