Our GPNW Youth Venture for Christ Caravan will soon be hosting its annual dinner-auction fundraiser for this year’s mission trip to Hawaii. This year our auction will have an “in person” option with a Hawaiian-themed dinner as well as an online option via Zoom. Last year we raised over $10,000 and hope to do the same this year. Click here to download updated flyer.
For Those Gathering In Person… Will be held in person at Eugene Community of Christ (1485 Gilham Rd, Eugene, OR 97401). Doors open at 4:30 PM (PST), with dinner at 5:30 pm (PST) and the live auction at 6:30 PM (PST). Dinner is a suggested donation of $10 each. A table for 8 can be reserved for $80, if paid in advance.
For Those Gathering Online… Zoom will open at 6 PM (PST) with the Live Auction starting at 6:30 PM (PST). Those joining online will need to pre-register here: https://2022caravanauction.eventbrite.com.
Plan now to participate in person or online as we raise money for this life transforming Sr. High Youth ministry. Contact Troy & Jody Barnhart (caravan@cofchrist-gpnw.org) with any questions or to reserve a table! Individual RSVP’s aren’t required but appreciated.
Caravan is also looking for donations for their auction. Some suggested items: Weekend at your vacation home, home canned foods, themed basket, artwork, homemade items, and more. Please contact the Barnhart’s if you have an auction item to donate!
Remember that time, before the Pandemic? Many of you will recall that in March of 2020, the mission center was ready to launch our triennial workshop series, Nuts & Bolts, when the word “pandemic” entered our vocabulary. We canceled the first workshop, hoping to resume gathering by the second and third scheduled events. Ultimately, all 3 were canceled and we began a new (virtual) way of life on Zoom. However, we are again attempting to hold these important and informative workshops this spring, beginning in March.
Much has changed since our first Nuts & Bolts workshops back in 2011, and we intend our topics this season to go beyond the initial focus on the basics of congregational operation. We have grown, expanded our understanding of what it means to be a Christian community, and are continually exploring the question “What matters most for the Journey ahead?” Nuts & Bolts is NOT just for congregational leaders! All are invited and welcome to attend one (or more!) of the 3 workshops being offered this spring. The dates and locations are as follows:
Our theme for this year’s workshops is taken from our Mission Center Conference experience: A Spiritual Venture: Discern, Discover, Do and will feature such topics as discernment as a way of life, collaborative leadership, exploring what it means to be in Christian Community, stewardship of properties and facilities, the roles of priesthood, as well as moments of blessing focusing on the 3 areas within our theme. Workshops will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. (registration and settling in at 8:30 a.m.), and ending at 4:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided, but please bring your own beverages and lunch.
We look forward to offering what we anticipate will be a fun and informative learning experience, and opportunity to gather in fellowship. Masks WILL BE REQUIRED! Of course, if you believe you may have been in contact with someone with COVID, or are showing symptoms yourself, please plan to join the workshop on April 23rd via Zoom. Once registered, you will receive additional materials, including the Zoom link for those joining on the hybrid workshop April 23rd. Thank you! See you soon!
The last several days have held many emotions for people all over the world: fear, anger, sadness, confusion, compassion . . . and in that time, I have read about a dozen different prayers for Ukraine and the world from a variety of sources, being shared over social media and email. Each prayer I read reminds me of who we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, the Peaceful One, are called to be in a world where peace is elusive and greed, abuse of power and hostility seem to reign.
Michael Ramos, Executive Director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, with whom we have a close relationship and kinship, shares the prayer below, and I share it with you today. May each of us take a moment today and in the days, and perhaps weeks, ahead to pause and uphold the people of Ukraine, of Russia, the surrounding nations, and the leaders of those nations, for peace, comfort, safety, and the assurance of worldwide neighbors standing with them in support. Let us truly move toward the Peaceful One in our efforts to live, love and share God’s kin’dom with the world.
War is Contrary to the Will of God O Source of Being, We cry to you this day, for another war has started, violating your ways. We know that war is contrary to your will for humankind. We pray for the people of Ukraine, who seek to live in peace and freedom. We pray with the prophet Isaiah for those who promote and perpetrate war to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks – let nation not make war on another nation. We acknowledge that violence lies within all of us and that nations that promote empire will ultimately be cast down in the imagination of their hearts. War so offends You; You feel its oppression with us, just as you suffer when you witness the oppressions of racism and poverty, gender-inequity and violence, and greed. Ultimately, You teach us that war is the primordial act of unfaith in You, a form of idolatry. We grieve our addiction to war, this human-made dis-ease. We lament our inaction to promote peace and our complicity with systems that make siblings into others and even enemies, although in your Creation we are all siblings, we are all related. This includes residents and citizens of a nation under attack and residents and citizens of nations with whose governments we are opposed. How long, Source of Being, must we keep dividing and destroying one another in the name of ideology, in the name of kingdom building, in the name of religion, even in the name of “peace”. You tell us not to worship falsely, not to afflict the marginalized, the vulnerable, the impoverished, but rather to desire the well-being, the wholeness of all, for we each are part of your Creation, made good and beautiful and holy. Your presence is felt wherever there is in conflict the pursuit of peace, justice, and mercy through diplomacy and negotiation – human beings in relation to human beings, with a shared destiny for life and beloved community. You remind us that steps toward cessation of hostilities and disarmament are marks of sanity. You implore our acceptance of co-responsibility for our common humanity, for we are all are each other’s kin, as today so Ukrainians and Russians are kin, even in the face of overwhelming aggression. Peacemaking is our shared vocation. Turn us in a new direction. The path of nonviolence is the most profound yearning of citizens who refuse to yield to the false distinction between “us and them.” We beseech you with unmitigated urgency: to prevent further destruction of life, the crushing of civilians, the seizure of a sovereign people, the disfiguring of a people who love God. A people who have known suffering and loss of land and denial of freedom and discarding of humanity. Thank you for reminding us of our relationship to the people under siege. Our fates are intertwined in ways that You know beyond our capacity. We remember the nuclear bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and shout out, “Never again!” And yet, the proliferation of nuclear weapons has led to this newest threat: War today runs the risk of escalation into nuclear conflict. Shed with us your divine tears! Thank you for showing us that another way is possible: the way of peace with justice. We are grateful that you made us for kin-ship and not earthly kingdom, for solidarity across borders and not manifest destiny, for circles of cooperation not spheres of influence and military control. Guide our long walk to construct peace. With St. Francis, make us all instruments of your peace. We declare that you are our security, our Source of refuge in a time of need, such as this. Be compassionate upon us, even as we are compassionate to one another, without qualification or exclusion. We are conscious that the human cost of war lies far beyond the zone of military confrontation. Waging peace is our destiny and our integrity. Being peace is our lens and our compass, our practice and our horizon. From such a calling, may we not desist. From such a moment, may we be courageous risk-takers for a just peace. May our prayers rise to you at such a time as this. May you receive us and our plea for an end to this war and all war, confident that abiding your ways will transform our world. May there be peace in Ukraine, this day and ever-more. Amen.
Save the date and plan now to attend our Youth Camps and/or Reunions this summer! Youth Camp and Reunion descriptions, fees, deadlines, registration/payment links, and more will be posted here on the Chinook this April 2022. Come back then to register!
“SPEC” (Spectacular) is an annual week-long worship, leadership, sports, music, and arts camp held on the campus of Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. It is sponsored by Community of Christ and will be attended by approximately 750 high school students and staff from around the U.S. and Canada. This is the largest gathering of youth in Community of Christ. The mission of SPEC is to create a safe, Christ-centered community that encourages teenagers to discover God, their inherent worth, and cultivate and express their giftedness.
The theme for SPEC 2022 is “Together”.
Daily themes will be explored through classes, worship, and other activities. We will travel as part of the Northwest Delegation, which consists of campers and staff from Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Western Wyoming, Northern Utah and Montana, as well as friends in British Columbia and other locations.
When is IYF/SPEC held? SPEC Trip: July 13-23, 2022 July 13-16 – in Independence, MO, for delegation bonding, sports practicing, devotions, a visit to Worlds/Oceans of Fun Amusement Park, and more. We will be staying at the Family Life Center. July 16-23 – in Lamoni, IA at Graceland University for SPEC.
Who Can Attend? Any high school student who is CURRENTLY in grades 9, 10, 11, or 12 may attend. Invite your friends!
What is the Cost? The cost for the 11-day trip will be $960 per youth. This includes: camp registration and a camp shirt, most meals, lodging, two delegation shirts, and all transportation. The campers will need to bring money for four meals, as well as their own spending money.
The first payment of $500 is due by April 15, 2022, and the second payment of $460 is due by May 20, 2022. Please pay online using the links below (no fees), or send payments to: Inland West Mission Center, ATTN: GPNW SPEC, 11515 E Broadway Ave, Spokane Valley, WA 99206. All checks should be made payable to “Community of Christ” with the participants name in the memo line.
Please don’t let money prevent you from attending. If Financial Assistance is needed, a request can be made to Sean Langdon at the contact information below by April 10.
This registration link registers you to attend with the Northwest Delegation. The participant will also need to register with Spectacular as well. SPEC will go live with their registration this Spring. Once they do, the link will be emailed to those registered with the Northwest Delegation.
COVID-19 Guidelines
The SPEC 2022 organizing team is requiring that everyone participating in SPEC 2022 be vaccinated against COVID-19 and boosted (if eligible). This means that individuals have completed the primary series of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines within the 6 months prior to SPEC or the primary series of J&J vaccine within the last 2 months prior to SPEC. If vaccinations occurred prior to that, then being boosted is required. For those attending from British Columbia, Canada, the AstraZeneca vaccine qualifies as well.
At this time, masks will be strongly encouraged but not required. Hand sanitizer will be available throughout the campus and high-touch surfaces will be regularly disinfected. Current guidelines information will be shared as we get closer to the trip.
Who Do I Contact? GPNW Mission Center – Northwest Delegation Leaders Kelly Mongrain, 253-569-1510 Sean Langdon, 425-293-6366 Email: northwestspec@cofchrist-gpnw.org
Camp Minecraft went live 11/30/2020. What an adventure it has been. We’re having so much fun and we’d like you all to join us. Our first Christmas season we had a Christmas Tree contest judged by Mission Center and World Church dignitaries. For the 2021 Christmas world we named nearby village Bethlehem. Gr8Kazooo opened and Inn. Mary and Joseph showed up but by the time they arrived the Inn was full and they took shelter in a nearby stable. Does any of this sound familiar? Shepherd’s showed up, Wise Men followed the star and joined them, sheep would baa, donkeys brayed, cattle were lowing, the whole bit. In February as Valentine’s Day approached, giant hearts appeared alongside signs with, “Be my Valentine requests.” An aerial Parkour (obstacle course) with a chest of prizes if you made it to the finish.
Being an online virtual world, we are unhampered by in-game pandemic concerns and geographical boundaries. Players have logged in from Washington, Oregon, West Virginia and we went international when players checked in from Africa. We were and are pandemic safe, socially distanced for sure with no masks fogging up the glasses. But for me the most gratifying experiences start with in game camper questions like, “can I tell you something?” Or “can you keep a secret?” “Sure,” I say expecting an in-game concern like the secret location of a campers hidden TNT stash or something equally in-game mundane. But what gets shared are serious joys and concerns the campers are carrying on their hearts. That’s when I get that old warm and fuzzy “church” feeling. That’s when significant ministry happens. That’s when I know it’s all been worth it.
If you are new to Camp Minecraft and need more information, just contact one of us. Registration is easy! Simple follow this link and fill out the questions: https://forms.gle/sp4DCGFVMimzpdHb9
The Camp Minecraft ministries team includes Harry Howell, Jason Keesee, Daniel Rose, and Camp Pastor Susan Oxley. You can contact them at campminecraft@cofchrist-gpnw.org. They look forward to seeing you all in the game!
So come join the fun, fellowship, and ministry in the New Expression of Community we call Camp Minecraft.
It is with great pleasure that I share with you the news that Sean Langdon, Invitation Support Minister, Camping Ministries Director, and part of our Mission Center Leadership Team, was recently invited to serve as Chair-elect for the Board of Directors for Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO). After some prayerful consideration and conversation with the rest of the Mission Center Leadership Team, he accepted the nomination. On Wednesday, February 2, Sean was elected by the Board of Directors during their Annual Meeting to serve in this role, beginning in April 2022. This position serves in a 3-year leadership cycle (each cycle running from April to March): Chair-elect (2022), Chair (2023), and Immediate Past Chair (2024). Sean has served on EMO’s Board of Directors since 2019, sitting on the Theological Dialogue & Education Committee during that time. During the period in which Sean will be serving as Chair-Elect and Chair, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon will be searching for, and hiring, a new President and will celebrate its 50th Anniversary as an organization. In his new position, Sean will play an integral and significant role in each of these major events. This is a volunteer position, so (happily) Sean will continue serving in all of his current Mission Center responsibilities. Below is a brief description of each of the roles in which Sean will serve EMO over the next 3 years:
Chair Elect – The Chair Elect shall serve as chairperson of the Personnel Committee and perform such other duties as may be presented from time to time by the Board. The Chair Elect shall succeed to office of Chair upon expiration of the Chair’s term. In the event of the permanent absence of the Chair, the Chair Elect shall serve the unexpired term of the Chair, in addition to the Chair Elect’s scheduled term as Chair.
Chair – The Chair shall preside over all meetings of the Board and shall discharge such other duties as may be prescribed from time to time by the Board. The Chair shall designate the members and Officers of each standing committee, and of each other committee created by the Board from time to time.
Immediate Past Chair – The Immediate Past Chair shall serve in the temporary absence of the Chair, serve as chairperson of the Board Governance Committee and perform such other duties as may be prescribed from time to time by the Board.
Please join me in congratulating and expressing prayerful support for Sean as he prepares for this new responsibility within the ecumenical community. I know that he will bring many gifts and blessings to his new role with EMO, and that we will be richly blessed as well.
Attention youth currently in grades 9-12… Plan now to attend Spectacular (SPEC) 2022 with the Northwest Delegation! Our trip will be July 13-23, 2022. We’ll spend July 13-16 in retreat as a delegation at the Family Life Center in Independence, MO. Then we travel to Graceland University for SPEC from July 16-23.
The camper fee for this year’s trip is $960. This covers your airfare, most meals, delegation shirts, lodging, admission to Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun Amusement Park, and more! Your first payment of $500 will be due on April 15 and final payment of $460 will be due on May 20. More information will be shared soon. For now, plan on fundraisers to start earning money for this year’s trip. Due to increased travel costs, this year’s fee is higher. Therefore, we really encourage congregations and families to find ways to earn money to send their youth to SPEC. We will also have some financial assistance available.
Questions? Contact Delegation Co-Leaders Sean Langdon and Kelly Mongrain by email: northwestspec@cofchrist-gpnw.org. For updates, follow “Northwest SPEC” on Facebook.
