Weekly News & Events

Friday Harbor

Worship Services

August 16 – 12th Sunday after Pentecost

Sunday Worship in person at 11:00 a.m. at St. David’s Episcopal Church, corner of Park and Marguerite.

NOTE: Third Sunday of the month so coffee after church this Sunday.

Live Online worship via Zoom at 11:00 a.m. Connection directions sent via email or contact the church email. Consult the online Weekly Worship Bulletin.

This Week's Events

This Week Events

Announcements

Announcements-FH

Tuesday,11a.m. – 1p.m. Volunteer Training for the Joyce L. Sobel Family Resource Center.

Please RSVP to: adrianag@jlsfrc.org

See Announcements.

Wednesday 9:30 a.m. Bible Study via Zoom, Becky Moore host.

Wednesday 12 noon Emmanuel Church on Orcas Island–Music series throughout the summer. See Announcements.

Thursday - 9:30 a.m. Walking talking (and sniffing for dogs) - English Camp parking lot.

Church Birthdays & Anniversaries

8/18 Mary Jo Wilcox, 8/20 Pete Christensen
8/16 Craig & Krispi Staude, 8/17 Gretchen & Tom Mueller

Volunteer Training for the Joyce L. Sobel Family Resource Center (Tuesday, August 18th 11am – 1pm @ 265 Price Street) Lunch will be served. Please RSVP to: adrianag@jlsfrc.org

The Joyce L. Sobel Family Resource Center is offering a free lunch-time training for any of your congregation members who serve in a volunteer capacity to help others in the community. Our training, Brain Health & Dementia Awareness in our Communities, focuses on recognizing early signs of dementia, best practices for supporting people experiencing cognitive decline, providing education about brain health and connecting with valuable resources within our region.
Our training is led by Cindy Baker and Adriana Gonzalez, two local islanders who work for the Family Resource Center. Cindy has a long history of supporting seniors with dementia and cognitive decline, and Adriana is a trained nurse and Community Health Worker. Adriana and Cindy have completed Brain Health & Dementia Awareness training through the WA State Department of Health.

College for Congregational Development (CCD) Thanks to the LCSJ Church Council, Becky Moore will be attending the introductory session of the CCD August 16-21 in Olympia. This is a two-year program begun by the Episcopal Diocese in Olympia which has grown to national status. Becky will be attending with Pastor Abby D'Ambruoso and Pam Good from St. David's. The purpose is to learn about group dynamics, congregational identity, and change processes that will help in our exploration of collaboration between our two congregations. Becky will be reporting on CCD and what she is learning throughout the coming months. For more information about CCD please visit the website https://www.cdcollege.org/.

Music at Emmanuel – Wednesdays @ 12:00pm during the summer!

Wednesday noon series. Admission is by free-will offering to benefit the Emmanuel music scholarship fund in support of Orcas Island students attending music camps. https://www.visitsanjuans.com/eventdetail/73344/music-at-emmanuel

A Note About Zoom & Microphones. We will continue experimenting with our amplified service at Friday Harbor which is also our zoom service. We are hoping this new configuration of microphones will help those in the space and those in zoom to hear the service! We are grateful to Rowan our sound tech for their assistance with this project! We appreciate your patience as we ensure all is in working order over the next few weeks!

Caution: Someone is impersonating Pastor Emma’s and Pastor Abby’s (St. David’s Episcopal) email. Be careful when responding to emails from them, especially when asking for ‘help to purchase gifts for “staff.”‘ The tip-off (aside for asking for financial help) is the email address: frrev0591@gmail.com. There may be no salutation, just a “Good morning,.” so be sure to double check the return address before you respond. If in doubt, contact them directly by phone.

Pastor's Note

This Sunday’s strange story of the Cannanite woman isn’t always easy to hear, but sometimes getting help isn’t either. Let us encounter this story more deeply of a woman seeking for her daughter and stubbornly refusing to be turned away. May her persistence remind us of all who seek crumbs from the tables of the world also deserve to be fed. May there be enough for all.

Our transition groups have been hard at work across our branches, sharing in meetings and making room in their summer travel and visitor schedules! With all the moving pieces your Transition Facilitator Erik Samuelson and I have discerned that a slower schedule for all will benefit LCSJI during this process. We agreed that we will both stay on through the end of the year (and beyond) if helpful in the transition process. This will give us ALL some breathing room as we keep figuring out our way forward. May we continue to hold one another gently and ask the spirit to keep guiding us as we work together for the future of the Lutheran Church in the San Juan Islands.

The Friday Harbor Transition Team met August 5 to discuss issues raised by St. David's in developing further collaboration between the two congregations.

– Reconciling in Christ Statement –

(updated 2026)

As a Reconciling in Christ Congregation, we are committed to racial equity and, just as Christ welcomed all people unconditionally, we welcome people of all races, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, ages, cultures, languages, abilities, and political views. We seek to be a diverse ELCA community rooted in God’s gracious love.

Weekly update for PNW Synod of the ELCA is available here.

- Weekly Reflections -

In addition to preaching a weekly sermon, Pastor Emma sends out short weekly reflections that cover scripture, current events, church news, and other items of interest. Past reflections are available at Sermons and Reflections.

Prayers

Coming Events

All Congregational Meeting – August 18 @ 5pm on Zoom

A note from Tim Jorve, Church Council President:

As you know, our three branches are currently in discernment, which will result in changes to our current pastoral structure. To facilitate the process for Lopez Island, they have completed their Ministry Site Profile (MSP) and proposed a call committee to look for a part-time pastor to meet the needs on Lopez Island. According to our constitution (C13.05), the call committee needs to be elected by the congregation, so your presence is important. The purpose of this meeting is to present a slate of candidates to serve as the call committee for Lopez Island only. All people below live on Lopez Island, are members, worship at the Lutheran church, and are willing to serve.
1. Ruth Fothergill
2. Corky Searls
3. Anne Hall
4. David Corbin
5. Jane Fuller

We will need a quorum of the entire congregation, so please be prompt at 5 pm. This will be the only item on the agenda, so it should not be lengthy. If you have any questions, please contact your local transition team representative for clarification, and I look forward to seeing everyone on the 18th via Zoom.
The link for the meeting is here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4514194889?omn=82683167437
Blessings,

Tim Jorve

Our Prayers – August

Healing: Rich Barker, Bill Lowe (friend of Samantha Bryner), Barbara S., Helena (granddaughter of Craig & Krispi), Dave Staehlin, Christine, Janet, Lilly.

General/Support: George and family (brother of Lilly Handler), Ann Brewer (caring for parents), Jim (son-in-law of Joan & Gordon Eustis), Scott and Marie, Mary, Steven, Rachel (friend of Lilly Handler), Ryan, Andrew and Andrew’s son Tre’vion (healing).

For pastoral care needs, and to add requests for Sunday Prayers, please contact Pastor Emma: email pastoremmad@gmail.com

Also of Note

WRITING CHECKS: Checks to be deposited to the church’s bank account should be made payable to “Lutheran Church in the San Juans”. If you would like to designate your gift in any way, please note that in the memo line. Thank you! From your Financial Secretary.

Email changes: Please contact Steve Simpson to make changes to the email distribution list for these notes. Please also contact Jonna, the parish administrator so that address and email changes may be saved for the church directory.

Also of Note

Sobel

Music

Coming Events (cont.)

Goats for Widows – August 23 - Saint David's

8/22 @ 12pm (Lunch & Learn); 8/23 Sunday (during worship)
Sunday, August 23, the Rev. John Ng’oma will be with St. David’s Episcopal preaching and sharing about Goats for Widows. The Venerable Father John Ng’oma will share about how Goats for Widows changes lives for women in poverty in SE Africa. Please join for a PowerPoint presentation, conversation and cookie reception following the presentation. Goats are an affordable and sustainable livestock option in Malawi because they can thrive on marginal land that is unsuitable for other farm animals. Also, goats’ housing needs are minimal, and they are efficient at converting diverse forage into milk and meat. Using funds raised, Rev. John has already been able to distribute over 100 goats to widows in need in SE Africa.

For more information, to donate, or to help spread the word:

Visit GoFundMe (https://gofund.me/goats-for-widows-alleviating-hunger-inequality-in-Malawi);
Like and Share our Goats for Widows Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/GFW/Malawi) where we have lots of program photos; or Share our GoFundMe link on your social media.

Wild Church – August 25 @ 7:00pm - Jackson Beach Park. Come experiment with Wild Church as we wonder & wonder along the shoreline with creation and our friends at Saint David’s Episcopal Church. We will be meeting at the Picnic Shelter. The waves, the birds, and the shore will provide our sanctuary and worship space. Please bring what you need to be comfortable, like a chair or blanket, sturdy shoes, water bottle or other materials for reflection. We are grateful for our first gathering where we had 30 people!

Note from Steve: Here is a song that came to mind from our first Wild Church event:

Before Eternity by Archie Fisher

https://www.song-list.net/videos/archiefisher/beforeeternity

Adding an event/announcement: Please forward your written listing to Steve Simpson by Thursday for inclusion in that Sunday’s bulletin. For additional events, please write to the parish administrator Jonna at sanjuanlutherans@gmail.com to get your meeting or event added to the all-church calendar. Be sure to include all relevant information (who, what, when, where, why, how). Unless otherwise specified, announcements will be listed for one week and events will be listed weekly.