The latest news on Pearl Church including information on our services, educational classes and events.
Pearl Church exists through the generous donations of those who love and tangibly support our work. As the end of this year approaches, will you consider making a donation to Pearl of any amount? End of year giving traditionally covers about 30% of our annual budget, which makes this time of year especially important to meeting our fiscal needs. You can donate easily and securely online.
Pearl Church exists through the generous donations of those who love and tangibly support our work. As the end of this year approaches, will you consider making a donation to Pearl of any amount? End of year giving traditionally covers about 30% of our annual budget, which makes this time of year especially important to meeting our fiscal needs. You can donate easily and securely online.
Pearl Church exists through the generous donations of those who love and tangibly support our work. As the end of this year approaches, will you consider making a donation to Pearl of any amount? End of year giving traditionally covers about 30% of our annual budget, which makes this time of year especially important to meeting our fiscal needs. You can donate easily and securely online.
The Sunday following Christmas, December 29, we will offer just one service at 10:00am. Kids and Youth programs will be offered during this service. We’ll return to our normal, two service schedule the following Sunday, January 5.
he Church calendar begins in the darkest days of the year, with the First Sunday of Advent. Advent encompasses the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, this year beginning on December 1. During this season of longing, we intentionally cultivate space for the light of Christ in the midst of darkness. It is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to treasure up and ponder all that is possible, in Christ.
This year, our Advent sermon series, Space to Feel, will explore our emotional life. To feel, anything, is to be alive. Feelings are a central part of our humanity. Their significance is clearly attested to in the life of Jesus, the Infinite wrapped in flesh, feeling—happiness, sadness, worry, anger, despair, vulnerability, peace, amazement… Unfortunately, in comparison to thinking, western thought has minimized feelings as insignificant, disgraced them as childish, and devalued them as inferior. Because of this, many of us have inherited a tumultuous relationship with feelings. Throughout Advent, a season marked by longing, we intend to celebrate, embrace, and plumb the depths of a few consequential feelings. Our Advent hope is that, come Christmas morning, a gift is born: the incarnation of feelings in our selves, relationships, and life with God.
For each week of Advent, you’ll find readings and meditations for families, friends, housemates and individuals to engage throughout this Advent season. Whether you use the Advent Wreath candle lighting liturgies, or the meditations, or both, we hope this devotional helps you create space and meaning during this season. The weeks leading up to Christmas can be a blur of activity and frivolity, but also of family tensions, tight budgets, high expectations and stressful schedules. Making intentional space to reflect, slow down, and be prayerfully present to Christ and loved ones can help prepare our hearts to truly celebrate the gift of Christmas—God With Us, Emmanuel.
You can download a song sheet with the lyrics of songs in the Advent Devotional here.
You can download MP3s of the songs referenced in the Advent Devotional here:
Week One: Chase the Darkness Away
Week Two: Send Us A Savior
Week Three: O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Week Four: May You Find a Light
Christmas: Silent Night and O Come Let Us Adore Him
Saturdays, 10:30-Noon, Church Office
Looking to connect with other parents? Looking for a space for your kiddo(s) to connect with other kiddos? Every Saturday throughout our Home Group terms Heather Griffin and Mindy Zwanziger host a parent and kiddo connect. You can drop in every once in a while or participate more regularly—whatever is best for you. Email Heather Griffin if you plan to join!
It’s an annual tradition at Pearl to take the first Sunday after Labor Day as our Fall Launch. Rather than a normal service, we take time to cast vision for the offerings and opportunities that our community can partake of and participate in during the year to come. If you weren’t able to join us, you can watch the presentations here.
Fall Launch Signups
To sign up for any of the upcoming events or classes mentioned, visit our events page.
If you’d like to sign up to join one of our teams, you can use the forms linked below:
Beginning September 15, we will offer two services at 9:00am and 10:30am, with kids and youth programs offered at the second service.
As newcomers find Pearl, we hear over and over: “I have been searching for a church just like this!” Over the past years, our community has lovingly built up a uniquely non-violent, affirming, deeply Christian space where it is safe to deconstruct and reconstruct faith. Many people would love to join us. Our space presents a challenge—we regularly bump into our limits for seating at one service, which communicates that we are out of room. We want to extend our common table even further to make generous room. For the upcoming year, we dream of offering two vibrant services where our community, as generous hosts, can welcome those who are searching for a space like Pearl.
Story & Table, a new podcast from Pearl Church Pastor Mike Roth, exists to make connections between the stories that we tell and the tables that our stories sustain. Through a lens that is intentionally non-violent and non-dominion, Mike explores an ecology of Christian language that sets loving tables, around which humans are freed and inspired to flourish.
All episodes from Season One are now available to download on our website or on Apple Podcasts!
Pearl Church member Heather Griffin shares about her hopes for kids to encounter good, non-violent theology at Pearl.
As we near the end of another calendar year, would you consider giving a special gift to Pearl? Pearl Church exists through the generous donations of those who love and tangibly support our work and end of year giving traditionally covers about 30% of our annual budget, which makes this time of year especially important to meeting our fiscal needs. This year we find ourselves especially in need of support, as we have extended our budget in order to bring on additional staff and expand our offerings. You can find more about how to give a special end of year donation here, and also learn how you can easily set up a recurring donation.
Pearl Church members Phil and Janis Petrowski share about their experience of community and support at Pearl through their battle with cancer.
As we near the end of another calendar year, would you consider giving a special gift to Pearl? Pearl Church exists through the generous donations of those who love and tangibly support our work and end of year giving traditionally covers about 30% of our annual budget, which makes this time of year especially important to meeting our fiscal needs. This year we find ourselves especially in need of support, as we have extended our budget in order to bring on additional staff and expand our offerings. You can find more about how to give a special end of year donation here, and also learn how you can easily set up a recurring donation.
Pearl Church attender Hongya Chen shares about his experiences of LGBTQIA+ inclusion at Pearl Church.
As we near the end of another calendar year, would you consider giving a special gift to Pearl? Pearl Church exists through the generous donations of those who love and tangibly support our work and end of year giving traditionally covers about 30% of our annual budget, which makes this time of year especially important to meeting our fiscal needs. This year we find ourselves especially in need of support, as we have extended our budget in order to bring on additional staff and expand our offerings.
You can find more about how to give a special end of year donation here, and also learn how you can easily set up a recurring donation.
Pearl Church attenders Chris and Bentley Barbour share about their experience of Pearl as a safe place to reconstruct their faith.
As we near the end of another calendar year, would you consider giving a special gift to Pearl? Pearl Church exists through the generous donations of those who love and tangibly support our work and end of year giving traditionally covers about 30% of our annual budget, which makes this time of year especially important to meeting our fiscal needs. This year we find ourselves especially in need of support, as we have extended our budget in order to bring on additional staff and expand our offerings.
You can find more about how to give a special end of year donation at our website, www.pearlchurch.org/donate, and also learn how you can easily set up a recurring donation.
For those of you who missed our discussion with Dr. Jenkins last Sunday, she introduced us to a personal development tool called the Intercultural Development Inventory, which provides insight into how each of us tends to respond in situations of cultural difference. As Dr. Jenkins mentioned, working against racism occurs at the societal, communal, and personal level. This is a tool that provides personal awareness and recommendations for you to develop your intercultural mindset as an individual. If you are interested in taking the IDI assessment yourself, you’re welcome to reach out to her directly. If you’d prefer to pursue the IDI with someone from Pearl Church, long-time Pearl member Abby Coppock is trained and certified on the IDI and is also willing to assist. Feel free to reach out directly to Abby. Please note, fees may apply.
At Pearl Church, we embrace values embodied in the life of Jesus. Equity and inclusion are two of our values, and our intention to work against racism is a natural outflow of these values.
Definitions of racism, long considered to be about individual attitudes and actions, have been updated in our day to include the growing recognition that racism goes beyond the individual. Racism is perpetuated by systems of power: governments, schools, prisons, families, economies, religions. Racism is also understood to intersect with other forms of discrimination, and this intersectionality—the ways various identities interact, such as race, gender, class, sexual orientation, and ability—affects individuals’ lived experiences, shaping their perspectives, worldview, and relationships.
Antiracism, then, is any measure that produces or sustains racial equity between racial groups and must include an attentiveness to the intersecting identities of the members of a community.
Pearl Church understands Jesus’ message of divine love to be inclusive of all people. The Christian scriptures show Jesus seeking out and elevating those marginalized by the dominant voices of society. This purposeful action moves counter to the insidiousness of racism. Following Jesus, therefore, we commit ourselves to intentionally work against racism, standing firmly against racism in all forms. Our commitment is:
The deconstruction of disadvantage based on skin color,
to unearth bias, both conscious and unconscious,
and to work in our community to counter inequities long rooted in the poisoned soil of racism.
Equity asks us to examine and deconstruct systems that marginalize and perpetuate disparities and to construct new, more generous and just systems in their place. Inclusion asks for active investment in our community—engaging with the unique and intersecting identities of those within our community and offering support and opportunity for all to realize their full (and fully loved) selves.
At Pearl, our financial/ministry year runs from July through June, so each year we host a member’s meeting in July. This past July 10th, the Oversight Team led us in celebrating the last year, shared some important updates for the upcoming year and ways our community can support our vision. Below you'll find highlights for a few of the most important updates from the meeting.
Member Updates
We met and welcomed twelve new members over the last twelve months.
We celebrated several members’ forthcoming marriages and recent weddings.
We celebrated high school graduations and new babies born into our community.
We heard updates on health from several members and remembered those who passed way this year.
Working Against Racism
Over the past year our board has worked out some language regarding our intent to work against racism. You can find that statement here. We also shared about the board’s recent work with Dr. Debra Jenkins through Share the Flame. At this point our Oversight team has met individually with Dr. Jenkins and as a team. Soon we will make available a church-wide meeting with Dr. Jenkins in the coming months.
Ben’s New Role
During the meeting we shared that Pastor Ben is now working full-time as our Operations Pastor, from July 1. Ben will continue to preach and offer pastoral care, but will also be taking on the operational aspects of Pearl - finances, managing staff, volunteer coordination and donor management. This position was created after the Oversight Team met and charted out what tasks could be removed from Pastor Mike’s plate to create more room for exciting work both inside and outside our church. (See below for more on this!) The Oversight Team asked if Ben would be interested in taking on these responsibilities and he shared that it felt like a dream job description. We commissioned Ben in this new role on Sunday, July 17.
Mike’s New Work
As I shared on Sunday, I’m excited about these changes. With Ben taking over the operations side of my job, I’ll now have time to pursue more of my passion and skill by developing non-violent theology while also expanding Pearl’s work in the world. I believe that this is important. The theological work that we’re doing at Pearl is helping those who are deconstructing to reconstruct consequential faith and we’d like to be intentional to make this work accessible beyond Pearl. To be clear, the majority of my work will continue to be embodied in our local community. And, I’m looking forward to thoughtfully exploring how Pearl’s work may extend beyond Portland. I believe that the extension of Pearl’s work in the world will help to nurture change that’s desperately needed in today’s American Christianity.
I look forward to sharing more about this transition when I share my heart for Pearl as an Oversight Team member, on 8/14.
Supporting Pearl
We're so excited about the good things that are happening at Pearl - this is a work that we all share in, together. As we begin moving forward from these pandemic years toward the future, making room for more people to find and join us at Pearl will depend on our community supporting Pearl, both by volunteering and giving financially.
Part of Pastor Ben's role will be to help provide opportunities to get involved—whether spending a Sunday morning with our kids or youth, serving our Pearl Court Neighbors at our monthly Pantry, greeting newcomers on Sundays or hosting a home group. We want to be sure that all of us are able to share creatively in making this a warm, inclusive community for all people.
In addition, the Oversight Team shared that in order to hire Ben full time, we have extended ourselves financially, with a 2.75 year runway of savings to support this. In order for our community to continue to grow and thrive, we are depending on the generous giving of our members and attenders. You can learn more about ways to give, here.
As always, please be in touch with any questions.
Thank you,
Pastor Mike
Multnomah County is currently in the low transmission category for Covid. The county is not mandating universal indoor masking at this time, but is encouraging community members to wear a well-fitting mask indoors around others if experiencing symptoms or testing positive for COVID. We will continue to monitor the situation and plan to follow CDC and Multnomah County recommendations. Multnomah County's current position is to strongly recommend indoor masking. We're asking everyone to think about their own health, their own risk level, and the risk level of those in their households and social circle, and to act accordingly. For more information visit the county's website, here.
Pearl Church stands with all Asian American and Pacific Island people as we collectively grieve the violent events–not only of this past week, but of past months, years, decades, and generations.
We want to name white supremacy and patriarchy, and the specific ways those forms of power get taught and normalized in Christian traditions. It is not okay and it is all around us.
To be clear, the recent violence is not an isolated act. Over 3800 acts of anti-Asian hate in the US have occurred since COVID began, including over 800 acts of violence toward the AAPI community in California alone during the first 3 months of COVID.
"Intersectionality" is when social identities like race and gender overlap to create unique forms of discrimination. We want to specifically lift up Asian women in this moment, as this impacts them in multiple ways. All women may relate to the misogyny in this violence. All members of the AAPI community may relate to the racism in this violence. But Asian women are processing the effects of both types of community trauma.
We want to call out Christian purity culture and its undeniable connection to the misogyny and racism that played a large role in Robert Aaron Long’s life, which prevented him from seeking consequential help beyond the tools of religious violence–shame and blame.
Lastly, we want to say that women working in the sex industry adds another layer to the recent violence. Women who work in the sex industry have a 45-75% chance of experiencing sexual violence and they have some of the highest homicide rates among women. Women–children of God, with hopes, dreams, and precious lives, desperately need our attention and care.
Church Family,
Over the years, so many of you have at one time or another, been a part of the faithful team who have invested in, loved on, and worked to build authentic relationship with our neighbors at Pearl Court Apartments. It is so hard to believe that it has been 9 months since we were able to physically hold a pantry or dinner. But despite the building being closed and our volunteers not being allowed in the building, we have continued to support our neighbors physically, spiritually, and relationally.
We opened access to our pantry three times in order for a few faithful neighbors to deliver much needed toiletries and canned goods to those in need. We've directed our monthly allocated budget to Lift UP, a local food pantry who has continued to deliver food boxes and pantry supplies throughout the COVID lockdown. We are happy to report that Pearl Court's Emergency Pantry is now fully stocked!
In September, we purchased a refrigerator for Pearl Court Apartments. With the fridge, Lift UP is now using our monthly donation to provide fresh food items for the residents. This is something our residents have been longing for but we never had a way to store.
This month, in coordination with Regina Rozier, Pearl Court's Community Service Coordinator, we helped to provide Thanksgiving meals catered by Elephants Deli. Two years ago, we started the tradition of cooking and serving a Thanksgiving dinner to our neighbors. Since COVID prevented our ability to do so this year, we were able to provide extra funds this month that we had yet to use towards our monthly Pearl Court Dinners to help purchase 70 dinners. Meal sign-up and delivery was possible only through the amazing assistance of four of Pearl Courts residents: Nancy, Jason, Sean, and Chyna.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused us to pause so much of what our lives used to look like, our work in being good neighbors has not stopped. We find peace and joy knowing that we are still able to have an impact. As we enter the Christmas Season, we will continue our efforts to intentionally maintain relationship in new and creative ways. Thank you Pearl Church family for your continued support of this important work.
Leslie Barnes
Neighbors Ministry
As a Christian community we imagine and desire the consummation of peace in a world integrated by Divine love. However, the last few weeks make clear that the peace we long for is far from being realized. The heinous acts of violence against people of color, the existence of prejudiced systems and policies that promulgate racism, and, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “… the white moderate who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action…’” are evidence that much change is desperately needed.
Pearl Church categorically affirms that black lives matter. Pearl Church categorically insists that police brutality is unacceptable, must be held accountable, and illumines the need for substantial change in policing policy and protocol. Pearl Church categorically recognizes that Christianity has been complicit in perpetuating ideas and in sustaining systems that harm, minimize, and dehumanize black lives, voices, and perspectives.
As a faith community we are committed to demonstrations, conversations, policies, systems, and theologies that elevate and advocate for marginalized voices and perspectives. We believe that the marginalized are our sisters and brothers who have much to teach our world about equality and justice. Therefore, with renewed intention we stand in solidarity with the marginalized. We will listen carefully to their voices in order to learn and grow. And with hearts that break by today’s inequality and injustice, we will participate in effectual change that moves us toward that which we truly desire—the consummation of peace in a world that is integrated by Divine love.
Opportunities
Over the coming days Pearl Church will provide opportunities to more deeply engage issues surrounding racial inequality. On June 7th, Pastor Mike will begin a six week sermon series on the book of Lamentations, which will encourage us to see and to grieve the desolation all around us. Abby Coppock will facilitate a couple conversations to help us process our responses to the events of the past weeks. Pastor Ben will offer a vigil that makes space for naming, grieving, and committing ourselves to participate in necessary change. And later in the month Pastor Mike will lead a book discussion on a resource to help us engage this conversation more deeply.
Resources
Although many resources related to current events are widely available, here are a few that stand out to us:
ONLINE
In a recent Instagram post by President Obama, he provides very practical steps that we can take, on a local level, and he highlights two relevant websites. The first site leads to a report and toolkit developed by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. It’s based on the work of the Task Force on 21st Century Policing that he formed while in office. The second site is for those interested in taking concrete action. It’s a dedicated site at the Obama Foundation to aggregate and direct you to useful resources and organizations who’ve been working at the local and national level.
“Scaffolded Anti-Racism Resources” This extensive collection of activities, articles, podcasts, and videos provides prompts for people at various stages of engaging racism in themselves and the systems surrounding them.
BOOKS
White Fragility, by Robin D’Angelo
How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
The Cross and the Lynching Tree, by James Cone
SERMONS FROM PEARL
Voices from the Wilderness I, Race: The Witness of Black Theology
Voices from the Wilderness VI: The Witness of Womanist Theology
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The Racist History of Portland, the Whitest City in America – The Atlantic, 2016. Portland is known as a modern-day hub of progressivism, but its past is one of exclusion. This article dives into the history that created the whitest city in America.
Oregon’s Black Pioneers – Oregon Public Broadcasting. A 30 min video, February 2019. For decades, Oregon legally excluded black people from settling in the region. Despite racists laws and attitudes, some came anyway. “Oregon’s Black Pioneers” examines the earliest African-Americans who lived and worked in the region during the mid-1800s. They came as sailors, gold miners, farmers, and slaves. Their numbers were small, by some estimates just 60 black residents in 1850, but they managed to create communities, and in some cases, take on racist laws — and win.
Bleeding Albina: A History of Community Disinvestment, 1940-2000. By Karen J. Gibson, Transforming Anthropology, 2007, volume 15. Portland, Oregon is celebrated in the planning literature as one of the nation’s most livable cities, yet there is very little scholarship on its small Black community. Using census data, oral histories, archival documents, and newspaper accounts, this study analyzes residential segregation and neighborhood disinvestment over a 60-yr period.
Communities of Color in Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile. A 2014 report from the Coalition of Communities of Color. This report centers the experiences of communities of color in Multnomah county, and the disparities that exist for our people. It includes a brief history and outcomes across a variety of social, health, and economic indicators.
Pearl Church is an open, inclusive, progressive church in Portland's Pearl District. We worship together on Sundays with programs for kids, youth, and adults.
Sunday Services at 9:00am & 10:30am
Kids & Youth Programs at 10:30am
Ecotrust Building
721 NW 9th Ave. (2nd Floor)
Portland, OR 97209
(Entrance on NW 10th between Johnson & Irving)
Free parking available in the lot between Johnson & Irving on NW 10th all day and on the streets until 1pm on Sundays.
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Mail: 721 NW 9th Ave Ste 225
Portland OR 97209
Online: Pearl Church partners with Church Center to process secure online donations.
Email: info@pearlchurch.org | Phone: (503) 568-1012 | Mail: Pearl Church, 721 NW 9th Ave Ste 225, Portland, OR 97209 | Online Donations
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