St. Timothy's Episcopal Church - Salem, Oregon

08/31/2026

Yesterday we got to surprise our beloved Senior Warden in the celebration of her significant birthday. Sharon is a blessing to all who have the privilege of knowing her.

08/16/2026

Following our late-morning Eucharist Saturday, celebrating the feast of Our Lady, we enjoyed fun and games and a delicious potluck lunch. Check out the cupcake rosary with special “beads” featuring crowns and Mary’s monogram!

08/16/2026

Sunday, August 16th -- The 12th Sunday after Pentecost

Our focus is on walking with Jesus -- in this case, going with him to the "outer limits" of his earthly ministry. While there, he has a most surprising encounter--one that results in a profound revelation regarding the importance of persistence in prayer and how faith is required for Jesus to bring about our healing and growth. Come and see!

The Collect for this Sunday:

Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

08/14/2026

Saturday, August 15: The Feast of St. Mary the Virgin, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ

This major holy day celebrates the traditional date of the falling asleep in the Lord of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In addition to being one of the most important of all the feasts honoring the Theotokos, it highlights her role as prophet of the Gospel in action as well as word. This event is also our parish's major summer gathering. Come for worship and teaching; stay for the fellowship.

11:00 AM Solemn Procession & Holy Eucharist
Community potluck lunch with summer fun activities (all are welcome)

The Collect for the Feast of St. Mary-the-Virgin

O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

[The photo below is of the parish's icon of the Theotokos (God-bearer), More Spacious than the Heavens]

08/12/2026

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates the life and witness of Florence Nightingale (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910). Known as the founder of modern nursing, she took as inspiration the nursing offered by a Lutheran religious order, coupled with her own sense of a spiritual calling to serve God in humility.

Nightengale's fame as "the Lady with the Lamp" often overshadowed her many achievements as a social reformer--everything from famine relief in India to hospital planning in Great Britain, reduction of punitive laws against women for prostitution, the widespread use of graphical statistics presentation (including an early form of the pie chart) to make complex points clearer, publication of sanitation guidance in simple English for those with basic literacy, and the overcoming of misplaced views about the linkage between illness and punishment from God.

Nightingale's spiritual life, grounded in basic Anglican practice, questioned prevailing assumptions, especially regarding God's mercy and the existence of basic revelation in other religions. She remains a fascinating and complex personality today, often caricatured or misunderstood--but heroic and worthy of emulation, nonetheless.

We will remember her at the 10 AM Eucharist. Come and see!

08/09/2026

The 11th Sunday after Pentecost

St. Peter walks on the water towards Christ -- but then began to sink. We all can understand what it is to sink in the storms of life, and to see others begin to go under in despair, loss, or fear. This Sunday's readings from scripture show us ways back to safety, support, and the warm embrace of Christ's loving care. Come and see!

08/06/2026

August 6 is the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord--a pivotal event in the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In this foretaste of His resurrected glory, Christ is revealed to be the unique Son of God, approved of by the Father and shining with an indescribable, uncreated light. He holds converse with Moses and Elijah--expressive of being the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. His chosen three disciples (the number required to attest to the truth in the biblical law) are overwhelmed by the event and are told not to speak of it until His work is accomplished.

This day has profound meaning in many ways, but one point to consider is how we express the mystery of Christ in the world.

When we go into world as Christ's representatives, we must listen intently to God's leading in all our encounters with others and with the creation itself. Rather than tell the story as we desire, we are to share what is needed and in the right way for the moment. The glorious mysteries of faith cannot be absorbed all at once once, nor should those we meet be "clobbered" with truths they cannot yet receive. Only in light of a personal encounter with the risen Christ--something which cannot be manufactured or forced--does true faith arise. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, not of disciples.

As we celebrate this glorious feast we should re-commit to listening, to standing in the presence of the Transfigured Lord and His glorious light. Bathed in this light, we can share what is needed at the right time and in the right way, thereby giving all glory to God alone.

The Collect for the Feast of the Transfiguration

O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

08/05/2026

Today we give thanks for the life and witness of St. Oswald of Northumbria (c. 604 – 5 August 642), King and Martyr.

St. Oswald was a wise, just, and skilled leader who worked to bring Christianity to his far-northern kingdom, inviting monks from Iona to send a teaching and preaching mission to Northumbria--converting not through coercion but by example. St. Aidan was one of the key figures in that work. This would ultimately lead to the establishment of Lindisfarne and the tradition of St. Cuthbert and St. Bede.

Oswald's concern for the poor was notable in a time when the powerful in the pagan world felt no obligation at all regarding those in need. It begs the question as to what a truly "Christian" nation's leadership and priorities look like in our own day.

We will remember St. Oswald at the 10 AM Eucharist today, praying our our own leaders and the conversion of the heart of the people in the USA toward justice, mercy, compassion, and strength through True Wisdom--that of Jesus Christ and the Gospel.

Collect for the Feast of St. Oswald of Northumbria

Lord God almighty, who so kindled the faith of King Oswald with thy Spirit that he set up the sign of the cross in his kingdom and turned his people to the light of Christ: grant that we, being fired by the same Spirit, may alway bear our cross before the world and be found faithful servants of the gospel; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who is liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Oswald (Old English pronunciation: [ˈoːzwɑɫd]; c. 604 – 5 August 641/642[1]) was King of Northumbria from 634 until his death, and is venerated as a saint,[2] of whom there was a particular cult in the Middle Ages.[3]

08/02/2026

The 10th Sunday after Pentecost: Lammas Sunday

The theme of mercy is found in the scripture lessons for this Sunday--God's mercy upon us, Christ's mercy on the hungry crowds who followed him in faith and hope, St. Paul's mercy on his fellow Jews who did not accept Christ as Messiah, and our need for mercy in our dealings with others. All this in a time which fosters hardened hearts and merciless adherence to ideology and malice. To be a Christian is to be counter-cultural, indeed. Come and see!

The Collect for this Sunday

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

08/02/2026

A few thoughts about the connection of earth, worship, altar, and discipleship as we prepare to bless the Lammas loaves at tomorrow's Eucharist: