Rector's Note: Celebrating Dn. Kathleen

Dear Saints,

On one of the cold, damp days that we had this last week, I remember getting in my car and being so thankful that I was heading home to a warm, dry place. My next thought was of the houseless Portlanders who didn’t have that luxury. It brought home the importance of our warm clothing drive this month in honor of Deacon Kathleen’s ministry at All Saints.

Thanks to Deacon Kathleen, we are all more aware of challenges like these and how we can respond in a Christ inspired way. Kathleen has been dedicated to learning the intricacies of what people are going through in order to know how to really help. She has taught us what people who live outside tend to prefer for clothing (as she will tell you, it’s not polo shirts!). She has taught us how important utility garbage bags are for staying dry or how a XXL sweatshirt is a good pick for a man who wears size medium because it could be one of the outer layers. Deacon Kathleen planted seeds that’ve helped us look outward to where the needs are in our community, like in starting the St. Francis closet or in her work on Saturday ministries and the Dental van. This connects with what Bishop Akiyama mentioned in her recent email about "Tending the Garden of Our Diocese." The vibrant outreach ministries we are seeing the fruit of today can be connected back to those seeds planted and tended for years by a true deacon.

I hope you will join me in collecting the items Deacon Kathleen suggested for our warm winter drive and bring them this Sunday or next so that they can be given out on October 23. You can buy a lot of these items in good condition at Goodwill or other second hand stores. If you want to make a donation and let someone else do the shopping, that works, too. Just make note of it with your in-person or online donation.

Also, please join us at Coffee Hour on October 17 to celebrate and thank Deacon Kathleen for her ministry. She will be “zooming in.” So if you are in person you can stop by the computer in the Parish Hall to say hello. Or you can join the Zoom coffee hour link that’s in Enews every week.

Even as Deacon Kathleen’s role as a deacon changes and she moves into the next chapter, I know that the seeds she planted will only continue to grow and give life in our community and those whom it touches.

In peace,

Andria+