Spiritual Life
A6
Thursday, June 23, 2022
SPIRITUAL LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Vacation Bible School in
Cove open through July 1
COVE — The Grande Ronde
Mennonite Church, 69371 Lantz
Lane, Cove, is off ering Vaca-
tion Bible School from June 20
to July 1, 6:30-8:30 p.m. The
free sessions are open to nursery
age through eighth grade. You
may pre-register but it’s not
required. For more information,
contact Christopher Bailey at
541-786-9535.
Sermon series on the Lord’s
Prayer continues
ENTERPRISE — “Give us
today our daily bread,” from
the Lord’s Prayer, will be the
focus of the Sunday, June 26,
study before the 11 a.m. worship
service.
SUBMISSIONS
Churches and faith-based groups are
encouraged to submit Highlights for the
Spiritual Life page by noon Tuesday for
publication Thursday. Submit by email
to news@lagrandeobserver.com (with
Highlights in the subject line).
Elijah’s ministry is focus of
weekly lesson
sermon by Rev. Dr. Craig Pes-
ti-Strobel of the Enterprise Com-
munity Congregational Church.
Taking an in-depth look at the
prayer that Jesus taught his dis-
ciples, the message will focus on
Matthew 6:9-13, showing how
to apply this verse to help us
live more spiritual lives. Pastor
Craig will lead a 9:30 a.m. Bible
NORTHEASTERN OREGON
— La Grande Stake High Council
members of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints on
Sunday, June 26, will speak in
area wards during Sacrament ser-
vices on Elder Gary E. Steven-
son’s talk titled “Love, Share,
Invite” from the April 2022 Gen-
eral Conference. Sunday school
classes will be held during the
second hour of services.
The “Come, Follow Me”
lesson for the week of June
27 is based on 1 Kings 17-19,
Jehovah’s Witnesses celebrate
anniversary of free speech court ruling
JW Public Information Desk
REDMOND — While
Jehovah’s Witnesses have
chosen to temporarily sus-
pend their door-to-door min-
istry due to the pandemic,
their activity was almost
permanently banned by one
U.S. village in the late 1990s
— until the United States
Supreme Court stepped in
with a historic 8-1 deci-
sion on June 17, 2002,
declaring the local ordinance
unconstitutional.
On the 20th anniversary
of that precedent-setting deci-
sion, some Central Oregon
residents wonder what their
lives would be like if one
of their neighbors had not
knocked on their door and
shared a life-changing mes-
sage with them.
As a child in the 1950s,
Barbara Masten fondly
remembers her father
talking to Jehovah’s Wit-
nesses at the door in Red-
mond. Years later as an
adult, she received her own
doorstep visitor in Peters-
burg, Alaska.
“The fi rst person to ever
knock on our door in Alaska
was Jehovah’s Witnesses,”
Masten said.
Again a Redmond resi-
dent, she feels that encounter
in 1967 was a turning point
in her life.
The 2002 Supreme
Court decision in Watch-
tower v. Village of Stratton,
affi rmed that a local vil-
lage ordinance in Stratton,
Ohio, requiring a permit to
knock on doors violated the
rights of any person who
wanted to engage in free
speech with their neighbor,
including Jehovah’s Wit-
nesses who practice door-
to-door evangelizing. The
court overturned two lower
focusing on the prophet Elijah.
The account of his ministry
makes clear that personal faith
in the Lord can thrive among
the righteous even in a wicked
environment.
Members are reminded that
the Stake Pioneer Day celebration
is scheduled for July 16.
Sermon will expound
on family values
LA GRANDE — Zion
Lutheran Church meets for wor-
ship this Sunday, June 26, at
9 a.m. The sermon, titled “Family
Values,” is based on Luke 9:51-62.
Holy Communion will be served.
A time of fellowship follows the
service.
The service will be streamed
live and also will be available to
watch later. The link for those
will be posted to Zion’s website
and Facebook page on June 25.
Pastor to share ‘WILD’
camp experiences
LA GRANDE — Pastor
Archie Hook’s message at the
First Christian Church (Disci-
ples of Christ) will be “WILD”
this Sunday, June 26. During the
10:30 a.m. service he will share
his experiences at Cove Christian
Camp this past week. WILD was
the theme and stands for: Willing,
Intentional, Loving, Determined.
Grande Ronde Community
Church honors Vernon and
Kay Slippy’s 35 years of service
The Observer
JW Public Information Desk/Contributed Photo
June 17, 2022, marked the 20th anniversary of the Watchtower v.
Village of Stratton Supreme Court decision that protected the rights
of anyone to engage in free speech with their neighbor, including
Jehovah’s Witnesses who practice door-to-door evangelizing.
court rulings that upheld the
ordinance, paving the way
for all citizens to maintain
open dialogue with their
neighbors on any number
of issues including environ-
mental, civic, political, spiri-
tual or educational.
“Looking back on the
two decades since the deci-
sion, it’s clear to see the
wide-ranging impact that
Watchtower v. Stratton has
had on free speech for all,”
said Josh McDaniel, director
of the Religious Freedom
Clinic at the Harvard Law
School.
The village of Stratton
became a center of con-
troversy in 1998 when it
enacted an ordinance that
required anyone wishing
to engage in door-to-door
activity to obtain a permit
from the mayor or face
imprisonment. Jehovah’s
Witnesses viewed this
ordinance as an infringe-
ment of freedom of speech,
free exercise of religion
and freedom of press and
brought a lawsuit in fed-
eral court after the vil-
lage refused to modify
the enforcement of the
ordinance.
“Our motive for initi-
ating the case was clear:
We wanted to remove any
obstacle that would pre-
vent us from carrying out
our scriptural obligation to
preach the good news of
the Kingdom,” said Robert
Hendriks, U.S. spokes-
person for Jehovah’s Wit-
nesses. “Making it a crim-
inal off ense to talk with a
neighbor without seeking
government approval is
off ensive to many people,
but particularly to God who
commanded Christians to
preach the gospel.”
Studying that gospel
helped Masten and her
family fi nd contentment.
“I needed something,” she
recalled. “We didn’t have
any good direction in our
lives.”
While Masten, baptized
in 1968 as one of Jehovah’s
Witnesses, continues to
engage in a productive min-
istry through letter writing
and phone calling, she is
looking forward to knocking
on doors again and talking
with her neighbors.
“It’s exciting to show
them the answer to man-
kind’s problems from the
Bible,” the Redmond resi-
dent said.
— The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Sunday, June 26, will
mark the 35th anniversary
celebration of the min-
istry of Rev. Vernon and
Kay Slippy at the Grande
Ronde Community Church
on Fir Street in La Grande.
When the Slippys fi rst
came to GRCC in 1987, it
was known as the Evan-
gelical Methodist Church.
A few years later it was
decided by the congrega-
tion and church leaders
to change the name to
Grande Ronde Community
Church. The congregation
felt the new name would
let the community know
they were not exclusively
a denominational church,
and they were there to min-
ister to the whole commu-
nity. This is still the current
mission of the church.
Along with the name
change came the task of
Contributed photo
Vernon and Kay Slippy
changing the church sign.
This was accomplished
twice by Rev. Slippy when
he fi rst made a standard
sign refl ecting the name
change, then a while later
when he hand carved the
current sign out of boards
milled in 1955 and donated
by Marvin Twidwell. This
second sign became neces-
sary when Grande Ronde
Community Church was
no longer affi liated with
the Methodist Church.
The Slippys have con-
sistently been active these
past 35 years in our local
community and have cre-
ated many friendships
along the way. In 1988
Rev. Slippy was sworn in
by the La Grande Police
Department as its new vol-
unteer police chaplain, and
he maintained that posi-
tion for 10 years. Prior to
becoming a pastor, from
1981-1987 Vernon and his
wife, Kay, operated the
Crisis Action Team house
in La Grande.
Following the June 26
worship service, church
family members will honor
the Slippys’ 35 years of
ministry and service at the
Grande Ronde Community
Church.
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1429 Adams Ave
La Grande, OR
541-962-7557
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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!
Worship: 9:00 a.m. Cove
Worship: 10:00 a.m. N. Powder
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
First Christian
Church
(Disciples of Christ)
901 Penn Avenue 963-2623
lgdisciples@gmail.com
Bible Study
9:00 a.m.
Worship
10:30 a.m.
~Join us at The Lord’s Table~
Imbler
Christian
Church
www.imblercc@gmail.com
Sunday Services
9:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
Sunday School
Worship Service
Phone: 541-568-4230
grace.lutherancove@gmail.com
La Grande Seventh-day
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
1612 4th Street – 963-2498
www.lagrandeumc.org
Sunday School for all ages - 9:00 am
Sunday Worship 10:00 am
Adventist Church
“OPEN HEARTS, OPEN MINDS, OPEN DOORS”
For service information go to
The Place
62848 Philynda Loop in Island City
440 Ruckman, Imbler 534-2201 “We are called to Serve”
LA GRANDE UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
Pastor Roberta Smythe
GRACE COMMUNITY
LUTHERAN CHURCH
2702 Adams Avenue, La Grande
963-4018
109 18th Street • 963-3402
Sunday School 9:30 a.m.
Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.
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
1812 1st St. La Grande
541-605-0215
We use the King James Version Bible
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
Services
This
Week