Latest News

The Outreach Committee meets each month in the library at St. Paul's.
For more information, please take a look at the Mission and Outreach page.
If you have ideas for outreach, please plan to attend or contact a member of the Outreach Committee.

This year, we combined our annual meeting with our Sunday service, celebrating the Feast of St. Paul. Both the 8:00 and 10:00 attendees met together in Tayler Hall, starting at 9:30am. The meeting became a part of the service, followed by a lasagna lunch. Our overall impression was that this format worked quite well, and we came away with some ideas on how to make it run even better next year.
You can click here to see a few photos of the service/meeting, and the bulletin is on-line, as well.

Four people, representing St. Paul's, recently traveled to Cap Haitien, Haiti, to work with Fr. Noe and his school teachers.
Click here to read Ron's report.
Click here to read Rev. Janet's report.
Click here to view pictures taken on the trip.

We began our annual Stewardship Drive with a wonderful talk by Amy McIlvenna - click here to read her speech.
All of the talks by our Stewardship Team were thought provoking and inspiring - let us give thanks to them and to our God from who all our blessings, gifts and treasures come.

Pet Blessing: On October 2, 2011, at 2:00, we celebrated St. Francis' Feast Day with a blessing of animals in Sorosis Park. It was a short service, followed by individual annointing of our four legged friends. Two days later, on the official St. Francis Day, Rev. Janet and others went to Home at Last to bless their current residents and to drop off the offerings that were collected on Sunday.

Hot off the press from Rev. Janet:
Final tally for pets and donations for the blessings is… We blessed 22 pets and about 45 people at Sorosis Park, and about 45 pets and a dozen people at Home at Last…and, we had great homemade treats for the doggies at Sorosis Park, made by the children and helpers at the Intergenerational Hour on Sunday… delivered two boxes of food and supplies, and $468.00 collected at St. Paul's and Sorosis Park to Home at Last!I believe that everyone involved felt blessed many times over…Thank you each and every one!

Click here to see some photos of the events or click here to see the service flyer.

Pentecost, as usual, was a joyous occaision with lots of red. The baptism of Amanda Howe made it all the more joyful. To see photos, click here.

Easter Day is one of the highlights of the Christian year. Click here to see some photos of Easter 2011 at St. Pauls.

Four people from St. Paul's were among 31 candidates who attended Cursillo 44 in Cove, Oregon: Walter Fields, Janet Mabrey, Amy McIlvenna and Marilyn Roth
St. Paul's also sent 4 staff members: Janet Fullmer - Spiritual team, Ron Fullmer - Kitchen team, Rustin Kimsey - Spiritual team and Gretchen Kimsey - kitchen team.
It was a wonderful, spiritual experience for the candidates and the staff, as usual, were all fulfilled in their servant roles.

Haiti and Here Campaign. The Diocese of Eastern Oregon is supporting a two-prong missional program to support the Rebuild Our Church in Haiti national campaign and to focus on a Diocesan wide mission/outreach project close to home. Deacon Roger Fairfield has written an excellent letter that outlines how the program will work.

Some of the best chefs and musicians from St. Paul's put together a gala celebration on April 2, in support of Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD). A great time was had by all and a sizeable amount of money was raised for ERD. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Click here to see some photos taken during the evening.

Haiti Mission Trips
Last year, St. Paul's sent a short-term mission team to visit Fr. Noe Bernier and the people of Cap Haitian, Haiti. In August, Fr. Noe visited The Dalles, to continue building relationships between the people of St. Paul's and the people of Cap Haitian.

St. Paul's sent a second team to Cap Haitian in February of 2011. The purpose of this trip was two-fold: we worked with the teachers at the elementary school, and also we provided basic health screening for the children at that school.

Click here to read Ron Fullmer's Trip Report.
Click here to see some photos from our latest trip.

New Orleans 2011
Members of St. Paul's led another successful trip to New Orleans to work on a rebuilding project for the Diocese of Louisiana. Bishop Nedi was also able to join the team for part of the work week. The team completed some much needed repair work on a home in New Orleans and was able to squeeze in a little Mardi Gras fun, as well.

The Warming Place
When it gets cold at night this winter, volunteers from The Dalles will help provide a warm, over-night shelter for the homeless in our community. St. Paul's will provide volunteers every Tuesday night that the Hope Warming Place is open - 7:00pm - 7:00am. It isn't too late to become a volunteer - if you are interested, please contact Deacon Steve for more information.
The current St. Paul's schedule and contact list is posted here.

Decking out the church for Christmas is both fun and a spiritual blessing. Click here to see a few photos.
Our monthly potluck was held in conjunction with the UCC, Zion Lutheran, and Methodist churches. Following supper, we joined together for our ecumenical Epiphany service, which was a beautiful service of candle lights, music, and scripture, celebrating the coming of the Magi and the end of the Christmas season.

The Service of Lessons and Carols is one of the most peaceful and beautiful celebrations in the time before Christmas. It is a service of music and scripture that had its beginnings in the days after World War I- a time of both recovery and weariness much like our present time. The service traces its beginnings to Christmas Eve 1918, when, as an adaptation of an earlier service of carols, it was introduced in the chapel of Kings College, Cambridge University, England, as a gift of thanks to the community and college. It spread. Since that first service that we know as Lessons and Carols, it has become a treasured tradition throughout the world, especially in England and North America. The Kings College service was first broadcast on radio in 1928, and it has been broadcast every year except 1930; it now is broadcast live by the BBC, webcasts, and Public TV.

Lessons and Carols remains, though, in its essence, a service of light, peace and joy that must be experienced in person to appreciate fully. The congregation joins soloists and choir to sing hymns and carols, to sit in the light of candles and scents of boughs of greens, and to hear the words of scripture read as the story of prophecy, promise, and birth of Jesus is told. It is a time to reflect, be surrounded by beautiful sights and sounds and smells, and to enter into the fullness of the glory and mystery of the season. There is no sermon; no collection; no formality; just the opportunity to soak up the tradition of joining together to sing, pray, hear God’s word, and rejoice in the celebration of Christmas.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church offered this very special service on Sunday December 19, at 4:00 pm. The music was led by pianist Rule Beasley, organist Robert Tupper, choir leader Lloyd Walworth and the St. Paul’s choir.

On October 9th, 2010, Ron Fullmer flew to Fort Lauderdale to join a Living Water International team that was heading to Cap Haitien, Haiti, to repair water wells.
To read about the trip, click here.
To see some photos from the trip, click here.

On June 6th, Father Thomas Chesterman, from Food for the Poor visited us at St. Paul's, and following the service we held our end-of-the year Sunday School picnic. You can click here to see some photos of both events.

To see other, older photos, you can click here.