St. Matthew's Episcopal Church
Tidings 
  January 25, 2015
 
  
St. Matthew's Annual Meeting This Sunday

 

At our annual "state of the church" gathering we will celebrate and reflect on where we have been in the last year and where we are headed.  The agenda includes a presentation of our yearly budget, already approved by the Vestry.  We will also elect new members to our governing board, the Vestry, recognize church and ministry leaders and offer time for individual blessings and thanksgivings.  The meeting will be led by Senior Warden Jenny Bach and Senior Warden-elect Katie White. Our Treasurer, Dan Glienke will provide an overview of the yearly budget.  The Rev. Blair Pogue will lead a segment on "core beliefs and practices" at St. Matthew's.  Together, we will remember and celebrate what God has been up to at St. Matthew's!

 

Beginning at 9:00 am in the parish hall we will serve breakfast, so come early and bring a dish to share - fruit, baked goods or juice would be appreciated.  Please let Rosa Uy know what you plan to bring.  To allow everyone to attend the meeting, there will be no youth or children's classes this Sunday.  Childcare will be provided in the nursery and a movie will be shown for children in the back music and drama room.  However, all ages are welcome to attend the annual meeting.

 

Celebrating the New Journey to Adulthood Group

By Terese Lewis

 

We will celebrate our new Journey to Adulthood (J2A) group with a litany of dedication during the 10:30am worship service this Sunday, January 25. The litany will celebrate the gift of manhood and womanhood and commend the youth to one another as they dedicate themselves to journeying together toward adulthood. The group includes 8th- and 9th-graders Zechariah Lee, Veronica Sannes, Noah Hanson, Mollie Jenkins, Gus Maynor, Grace Tillotson, Claire Beyer-Kropuenske, Claire Davis, and Claire Burns, led by Maclore Christensen and Erik Johnson.

 

In the J2A program, teens live into Christian community as they commit to one another, fostering deep relationships through prayer, rites of passage, Bible study service, and playful activities.  A highlight for the J2Aers is planning and embarking on a pilgrimage at the end of two years.  A festive dinner for the new J2Aers and their families will take place on Saturday night, put on by the the former J2Aers in 10th through 12th grades, who completed their pilgrimage last summer, and a lock-in will follow for the J2Aers.  Please pray for our J2Aers, their families, and their leaders as they take this important step together. 

Don Samuels at the Faith Forum February 1st 
   

Don Samuels will offer his thoughts and engage us in dialogue about race and reconciliation, a conversation that has been ongoing at St. Matthew's for several months.  We will meet in the library at 9:15 a.m.  He has also graciously agreed to preach at the 10:30am service.

 

Don immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica in 1970 to study Industrial Design. He left his position as Senior Director of Research & Development at Playskool to head his own small business, inventing and designing toys for major toy manufacturers. Don also graduated with a Masters of Divinity in 2001 from Luther Seminary. In 2003, he was elected to the Minneapolis City Council, where he served for 11 years.   He won election to the Minneapolis School Board last November and also serves as the Chief Operating Officer for MicroGrants, a nonprofit that supports aspiring activists.

 

Samuels is a longtime supporter of public school reform, and supports the Minneapolis Public School District's "shift plan" to provide individual schools more autonomy to tailor curriculum and staff to their own needs. With his wife, Sondra, Don founded the Institute for Authentic Dialogue on race, which guides executives and leaders in conversations and relationships across race.   Sondra heads the Northside Achievement Zone, which won a national grant and works to alleviate poverty and revitalize this challenged part of Minneapolis. Don and his family live in the Jordan neighborhood of North Minneapolis, where they have fought for justice and transformation in the most challenged part of the City.

 

Long-time friend and former City colleague Mike Christenson says this about Don: "If public leadership is a test of authenticity, then Don Samuels is the best ever.   He doesn't just talk social justice -- he lives it.   Sondra and Don and their three daughters have made social change their address in North Minneapolis.  And it's working."

The Hunt Family Story

 

As part of St. Matthew's 125th Anniversary, we celebrated stories and family histories.  This is a remembrance from Susan Hunt (sister of Joan Abbas), who attended St. Matthew's growing up in the 1950's and 60's. She writes:

 

The Hunt family at St Matthew's Episcopal Church

  • The first generation: John DeVere Hunt and Frances (Lawton) Hunt
  • The second: The Hunt children: Judy, Susan, Nancy, James and Joan (Wally Abbas)
  • The third generation: The Abbas children; Kristina, John and Kyle

Our father, John Hunt, attended a District Rally at St. Matthew's in the early 1930s as an officer of St. Paul's on the Hill Young People's Fellowship (YPF)  but it would be almost 20 years before he became a St. Matthew's member. He met Fran through YPF at St. Paul's on the Hill. The church had an active youth program and many of the young people, John and Fran included, attended the Episcopal summer conference at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.

 

When members of the clergy went into war service as chaplains, Bishop Steven Edwards Keeler trained John, his brother William and 33 other laypersons to take services in small mission parishes. These laymen were known as 'the Bishop's Men.'

 

In 1939, John and Fran were married at St. Paul's on the Hill, St. Paul. John was an assistant cashier at St. Anthony Park State Bank (now Sunrise Banks). Their first home was an apartment on Snelling and St Clair. In 1941 they bought the old school superintendent's house on Chelmsford Street. John remarked that they moved to St. Anthony Park in part because of its community spirit. Even so, the family with three young children continued to attend St. Paul's on the Hill for seven more years until the effort of getting to church on time, with the added dimension of a freight train crossing, became too much. They transferred their membership to St. Matthew's in 1948 and it became the family's church home.... Read More Here   

All are Invited: Report on Homelessness

 

The Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness is hosting a special meeting open to the public.  This will be an update on the first year of implementation of Heading Home: Minnesota's Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.   

They invite your priorities for action in 2015 and where you think we have the greatest opportunities, working together, to improve housing stability for men, women, children, and youth throughout the state.

When:  Friday, February 6th, 10am-12pm 

Where: Wilder Foundation, 451 Lexington Pkwy. N, Saint Paul, MN 55104

Please RSVP here: http://www.cvent.com/d/5rqmck/3B 

Looking Ahead: Calendar Highlights
  • January 25: Annual Meeting at 9:00am in the parish hall
  • February 1: Don Samuels at the Faith Forum, 9:15am in the library and preaching at the 10:30am service
  • February 5: South Africa Book Group, 7:00pm, "Cry the Beloved Country"
  • February 6: Update on Homelessness report, Wilder Foundation, 10:00am
  • February 8: Denise Ayotte at the Faith Forum (Sheltering Arms Foundation)
  • February 14: Novel Faith Book Group, 6:30pm  "The Blood of the Lamb"
  • February 18: Ash Wednesday services, noon and 5:30pm
  • February 22: Loaves and Fishes at the Dorothy Day Center, 2:00 - 6:00pm
Please share your news and photos with us: [email protected]

Visit our website for the prayer list, calendar and sermons
 
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