Two locally raised St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church of Brookings OR leaders were honored on October 30th with humanitarian awards.

Father Bernie Lindley and Sister Cora Rose (a Lutheran Deacon and attorney) both grew up in Brookings/Harbor and are graduates of its high school.  After successfully battling a scofflaw city government over soup kitchen feedings and social services to the needy, they were honored on October 30th in Portland at the 50th-anniversary banquet of the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.  

The awardees were introduced by their respective bishops—Episcopalian Diana D. Akiyama and Evangelical Lutheran Laurie Larson Caesar.

HUMANITARIAN AWARDS information from Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon Banquet
The Rev. Bernie Lindley Vicar, Saint Timothy’s Episcopal Church, Brookings, Oregon

Ordained in 2008, The Rev. Bernie Lindley has served as vicar at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Brookings, Oregon, for 16 years. Under Fr. Bernie’s leadership, St. Timothy’s started a soup kitchen in 2009. A year later, the congregation started a free health clinic, providing primary healthcare to 20-25% of the working-age population of the Brookings area over four years. Brookings is located in one of two counties in Oregon that does not have a public health department. In 2021, St. Timothy’s started offering COVID-19 vaccines and rapid tests to the community. During the pandemic, the church administered nearly 4,000 COVID shots and nearly 7,000 tests.

Recently, Fr. Bernie, the congregation of St. Timothy’s, and the Episcopal Church of Western Oregon settled a lawsuit with the City of Brookings. The city created an unlawful ordinance to limit the number of days Brookings churches could serve meals to the hungry. St. Timothy’s filed suit and won a motion for summary judgment in federal court. The lawsuit was the subject of many news articles that appeared in publications across the nation.

Sister Cora Rose, Legal Ministry Attorney and Deacon, Oregon Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

Sister Cora Lea Rose is an ELCA Minister of Word & Service (deaconess) and legal aid attorney on Oregon’s south coast, who serves as a vital community advocate providing legal aid and supporting local initiatives for those facing housing insecurity and other challenges. In her unique role, she integrates her legal expertise with her spiritual calling, making significant impacts on both individual and systemic levels, embodying a profound commitment to justice and community service.

Rose’s journey has taken her from the U.C. Berkeley School of Law, where she graduated in 2012, to legal aid organizations in San Francisco. She returned to Brookings, becoming a member of the Oregon State Bar.
She graduated from the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in 2020. She was ordained in 2021 and received as a sister in the Deaconess Community of the ELCA in 2022.

Rose worked for Legal Services of Northern California-Eureka from 2020 until 2022, when Rev. Bernie Lindley and St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church invited her to create a legal aid ministry to address the legal aid desert in Oregon’s south coast region. It is because of Rose’s work trying to alleviate extreme poverty and promoting individual and community thriving on the south coast that the Oregon Bar Association’s Oregon New Lawyers Division presented her with their 2023 Public Service Award.

https://www.currypilot.com/news/st-timothy-s-episcopal-church-vicar-and-deaconess-receive-honors/article_c15f7118-9bc8-11ef-ab49-ef3940c90eba.html

 

Read Parts One through Four Here

 

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Robert “Silky” O’Sullivan, a longtime resident of the Oakland/Berkeley area, has retired to a beautiful garden home in Brookings on the Oregon coast. He lost his wife of over 51 years, Alice Wildermuth O’Sullivan, in April 2020.  https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?n=alice-wildermuth-o-sullivan&pid=196211294  She had distinguished careers as a musician and attorney. Hear many examples of her musical gifts on the Alice Wildermuth O’Sullivan YouTube channel:  https://religionnews.com/2021/01/12/alice-wildermuth-osullivan-youtube-channel-features-music-of-church-classical-jazz-musician/

Two German Shepherds help to keep him appreciating the wonders of creation. After many career involvements (including politics and media, high school teaching and pastoring), he has discovered a new vocation as a “Left Coast” ‘poet and writer, deeply influenced by William Blake and Dag Hammarskjold, who both embodied brilliant Christian visions while working in remarkable ways for justice and peace. O’Sullivan’s new words to Christmas carols and other hymns, incorporating peace and justice themes, and a Blake-inspired “unofficial international anthem” have been published in Progressive Christianity, along with civil rights and other writings.  He has recently become an advocate for St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in its successful fight with the City of Brookings over issues of feeding and providing social services to the poor.  He picked up his nickname as a recreational basketball player in the flatlands of Oakland, as featured on his portable high school classroom.