On Sunday, June 10 we had the second annual joint Mass and celebration with the Eritrean Community. It was truly a great celebration with Eritrean music throughout the Liturgy, readings in Tigrinya, cultural dance, and authentic food. Many, many thanks to the Eritrean community for sharing their culture and their faith with us. See pictures and video below.

Congratulations to the ten children that received Holy Communion for the first time on Sunday! Felicidades a los diez niños/as que recibierón hoy la Sagrada Comunión por primera vez!
Laylani Carlos 
Juwisanne Ceasar
Edina Edmund 
Alayah Erkes
Erick Escobedo 
Alex Garcia
Angelus Henry 
Emily Luna
Usher Nimeisa 
Diamili Tuz

Many thanks to all volunteers who made this celebration possible as well as the parents and families of the children. Muchas gracias a todas las personas que ayudarón a que nuestra celebración fuera possible, al igual que a todos los padres y familiares de los niños.

May you always know the peace of Jesus, the light of His love, and the joy of His life within you.
Que siempre conozcas la paz de Jesús, la luz de su amor y la alegría de su vida dentro de ti.

Congratulations to these young people who were confirmed by Archbishop Sample on April 22. 
Diego Gonzalez, Laisha Hernandez, Carlos Ku, Ivette luna-gonzalez, Fidel Martinez Diaz, David Moser, Stella Sablan, Rachel Sanchez, Carlos Tuz-buenrostro, Andrea tuz-buenrostro.

Many thanks to Lindy and Logan Gibbons, John Winchester, Truls Neal, Ed Sablan, and Sam McKinney for putting on our annual Pancake Breakfast. Great food. Great company. Outstanding community. 

For the last number of years the DePaul Youth & Family Center has rented over half of our school building to supplement the space they acquired when they bought the old convent. Their current lease extends to January of 2021. However, they have informed us that they would like to be released from the contract and vacate our school building. Our response: we will release them from the contract when we find a suitable tenant to take their place. DePaul has agreed to this arrangement, and so we have set up a Tenant Search Committee to find a new tenant.
 
Those on the committee are Sandy Bossom, Egbert Kunrath, Angie McKinney, Gabe Triplett, and (myself) Leif Kehrwald.
 
We view this development not as a problem, but as an opportunity. We have the luxury of time to find just the right tenant, who will not only help us pay our bills but hopefully enhance the life and mission of the St. Charles community.
 
Our committee has toured the space and it is in remarkably good condition. We are confident it will be attractive to potential renters.
 
Our committee has discussed the qualities and characteristics we want to see in our next tenant. Some of those characteristics include: mission compatible, non-profit, possibly education oriented, willing to sign a long-term lease, willing to participate in the life of this campus.
 
Our committee is also collaborating with others on this project. DePaul Treatment Center wants to help because it's in their interest. Michael DiMarco of Our 42nd Avenue is lending support and expertise. And we intend to contract with a commercial real estate broker to fully advocate our vision and needs throughout this process.
 
We will keep you informed along the way. If you have ideas, suggestions, even potential renters, please talk to any one of us on the Tenant Search Committee.
 
Leif Kehrwald, lkehrwald@stcharlespds.org, 503-351-9889
Sandy Bossom, mspwj19@aol.com
Egbert Kunrath, egbert.kunrath@gmail.com
Angie McKinney, angelmic@centurylink.net
Gabe Triplett, ​541-680-6509

By Brenna Bailey

An emergency repair team quickly assembled two weeks ago when a resident from the Cedar Shade Mobile Home Park in Cully had their home broken into and front door bashed in. We bought a refurbished door at the ReBuilding Center and folks worked from noon until dark the next day. Thank you volunteers that spent their Friday afternoon working hard to get this done! (And thank you to the Bautista-Hernandez family for the burritos to sustain our hungry workers). 

St. Charles Set to Receive Solar Panels and More
by Gabe Triplett
​
Holly Lebowitz Rossi writes “Is there any greater act of garden faith than tucking bulbs into the ground just before the freezing cold hardens the earth for winter? Digging, arranging and patting down an array of bulbs has become my launching pad for a positive path through the cold, dark season.  Like with every garden task, our charge is to persist despite the ever-present possibility that things won’t turn out like we expect them to.”  Years ago, the Pastoral and Administrative councils met to discuss the ways in which our parish could use its facilities more effectively towards our mission.  Solar panels on our roof was one idea that came forward.  How to pay for such an idea seemed out of reach!

The staff began looking for resources to make the idea a reality.  With the help of Neil Kelly and parishioner Phylis Spaulding we applied for a grant from Pacific Power for almost half million dollars and we prayed.  As is often the case with planting bulbs, come the following spring our efforts did not blossom, we were denied our application and encouraged to try again next year (2017).

We did try again the following year, this time bringing our neighborhood partner, Verde, into the project.  I am happy to report that nearly 3 years of work and prayer will soon bare much fruit. With $300,000 dollars from Pacific Power and nearly $100,000 more from Verde, we will soon begin a project that when completed will include a massive solar system on the school roof.  This promises to significantly decrease our carbon footprint and also our monthly energy bill (which averages around $1,500!!).  The Project will include off grid technology that can store power on site to supply, what will be newly installed outlets on the north side of our school wing, as well as our SVDP refrigerators in the case of a disaster.  Most importantly this project includes funding for a large-scale environmental education campaign.

Through this project we will be able to respond to Pope Francis’ call to evangelize our faith of caring for God’s creation through caring for God’s creation.  A special thank you to the many parishioners who worked to get this project to where it is.  Yours was the work of hope.  Rossi says “The work of hope. What an inspiring phrase to capture the effort required, not only to choose, prepare and plant the bulbs, but to set our sights on the bright, warm days that we won’t see for many months.”

We had a terrific celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Sunday, Dec 10. See the video and pictures and video below. The liturgy was beautiful. The dancing was inspired. And the food was outstanding!