Jesus teaches us in the second commandment that “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39)
This commandment is about community. It’s responding to God’s gifts to us by returning to Him a portion of those gifts, loving our neighbor as ourselves. The King of Kings community shows our love for our neighbors in many outside ministries
King’s Cupboard. This emergency food box program serves the geographic area of Milwaukie, Oak Grove, Gladstone, Clackamas and Happy Valley. USDA income guidelines apply to those receiving service. On an average month this year, 80 families are served, a total of 286 people. Approximately 5,000 pounds of food is distributed each month from Oregon Food Bank, Safeway and individual donors! Additionally, about $800.00 is spent each month to purchase products not otherwise available. Since this program was started, four other congregations have joined in to assist in this ministry.
Vacation Bible School. Each year, about 40 children from the neighborhood show up on the King of Kings doorstep every day for a week to learn about Jesus through games, projects and classes. For a good number of the children, Vacation Bible School may be the only place that they learn about the love of Jesus, and the seeds planted here will no doubt influence their entire lives!
 BackPack Buddies. Many families in our community can’t afford to provide sufficient food for their children. At schools, the Federal Government provides lunches for these children. However, weekends are not covered by the school lunch program. For over 70 children at Milwaukie Elementary School, the combined resources of King of Kings and Milwaukie Lutheran provide these weekend meals through the BackPack Buddies ministry.
Sewing for Others. This group has sewn, assembled and tied many, many hundreds of quilts. These quilts have found their way to many different parts of the world via Lutheran World Relief. Others have remained in our community through donations to Annie Ross House, JOIN, the Clackamas Women’s Shelter and others. Small baby quilts have been made and given at births and baptisms; and lap robes have been made for nursing homes and assisted living facilities. All these quilts have provided warmth and comfort for people in need.
Education Service District. King of Kings provides over half of our downstairs space to the ESD Autism Comprehensive Education (ACE) program. While ESD does pay a fee for the use of the space, it is significantly less than would be paid for similar space elsewhere. The ACE program serves children throughout all of Clackamas County who are most highly impacted by autism. Most are non-verbal when they begin at ACE and do not understand basic directions. Each child’s education plan is based upon his or her individual needs that are required to function in life, such as communication, self-help and social action. Skills are taught by an autism specialist working one on one with each child, supported by therapists and education assistants. Over 200 children have been helped since the ESD program began at KOK in January, 2000.
Prayer Shawl Ministry. For those who enjoy knitting, crocheting, weaving and/or quilting, this ministry offers a way to reach out to people needing comfort and solace or sharing in accomplishment and joy. A prayer shawl wraps the recipient in prayers; it is made with prayers and finished with a final blessing, resulting in many blessings prayed into every shawl.
 Spirits and Theology. Approximately 12-18 people meet the first Monday of each month at Flying Pie Pizza to eat and discuss issues in a relaxed forum. These discussions are open to the entire community, not just KOK members. Topics of discussion have included “What Does it Mean to Worship”, “How Do We Forgive and Forget”, “Intercessory Prayer” and “Original Sin / Corporate Sin”.
Transportation. This ministry, like spirits and theology, is available to anyone in the community. Providing transportation to doctor’s appointments, church services, shopping and other activities is a great blessing to those who have difficulty getting to where they need to go. Those who provide this service receive a wonderful gift through getting to know the individual being transported on a very close and personal basis.
Food for Events. In most cultures, feeding someone is a sign hospitality and love. Many people of the larger community visit King of Kings for a variety of reasons, including wedding receptions, funerals and Vacation Bible School, and food is always a sign of our love.
ELCA Domestic and International Ministries. King of Kings tithes to the combined ministries of the Oregon Synod and the ELCA churchwide organization. Each and every month, after the month’s offerings are totaled, King of Kings forwards ten percent of those offerings to the Oregon Synod as mission support. The congregation made a commitment to tithe mission support in January, 1998, and has continued that commitment ever since!
There are many, many stories of ministry work done by the Oregon Synod and ELCA with the mission support dollars received from the congregations. A couple of these stories are:
(1) Enterbeing. This is a storefront spiritual community reaching out to a completely untapped audience: spiritual seekers turned off by “church”. Enterbeing is located on NE Alberta Street at 16th and was formed by Redeemer Lutheran and Vernon Presbyterian churches, the Metropolitan Alliance for the Common Good, diverse spiritual communities and community residents. Currently funding comes from the ELCA and private donations. It’s a Lutheran ministry that meets people where they are and encourages a community of mutual respect and acceptance.
 (2) Lutheran Disaster Response. Trinity Lutheran Church in Mason City, Iowa, established, with the help of ELCA’s Disaster Response staff, a Disaster Emergency Response Team, which quickly became known by the acronym “DERT”. Just six months later, floodwaters deluged Mason City, and DERT acted quickly, setting up feeding stations, opening up the fellowship hall for temporary shelter, and within the month, helped clean 15 homes from the muck and debris that floodwaters leave. The DERT leader said that their most important role was to take stress and responsibilities away from the pastors, freeing them up to do their important work, being with people and caring for their spiritual needs.
(3) Lutheran Disaster Relief Northwest continues to work in Oregon to this day with over 3,000 households in six counties in Northwestern Oregon that were severely impacted by the devastating floods many months ago in December, 2007.
(4) Lutheran World Relief. Hunger, lack of water, and an increase in health problems persist in Sri Lankan camps for internally displaced persons. Thousands remain displaced following the conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers. Government and aid agencies, including Lutheran World Relief, struggle to provide food, water, and other necessities to the over 280,000 people displaced. Camps are terribly overcrowded, with tents intended to house 10 people holding 40 or more. Lutheran World Relief is there to help, thanks in part to the mission support funded through financial contributions to King of Kings. |
