About Congregation Shir Tikvah

Congregation Demographics

We currently have 205 member households, of which 60% are singles and 40% families. This is up from five years ago, when we had 180 member households.

• 129 members are individuals (a.k.a. do not have a partner/spouse listed in their account). 76 members have partners.
• 74 member families have children listed in their account. 42 of those families are confirmed to have children aged 21 or under– and of those 42 families, 12 are single parents.
• Known ages of adult members range from 25 to 91, not including children.

We are expecting growth over the next 5 years of 5%–10% per year.

At 20 years old, we're the "start-up" in Portland's Jewish community. We have implemented the vision of our founders: a participatory, learning community grounded in the study of Torah, which has grown into a mid-sized, independent congregation. We gather strength from each other and from our tradition. Our members come from across the Jewish spectrum: Jew-by-birth, Jew-by-choice, queer, straight, trans, interfaith, atheist, devout believer. We have not been affiliated with any movement since our founding.

Congregation Shir Tikvah strives to be a kehillah kedosha where all are respected, valued, and included. Clergy, staff, and dedicated volunteers work together to provide a space for spiritual growth and study. As partners in Jewish life, we educate our children and offer programming around holidays, cultural interests and acts of social justice.

We welcome all who want to grapple with the beauty and contradictions of our Jewish sacred texts to better understand our faith, our world and our place in it. We take social justice and religious ritual seriously. As a 21st century congregation, our congregational approaches to meet the needs of our community run the gamut from time-honored to innovative.

Our synagogue is co-located with the Eastside Jewish Commons of Portland (EJC), a cultural non-profit with over 20 partners that provides event and office space for the greater Jewish community. Together we form the only dedicated Jewish space on the east side of Portland.

Congregational Strengths, Weaknesses and Goals

Congregants are a major part of our shul. This is not a shul where the Rabbi must do everything on their own! Members expect to participate and have led and supported a range of activities. Active members engaging in this work are from all age groups. Members have created a gender-neutral siddur, lead services and read Torah, lead Torah study, comfort and provide support to those in need, and help with all life cycle events. A strength, as well as a challenge, is that we have a wide range of strong opinions that requires the Rabbi to be a community-builder and a healer. The most recent example would be deep concerns and differences over the Israeli-Gaza conflict.

Financially, we are in a stable position. However, we are limited in staff and salaries, so our goal is to grow to allow us to more fully support the needs of our community.

Our major goal for the coming year is to prepare to bring a new Rabbi into our community. We know that replacing a founding Rabbi is not easy for the new Rabbi, nor for the congregation. Finding methods and approaches to make this a meaningful and joyful transition is important for all of us.