Remember to VOTE!

Family Promise Shelter—Metro East
Ascension Catholic Church is part of the Network of churches in East Portland who are working together to provide shelter to families. We  host up to 15 people at a time. The number of families varies depending on the size of each family.
Each family is screened, and once admitted  into the shelter, the Executive Director works with them to transition into permanent housing.
Our church is a host parish, meaning our guests stay at Ascension.  Our commitment is housing the families in San Damiano Hall for 4 weeks in the month of August and helping at other churches.
This outreach effort is much needed.  Many volunteers are needed to answer God’s call to the acts of mercy to shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, and clothe the naked.
Consider joining the team to lead in this effort.  Please prayerfully read the list below and discern if you are called to this important ministry.
 
Job Descriptions for Family Promise
 Shelter Team
Set up/ clean up coordinator
Help  recruit  volunteers
Set up and take down the tents
Set up the area for the guests
 
Cleaning Crew Coordinator
Recruit volunteers
Set up schedule for weekly cleaning of the space.
 
Hosting/Overnight Coordinator
Help Recruit volunteers
Train volunteers
Schedule volunteers
 
Meal Coordinator
Help Recruit volunteers
Make schedule for dinners
Shop for food for breakfast/lunch
Coordinate with SVDP for food for breakfast/lunch
 
Start up coordinator
Determine what is needed for the shelter space.
Request donations for the items we need
 
Do you have questions, or would you like to join our team?
Contact: Marylee Stahl   stahlmarylee@gmail.com   
503-753-3879
 

Mission Statement
The mission of Ascension Social Concerns Ministry Coordination Team is to inspire and support our parish in living out our baptismal call, integrating Catholic Social Teaching in our community and promoting the dignity of life.

 Nuestra Misión
La misión del equipo de coordinación de Preocupaciones Sociales de Ascensión es inspirar y apoyar a nuestra parroquia a vivir nuestro llamado bautismal, integrando la enseñanza Social Católica en nuestra comunidad  
y promoviendo la dignidad de la vida.

 Our Baptismal Call is to LIVE the Gospel
~ Every baptized person!

Knowledge of the Gospels, the Word of God, leads to experiencing the Spirit.

This Holy Spirit moves in us and moves us into a community that loves others.

We see the world as our community,
and we are moved toward service to our brothers and sisters.

We are  called as Church to discern how to most fully live the Gospel,

and act in our faith:

The Bishops have defined 7 key Catholic Social Teachings:

• Life and Dignity of the Human Person

(ALL human life is sacred!) This is the foundation of all of the principles.

• Call to Family, Community and Participation

How we organize our society (politics, economics, law and policy) directly affects human dignity and our capacity to grow in community.

• Rights and Responsibilities

Human Dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met.

• Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

The Gospel instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.

• The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers

The economy must serve people, not the other way around! Workers rights must be protected.

• Solidarity

We are one human family. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Love our neighbor!

• Care For God’s Creation

We show respect for the Creator by how we care for creation. We are called to protect people and the planet.

These are the teachings of our Catholic Christian Church.
How are we called to best carry them out?

The Bishops created a document called “Communities of Salt and Light” that helps parishes organize in a way that encourages parishioners to act out their faith, or in other words, “Live the Gospel”.

From this document, and in responding to our Baptismal Call, we have formed a coordination group:  Social Concerns Ministry Coordination Team.
We meet once a month, and “Our mission is to inspire and support our parish in living out our baptismal call, integrating Catholic Social Teaching in our community, and promoting the dignity of life.”

Understanding that we need two feet of love in action, we work using this model to ensure that our parish social concerns ministry is well-rounded and incorporates both social justice and charitable works. Some examples of social justice projects include: Selling and Serving Fair Trade Products, having hundreds of parishioners write postcards and letters for just immigration laws, a just farm bill, and supporting the dream act. Some of the charitable works our parish participates in is our SVDP food pantry, serving dinner at Rahab's Sisters, Monday Food Boxes, and our family homeless shelter. 

This is all part of answering our call to live out our faith.

Our team wants you to know about these teachings,
about our team
and about the opportunities for you to be involved
and more fully answer God's call.
If you would like to answer God's call to serve,
please contact Sharon Grigar at the Parish Office
503-256-3897 x21
 

Our Baptismal Call is to LIVE the Gospel - Every baptized person!
Nuestro Llamado Bautismal es vivir el Evangelio – ¡Todos los bautizados!

Knowledge of the Gospels, the Word of God, leads to experiencing the Spirit.
El conocimiento de los Evangelios y la Palabra de Dios nos llevan
a experimentar el Espíritu.
 
This Spirit moves in us and moves us into a community that loves others.
Este Espíritu se mueve en nosotros y nos lleva a una comunidad que ama a los demás.

We see the world as our community, and we are moved toward service to our brothers and sisters.
Vemos el mundo como una sola comunidad, y nos mueve al servicio a nuestros hermanos y hermanas.
 
The Church has spoken out about how we live the Gospel; how we interpret the Gospel Message and act in our faith.
La Iglesia ha hablado sobre como vivir el Evangelio, cómo interpretar el mensaje del Evangelio y como actuar en nuestra fe.
 

The Bishops have defined 7 key Catholic Social Teachings:

 Los Obispos han definido 7 enseñanzas sociales católicas claves:

• Life and Dignity of the Human Person
• Vida y Dignidad de la Persona Humana 

        - El Derecho a la vida
        (ALL human life is sacred!) This is the foundation of all of the principles.
        (¡Toda vida humana es sagrada!) En contra del aborto, eutanasia, clonación y pena de            muerte.

• Call to Family, Community and Participation
• El llamado a la familia, la comunidad y la participación
  How we organize our society (politics, economics, law and policy) directly affects human dignity and our capacity to grow in community.

• Rights and Responsibilities
• Los Derechos y deberes
  Human Dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met.

• Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
• Opción por los pobres e Indefensos
  The Gospel instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.

• The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
• La dignidad del trabajo y los derechos de los trabajadores
  The economy must serve people, not the other way around!  Workers rights must be protected.

• Solidarity
• La Solidaridad
  We are one human family.Somos una sola familia humana. We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers.

• Care For God ' s Creation
• Cuidado por la Creación de Dios
  We show respect for the Creator by how we care for creation.We are called to protect people and the planet.

• Vender y servir productos de Comercio Justo
• Motivar a cientos de feligreses a escribir postales y cartas apoyando leyes justas de inmigración, leyes agrícolas justas, y el apoyo a la Ley DREAM ACT (Soñador). Some of the charitable works our parish participates in is our SVDP food pantry and our family homeless shelter.

• Nuestra despensa de comida de SVDP
• Nuestro albergue para familias desamparadas. There are many more examples.

 
This is all part of living out our faith. Todos estos son ejemplos de vivir nuestra fe.
 
We want you to know about these teachings, about our team and about the opportunities for you to be involved and more fully answer your baptismal call.

Queremos que usted sepa acerca de estas enseñanzas, sobre nuestro equipo y sobre las oportunidades para que usted participe y más plenamente conteste su llamado bautismal.