From the Music Department

Now available--the video of our Passion Cantata! Within the video description, you will have the option to fast forward to specific songs, as well as view the concert program. I encourage you to listen to it on your best speakers and share it with as many people as possible!!

This Sunday we'll be learning a new song in worship called “Sanctuary” (listen here) created by a collaboration between a group called Porter's Gate and Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries. One of the songwriters has this to say about it: "Sanctuary" is a song of hope and safety that was ushered into existence in a moment that will stay with me forever. As friends, we came together to find words and melodies that would bring help and solace to those in the midst of challenging mental health journeys. Many of us had walked through a season in our lives where we needed a song like this. It’s a song that doesn’t mean, 'all will be fixed because we believed enough.' It’s a song that says, 'there will always be a safe place for us, no matter what.' God sees us, and carries us, just as we are—broken and beautiful.

– Marika Siewert

Looking Ahead

April 13 @ 9 am: Birdhouse Installation Event

April 17, 9-5: Lifeline Screening (more info/sign up here)

April 20 @ 9 am: Native Plants Planting Event

May 5, 9-11 am: Youth Geranium Sale

May 13, 1-6 pm: Red Cross Blood Drive

May 19 @ 11 am: Congregational Meeting

Access the full church calendar here. To add or correct something, please email office@salemwestpres.org.

Save the date! Vacation Bible Camp: August 26-30

Registration for kids kindergarten through 5th grade opens soon. If you would like to help in any way, please contact Terri Crall (tcrall71@gmail.com).

Loan Retirement Campaign

Boulder Hall was completed on February 5, 2010. In 2023, the loan was renewed for another five years. Our last Building Fund Campaign also ended in 2023. To continue making payments, a new campaign is needed. If the drive can raise approximately $225,000, the loan could be paid off in 2026. A two-year campaign is being planned to start May 1. More information to come! 

Opportunities

Do you like coming to church but ever wish you could go deeper with a smaller group of people? Not sure how to find those people or a time that works for you? A group of WPC women felt the same way until a couple of years ago they just started meeting for a weekly Bible/book study. One member says, "The process of gathering has deepened both our relationships and our understanding of our faith." On Sunday, April 21, during coffee hour the group will host a table with books they have studied and an interest sign-up to help facilitate the formation of other groups like theirs. Stop by!

Youth Geranium Sale is back! We are so happy to offer you Peterson Nursery's BEAUTIFUL individual geraniums AND mix colored floral baskets (petunia and other mixed florals) for pre-order!!! The baskets are different this year, but I've been told by the owner that every time people order one, when they see it, they usually ask for a few more! Flowers are $6 each and hanging baskets are $30 each. Flowers can be picked up on Sunday morning, May 5 from 9-11:00 AM. Delivery is available for $10 if necessary. Pre-Orders are due by April 18. We will have a limited amount for sale out front at Westminster on Sunday, May 5. Please make checks payable to Westminster Presbyterian Church with "Youth Missions" on the memo. Fill out your order form here. Questions? Talk to Vik (vik@salemwestpres.org).

Earth Month Opportunities

On Saturday, April 13 from 9:00 to about 12:00 you have an opportunity to help the Building and Grounds team install songbird houses on the church property. No particular skills involved; can do everything from handing screws to an installer to driving posts into the ground. All are welcome to help make our property attractive to songbirds.

Attend an online ecumenical Earth day service April 19, 2024 at 9 am. Drawing on Creation Justice's resource, "Plastic Jesus: Real Faith in a Synthetic World", this service will lead participants into a time of contemplation and prayer while considering the prophetic actions we might take on behalf of God's creation. Rev. Caleb Haynes, author of Garbage Theology, will preach, and the service will include new music commissioned for Earth Day. Register here.

On Saturday, April 20 from 9:00 to 11:00, you could help the Building and Grounds team plant shrubs along the Liberty Street side of the property. These plantings will include Oregon grape, camas, and kinnikinnick as recommended by the Marion County Soil and Water Urban Habitat people who walked the property with church representatives about six weeks ago. They are part of a broader program to remove invasive species and make the property more inviting to wildlife.

Thanks

A follow-up from the sharing of our Peace & Global Witness Offering sent to McKenzie Valley Presbyterian Church:

Nancy Ashley, session chair, wrote, "We are so pleased and grateful to hear that Salem Westminster has decided to donate $500 to the Vida McKenzie Community Center." Deacon Gerry Aster, who is also vice-president for the community center and the lead fundraiser for the rebuild, wrote, "Wow. What a lovely surprise!", and Karen Kready CRE, lay pastor for McKenzie Valley Presbyterian summed it up with, "Blessings heaped upon blessings!"

Westminster's Mission/Peace/Eco-Justice committee thanks our congregation for the support given to the Peace and Global Witness Offering. And isn't it a great feeling to know how happy so many folks will be because we were able to contribute to a community's needs?

Jackie Hilfiker

Give

April is child abuse prevention month, and this year Westminster is an official drop site for the Les Schwab diaper drive, which benefits Family Building Blocks, a local organization that partners with at-risk families to keep children safe and families together. Help us fill the pack-n-play in the narthex with diapers and wipes through the end of the month. 

Pam Garland and I are very much looking forward to the May 13 blood drive at Westminster (since I missed the last one in March). Wow, we are up to 19 appointments filled out of a total of 39 available. And this is about 5 weeks from the drive! We know that Westminster congregants are very willing to step forward to give their blood when the (blood drive) chips are down. You folks are awesome!

We’re on a mission to help save lives with the Red Cross! Roll up a sleeve with other congregation members (as well as the greater community members who also join us) to give blood on May 13, 2024 from 1:00pm to 6:00pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church. The need for blood is constant. For some reason fewer people are giving blood than usual. We are especially in need of "double red or Power Red" blood donors who give two units of red cells. If you are an eligible type O, A negative or B negative donor please consider this type of donation.  

As a donor I give only Power Red which can be done only every 112 days minimum (so you have an excuse to donate less frequently if that is important to you!!). It takes just a bit longer to donate this way, and I come away feeling more perky and refreshed than if I have given a pint of whole blood. This is due to the fact that all of your platelets and plasma are returned to you along with some saline; you don’t lose the liquid portion of your blood and may feel more hydrated after your donation.

Please join us! Call me at the number below if you would like instructions on using the Red Cross Apple or Android app to sign up.  

Regards,

Bill N. and Pam G. 

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Bill Nelson - 

bnelson@pacificomm.net

Voice-Voicemail-Text: (503) 576-1278

Westminster Presbyterian Church