Saint Timothy

Church Council News

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from Sherry Willmschen,
Saint Timothy Lutheran Church Council President,
March 31, 2022

We have been blessed in many ways with members and staff coming forward to help with the daily tasks of St. Timothy.  We are blessed by Pastor Hamada as he leads us forward in the transition process and we are blessed to have Bishop Laurie to help us. 

When you read this, we will have met with Bishop Laurie.  My hope is that our discussion together helps us move to the next step of the transition team.  If you were unable to attend, please contact me or the church office at 503-761-8202 with thoughts and past memories and what you think should happen.  If interested in being part of the transition team, please contact me as well at 503-760-6819.  

Ministries

Food Pantry  The community has found us and food is flowing out of the pantry.  Fortunately we still have gift cards from the Portland Food Project to supplement our pantry until food is received April 9th.  Volunteers are needed on the 9th at 9:30 at the distribution center.  Ask Tim or myself about what is required.  We get more food when we volunteer and it is part of our commitment.  Other volunteers that day are needed to put the food away.  We have cleaned out the back storage area to allow for more storage of food and hope to organize more before the 9th.  Contact me if available to help.

Snow-Cap  We continue to support this organization with excess non-perishable foods, used clothing and egg cartons.  Thanks for the donations.

Habitat for Humanity  Your council decided to support this organization for our benevolence for 2022.  We specifically are supporting the housing development at 136th and Foster.  You can see it as you drive on Foster.  

Fifth Sunday Giving for May We have begun early to allow for support of Lutheran Disaster Response (ELCA) for Ukraine and contiguous countries.  We will be sending donations monthly through May.

Health Ministry Karen Olomua continues as our Parish Nurse and is available by phone or at worship.  She is also our consultant regarding COVID protocols.  She and I act as Care Coordinators and can be approached at any time.  Prayer chain requests can begin with either of us. We will be planning for health emphasis for May for women and June for men. 

Holy Week Events We anticipate Holy Week and Easter.  At this moment it feels like some normalcy is coming.  We will worship together on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Easter Jubilee, our event for the community on April 16th has many of us very excited.  Come to volunteer from 10 to 4 (any time you can) and promote the fun event with family, friends, businesses.  Promote it as well with your neighbors!  Chacha the clown is coming, our bunny rabbit and so much more.  The event is from 1 to 3.  On that day as well we will be decorating our flower cross at 10 am.  Come and join the fun.

Easter Sunday promises to be exciting with a continental breakfast and an amazing service.

Please join us one and all.


Greeting from Interim Pastor Yukio Hamada

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Pastor Yukio

Aloha, All! As I begin my ministry as the Interim Pastor for St. Timothy Lutheran Church, it seems appropriate for me to tell you a little bit about myself and my wife, Marilyn. We just moved from Hawaii after a ten-year ministry at Prince of Peace Lutheran in Waikiki. When we began, the church was worshiping in a hotel banquet room with a worshiping congregation of about 15 members and, according to some of the members, on the verge of closing down. But, apparently God had other plans for Prince of Peace because, after a series of “miracles,” the congregation was able to purchase their own worship space and to pay off their mortgage in four and a half years. But, because both our daughter and son’s families had relocated to Lake Oswego and our six grandchildren are here, Marilyn and I decided it was time for us to be closer to them.

Marilyn Hamada

Marilyn and I met at Prince of Peace back in the early ’70s but didn’t date at that time. We both left Hawaii in the summer of 1973. Marilyn went to work in Germany at the military base in Heidelberg while I left Hawaii for Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. In 1976 Marilyn returned to the U.S. to attend Lutheran Bible Institute in Seattle while I was doing my internship in Japan. When our time for those opportunities ended, we both returned to Hawaii in the summer of 1977; Marilyn as the Parish Worker at Prince of Peace, me as an assistant chaplain at Punahou School, the private school started by the Congregational missionaries in 1841. That’s when we started dating and got married in August 1978 and moved to St. Paul, MN, for me to finish my seminary work. Our daughter, Mariko, was born in July 1979. I got my first call to Wellington Park Lutheran in Milwaukee where our son, Stephen (Mits), was born in June 1981.

Yukio at Prince of Peace

In 1986 I wanted Mariko and Mits to experience the educational opportunities at Punahou School. And, after their first year, we decided that I would teach math while they attended Punahou. I left the active clergy roster during that time. After they graduated from college in 2004, I began the work of being reinstated. I was finally reinstated in 2010 and was called back into parish ministry in 2011 when the pastor at Prince of Peace was not able to continue after a serious stroke. We happily served there for ten years until we agreed that we needed to spend time with our grandchildren.

Prior to our meeting, Marilyn had moved to Hawaii from Ohio, where she had grown up and started working at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. I’m a southern Californian who grew up in San Diego County. I graduated from Whittier College in 1961 and taught high school math in Bishop, CA, and San Francisco before moving to Hawaii to teach at Punahou.

Despite my age, I am still excited about the ministry and both Marilyn and I are elated that God has led us to St. Timothy. But, because I am the Interim Pastor, I am not called to lead you into God’s future; my call is to walk with you and to guide you through the process to envision God’s future for St. Timothy and to help St. Tim’s to find God’s pastor who will walk with you in this exciting new chapter.

Pastor Yukio Hamada
Feb 22, 2022