“These are the times that try our souls;” words that were penned more than two hundred years ago by Thomas Paine, and that seem all too resonant in the days through which we are living. With the pandemic still tenaciously refusing to relinquish its grip, and our living through a summer with fires and aberrations in the weather that seem far from usual, we find ourselves in a season that tries our souls. Our reading for Sunday is part of the story of Elijah, at a time in his journey that found him worn down by life, dejected and bordering depression, edging toward what we would now see as burnout.  How God offered him sustenance to sustain his soul, and how we can stay sustained in such times is the theme of our service this Sunday. I hope you will [...]

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Dear Church Friends, As the upheaval caused by the pandemic begins, we hope, to subside, we see in the news a host of aftershocks that continue to reverberate through the world. Researchers are concerned that some of the progress that had been made in alleviating global hunger has now been reversed, with some areas of the world facing chronic shortages of affordable food.  World Vision notes that nearly 9% of the world’s people go to bed hungry most nights.  And researchers in Oregon note that nearly ¼ of Oregon’s population now find themselves food insecure, without the assurance of sufficient reliable food for themselves and their families. It can be overwhelming to read these statistics, and to envision the scope of the need and the impacts on individual lives.  Faced with all this, people sometimes find themselves at a loss [...]

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