From the Rector

Witness

March 20, 2026

Dear Friends,

We are approaching the final week of our Lenten journey. Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday (March 29), leading us along the way with Jesus into the depths of endless love, shared suffering, and solidarity in death.

Palm Sunday always brings an invitation for us to confront the powers that rely on fear and domination. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem offered a different vision for God’s reign—one marked by humility, solidarity, and a love that refuses coercion. As followers of Jesus, we are called to bear public witness to that vision in our own time.

This year, several opportunities invite us to embody our faith and values “forward” throughout the weekend:

No Kings – Saturday, March 28 Multiple small gatherings will take place across the city—from the downtown waterfront to NE Multnomah, SE Hawthorne, and SW Capitol Highway. These decentralized events offer space for peaceful presence and public witness. If you will participate, choose whichever location feels right for you and connect with others in taking a stand.
Palm Sunday 11:00 Service Our 11:00 service will begin in the courtyard with a Palm Procession, joining together with our neighbors from Rose City Park Presbyterian Church. We will circle the block with palms and your faith-/values- forward signs. Afterward, our service continues in the Nave while RCPP returns to Sandy Blvd. to continue in public witness.
Palm Sunday Action – Sunday, March 29, 3–5 pm TogetherLab invites Christians across the city to gather at Terry Schrunk Plaza to stand against authoritarianism and white Christian nationalism, affirming a politics shaped by compassion, justice, and the dignity of every child of God. As Jesus entered Jerusalem in humility, we gather to lift up leadership rooted in care for the vulnerable.

Many in our community will participate in different ways, according to our own sense of personal call and physical ability. Sharing your faith through letters, social media, or heartfelt conversations is also meaningful and needed. As is advocating and supporting churches and organizations that support our faithful commitments.

As we enter Holy Week, may we remember that the kingdoms of this world are always challenged by the way of love that Jesus proclaims. Let us move into this sacred time with courage, clarity, and hope—trusting that God’s love and life prevail over fear and death.

With you,

Scott+

The Rev. R. Scott Painter, Rector

March 12, 2026

“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; for you are with me.” Psalm 23:4

In his well-known leadership book Good to Great, Jim Collins tells the story of Admiral James Stockdale, one of the highest-ranking American POWs held during the Vietnam War.

Some may remember Stockdale from the 1992 vice-presidential debate, when he famously—and, headscratchingly—opened by asking, “Who am I? Why am I here?”

But the story Collins tells comes from a dangerous time. He asks Stockdale about those years in captivity: “Who didn’t make it out?”

Stockdale’s answer is striking, especially in seasons like Lent and in troubled times like these. “The optimists,” he says. “They were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come and go. Then they’d say, ‘We’ll be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come and go. And then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”

Then Stockdale added: “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
This insight has come to be called the Stockdale Paradox: holding hope that good will come, while honestly facing the reality that things are not good now.
Lent invites us into something like this same kind of honesty.

As we walk this Lenten path, we can’t pretend that the world is whole or that our lives are free from pain. We see clearly the suffering in our own lives and all around us—in violence, war, and death—and we face the ways that our lives are entangled with the powers of sin and death.

That can feel overwhelming.

But when we face such truth with courage and humility, something else becomes possible: we begin to notice the quiet signs of God’s presence already at work among us—and those signs nourish hope in us for the new life yet to come.

I am praying that we will know God’s nearness in the midst of these difficult days, and that together we will keep walking this road of faith. May we trust that even through the valley, the One who walks with us will also meet us with all good in the end.

With you,

Scott+
The Rev. R. Scott Painter, Rector

From the Rector

Witness

From the Rector

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