GRAINS OF SAND January 20, 2010
GRAINS OF SAND
January 20, 2010
HELP FOR HAITIAN’S
Last Sunday we invited those at church to make an offering to help the Haitian people through Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD). ERD is just one of the many reputable outreach groups who have been in Haiti for many years, trying to help the Haitian people develop their country through education, health care and other kinds of development. In addition to the $1200 we sent to ERD from our Millennium Development Goals (MDG) fund, we raised another $1640 from your generous contributions. We will continue to invite contributions in Sundays to come - at various times — because this will be a very long term recovery for the Haitian people. It will be important to continually remind ourselves of their needs — especially after the media leaves the scene.
If you would like to help the Haitian people through ERD, make your check out to St. Andrew’s by the Lake and put on the memo line: ERD. We will collect checks and write one check from St. Andrew’s each month. If you find other agencies that you know are doing good work, and would prefer to send your contributions their way - then by all means - do so.
SENIOR HIGH LOCK-IN - Cancelled (January 22-23)
Life seems to be very busy for many, including our teens. In any case, we had no response from any regarding the Lock-In. Brian eventually called around, and out of the sixteen potential, only two were sure they would make it. So in light of that — and all the time it takes to plan one and pull it off — the lock-in will be canceled.
INSTRUCTED EUCHARIST - CnC Reminder
A reminder to the teens in Confirmation that the Instructed Eucharist planned for January 24 and 31 is an important part of your learning journey toward making a decision about confirmation. Please make every attempt to be present in church those Sundays. If you cannot be present, then please contact Cindy by email or phone.
TWEENS GROUP - Sunday, January 24, 11:30-2:30
The Tweens will meet after church this coming Sunday for a movie and popcorn. Parents — will you please let Brian know ahead of time if your child will or will not be present. Thank you.
RUMMAGE SALE - June 11 & 12
SAVE YOUR STUFF!! We’ll be having a Rummage Sale the same weekend as the Park Point Rummage Sale (and our annual Brat Stand). The funds from the sale will go towards the Teens Pilgrimage in July. We will need LOTS of help and LOTS of things to sell — so this is the time to begin setting things aside. PLEASE DO NOT BRING ANYTHING TO CHURCH FOR THE RUMMAGE SALE UNTIL YOU ARE GIVEN WORD TO DO SO. We have no storage space. More information will come out in February.
SHARED HUMANITY THROUGH HUMOR - Firoozeh Dumas
Firoozeh Dumas is the bestselling author of Funny in Farsi: A Memory of Growing Up Iranian in America and Laughing Without an Accent. She was born in Abadan, Iran, and in the 1970’s, moved to Southern California with her family. Firoozeh grew up listening to her father, a former Fulbright Scholar, recount the many colorful stories of his life in both Iran and America. She decided to write her stories as a gift to her children. Critics and readers of all ages have loved her stories. Jimmy Carter called Funny in Farsi “a humorous and introspective chronicle of a life filled with love - of family, country and heritage.”
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
4:00 pm, Kirby Student Center Ballroom (UMD)
No admission fee - open to the public
There are seven (7) copies of each book at the UMD Library. Anyone can get a community card to use the UMD Library. If you would like more information, speak to Liz Benson Johnson.
TEEN PARENTS
I don’t really have a better title for this group than the one above — and what other title could be better. To be a parent of a teen is an honor, a delight, a wonderful journey — and it can be a challenge — all wrapped up into one.
Over the five Sundays in Lent, I would like to invite you to spend 1/2 hour after worship to join together in viewing some of the Nooma Videos your teen has been seeing and discussing in their Sunday morning formation time. Steve Wlosinski has been their guide during this time and he says the teens have been very attentive to these videos — and the conversation has been rich and deep. We would like to offer you the opportunity to see and hear what they have experienced — and have your own discussion. We’ve also used some of the videos in CnC.
We will have one DVD each Sunday - they are 10 minutes in length. We’ll follow that with a 20 minute discussion. This will happen during coffee hour - in the Memorial Room. Either Steve or I will be with you to lead the discussion. We promise you some rich materials, something to go away with to ponder during the week - and a nice connection for discussion with your teen.
WHERE THE FEATHER MEETS THE CROSS
As you might recall, this worship community met at St. Edward’s the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month in the evening. They lost their worship space when St. Edward’s was sold, and now are meeting at Peace United Church of Christ (1111 North 11th Avenue East)
The next dates, if you’d like to join in with them, are:
January 24, February 14 and February 28
Each liturgy is a Service of Purification with Communion, followed by a Feast (open potluck).
Worship begins at 5:00 p.m.
A NIGHT OF NORWEGIAN FOLK MUSIC - Friday, February 12, 2010, 7:00 pm
Music will be provided by Arna Rennan and Brian Dack - local Norwegian folk musicians. There will be 100+ free tickets available. A free-will offering will be taken and proceeds will go to the CHUM Food Shelf. The evening includes coffee and Scandinavian treats. Get your tickets on Sunday from Donn Larson or Kris Rauschenfels. Invite friends!! This is a wonderful opportunity to have fun together, enjoy music and reach out to our local community.
The Ordination and Consecration of the IX Bishop of Minnesota
Join many other Episcopalians on Saturday, February 13th at 11 a.m. at the Minneapolis Convention Center for the ordination of the Rev. Brian Prior as our next Bishop of Minnesota. There will be a bus to the ordination. It will leave St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 7:00 a.m. and arrive back there at approximately 5:30 p.m. Cost is $22 per person (non-refundable). Payment is to be made at the time of reservation at St. Paul’s office (1710 East Superior Street).
ANNUAL MEETING
The Annual Meeting will be Sunday, February 14th immediately after worship. There will be childcare provided and refreshments available.
OUR OUTREACH or 2010 (so far)
So far, in 2010, we have sent $8380 to others in this world who have great needs. This is how it
was divided:
5K Run/Walk - $5540 to the Central Asian Institute to help sustain schools that offer
elementary education in schools built in small remote villages (in
Pakistan and Afghanistan). We raised $2770 from the 5K and those
funds were matched by GO-FRESH (thank you Pat Greene and
Marylou Owen)
Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) - $2840 for relief to people in Haiti from the
earthquake. $1200 came from our annual MDG pledge (1% of our operating
budget) and $1640 came from the collection taken last Sunday.
PILGRIMAGE MEETING
All teens going on the Pilgrimage this summer are asked to attend an informational meeting on Sunday, February 28th, after worship. Parents of teens going, as well as chaparones, are highly encouraged and invited to attend as well.
VICAR’S MESSAGE
This will be short and sweet. The Rev. Dr. John Westerhoff once said, “faith is indeed caught in the informal moments of our lives”. But I would add that catching someone else’s tired or unexamined faith does not grow mature faith. What kind of faith are our children ‘catching’ from us? What efforts do you put into growing your faith?
Another interesting thought from this past week: Monday was Martin Luther King Day. The speaker in Minneapolis at the Twin Cities Breakfast (attended by Govenor Pawlenty, Senator Al Franken and Mayor Ryback) was the Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowry. Perhaps you remember him from President Obama’s inaugural ceremony - he offered the closing prayer. The Rev. Lowry offered this on Monday: “Baptism is a ceremony inside the Church. It becomes the sacrament when we go outside the church and start living it out.” Remember that a sacrament is an ‘outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receiv that grace’. So having received that grace from Christ, how do you offer that grace to others in your daily life.
I think that’s plenty to think about — and live for the day - and the days to come.
Epiphany Blessings, Cindy
God of consolation,
even when we feel nothing
of your presence,
still, you are there.
Your presence invisible
but your Holy Spirit
is always within us
and around us.
the late Brother Roger of Taize
