St. Matthew's Episcopal Church
Tidings from St. Matthew's
March 23,  2014
   
               Lenten Taize Candlelight Prayer
 

On Monday, March 31st, St. Matthew's will host a Lenten-themed service of Taize Candlelight Prayer at 7 pm, followed by a time for silent prayer and reflection.  Taize prayer is part of a world-wide ecumenical movement aimed at reconciliation, healing and union among all people. The church will be open for those who would like to "get away" for a quiet evening filled with readings and prayers, simple chants, candlelight, and silences.  

 

Sunday night musician Jeff Kidder, accompanied by other St. Matthew's musicians, will play meditative Taize chants for the congregation to sing.  Lenten stations will be available for those who wish to light a candle in prayer for a person, country, or cause, or offer written prayers in the side chapel.

 

Please join us for the service and invite your friends and family members.

 

                
      East Metro Lenten Soup Supper: March 24

 

Titled, "Participating in God's Mission: Building Whole Communities," we are joining with all the East Metro Episcopal churches and faith communities to address issues of poverty and homelessness.  The final presentation on March 24 will feature Robin Hicks, a school based mental health counselor at King's Crossing, a community center located at 500 Dale St. (at University Ave) in St. Paul, from 6:00- 8:00pm.
 
Following the presentation will be time for discussion and the chance to deepen relationships with our neighbors and friends over a delicious soup supper.

 

Robin Hicks works as a school-based mental

health counselor in the Wilder Foundation's Kofi Program. Kofi Services is a culturally specific program for African American youth in grades 2 to 8 who are experiencing difficulty in school, personal relationships, or other areas of their lives. As someone who grew up in poverty and violence, she was determined to do better for her family. Robin emerged from gang violence, homelessness and a chaotic home life, and was the first person in her family to attend and graduate from college, eventually earning her Master's Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from St. Mary's University. She provides services to children and families at Maxfield Elementary, in the heart of St. Paul's Promise neighborhood.   

 

   Read more about Robin's story in this recent  MNPost article.   

 

 

         Lenten Half Day Retreat this Saturday
 

This Saturday, March 22, Lisa Wiens Heinsohn will lead a half day retreat entitled "Reconciliation: Made in the Image of a Triune God," from 9:00 a.m. to noon in the St. Matthew's library.  We will explore how we feel connected to and disconnected from one another, especially our neighbors in need.   

 

This Lent our theme is reconciliation, but reconciliation is much more than just finding ways to get along better with our families and neighbors. At its core, it is a deep re-orientation of our very identities-away from the individual consumerism of the West, and toward being remade in the image of the communal and triune God. We will tell stories about categories of identity that unite and divide us-categories like woman, man, black, white, middle class, mother, father, etc. and then do an imaginative exercise where those categories get attenuated and superseded by another, more core identity: beloved of God, made for community.  We'll end by asking how God is calling us to shift our self-understanding in the direction of God's own triune life, for the sake of our neighbors. Then we'll come up with three small, practical things we might do in the next month to suspend our usual categories of identity and reach out to someone who seems very "other" for the sake of giving and receiving love.  We hope you will be able to join us.

 

 
         Faith Forum Class on the Daily Office
 
    by Phil Boelter 
 
How do YOU pray? Many Christians of various times and traditions have found meaning and beauty in a form of prayer known as the Daily Office. Consisting of
psalms, scripture and spoken and silent prayers, these services of Morning and Evening Prayer and Compline or Night Prayer provide a rich variety of prayer experiences.

 

They help us mark the times of our day, morning, evening and night, as well as the seasons of our life together.

 

Whether you are familiar with this way of praying or not, you are invited to join Ron Matross, Vickie Woodcock and Deacon Phil Boelter  at 9:15 a.m. in the Library on  Sunday April 27th, May 4th and May 18th as they lead us in exploring the structure, history and our own experiences in praying various forms of the Daily Office.

   

 Parishioners Recommend Prayer Resources




Lent is a good time to engage in reflection and possible new directions, allowing us to see ourselves, God and others more clearly.  In this spirit, we have gathered several different prayer resources you are welcome to peruse, including books, websites, specific practices and online tools.   

 

The following are a few of our parishioner's favorites:

  • Bruce Nerland and Dan Johnson recommend Pray As You Go, a Jesuit resource offering daily prayer sessions for portable MP3 players to help you "pray on the go."  Lasting 10 minutes, it combines music, scripture and some questions for reflection.
  • Lis Christenson likes Richard Rohr's website, featuring the Center for Action and Contemplation, with articles, books, homilies, and free daily meditations in your email in-box from Richard Rohr, a Francisan priest and ecumenical teacher.
  • Heather Halker offers a meditation from a "spiritual formation bible" -- an NRSV version from Zondervan: 

          "Fill a bowl with water.  As you sit in a comfortable position, focus
    your attention on Jesus. Ask him to cover you and fill you with healing
    light.  Ask him to show you some part of your life to which you are blind --
    perhaps a responsibility you don't see, or an attitude that blinds you to
    the truth of a situation.  Ask Jesus to enable you to see what he wants you
    to see.  Wash your eyes with the water, praying that you may see with the
    eyes of Jesus.  Ask Jesus to empower you to take whatever action your
    renewed spiritual sight requires."
     -- Heather says, " I found this to be a powerful and surprising exercise.  God is very
    creative."  

  • Jenny Bach recommends a book of prayers and blessings by John O'Donahue, To Bless the Space Between Us  and particularly likes the Birthday blessing....
  • Katrina Vandenberg offers two suggestions: The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, and specifically the poem "Let Evening Come" by Jane Kenyon.

Do you have a prayer resource to share?  Please send your recommendations to Tidings and we will print more in next week's issue. 

 


                  Looking Ahead: Calendar Highlights
  • March 22: Lenten Half Day Retreat, 9:00am  
  • March 23: J2A Spaghetti Dinner & Fundraiser, 5:30pm 
  • March 24: East Metro Lenten Soup Supper Series with Robin Hicks 
  • March 30: Community Art Show Opening, 6:00pm 
  • March 31: Lenten Taize Candlelight Prayer, 7:00pm
  • April 5: Lenten Film Night, featuring "Get Low"  4:00pm

 


Please share your news and photos with us at:  tidings@stmatthewsmn.org
 
Visit our website for the prayer list, calendar and sermons:
St. Matthew's Website

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