Spiritual Life
6A
Thursday, January 21, 2021
HIGHLIGHTS
St. Peter’s Episcopal
Church
Submissions
Churches and faith-based groups are encouraged to submit Highlights
for the Spiritual Life page by 4 p.m. Tuesday for publication Thursday.
Submit by email to news@lagrandeobserver.com (with Highlights in
the subject line), by fax to 541-963-7804, or by hand to the offi ce.
LA GRANDE — St. Peter’s
Episcopal Church will not hold
in-person worship this Sunday,
Jan. 24, due to the COVID-19
pandemic. A link to a recorded
worship service for Sunday will
be posted to Facebook. St. Peter’s
will not be worshipping in person
until at least March.
Faith Lutheran Church
LA GRANDE, ENTER-
PRISE— The sermon at Faith
Lutheran Church this Sunday, Jan.
24, will consider Jesus calling
some of his fi rst disciples in
Mark 1:14-20. He called four to
“follow” him, and two of them,
James and his brother John, “were
in their boat mending their nets”
(vs. 19). They were going about
their healthy, industrious activity
in which they served when Jesus
called them. Sunday services
are at 10 a.m. in La Grande and
2 p.m. in Enterprise.
Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints
LA GRANDE — The ability
for all to receive personal rev-
elation from the Lord is the
focus of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints’
“Come, Follow Me” lesson for
the week of Jan. 25. This lesson
covers Doctrine and Covenants
6-9, when the work of transla-
tion of the Book of Mormon had
resumed with Oliver Cowdery
as scribe. Provided with the
lesson are links to “Revelation
in Context,” videos and other
material that provides a deeper
understanding of the events
taking place when these revela-
tions were received. All study
materials are available from the
free mobile app called Gospel
Library.
Individual wards are meeting
for in-person worship services
with limited group sizes and
condensed time frames. Those
attending will be wearing masks
and following social distancing
guidelines. Contact your ward
leadership for times and details.
Zion Lutheran Church
LA GRANDE — Zion
Lutheran will not worship in
person this Sunday, Jan. 24, due
to COVID-19. A recorded worship
service for Sunday will be posted
on the church’s Facebook page on
Saturday. The congregation will
resume in-person worship once
Union County is in the yellow zone
of the state’s metrics. The offi ce
also will be closed until then.
Believing and Becoming: Finding ways to hold the center
LAURA
HUDSON
LA GRANDE
“H
ow are you
holding the
center?” A spir-
itual mentor recently asked me
this question, inviting my refl ec-
tion on ministering to others, not
only during a global pandemic but
also painful political division. We
are wrestling through a collective
dark night of the soul, struggling
to discern truth amid deep anx-
iety and distrust for one another.
In these times, holding the
center is more diffi cult than ever.
For me, that phrase means more
than political or religious cen-
trism. It names the effort it takes
to stay connected to the steadi-
ness of my faith, even as I expe-
rience waves of emotion, my
own or others’, which threaten
to fl ood me. Holding the center
also evokes the sensation of core
strength I can feel in the center
of my body, keeping my body
upright and stable.
Holding the center is the
approach I believe my faith asks
me to take toward all the others
with whom my life intersects.
I am to encounter each being
“center to center,” as teacher
Richard Rohr often puts it,
core soul-self to core soul-self,
receiving one another each as we
are in this moment, without judg-
ment, without calculating how
we might benefi t or hinder one
another.
In my experience, holding
the center of faith is not a static
stance but an ongoing process,
full of movement, fl uctuation and
adaptation to changing condi-
tions. Faithfulness requires con-
tinuous discernment to listen for
divine guidance and enter into
responsive action. Accepting any
spiritual belief is just the initi-
ating moment of a lifelong path of
becoming humans who can love
God and love all the neighbors
God gives us.
“Love God and love your
neighbor,” Jesus’ greatest com-
mandments, are the center I seek
to hold. They point to the “narrow
path,” the most direct, stream-
lined path to experience the heart
of God. Yet, following that way
requires my willingness to receive
the constant corrections God
gives me, by which I return again
and again from the wide extremes
that tempt me, and focus anew on
God’s will and ways.
How are you holding the
center? In these days brimming
with collective uncertainty, the
pull we feel toward extremes of
rage, terror, grief and despair, and
the temptation to produce words
or deeds from these emotions, can
be immense. What is the central,
stable core of your faith, and what
practices help you stay anchored
to it? There are many practices,
and there are many mentors who
can guide you to discover which
ones can help you maintain con-
nection to your soul’s compass. Do
not hesitate to reach out to wise
mentors to guide you on your way.
———
Laura Elly Hudson is
co-pastor of First Presbyterian
Church in La Grande, a mother
of two boys (and two cats), and
founder of Story Journey, where
she guides spiritual seekers in
believing and becoming as they
explore their life story. You can
fi nd her at fpclagrande.org or at
lauraellyhudson.com.
Inauguration week prayer event
aims to show Christian unity
March for Life asks supporters
to stay home this year
By ELANA SCHOR
By DAVID CRARY
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — As
a politically divided nation
prepares to inaugurate a
new president in the wake
of a violent insurrection at
the U.S. Capitol, a group of
Christian leaders is hoping
to ease tensions through
prayer during three days of
ecumenical, nonpartisan
programming.
Using the slogan and
social media tag #Peace-
WithJustice, the effort aims
to project spiritual unity and
counter people’s feelings
of helplessness with action,
during a time of high alert
with thousands of troops
securing the capital fol-
lowing the Jan. 6 violence,
which has led to about 120
arrests so far.
The name of the gath-
ering — held virtually due
to the pandemic — is in part
a nod to the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr.’s observa-
tion that “true peace is not
merely the absence of ten-
sion; it is the presence of
justice.” Details of the ini-
tiative were shared with The
Associated Press in advance
of its launch on the weekend
when the country commem-
orates his birthday.
Leaders of the effort are
incorporating the King hol-
iday into their work, asking
participants to use their
Sunday messages to focus
on “redoubling efforts to
work together to address
systemic racism and restore
trust and integrity to our
democratic system and
institutions.”
Jim Wallis, founder of
the Christian social justice
group Sojourners and a lead
organizer of the event, said
he hoped to see the faithful
“move beyond the emo-
tions of anger and fear” and
toward the moral truth of
communal reconciliation.
“Prayer is action, in my
view,” Wallis said.
After the federal holiday
on Monday, Jan. 19, the
event continued Tuesday
with a multidenomina-
tional Zoom prayer ser-
vice. On Wednesday, when
President-elect Joe Biden
is inaugurated, participants
plan testimony and other
statements on Twitter in the
hopes of restoring a sense
of harmony to a transi-
tion of power that has been
marred by violence.
“Defending democracy
for all Americans — no
exceptions” is imperative
for all people of faith, the
group says on its website.
Prominent participants
include Michael Curry, pre-
siding bishop of the Epis-
copal Church; Walter Kim,
president of the National
Association of Evangeli-
cals; Commissioner Ken-
neth G. Hodder, National
Commander of the Sal-
vation Army; and Bar-
bara Williams-Skinner,
co-convener of the National
African American Clergy
Network.
Williams-Skinner said
she hopes it will become
a model for collaboration
by people of faith across
denominational boundaries.
“I hope that this is the
beginning of a strong ecu-
menical coalition to fi ght
against the evil of racism
and all kinds of systemic
injustices going forward,
and to connect those to
public policies that will
come out of this adminis-
tration and this Congress,”
she said.
Kim said that while
many member churches in
his group are planning their
own programs during inau-
guration week, the non-
partisan event appealed to
him because “we need, in
this moment, something
that transcends partisan
politics.”
He also acknowledged
the presence of Christian
symbols and Christian
identifi cation among some
of those who breached the
Capitol in a bid to over-
turn the election for Pres-
ident Donald Trump,
saying that the potential
convergence of Christian
and nationalist identities
“does grieve my heart.”
AP National Writer
WASHINGTON —
Organizers of the March
for Life, the anti-abor-
tion movement’s preem-
inent annual event, are
asking their supporters
nationwide not to gather
in Washington this year
because of the COVID-19
pandemic and political
unrest.
Instead, a small group
of invited anti-abortion
leaders will march Jan. 29,
and the event will be lives-
treamed, March for Life’s
president, Jeanne Mancini,
announced Friday.
“Since we are in the
midst of a pandemic which
may be peaking, and in
view of the heightened
pressures that law enforce-
ment offi cers and others
are currently facing in and
around the Capitol, this
year’s March for Life will
look different,” she said.
“The annual rally will take
place virtually and we are
asking all participants to
stay home and to join the
March virtually.”
Tim Tebow, the football
star, is still scheduled to
make a keynote speech at
a virtual gala taking place
after the downsized march,
Mancini said.
Mancini said she looks
forward to holding the
event in person next year.
Susan Walsh/AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Anti-abortion activists participate on Jan. 24, 2020, in
the “March for Life” rally near Capitol Hill in Washing-
ton. Organizers of the March for Life, the anti-abortion
movement’s preeminent annual event, are asking their
supporters nationwide not to gather in Washington in
2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and political unrest.
The march has been
held annually since 1974,
one year after the Supreme
Court’s Roe v. Wade deci-
sion that legalized abortion
across in the United States.
Even blizzards in 1987 and
2016 did not force cancel-
lation, although turnouts
were smaller than usual.
Local March for Life
events also have been
affected this year. State
marches in Arkansas and
Oregon have been indefi -
nitely postponed, while a
march planned in Tucson,
Arizona, was converted
into a car caravan dubbed
the Road Rally for Life.
The annual National
Prayer Vigil for Life, usu-
Northeast Oregon Directory of Churches
LA GRANDE UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
Zion Lutheran
Church
(an ELCA church)
902 Fourth Street,
La Grande, OR
(541) 963-5998
“OPEN HEARTS, OPEN MINDS, OPEN DOORS”
1612 4th Street – 963-2498
Pastor Taylor Gould
For service information go to
www.lagrandeumc.org
GRACE COMMUNITY
LUTHERAN CHURCH
The Place
62848 Philynda Loop in Island City
“We are called to Serve”
Sunday School for all ages - 9:00 am
Sunday Worship 10:00 am
Phone: 541-568-4230
grace.lutherancove@gmail.com
9:00 am - Worship
10:00 am - Fellowship & Refreshments
10:30 am - Classes
Pastor: Roberta Smythe
www.zionlagrande.org
Imbler
Christian
Church
440 Ruckman, Imbler 534-2201
www.imblercc@gmail.com
Sunday Services
9:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
Sunday School
Worship Service
Cove United
Methodist Church
1708 Jasper St., Cove, OR
North Powder
United
Methodist Church
First Christian
Church
(Disciples of Christ)
901 Penn Avenue 963-2623
lgdisciples@gmail.com
390 E. St., North Powder, OR
JOIN US... Catch the Spirit!
Worship
10:00 a.m.
ally held the night before
the national march at the
Basilica of the National
Shrine of the Immacu-
late Conception in Wash-
ington, will instead be a
livestreamed event, with
bishops participating vir-
tually from across the U.S.
A year ago, President
Donald Trump became
the fi rst sitting U.S. pres-
ident to address the
March for Life. Trump
became a hero to many
anti-abortion activists
for appointing Supreme
Court justices and other
federal judges viewed as
open to the possibility of
repealing or weakening
the Roe v. Wade ruling.
Services This
Week
1531 S. Main St.
Union
541-562-5531
www.UnionBaptistOregon.org
Sunday Morning Worship
Service 11:00 am
Sunday School at 9:45 a.m.
Birthing, Building and Being
Worship: 9:00 a.m. Cove
the Body of Christ
Worship: 10:00 a.m. N. Powder ~Join us at The Lord’s Table~
La Grande Seventh-day
Adventist Church
A Place where hope is found in Jesus
Join us in Fellowship & Worship
Saturday all age classes 9:30 am
Saturday Worship 11:00 am
2702 Adams Avenue, La Grande
963-4018
lagrandeor.adventistchurch.org
Learning for Today and Eternity
Little Friends
Christian Preschool/Childcare 963-6390
La Grande Adventist Christian School
K-8th Grade 963-6203
FIRST LANDMARK
MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH
SUMMERVILLE
BAPTIST CHURCH
Sunday Services:
Sunday School & Adult Bible Classes
9:45AM
Children’s Church & Worship Service
11:00AM
Family Worship Service
6:00PM
Wednesday:
Prayer Mtg, Children’s Bible Club, Youth
Group 7:00PM
A church for your whole family
Visit us at summervillebaptistchurch.org
1812 1st St. La Grande
Pastor Dave Tierce • 541-605-0215
We use the King James Version Bible
109 18th Street • 963-3402
Sunday School 9:15 a.m.
Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.
Sunday School - 10:00 am
Worship 11:00 am
Sunday Evening Bible Study - 3:00 pm (Effective June 10)
Wednesday Evening - 6:30 pm
“Where you can find TRUTH according to the scriptures”
www.flmbclagrande.com