This is a tour of firsts. There are more boys than girls, believe it or not. We were, for the first (but hopefully) not the last time in Kent, Washington. Little Rebecca attended her first Common Ground concert. And, for the first time (at least as far as I know), we had to cancel a concert. No, not because of illness - everyone is just fine! Everyone was fine yesterday, too. Halt, make that "everyone, except for the Bethel Bus." The bus had some issues that had to be fixed before beginning the climb up the mountains towards Bend (Bend is at nearly 4,000 feet altitude).
Lloyd Center, Portland, Oregon
Nearly everyone among the group got dropped off at a mall and the bus spend some 5 hours at a nearby dealership. Being at the mall was fun, but eventually we knew the place rather well, too well for my taste. Fortunately, a bookstore and an ice rink were at the mall, providing for hours of entertainment.
Bend, Oregon
We arrived at Nativity Lutheran Church in Bend at 10pm. Even though it was pretty late and the concert had been cancelled, the congregation provided us with a sumptuous meal, including the most delicious bread you can imagine, even by Bay Area and German standards. The boys/men were sent to the spacious youth room for the night; the girls/women got to spend the night in the congregation's amazing sanctuary, spreading out in front of the altar and pulpit area, aisles, and the back. Sleeping bags everywhere!
Nativity Lutheran Church
It is always nice to explore how other churches "do it." Nativity church exudes a spirit of welcome, community service, and hospitality. Located in central Oregon on the Eastern side of the Cascade Mountains, Bend blends technology, higher education, and administration with businesses catering to serious outdoor lovers. In the Bend area, ponderosa pine forrest transitions into the high desert. The unique mix of culture and the outdoors appears to attract active retirees, artists, and younger families alike.
Nativity Church Church is nestled in a forested area among the outskirts of town. The campus is large and filled with evidence of the congregation's noteworthy service to the Bend community.
Service
The are way too many amazing elements of the church campus for me to list here. For example, there are the Food Forrest (fruit & berries for the congregation's food pantry), the Food Shelve, bee hives and bees rescued from a crashed truck, the Common Table Community Garden, the Boys Scouts work area, the Nativity Wood Lot (firewood for those who cant afford it), the Impact Head Start wing, the Prayer Garden, a Prayer Labyrinth, info on the temporary shelter in which the congregation participates, and so much more.
Hospitality
When you enter the sanctuary building, the first thing you notice are reusable name tags ... lots of them! That way, visitors and regulars alike can greet one another by name. The sanctuary itself is spacious, decorated with large, beautiful black-and-white photos of the congregation's different ministries, surrounding the worshippers in their singing and praying, similar to the "Stations of the Cross" one might find in Catholic churches. Everything in the church building feels child-friendly, by the way. One really cute item we found in the back pocket of the sanctuary chairs, for example, were the "scribble cards for kids of all ages" (see photo).
Spirituality
After breakfast and loading the truck, the group walked the labyrinth. After many turns, back and forth, in and out and back in, the path led us to the center. We stayed there, praying for a whole, before returning the way we first had gone in. All that happened in complete silence, so that everyone could use this time to bring questions, concerns, or issues to God. Afterwards, the prayer garden offered more opportunities for prayer, either alone or with one of the Common Ground sponsors. I a so grateful to the congregation for dividing this beautiful space for reflection a d prayer. What a wonderful way to serve the spiritual needs of the Bend population!
Departure
In eight minutes, the group will meet to begin the day with a campus your, a Labyrinth walk, and then head South to Medford. Got to stop writing now, so that I won't have to pay late fees (50 cents per minute !).
Location:Nativity Lutheran Church, Bend, OR
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