OFF PAGE ONE
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
A7
Rebound: ‘God is showing us new ways to be the church’
Continued from Page A1
online worship.
Pastor Terry Tollefson,
of Christ Covenant Church
in Lostine, said the church
is now down to one 10 a.m.
service from its usual four to
maintain social distancing.
The majority of the con-
gregation of about 150
attends virtually, which
Tollefson said is a growing
number.
“It’s pretty odd that
they’re growing,” Tollefson
said. “These are interesting
times.”
The church does con-
tinue its Youth Bible Fellow-
ship, he said. In the past, the
approximately 25 kids would
go to sing at area senior
centers.
“But the older folks can’t
even have visitors now,” he
said. “So, they go window
to window and sing outside
their windows.”
Pastor David Bruce, of
Enterprise Christian Church,
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
St. Katherine Catholic Church, in Enterprise, had nearly shut down in the spring over the
COVID-19 pandemic. However, Father Thomas Puduppulliparamban is again holding Mass
there and in Wallowa for about 50 Catholics.
said the way he looks at it is
they now have four different
congregations: One group
comes into the church as nor-
mal but wears face masks,
another group listens on the
radio, another group par-
ticipates via Facebook and
there’s another group that
either participates by radio
and/or Facebook from the
church parking lot or picnic
tables outside.
Bruce said the church can
accommodate 80-85 people
in the sanctuary, but it hasn’t
reached that many yet. The
picnic tables have proven
popular, although as the
weather chills, that may end
and people could move just
inside to the church’s fellow-
ship hall.
“They kind of like the pic-
nic atmosphere at the end of
the building,” he said.
As for any return to nor-
mal worship, Bruce said, “I
think we will be doing this
through next spring is my
guess.”
Enterprise Christian now
holds just a 9 a.m. service,
having canceled its 11 a.m.
service. Services for the
church’s youth group have
been going since September
and they plan to add adult
and children’s Sunday school
services Sunday, Nov. 1.
Joseph United Method-
ist Church suspended meet-
ing in person at The Place
in March, and continues that
suspension, according to a
press release. The church
does continue online and at
its Facebook page or by call-
ing Pastor Cherie Dearth at
541-432-3102.
“We are living the truth
that the church is not a
building but people trying
to spread God’s love in the
world,” Dearth said. “God is
showing us new ways to be
the church.”
Christian worship isn’t
the only type affected in the
county.
At the Wallowa Buddhist
Temple, located above the
Hurricane Creek Grange near
Joseph, monks Rev. Meido
Tuttle and Rev. Clairissa
Beattie have diffi culty get-
ting a good internet connec-
tion from their location but
still strive to minister to area
Buddhists.
“We send out a weekly
schedule and dharma talk
— it’s like a sermon — by
email” to about 80 people,
Tuttle said.
She said that since Bud-
dhism doesn’t prosely-
tize, only those who specifi -
cally ask for the dharma talk
receive it.
While most in-person
contact is limited, they do get
together by appointment.
“A lot of people who draw
on us do so individually,” she
said. “We are still offering
what we can. But we do miss
it and looking forward to
having people stopping by.”
Bentz: Looking for common ground
Continued from Page A1
crat-led state Legislature.
He said a risk assess-
ment would fi rst need to
address power line strength
and how they would han-
dle high winds, would need
to address how to deal with
grass — and not just tim-
ber — that gets tinder-dry in
the summer and putting fi re
breaks around cities.
“The people in Talent and
Phoenix, just south of Med-
ford, didn’t have a chance,”
Bentz said. “Those 40-50
mph winds came up and
took the fi re through. Three
people were killed. They
barely had time to get out.
We have to have an under-
standing that this can hap-
pen. ... We’re going to lose
cities. We don’t need to be
doing that.”
He also discussed con-
cerns on a lack of housing,
which he said came up in a
meeting earlier Tuesday that
included Wallowa County
commissioners and mayors
and that has been brought
up, he said, in each county in
the district.
He said housing issues
often come down to what a
community wants.
“I said (at the meeting)
‘What do your communities
want?’ They said, ‘We want
middle-class housing.’ I said,
‘You’re going to have a real
problem attracting people
who are not making enough
money to make the payment
to either rent a middle-class
house or build one. That’s
what’s happening.”
The solution, he said, is
for communities to get set
on what they want, then to
reach out to the government,
rather than having the gov-
ernment tell them what a city
should put in place.
Bentz, who if he defeats
Democratic opponent Alex
Spenser, will enter Con-
gress during a time when the
nation is severely divided,
and, he added, likely in the
minority, as he said recent
indicators are that the major-
ity in the House of Rep-
resentatives will stay with
Democrats.
Bentz, though, is used
to being in the minority,
and said he was able to still
effect change in his 12 years
in Salem despite that.
“The way you accomplish
“...WHAT YOU DO
IS SEEK COMMON
GROUND WITH
PEOPLE WHO ARE
ON THE OTHER SIDE
OF THE AISLE AND
GO GET IT DONE.”
— Cliff Bentz, candidate for
2nd Congressional District
things is you focus on stuff
where people are in agree-
ment,” he said. “...What you
do is seek common ground
with people who are on the
other side of the aisle and
go get it done. What I found
in Salem is about 80% was
just the hard work of gov-
erning. ... You’re just trying
to get it done better. Fire is
a really good example. How
do we address paying for
fi re? Where do we fi nd the
money? Or roads? There was
almost always agreement
that we need good roads and
we need good bridges.”
Bentz said there are fi ve
issues he believes are import-
ant to those in the district he
is trying to win that he would
focus on in Washington.
“First is going to be trying
to help small businesses and
people unemployed through
this COVID crisis,” he said.
“Small businesses that are
holding on as they wait for
demand to return...help them
hold on until we get a vac-
cine. People who have lost
their jobs, help them with
their rent. People who are
landlords who are not get-
ting rent, try to help them.”
In addition to helping
individuals through COVID-
19, he pointed to the afore-
mentioned risk assessment,
water, health care and hous-
ing as key issues.
To listen to the entire
Chieftain interview with
Bentz, check out the online
version of this story at wal-
lowa.com.
NORTON S
W ELDIN G
& REPAIR
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25 th Annual
& First Ever Virtual
Healthy Futures Dinner Auction
“All Dressed Up & No Place to Go”
During a time of heightened awareness about our health
and Covid 19, we would like to recognize the entire staff
at Wallowa Memorial Hospital for keeping our community
informed and up-to-date with the most current inform-
ation. Thank you to all of you, you are our choice for
People Making a Difference!
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Join us virtually, from the comfort of your own home!
* WHEN *
Saturday, November 14,
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Warm up, pre-show, happy hour
7:00 pm 8:00 pm: Program begins
*WHERE *
On your laptop, ipad/tablet, or smart phone
* HOW *
Register for this FREE event, and we’ll send you the link!
It’s so easy! Just click on the link and you’ll be taken right to our virtual
event, where you can watch from the comfort of your own home!
First 100 households to register will receive special gift!
All who register in advance will be eligible for the Raffle.
Trick or treat,
smell my feet,
get me something
good to eat at
Wallowa
Food City
Register for the 25th Annual & First Ever Virtual
Healthy Futures Dinner Auction Today!
Call the Foundation at 541.426.1913 or email
stacy.green@wchcd.org
Sponsored by the Wallowa Valley Health Care Foundation and these sponsors:
Bank of Eastern Oregon, Winding Waters Clinic, Community Bank,
Chrisman Development, Inc., Enterprise Electric, Hillock Stor-All, Prairie Creek Quilts
and Hillock Insurance
FIRST & STORIE, WALLOWA • PHONE 541-886-3691 • FAX 541-886-3239
Your support is greatly appreciated
The Wallowa Valley Health Care Foundation