Outdoor Worship Photos
On August 2nd, we had a wonderful time worshiping outside! Click here to see photos of the event.
Why We Went Outside
We are proud of our historic 1894 building, standing astride the
corner of 11th and Taylor in downtown Portland. And when first-time
visitors come inside, they often gasp in delight at the gorgeous Povey
Brothers stained glass and the warm, inviting curves of our sanctuary.
When we think of the hearts that have been warmed in that space, the
Good News proclaimed, the baptisms and weddings performed and the
memorial services celebrated, truly it is sacred space. But getting
folks inside – that’s the challenge!
Thousands
of people drive or walk past our building every day, or glide by on the
Portland streetcar, without venturing in or even knowing the identity
of that great stone mass. Though we may love our building ever so
much, every youthful Sunday School pupil knows that the church is the people. So
last year some of us began thinking, “What if we took the church
outside?” What if our neighbors in the adjoining buildings and the
people passing by could see the people who comprise our
family of faith, in all our wondrous variety? What if they could
overhear the Gospel as we worship? What if they could slip into the
praise as we sing? And so last August 31, we had our “first annual”
outdoor service, cheerfully concluded inside when a summer shower intervened.
Once again this summer, on Sunday, August 2, we closed off
the block of Taylor Street between 11th and 12th Avenues – with the
city’s permission – filled it with folding chairs, put up a platform
for the musicians and the preachers, and we had church outside! The
weather was beautiful, the triple digit temperatures of the previous
week having dissipated. Holy Scripture was read in English, Spanish
and Cambodian, hymns and choruses of praise were song in all three
languages like a latter day Pentecost, Pastor Miriam and I preached on
the Bread of Life in Spanish and English, and the assembled host were
invited to come with us to the Lord’s Table according to the dictates
of their conscience. Then our invited Trombone Ensemble concluded the
worship service with the strains of “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”,
played in Dixieland Jazz style. And it was time to fire up the grills
and have a banquet in the street, reflecting Jesus’ image of the
Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 22 and Luke 14.
We do not toot our own horns to bring glory to ourselves, but we
want to make our beautiful Holy Spirit filled fellowship visible and
audible to those who need a spiritual home, and who need, most of all,
to know Jesus. This new tradition (for us), now in its second year, is
the heir of a long American tradition of camp meetings and brush arbor
revivals that has taken the Gospel outdoors for almost three hundred
years, since the first Great Awakening in New England. But then didn’t
Jesus himself do most of his proclamation and teaching outdoors?
Dr. David L. Wheeler
Senior Pastor