ministry
wood bank @NLC
- Our Wood Bank recently received the KTVZ Pay it Forward grant. Click here to view the video.
- Here is the latest video made for the Wood Bank. Wood Bank Video September 2021
food pantry
Nativity Food Pantry is open every Tuesday from 12:30 – 3:00 p.m with a grocery store shopping style of distribution.
The Nativity Food Pantry is a vital source of food for people in our community. Bryan Senner coordinates our dedicated team of volunteers who put in a combined 150 hours a month supporting the operation of this ministry.
We estimate that this year we will distribute over 141,000 pounds of food at a cost of $30,000 or 21 cent per pound. Last year, we received 2200 family visits as the Nativity Food Pantry overall served 7,000 people.
If you’d like to volunteer, donate or just learn more, contact the Nativity office at 541-388-0765.
prayer garden & labyrinth
The Nativity Prayer Garden and Labyrinth are open to the public from dawn to dusk. Tucked in amongst tall pine and juniper trees on the NE corner of the church property, the Prayer Garden and Labyrinth provides a place of serenity, beauty and meditation.
The Garden also serves the Congregation as a place to hold celebrations of life and worship as well as a living way to remember loved ones.
food forest
Nativity has an amazing and rare high desert, cold climate food forest on 3/4 of an acre. It is a model of food production that transcends conventional agriculture while using methods as old as Nature. We use a multi layered planting system that incorporates tree crops, bush and shrub crops, herbaceous crops, vine crops, root and bulb crops and everything in between all in a space that would otherwise serve to provide just one yield. We practice permaculture techniques that enrich the land while providing more food over a longer time frame than what a conventional farm would.
We like to partner with many groups in the greater community such as Boy Scouts, Restorative Justice of Deschutes County and several schools. The food forest is always open to the entire community. Everyone is welcome to visit and harvest from our huge variety of edibles. We hold work parties every Saturday from 9:00 am to noon. All are welcome!
safe parking
Safe Parking has welcomed 32 guests at Nativity Lutheran Church from November 2020 through January 2023.
Nativity Lutheran and REACH have provided safe parking and case management to 32 adults, 6 children, 6 dogs, 3 cats, and a lizard since its inception. We are pleased to announce that 21 of our guests have moved to permanent stable housing during this time.
REACH welcomed a newborn to their program and continue to be home to a diverse community of ages. The average age of our guests is 40-65 years old. REACH’s hope had been that the average stay would be 4-6 months but with the housing crisis in our region we are finding that people are staying longer as they await housing.
REACH co-creates long and short-term action plans and steps to assist our safe car parking guests in achieving greater self-sufficiency and independence. All guests are invited to work with our team to sign up for housing vouchers, assistance with housing applications, obtaining documents such as ID’s. driver’s licenses, services include working on connecting people to medical and mental health support, employment opportunities and a place to build community. REACH meets each guest where they are and works to build a strong relationship based on trust, open communication and treating one another with compassion and dignity.