CURRENT EVENTS

THE SEASON OF LENT (March 9 - April 19, 2025) begins with the imposition of Ashes on Sunday, March 9 (we practice "Ash Sunday" rather than "Ash Wednesday"). Throughout the season of Lent, our services will feature a sermon series on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount . The book Jesus' Alternative Plan: The Sermon on the Mount, by Richard Rohr, will provide background information on the Sermon on the Mount, and if you would like in-depth information, feel free to order the book. As usual, our Palm Sunday service (April 13), will feature the entire story of Jesus' passion read by church members. If you would like to read, please contact Pastor Jane.

On Jesus' Alternative Plan: The Sermon on the Mount, by Richard Rohrer: "When Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God, he was talking about an utterly different way of relating to human society as we know it. He lays out a blueprint for this new life in his best-known teaching, the Sermon on the Mount. From the Beatitudes onward, the Sermon on the Mount overturns conventional wisdom and traditional power structures, offering a plan for an alternative way of being. In his book, Rohr offers context and clear guidance for what it might mean for us today.

SUNDAY, MARCH 23rd, directly after the service: The Thriving Congregations Initiative (TCI) is preparing an informational event on working with migrants that will include some history of the Presbyterian church’s work accompanying migrants in the USA as well as an overview of the situation of migrants in Seattle and Washington State that will be presented by the International Migrants Alliance (IMA). A delicious catered lunch will be available. Free and open to the public!

FAST Updates: Fathers and Sons Together, led by Cathie and Larry Wilmore, welcomed its 2025 class of NGLU Career Readiness students at RBPC on Saturday February 22nd. Classes will be held each Saturday in the Fellowship Hall 10am-3pm. All young people ages 15 - 22 are welcome to attend this program.

There will be dates in 2025 when the RBPC community will be invited to be involved! If you are interested in future notices or volunteer opportunities, please contact Debby Bellam. FAST wishes to convey its thanks to our church community for its support in their efforts to help Rainier Beach students "level up", and asks for prayers for the student in their 2025 class!

STANCE (SEATTLE TRANS AND NONBINARY CHORAL ENSEMBLE) Updates: The STANCE choir is proud to present its fifth biannual Showcase on Saturday, May 3 at Rainier Beach Presbyterian. The Craft Fair, and Bake Sale start at 6:00, Performances at 7:00. Silent auction bidding starts at 12:00pm and ends at 8:30pm. Come support our multi-talented members through performing arts and help us raise funds for our third season's operating costs. Buy your sliding scale tickets now. Masks are required. No smoking on site please.

At STANCE, a community by and for trans and nonbinary singers, we have a vision of sharing the unique wonders of trans joy with the world. Through our music, both singers and audiences can find embodiment and connect to our full selves, physical and emotional. But to keep building this dream into a reality, we need your help. The money raised at this Talent Show and Auction are crucial to our ability to continue to pay our Artistic Directors and rent our rehearsal space this year. For tickets, please see: https://givebutter.com/c/STANCEspringShowcase25 (see the "Auction" tab to view listings and get registered to bid!).

SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 2025: PLEASE JOIN US in the RBPC sanctuary for a special presentation Sat., April 5, 3:30 pm with Revs. Thomas Kirkpatrick and Duncan Ferguson as they introduce us to their new books!

Rev. Tom Kirkpatrick, PhD—Signs of Hope and Health in Mainline Churches

Rev. Duncan Ferguson, PhD—Living Wisely and Well in the Evening of Life

Duncan and Tom will be featuring learnings from their recently published books.

Tom will highlight results of a research project with this surprising conclusion: It’s time to replace lament over problems facing 21st century mainline churches with aspirations of hope and possibilities of health. He’s discovered that signs of hope and health center on willingness to change, focus on mission, collaborative leadership, and spiritual vitality. He will introduce a new 4 C’s approach for creating healthy relationships: community, communication, character, and collaboration. And he’ll offer practical guidelines for creating hopeful and healthy congregations.

Duncan will focus his presentation on his new book, Living Wisely and Well in the Evening of Life, dealing directly with the reality that the average age of church members and others who attend church services has steadily increased over the past few decades. Churches are graying and the ministry of the church must give special attention to providing a ministry to this population. He will explore how to empower this age group to cultivate a spiritual foundation that enables them to flourish, especially in our troubled nation and perilous world.

Bonus: Tom will share recurring themes from a new research project asking this question: What makes our relationships meaningful, satisfying, and fulfilling? And Duncan will introduce his most recent publication: The Human Odyssey: The Journey of the Soul in Perilous Times.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 20 (2024), 11:30 FIRST MONTHLY “GAME AFTERNOON’ FOLLOWING SUNDAY SERVICE, IN THE FELLOWSHIP HALL. Game afternoons will occur on the third Sundays of the month. Please bring whatever lunch or snacks you need, and have some fun with board games, card games, domino games, etc.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 6 (2024), 11:30 AM (FOLLOWING THE WORSHIP SERVICE): THE FIRST MEETING OF OUR NEW BOOK CLUB STUDYING MARK ACHTEMEIR’S “THE BIBLE’S YES TO SAME SEX MARRIAGE”. Those who would like to join but do not have a book yet, you may order it from Amazon and just show up at the meeting. We’ll be rotating leadership—first section (chapters 1-2) will be led on January 6 by Liane Richter. See Pastor Jane for more information.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31 (2023), 10 AM: A SERVICE OF CHRISTMAS CAROLS. We’ll sing some of the traditional Christmas carols with reflections on their context and meaning. All are welcome!

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24 (2023), 10 AM:CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE. With Christmas Eve being on a Sunday, this year our service will take place at our regular 10 am worship time. This service will be full of Christmas carols, readings, encouragement, and joy. All are welcome!

“BLUE CHRISTMAS” COMMUNITY SERVICE SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23 (2023), 7 PM. All are invited to this quiet, candlelit service of Christmas music prayer, and readings. This service is for everyone, and especially for those who may be experiencing holiday sadness and loneliness, grief, or weariness, or for those for whom the Christmas season is not necessarily the most joyful time. Come join in a meditative and beautiful time culminating in the singing of “Silent Night” with candles..

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 4-6:30 PM": FATHERS AND SONS TOGETHER PRESENTS “MUSIC FOR CHANGE AND TOYS GIVEAWAY” AT RBPC. This is FAST’S annual holiday event, at which we will be helping with music, clean-up and set-up, etc. Please see Debby Bellam Young for volunteer opportunities. Church friends are invited to attend, support, and enjoy the music!

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 11:15 AM: “GETTING TO KNOW YOU”, a fun coffee hour event in which we will follow a guided procedure to learn more about one another. Presented by the “Heart and Soul of Rainier Beach” team, this will be one of many opportunities to learn about our community—this time, our church community. All are welcome to come to the fellowship hall immediately after the worship service, get some treats and coffee, and participate in this exercise together.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 11:15 AM: “THE LGBTQIA ALPHABET AND THE IMPORTANCE OF PRONOUNS”, presented by three members of the RBPC community: Ana Marshall, Natasha Pauw, and Tara Pauw. This presentation will take place in the fellowship hall during the typical “coffee hour” time, with goodies and treats but not lunch. You do not know what you have not heard and learned—please come learn and invite others who want to learn, as one step in learning to love our community better.

SUNDAY, OCT. 1, 11:15 AM CATERED LUNCH AND PANEL DISCUSSION TO DISCOVER “THE HEART AND SOUL OF RAINIER BEACH NEIGHBORHOOD”

We are on a quest to learn more about our community so we can love it better! In this lunch meeting, with catered autumn soups and salads, a panel of church members and attenders will speak about their perception of what is at the core of our neighborhood. The more we learn about our community, the more questions we will have to explore. Come bring your questions and comments to the discussion. Panel members include Ken Nsimbi, Chet Baughman, Natasha Pauw, and Pastor Jane. All visitors and members are welcome!

VOLUNTEER WITH US AT RAINIER BEACH BACK2SCHOOL BASH! Come find us at our booth Saturday, August 26, 12 noon - 4 pm at the Rainier Beach Community Center Plaza on Rainier and Henderson. We’ll also be volunteering in various ways to make this most important Rainier Beach annual event a success. Come find us and we can plug you in.

*We’ll help Fathers and Sons Together (F.A.S.T.) at their hair-cutting and conversation station

*Food, drinks, ice cream truck will be available

*Free backpacks and school supplies for kids

*At the RBPC booth, we’ll hand out customized backpack tags, information about our church, and popsicles. We’ll also present a participatory community art project. Come stop by!

*Dance, arts, music, and local organizations share their work

*Volunteers with Friday night safety programs at Rainier Beach Safeway, including those recently shot and injured, will be honored

SUNDAY, AUGUST 27, 11 AM CATERED LUNCH AND STORY-TELLING TO DISCOVER THE HEART AND SOUL OF RAINIER BEACH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

All members, friends, and neighbors of Rainier Beach Presbyterian Church are urged to attend! Around tables at lunch catered by Brown Girl Charcuterie we’ll each have an opportunity to share a story or memory that signifies what we believe to be the core of our church’s personality”. You are welcome to share a memory or vignette that captures something of the unique “heart and soul” of this church. This is the first event coming to us from the Thriving Congregations Initiative, a Presbytery program we are involved in to help us learn a new way of being church after the dramatic changes to the place of “church” unleashed in the last number of years. In this lunch, the first of 2, we aim at capturing our unique core and center. It will be a fun time of conversation and sharing. Please come and bring your own unique input!

JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION SERVICE SUNDAY, JUNE 18, 10 PM. Followed by a BBQ lunch catered by Al Sanders/Jedi BBQ (free! delicious!) this service features the voice of the Kraken, Tommie Burton, singing spirituals. The 10 am service begins with greetings and shared news, and proceeds with spirituals, readings, and Juneteenth celebrations. All are welcome, including children and youth.

Holy Week/EASTER 2023

Palm Sunday, April 2, 10 am: On this day, we process into the sanctuary with palm fronds to re-enact the parade the day Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. Then we join together with 14 readers to hear the entire passion narrative as it appears in Luke, as the bare cross is brought into the sanctuary.

Maundy Thursday, April 6, 7 pm, online only (Rainier Beach Presbyterian Church Facebook Page): Pastor Jane will read the Mundy Thursday passages and talk to us all about the practice of footwashing. What does this practice tell us about Jesus? About God? About ourselves?

Easter Sunday, APRIL 9, 10 AM: at this joyous and celebratory service, we will overwhelm the bare cross with flowers brought from homes, hear special music, and include children of all ages in special activities throughout the service. Immediately after the service, we will celebrate with treats downstairs in the fellowship hall as the children go to the backyard for an Easter egg Hunt IN THE BACK YARD (Seattle Earthkeepers Preschool grounds) (11 am). If you have them, please bring flowers from your yard to use as we adorn the cross. NOTE FOR THOSE ATTENDING ONLINE: THIS SERVICE WILL BEGIN AT 10 AM ON THE CHURCH FACEBOOK PAGE, RATHER THAN THE USUAL 10:15 AM ONLINE START

PASTOR JANE COOKS LUNCH JANUARY 29!

It has been a long, strange ride these last three years, but we’ve hung together! I am so appreciative of all the ways our community has grown, changed, and met the challenges presented to us over the pandemic years. You are such a joy for me to work with! I will be serving some home cooking after the Sunday service on January 29, as a way of thanking all of you for being part of this grace-filled community. We will have enough and lots to spare, so first-time visitors will be welcome, along with those who have been part of this church for many years. After the 10 am service, we will move downstairs to the Fellowship hall for the lunch. All are welcome.

BOB PAUW PREACHES FEBRUARY 12

Jack Pauw’s brother, Bob, has been serving our world’s immigrant community his whole career as an immigration attorney. His passion for helping immigrants is an outgrowth of his deep faith. On February 12 he will preach mostly from the gospel of Luke about God’s heart for those in need, and our opportunities to join in God’s work. We will be touched and inspired as he tells stories from his experiences working with those in need.

Robert Pauw (Bob) is a graduate of Calvin College (1974) and Harvard Law School (1980).  He is a partner in the Seattle law firm of Gibbs Houston Pauw and has worked for the past 35 years as an immigration lawyer.  He also taught immigration law at Seattle University Law School for over 25 years. 

  Bob began his immigration work in 1987 at the Legalization Education and Advocacy Project (LEAP) in Seattle, a legal services project assisting individuals applying for legalization.  LEAP later became the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), where he provided representation to low income immigrants.  His work included helping refugees apply for asylum, defending immigrants in deportation proceedings, and representing individuals held in immigration jail.  In 1994, with Robert Gibbs and Heather Houston, he founded the law firm of Gibbs Houston Pauw (GHP).  At GHP, he has represented individuals in all types of immigration cases and at all stages of the immigration process, including interviews before USCIS, immigration court hearings, and immigration detention facilities.  He has specialized in complex federal court litigation, and has handled many lawsuits in federal courts, including class action lawsuits that have helped many immigrants who are applying for immigration benefits.  Most recently, two new partners have joined GHP as the managing partners and Bob has been working on an “of counsel” basis.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Immigration Law Center and continues to assist other attorneys who represent individuals seeking immigration benefits. 

IMPORTANT UPDATED INFORMATION ABOUT THE COVID 19 AND OUR SERVICES—Oct. 2022

Dear friends,

We are completely open and operating, and conducting our services in a hybrid manner. As of Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022, masking is optional. All those with underlying health conditions are strongly urged to mask, as well as those with cold symptoms or a cough. Of course, those who have COVID or suspect that they might should stay home.

Our 10 am in-person services begin with ten minutes of announcements, news, and prayer requests, and then at 10:10-10:15 we go live. You may find us on the church Facebook Page (Rainier Beach Presbyterian Church).

CHILDREN’S SUNDAY EVERY THIRD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH

Schedule for Children’s Activities, led by Seattle Earthkeepers Preschool staff:

10 am: Service begins with Kids and Parents together in the sanctuary

10:30 am: Children follow teachers outside to backyard tent, or downstairs in fellowship hall, for activities

10:55 am: Children return to sanctuary for jamming with percussion instruments

CHURCH CALENDAR

PASTOR JANE'S RAMBLINGS