The Portland C.S. Lewis Society
The Portland C.S. Lewis Society, founded in 1972, is the second-oldest C.S. Lewis Society in the world and remains the oldest C.S. Lewis Society that continues to meet in person. Presently, we meet monthly in Beaverton, Oregon, and weekly in Newberg, Oregon.
Beaverton
The central, monthly meeting of the Portland C.S. Lewis Society is held on the second Thursday of each month at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, located at 10390 S.W. Canyon Road, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The format is a facilitated discussion of the reading for each month except December, which is devoted to sharing book, TV, podcast, publication, and other recommendations. Our meetings involve the works of Lewis as well as those of other Inklings and George MacDonald. Additionally, we read and discuss the works of other writers that Lewis appreciated or commented on.
Contact Paul Blattner at pauljr@blattners.org for more information.
| Dates | Titles |
|---|---|
| Jan 11 | C.S. Lewis, “The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader” |
| Feb 8 | Theologia Germanica |
| Mar 14 | Charles Williams, “All Hallows Eve” |
| Apr 11 | George Macdonald, “What’s Mine’s Mine” |
| May 9 | Dante, “Paradiso” |
| June 13 | C.S. Lewis, “God in the Dock, first half” |
| July 11 | C.S. Lewis, “God in the Dock, second half” |
| Aug 8 | Chaucer, “Canterbury Tales, second third” |
| Sep 12 | C.S. Lewis, “The Allegory of Love” |
| Oct 10 | J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Silmarillion” |
| Nov 14 | Nesbit, “The Railway Children” |
| Dec 12 | Recommendations |
Newberg
The Portland C.S. Lewis Society’s chapter in Newberg, founded in 2023, meets every Wednesday in Ruddick/Wood, located at 720 E. 1st St., from 6 to 8 p.m. Our "Essay Group" meets on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Our "Book Group" meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays. You are welcome to attend either or both groups. See the detailed schedule below.
The format does not require any reading in advance; instead, we read at our meetings together, followed by a facilitated discussion. In fall 2024, The Essay Group is reading Lewis’s essay collections The Dark Tower and Other Short Stories and Christian Reflections: Defending the Faith, and The Book Group is reading Lewis’s Perelandra.
Contact Jason Lepojärvi at jlepojarvi@georgefox.edu
| Dates | Titles |
|---|---|
| Sept. 25 | Book Group |
| Oct. 2 | Essay Group |
| Oct. 9 | Book Group |
| Oct. 17 | Essay Group |
| Oct. 23 | Book Group |
| Oct. 30 | Break |
| Nov. 6 | Essay Group |
| Nov. 13 | Book Group |
| Nov. 20 | Essay Group |
| Nov. 27 | Book Group |
| Dec. 4 | Essay Group |
| Dec. 11 | Book Group |
| Dec. 18 | Essay Group |
| Dec. 25 | Break |
| Jan. 1 | Break |
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History of the Portland C.S. Lewis Society
In 1971, when Terri Williams and Carole Green had returned to Portland from graduate studies in New York City, where they had also been members of the New York C.S. Lewis Society, they decided to cofound a similar society in Portland. Originally, the society met in homes in Portland, but in 1975 it began meeting at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Beaverton and has met there ever since, except for virtual meetings held during the pandemic.
The scope of the meetings was originally the writings of C.S. Lewis but later was broadened to include the writings of the Inklings, the group of writers and others who met weekly in Lewis’s rooms at Magdalen College Oxford. These include writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Owen Barfield. Still later, the scope was increased to include writers who had influenced Lewis or whom Lewis admired.
The first meeting of the society was on Feb. 4, 1972, on the topic of Lewis’s Mere Christianity. Seven people attended. The society has met monthly continuously since then, making February 2022 our 50th anniversary.
For many years, the society was governed by a self-perpetuating board (The Knights of the Lion) and published a newsletter (The Chronicle of the Portland C.S. Lewis Society) containing the papers read and summaries of the discussions. The Chronicle was published quarterly until 1985. Dues were $7 per year.
In 1985, the format of the meetings shifted from presented papers to a more informal discussion of the book under consideration. The last issue covered the August 1985 meeting. After 1985, The Chronicle was discontinued. In May of 1994, the board dissolved itself, at which time Tim Nelson took over the society and kept the group going until the present.
Our meetings are planned for the year in advance. The society no longer has a board or dues or a publication, but we still have lively discussions. In 2023, a new chapter was launched in Newberg in partnership with the C.S. Lewis Initiative at George Fox University.