Zoar

Canby Pride held its sixth annual event on June 14 at Wait Park in Canby. This year's theme was "Many Stories, One Community." (CLICK HERE for the Canby Herald article.) For the past 5 years, Zoar Lutheran Church has been a sponsor, supplying both financial support and having a booth with LGBTQ+ Christian swag and family-oriented craft projects. This year, besides the ever-popular rock painting, we had a Tree of Life where messages of joy, hope, wishes, and prayers could be a

Zoar continues its decades long tradition of offering Vacation Bible School (VBS) for the children of Canby. The 2026 theme is "Road Trip - On the Go with God" centered on Joshua 1:9: The Lord your God is with you wherever you go. VBS begins every morning at 9 am with an opening assembly with songs, skits and Bible stories, followed by a morning of crafts, science, music and snacks. A closing assembly brings the day to a close at noon. VBS is open to all children from potty-t

Saturday, June 13, 2026, 1pm at Zoar Lutheran Church, Canby, OR The service is available to view on our YouTube channel: CLICK HERE Luverne Alan Jacobson July 7, 1937-March 22, 2026 The Reverend Luverne A. Jacobson (Pastor Jake), beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, pastor and friend, died peacefully at home March 22, 2026. Jake was born July 7, 1937, in Faribault, Minnesota, the son of Loyal Jacobson and Alma (Hostager) Jacobson. He was raised on a farm in Kenyon

Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry has issued his first in a series of monthly messages that will continue through the end of this year under the title "All Together in One Place." Each message will share a pastoral word, rooted in Scripture, that witnesses to God’s presence today, our rich theological tradition and the social teaching that connects us. Read the full message through THIS LINK. These are posted on the ELCA Facebook page and reposted on the Zoar Lutheran Facebook pa

The garden is growing! On May 17th, Zoar’s confirmands and congregants shoveled dirt, planted, and watered to install a small community garden of four raised beds in the gravel parking lot. To best serve the Tuesday Night Community Dinner Ministry, we planted salad ingredients. If you’d like to help care for the garden, there is a watering sign-up sheet on the bulletin board across from the office. Thank you to everyone who made the garden possible, beautiful, and so much fun

On Monday, May 4th, staff from Clackamas County Department of Human Services joined with members of the Zoar Sewing Circle for a potluck lunch at the church. This semiannual event is an opportunity for staff to pick up the quilts and other items donated by the Sewing Circle and share stories about how these items impact women and children who are experiencing a variety of traumatic life experiences. The quilts are especially comforting for children in frightening or unfamilia

The Evangelical Leadership Team is hosting a Zoar Movie Day featuring "The Wild Robot" on Sunday, May 31st right after the Worship service. Food - including a sandwich bar and traditional movie snacks - will be provided. Feel free to invite your friends to join us! We have created a Facebook Event you can share to help spread the word or simply forward this blog post. Zoar Movie Day - The Wild Robot

Building trust and solidarity across differences. In Canby, immigrant leaders and friends from Zoar Lutheran Church are co-creating spaces to strengthen food security and community resilience. Last month, they hosted a multilingual, multiracial gathering to prepare for the upcoming “Cocinando el Futuro Juntos” cooking class series. Over a shared meal, people exchanged stories, struggles, and hopes for the class. Language was no barrier—laughter filled the room. Several partic

A Letter from Religious Leaders in the Pacific Northwest "At a time when armed conflicts proliferate, and democracies strain under polarization and the coercion of autocrats, truth itself is contested and trust for moral authority stands at a crossroads. This week, we are seeing how religion is used as a balm—or a blade. "Around the world, sacred traditions are being invoked to justify violence, exclusion, and domination of our neighbors. Political opportunists wrap themselve

On Sunday, April 12, during the Worship Service, Pastor Michelle recognized and thanked our knitting and crochet group for creating these beautiful prayers shawls. She offered this blessing: Gracious God, Source of all blessing and of every good gift, we give you thanks for the work of our Zoar knitters and crocheters, who have lovingly knit together these beautiful shawls. Bless these shawls as they travel to places nearby and far away. May they provide warmth and comfort to

Leprechaun Trap Dateline - Zoar Lutheran Pre-School, Canby OR During the wee hours of March 17, a group of mischievous leprechauns created havoc and chaos in the pre-school room. " We knew this was a possibility ," said preschool teacher Mrs. Kim. " We built and set out leprechaun traps, but that didn't stop them from creating a huge mess. There is green and rainbows everywhere !" No one was at the church at the time and no other rooms or areas were affected. A highly skilled

For almost 10 years, Zoar Lutheran Church has provided storage space and volunteers to support a Furniture Ministry in partnership with Love Inc. of Clackamas County. Families in Clackamas County that need furniture and/or basic household good can arrange pick-up of these items on scheduled Saturdays [check the Zoar Lutheran Church calendar] or by calling Love Inc at 503.650.0153. If you have furniture or houseware to donate, please contact the church office at 503.709.3557.

Zoar Lutheran Church partners with Love INC of Clackamas County offering a furniture and household goods to families in need in the Clackamas / Marion County area.

If your life has been affected by someone else’s drinking, you’ve come to the right place. We are an anonymous fellowship of people who feel their lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking.

Zoar received this letter from the Kiwanis Club thanking us for our participation in the annual Food and Toy Drive. Canby Kiwanis Community Food and Toy Drive

Find out if a summer program is right for your family - program information and registration are available using the link below.

Zoar Lutheran Church and Canby Kiwanis serve a free dinner to the community each Tuesday from 5 – 6 pm. We served 6,528 meals over 52 weeks in 2025.

Zoar seeks to follow Jesus's example of inclusion by welcoming and affirming all, including all whom the world attempts to separate, divide, or isolate. We are committed to fostering social justice and racial equality. The Zoar community is committed to the ongoing work of welcoming all ages, races and ethnicities, physical and mental abilities, marital, economic and legal statuses, sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions, as well as all theological per

A 90-minute training to help households, congregations, and neighborhoods to begin preparing together, building resilience rooted in relationships and mutual care.

It's been a few weeks since Christmas, and now that we're catching our breath, we wanted to be sure to share these wonderful photos from Zoar's Christmas program and from our Christmas Eve candlelight service with you. We hope they will bring a smile to your face!