Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Does anyone know of any "outdoor worship" facilities in Portland

We're putting together ideas for the next "Joy of Sects" ride for Aug 2nd. Since August has the best weather of the year, we're thinking of a "Sects Outdoors" theme, where we visit outdoor places of worship and other outdoor sacred places.

The first venue could be the annual "Outdoor Service" at the First baptist Church on SW 12th and Taylor downtown. They sanctify the profane for a couple hours by shutting down Taylor St. and holding services. Services are at 11:00 a.m.
http://www.fbc-portland.org/

Another idea would be to attend the Eucharist session of St. Stephen's Episcopal Parish on SW Clay St, where Bike Temple Parishoner Halley Weaver will be providing music for the service. This would be a great fit for the schedule, except that it runs from 10 - 11 a.m., so we'd be skipping out early and hurrying the 6 blocks over to Taylor St. http://www.stst.org/

After the downtown service or services we could work our way east and see some to-be-determined holy sites or services, and wind up at The Grotto on the north side of Rocky Butte. The grotto has one of the nicest Douglas Fir forests on the east side, and has a pretty little trail with the stations of the cross, ending at an outdoor chapel.

Does anyone have any favorite outdoor shrines, worship facilities, services, or other holy sites they'd like to add to the itinerary? Post them here in the comments or email them to me at ted101 at gmail dot com.

Mark your calenders -- Joy of Sects, Outdoors. Aug 2, 2009, 10 a.m. - midafternoon.

Yours in The Faith,
Pasture Ted

2 comments:

  1. Other ideas --
    * Native American holy sites?
    * druid and pagan spots?
    * cemeteries?
    * former holy sites (are there any church ruins in town?)

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  2. there used to be a church that met under the Hawthorne bridge (on the west side) I think they were just called "Bridge" - the minister's name, I believe was Ken, and he had a mohawk, etc. They handed out food at Pioneer Square last year. (All my churchy knowledge is from a year ago when I was doing work here w/ a church & homeless)

    It's too bad that it's not a super LONG ride. There's that "stonehedge" right off of I-5, but it's up on the Washington side, I believe.

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