“Friendship Circle” Social Gatherings for People Over 55 Years
St. Gabriel is hosting social gatherings open to friends and neighbors designed to develop and enhance friendships while having fun together playing games and working puzzles.
The gathering will be held at the church in-person every other Thursday from 1:00-3:00 pm. Please check our event calendar for upcoming dates. The church will provide the games, light snacks, and beverages. Please note that Covid vaccinations are encouraged and masks are optional. Any questions, please contact the church office by email at office@stgbrielpdx.org or by phone during office hours at 503-645-0744.
St. Gabriel Art Camp
PLEASE NOTE: St. Gabriel Art Camp is reorganizing and plan to offer Art Camp again in July 2024. It will not be held summer 2023.
In lieu of VBS, St. Gabriel offers a full day summer kids’ Art Camp with a gentle spiritual component held for a week in mid-July. Given the church’s multicultural neighborhood, this program is designed to focus more generally on a guiding and loving higher power called God and the values all religions share like peace, love, respect for others, and care of the earth. Children preschool through grade school can attend as campers, with middle and high school youth serving as group leaders supported by adult volunteers. Professional artists and teachers are hired and paid to design and present each segment, and lunch and snacks are provided. Throughout each day campers explore art, drama, music and movement, storytelling, and ecology based on a theme. Art Camp operates as a non-profit and charges tuition, as well as offering some scholarships. To learn more about Art Camp, go to our Facebook page here: St. Gabriel Art Camp | Facebook. To ask a question or to register for Art Camp, please send an email to artcamp@stgabrielpdx.org.
Palm Sunday Egg Hunt
Everyone in the neighborhood knows about St. Gabriel’s Palm Sunday Community Egg Hunt! It takes place at 3:00 pm sharp on the Sunday before Easter and is held outside in the field below St. Gabriel. After looking for eggs in our lower field (we will move inside if weather is too wet) we will come inside to hear a Holy Week story, award special prizes for each child, and send each one home with a special egg to open on Easter. Children through 5th grade hunted for eggs with prizes and then heard a Holy Week story from Everett+. Such joy!
Wonder Wednesday Storytime & Art Project
Recitals, Concerts, & Building Rental
The sanctuary at St. Gabriel is known by musicians and music teachers to be a “sweet spot” for music. This, along with our high-quality grand piano puts the sanctuary in demand for recitals and concerts. We also host weddings, meetings, classes, and other special events depending on the availability of the building and the appropriateness of use. Most uses of the building require a contract, and rental, and cleaning fees. If you would like to ask about renting our church building, please contact our church office by phone at 503-645-0744 or by email at office@stgabrielpdx.org.
St. Gabriel Episcopal Preschool (closed permanently in 2020)
From 2014 to 2020 St. Gabriel Episcopal School (SGES) offered a Reggio Emilia-influenced preschool and prekindergarten program within the church building. The church and school looked forward to a time when the building could expand to include dedicated preschool classrooms. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 epidemic forced the school to go entirely online from March 2020 – June 2020, and then forced the difficult decision not to open for the 2020- 21 school year. Before the end of 2020, the church Vestry made the decision to permanently close the school due to financial restraints and no sign of schools re-opening. With twice the number of preschools open in the area now than in 2014, and public preschool being proposed, there is no plan at this time to re-open another preschool. We still treasure the students and families we learned with and played with in the years we operated!