More chaplains joining

Gil George is a Quaker minister in affiliation with the Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends, and is currently the clerk of RiversWay Community in Tigard.

Jason Derr is a graduate of Vancouver (B.C.) School of Theology, and is ordained in the Progressive Christian Alliance.  He also regularly writes for the Huffington Post and Patheos.

Chaplain Profile: Catherine Alder

The Rev. Catherine Alder, LCSW, is a United Church of Christ pastor and pastor of Christ's Way Church in Portland.  Catherine is also a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in Portland at Tidewater Light Counseling Center, LLC.  Catherine has served many churches as pastor and has been a therapist in a pastoral counseling center and in several school systems.  She hopes to be serve Occupy Portland by offering spiritual and musical support for your work for compassion, peace and justice.

Shabbat morning service this Saturday

Image via WikipediaRivkah will be leading a shabbat morning prayer service this Saturday at 10:30 a.m.  This will be a short abbreviated service.  It will be at what is now the sukkah (which by then would be somewhat upgraded into a more weatherized structure) near the corner of SW 3rd Avenue and Salmon Street.

Related articles (auto-generated)

• Sukkot + Shabbat = Shukbat Disco (crazytownusa.wordpress.com)
• Gratitude 87: The Festival of Sukkot (perpetualgratitude.wordpress.com)
• Stories To Tell In The Sukkah (ronit18.wordpress.com)
• Build Your Own All-Natural Sukkah (ronit18.wordpress.com)
• A Mini Sukkah! (secret-agent-josephine.com)

Solidarity march with Right2Dream Too at 5:30 p.m.

Image via WikipediaYesterday, the #OccupyPortland General Assembly formally approved a statement of solidarity with the Right2Dream Too (R2D2).

Today there is a planned solidarity march from #OccupyPortland to R2D2 at 5:30 p.m.

We invite you to join us to march with the #ChaplainsOccupyPDX team -- meet at the Sukkah at the corner of SW 3rd Avenue and Salmon Street at 5:15 p.m.

Related articles

• Seattle and Portland, Compare and Contrast (slog.thestranger.com)

A video from #OccupyPortland

The video thanks to Joseph Rose, a reporter at The Oregonian.

The story behind our "all-denomination church area":

The Interfaith Guild of Chaplains did not start or build the sukkah.  It is a project by Sara Hope and has been supported by her friends as well as by P'nai Or of Portland.  In fact, Rabbi D'vorah Kolodny, the new resident rabbi of P'nai Or, recently used the full text of the Occupy Wall Street declaration in her preaching, and is by far among the most vocal clergy supporters of #OccupyPortland.

When Sarah Morrigan started the IGC, the sukkah was still under construction and she wanted to see something happen there, as it was beginning to be encroached by -- and even occupied by -- some Occupiers who perhaps did not know the significance of the sukkah.  This aside, the sukkah is located in the quiet part of the encampment far from the centers of noise and activities, providing for an ideal setting for meditation, prayer and silent reflections.  So the IGC kind of co-opted the sukkah.  As it happened, over a half of the original group of chaplains ended up from the Jewish traditions, so our first organizing meeting began with a lovely havdalah service.

Wayne, a member of the legal team, noticing the encroachment, made a sign that read "All-denomination Church Area" and kept new Occupiers from setting up too close to the sukkah.  This is also a good fire safety measure, as the sukkah is made from plant-based materials that could become a fire hazard if proper precautions are not followed.

So this is how the sukkah became our de facto base of operation.

A little reminder for everyone

We, the member chaplains of the Interfaith Chaplains Guild (aka #ChaplainsOccupyPDX team), are a group of people with working experiences in religious ministries, spiritual guidance, and ceremonial arts.  Among others, we try our best to provide both good listening ears as well as a calming and grounding spiritual influence to the community of #OccupyPortland, visitors, and friends.

In general Oregon constitution and laws protect our works that are considered customary religious/spiritual activities, including pastoral counseling and when applicable hands-on prayers.

However, we are neither equipped nor expected to substitute the services of qualified mental health professionals, lawyers or physicians.  In case of serious crisis, please also contact the Medical (red) and/or Mental Health (red with silver stripe) or Therapists (lime green with peace symbol) for assistance.  When neither of them is available, you can always ask the Safety (blue) personnel for help.

While we make our best effort to make a chaplain available around the clock, only one chaplain resides on site at the moment.

Due to the Oregon laws, we are required to report cases of child and elder abuses to the Oregon Department of Human Services.

Thank you for your understanding and support,

IGC

24-Hour Mental Health Crisis Line

503-988-4888

Other Social Services and Resources

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The Sukkot: It's the original #Occupy movement...

This evening, Rivkah and Sarah met with the people who were involved with the construction of the community sukkah, Kernel aka Moses, and Harriet.  We talked for over an hour, over many things.

One of the things that came up is the parallel between the #Occupy movement and the traditional celebration of Sukkot by the Jewish people.  In the Torah, the festival of Sukkot is commanded (a mitzvah) to remember -- for a week out of every year -- that we were all once refugees, immigrants, and homeless, and therefore humble ourselves and not oppress the strangers but rather do justice and advocate for their rights.

The #Occupy movement reminds the "top 1 percent" their oppression and arrogance over the "99 percent" -- especially those who are immigrants, refugees, unhoused, and those who lack their necessities while public assistance is slashed even as the taxes for the top 1 percent are also cut.  The #Occupy movement also proposes a vision of a different world -- a different way of being a community, free from money-driven, power-driven greed.

The festival of Sukkot, then, is the original #Occupy demonstration.