Spiritual Life
6A
Thursday, April 15, 2021
HIGHLIGHTS
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
LA GRANDE — St. Peter’s
Episcopal Church will not wor-
ship in person until at least
mid-May. A link to a pre-recorded
Sunday service of Morning Prayer
will be posted on St. Peter’s Face-
book page on Saturday, April 17.
Zion Lutheran Church
LA GRANDE — A worship
service at Zion Lutheran Church
will begin at 9 a.m. Sunday,
April 18. COVID-19 precau-
tions will be in place, including
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).
masks and social distancing,
and there will not be a coff ee
hour. People who are planning
to attend are asked RSVP to
the offi ce via email or phone by
noon Saturday. The service will
also be streamed live to You-
Tube; the link will be posted
Saturday on Zion’s Facebook
page and website.
Faith Lutheran Church
LA GRANDE — The sermon
Sunday, April 18, at Faith
Lutheran Church will be drawn
from Luke 24, which tells of the
actions and words of Jesus fol-
lowing his resurrection, assuring
people he truly did rise from the
dead. A church council meeting
Religious leaders recall Prince
Philip’s spiritual curiosity
By JILL LAWLESS
follows the Divine Service.
Faith Lutheran’s SHINE Pre-
school is now registering children
ages 3-4 for the 2021-22 school
year. Stop by the church, call, or
visit www.lgfaithlcms.org/shine-
preschool to learn more.
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints
LA GRANDE — On Sunday,
April 18, members of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints Stake High Council will
speak in individual wards with
remarks based on President Henry
‘Everything is possible
for one who has faith’
Associated Press
LONDON — Churches
in Britain held services
Sunday, April 11, to
remember Prince Philip
as people of many reli-
gions refl ected on a man
whose gruff exterior hid a
strong personal faith and
deep curiosity about others’
beliefs.
Archbishop of Canter-
bury Justin Welby led a
service of remembrance at
Canterbury Cathedral in
southeast England for the
husband of Queen Elizabeth
II, who died April 9 at the
age of 99.
Welby led prayers for
Philip, also known as the
Duke of Edinburgh, and
contemplated “a very long
life, remarkably led.”
In London’s Westminster
Abbey, where Philip had
married the then-Princess
Elizabeth in 1947, Dean of
Westminster David Hoyle
remembered the former
naval offi cer’s “self-eff acing
sense of service.”
Most people’s glimpses
of Philip in a religious set-
ting were of him beside
the queen at commemora-
tive services, or walking to
church with the royal family
on Christmas Day. But his
religious background and
interests were more varied
than his conventional role
might suggest.
Born into the Greek
royal family as Prince Philip
of Greece and Denmark,
he was baptized in the
Greek Orthodox Church.
His father was exiled and
his family left Greece
when Philip was young.
He became an Anglican
when he married Elizabeth,
who as queen is supreme
governor of the Church of
England.
In the 1960s, he helped
set up St. George’s House,
a religious study center at
the royal family’s Windsor
Castle seat, where Philip
would join clergy, aca-
demics, businesspeople and
politicians to discuss the
state of the world.
He was a regular visitor
to Mount Athos, a monastic
community and religious
sanctuary in Greece, and
was a long-time patron
of the Templeton Prize, a
LAURA
HUDSON
BELIEVING AND BECOMING
“I
Steve Parsons/Pool Photo via AP
Britain’s Prince Edward, Sophie Countess of Wessex and their daugh-
ter Lady Louise Windsor attend the service for Prince Philip on Sunday,
April 11, 2021, at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor,
England.
lucrative award for contri-
bution to life’s “spiritual
dimension” whose winners
include Mother Teresa.
Philip’s long-standing
environmentalism, which
saw him serve as patron
of the Worldwide Fund
for Nature, was connected
to his faith. He organized
a 1986 summit in Assisi,
Italy, where representa-
tives of Christianity, Islam,
Judaism, Buddhism and
Hinduism pledged to pro-
tect the environment.
Philip said at the time
that “a new and powerful
alliance has been forged
between the forces of reli-
gion and the forces of
conservation.”
Blunt-spoken and quick-
witted, Philip also was
known for making remarks
that could be off ensive,
some of them sexist and
racist. But former Arch-
bishop of York John Sen-
tamu, who was born in
Uganda, said those who saw
Philip as a bigot were wide
of the mark.
“If somebody chal-
lenged him, you would enter
into an amazing conver-
sation,” Sentamu told the
BBC. “The trouble was that
because he was the Duke of
Edinburgh, the husband of
the queen, people had this
deference.
“I’m sure sometimes
he regretted some of those
phrases, but in the end it’s
a pity that people saw him
as somebody who makes
gaff es,” Sentamu said.
“Behind those gaff es was an
expectation of a comeback,
but nobody came back, and
the gaff e, unfortunately,
stayed.”
Inderjit Singh, a prom-
inent British Sikh leader,
said Philip had a strong
knowledge of Sikhism and
“contributed to the under-
standing and harmony
between diff ering faith
communities.”
“He recognized what
we should all recognize. ...
We are all of one common
humanity,” Singh said.
Philip’s faith may have
been partly a legacy of his
mother, Princess Alice of
Battenberg, who established
an order of nuns, sheltered
Jews in Nazi-occupied
Greece during World War II
and is buried below a Rus-
sian Orthodox church in
east Jerusalem.
“I suspect that it never
occurred to her that her
action was in any way spe-
cial,” Philip said in 1994.
“She was a person with
deep religious faith, and she
would have considered it to
be a totally human action
to fellow human beings in
distress.”
His interests in reli-
gion and ecology have been
passed on to his eldest son,
Prince Charles. The heir to
the throne is a strong envi-
ronmentalist who has said
he wants to be a “defender
of faiths” when he takes the
throne, rather than the mon-
arch’s offi cial title as defender
of the Anglican faith.
B. Eyring’s October 2020 General
Conference talk titled “Tested,
Proved and Polished.”
Revelations given to Joseph
Smith in early 1831 regarding
the organization of the church
is the subject of the “Come,
Follow Me” lesson for the week
of April 19. This lesson covers
Doctrine and Covenants Sec-
tions 41-44, covering a time
when the early saints were gath-
ering in Kirkland, Ohio. These
sections provided guiding prin-
ciples and structure to the rap-
idly growing church that was
less than a year old.
believe; help my unbelief:”
These words from Mark 9:24
constitute one of the most
important prayers I know. In this scrip-
ture, the desperate father of a sick
child cries out, longing to see his child
healed. He wants to trust Jesus with his
child’s healing, but the problem seems
so big, he doesn’t believe anything can
change it.
Jesus has said to this man, “Every-
thing is possible for one who has faith.”
What is this faith Jesus speaks of?
Some defi ne faith as an assent to a set
of religious principles, which acts like a
contract agreement saying, “I’m in the
club.” This is faith as a loyalty relation-
ship that merits a reward.
However, experience has taught me
that faith is less about my agreement to
specifi c principles and more about the
posture with which I approach relation-
ships with the divine and other people.
I live in faith as I approach others
with the openness to experience them
as they are, the willingness to risk vul-
nerability, and the trusting confi dence
that our relationship with each other
leads toward something beautiful and
good.
Sometimes staying open and avail-
able to others is easy. Sometimes it’s
desperately hard. When life goes awry,
holding faith is a struggle. A child gets
sick, a beloved person dies, a major
pandemic causes cataclysmic changes.
Your prayers are not answered in the
way you desired. It’s hard to stay open
to God and others when situations like
these contradict the assumptions you
previously had about these relation-
ships. Nothing seems to make sense
anymore, and there’s a great big hole
where the feelings of connection used
to dwell.
In my early 20s, disillusioned with
my childhood religion, I spent years
away from church, unsure that I could
believe in Jesus.
Since I was the daughter of a pastor,
harboring such doubts felt disloyal to
my own family. Thankfully, though,
my pastor dad was always willing to
hear my questions. He kept his own
heart open as listened to my doubts,
and he allowed me room to express my
confusion and pain.
Then, Dad gave me the Mark 9:24
prayer: “I believe; help my unbelief.” It
was a turning point. Dad trusted that
my longing to believe, in and of itself,
represented God reaching toward me
with grace for my particular situation.
God’s love included me, even when I
didn’t trust God. Dad’s faith brought
me back to my own, and the prayer
helped me talk to Jesus through my
unbelief.
No matter who you are, whether
you follow a particular religious tradi-
tion, you can learn this kind of faith.
It usually takes the help of at least
one person whose faith mirrors God’s
grace back to you. Mature faith allows
and includes doubt as an intrinsic part
of spiritual growth. Grounded in this
kind of faith, even in the most diffi cult
times, you can begin to experience pain
transformed into blessing.
———
The Rev. Laura Elly Hudson is
co-pastor of First Presbyterian Church in
La Grande and founder of Story Journey.
You can fi nd her at fpclagrande.org or at
lauraellyhudson.com.
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ELGIN ELECTRIC
43 N. 8th Elgin, OR 541-437-2054
Northeast Oregon Directory of Churches
Cove United
Methodist Church
1708 Jasper St., Cove, OR
North Powder
United
Methodist Church
390 E. St., North Powder, OR
JOIN US... Catch the Spirit!
First Christian
Church
(Disciples of Christ)
901 Penn Avenue 963-2623
lgdisciples@gmail.com
Worship
10:00 a.m.
Worship: 9:00 a.m. Cove
Worship: 10:00 a.m. N. Powder
~Join us at The Lord’s Table~
SUMMERVILLE
BAPTIST CHURCH
LA GRANDE UNITED
METHODIST 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
“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
Zion Lutheran
Church
(an ELCA church)
902 Fourth Street,
La Grande, OR
(541) 963-5998
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
Services
This
Week
La Grande Seventh-day
FIRST LANDMARK
MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH
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
1812 1st St. La Grande
Pastor Dave Tierce • 541-605-0215
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
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