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Pastoral Pondering: Discovering who
you
really are in God's eyes
From
war to Jesus' image,
religion factors into
American life |
A large part of life in Newberg, religion continued
its prominence in 2003 |
By Schellene Clendenin, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Schellene at sclendenin@eaglenewspapers.com
|
In
the last year religious institutions have faced issues ranging from the morality of war to
the separation of church and state.
And big or small, the religious community in Newberg — a predominantly
Christian group — has commented on these issues, as well as many of its own.
These stories represent a few of the events affecting the people in the area,
whether local, national or international.
Prayer vigils and war in Iraq
No matter the political views of people of faith — after the beginning
of war in Iraq churches all over town opened their doors to allow anyone interested to
drop by and pray.
The concerns of the war manifested themselves from St. Michael’s
Episcopal Church readying for pedestrian traffic to specific prayers offered for President
Bush and for those with family members serving in the armed forces at Newberg Christian
Church. The idea in many churches was to provide a sense of community for those who needed
a bit of quiet contemplation.
In addition, the regular chapel time for students at George Fox
University was pre-empted by a prayer service held instead.
Community prayer for pastor’s heart attack recovery
Many in the community joined in prayer shortly after Thanksgiving for help in
the recovery of Jim Ringseth, long-time pastor at Newberg Open Bible Church.
Ringseth’s family credits the faith and devotion of the community for his quick
recovery from a heart attack and subsequent five-bypass surgery days later.
Ringseth’s wife Dawn said days after her husband returned home from the
hospital the first time, he had a second attack as three or four of the five bypasses
failed. He was returned to the hospital for surgery. Doctors installed two additional
stints, tiny wire coils that hold open blood vessels. Dawn Ringseth said her husband was
home one day when he had a third attack and went back in for two more stints. He’s
recovering at home now.
“We’re just so thankful,” she said. This is the first time
since the heart attack on Thanksgiving that he’s been out of pain. “He’s
doing good. After three times in and thousands of people praying.”
Professors speculate on true image of Christ
GFU assistant professor of religious studies Cory Beals quotes “God made
humans in his image and humans have been returning the favor ever sense.” Beals said
that in the hundreds of thousands of images available of Christ, no two are completely
alike.
Some religions, like the Quakers, prefer not to muddy the true perception of
Christ as a spiritual being with an artist’s rendition. However, Beals said he feels
people have different perceptions of Christ and each perception brings out a new side of
who he was and what he stood for.
Baldwin shoots Christian skate video
With little warning, actor Stephen Baldwin dropped into Newberg in the fall
to shoot a night segment at the Chehalem Skate Park for the video, “Livin’
It,” a Christian-based production created to reach youth.
The film was created to be a documentary of skateboarding enthusiasts
enjoying a life that includes both an edgy sport and a love of God.
“If the door could be opened that much ...,” Baldwin said pinching
the air with his thumb and a forefinger.
Churches, missions and faith services
a growing phenomena
From the Church of the Dunkard Brethren, which holds its services in the
homes of its members, to God Song Community Church, which has begun holding services at
Chehalem Valley Middle School, churches all over Newberg and Dundee are without a
permanent home.
Some, like God Song, prefer the school as a setting for its services because
its idea is to appeal to a sense of community within the church. While others, like
Newberg Friends Church, have congregations that have grown so large that splinter groups,
or missionaries, have sprang up in the area.
The only downside for some churches, such as the 2nd Street Community Church
— housed in the Chehalem Armory Center, are the challenges of finding places to hold
activities during the week.
Local comment on first gay Episcopal bishop
Despite many European members of the Episcopal church being in an uproar over
the election of an openly gay clergy member to the rank of bishop, local feeling was
muted.
According to George Hemingway, pastor at St. Michael Episcopal Church, local
comment was limited to one phone call from a concerned citizen. He said the e-mails
he’d received from colleagues around the country expressed unanimous support for Gene
Robinson’s confirmation as bishop.
Hemingway added that his concerns were with serving parishioners and with
continuing God’s work, not with the politics of the larger church.
Separation of church and state
With a national discussion heating up over the legality of a erecting a
monument of the 10 Commandments in an Alabama courthouse, to refusing financial aid to
students studying religion, Robin Baker, vice president for academic affairs at George Fox
University, commented on the true issue — separation of church ad state.
He said the U.S. Constitution’s aim to separate the two was based on the
church’s desire to ensure that the government did not try to limit its freedom of
expression.
According to Mark Hall, a political science associate professor at GFU ,the
issue of separating church and state is contained within the constitution.
Economy pushes some Hispanic church members away
A program that matched young Hispanic women with older Anglo women
parishioners of St. Michael/San Miguel Episcopal Church was shut down early in the year.
Due to changes in the economy many of the Hispanic mothers who remained at
home to raise children and who attended the group, made the decision to become a part of
the work force. For some, the economic situation was so dismal that families made the
decision to leave Newberg altogether.
According to pastor George Hemingway, “the economy is lousy and its
forced a lot of our people to go back to Mexico. They are the first and worst impacted.
The exodus caused many congregations in the area who count a growing
percentage of Hispanic’s and Latino’s attending services to pray for more
employment.
Church expansion, school and the CPRD approval
A partnership was forged between the North Valley Friends Church, Veritas
School and the Chehalem Park and Recreation District when the church agreed to sell five
acres of land to the school for $250,000.
The money raised through the sale was slated to build a social
service/ministry building on a separate part of the property from where the school and
CPRD had planned developments.
Veritas had been looking for a building to call its own for some time and
collected a total of $211,000 in funds and pledges to build the school. CPRD’s
association included an agreement to supply $40,000 to construct a paved walking trail
around the land’s perimeter.
Establishment of Love Inc.
In an effort to create a clearinghouse of sorts for churches in the area and
to help coordinate resources, a group of volunteers got together and created Love Inc.
The idea, according to president Polly Siler, was to have churches work
together with programs like Newberg F.I.S.H. (Friends In Service to Humanity) to help meet
the needs of the community.
Love Inc., a national ministry effort affiliated with World Vision
International, is a local effort that will not itself provide services. The group hoped to
be up and running by the beginning of the year. |
|
From Jan. 3,
2004, Newberg Graphic
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