August 2007

Northwest

Hispanic church celebrates 25 years—La Iglesia Evangelica Los Amigos (OR) celebrated its 25th anniversary on April 29 with worship, music, speakers, and wonderful food. Members of other Hispanic Friends churches and former leaders of the congregation joined in to celebrate. La Iglesia was started by Newberg Friends Church, but recently became independent. They have helped plant several other Hispanic churches.

Contact Angel Diaz at diazangel56@yahoo.com.

Website gets a new look—Gerald Lemmons volunteered to begin a website for NWYM in 1997. For ten years, he faithfully maintained it. Now, oversight of the website falls under the Board of Communication. Jason Schwanz has helped implement Gerald’s suggestions. The site is easier to use, has a search capability, and will have updated content. Visitors can receive email notification when new articles are posted.

Visit www.nwfriends.org or contact Jason Schwanz at jschwanz@gmail.com.

Young Friends reflect—Dick Sartwell of George Fox University asked seven participants in the undergraduate Quaker Seminar to complete the following statement: I’m concerned for the church because . . . Although the students were not in complete agreement, surprising consistency was evidenced in four major themes:

• Many Friends maintain tradition without understanding the theology behind it.
  
• Friends must look for ways to engage the culture without losing the distinctive identity of Friends.
  
• Young Friends long for social witness that helps real people and is not motivated by public image or ideology.
  
• Friends must renew the focus on the cross and the person of Jesus Christ.
  

The group desired a deeper understanding of the faith behind Friends distinctives.

For more information, contact Dick Sartwell at r.sartwell@comcast.net.