By Phil Boelter

Last weekend while vacationing in the North country I heard the old song "Never Can Say Goodbye" sung by disco diva Gloria Gaynor. Well, it may be true. But, in our case goodbyes must be said.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my time sojourning with the St. Matthews faith community.

We have grown together, groaned together, all in the process of doing and being part of God's mission in Jesus.  No one can predict the future, but I strongly suspect that we have not seen the last of each other. There will be further opportunities for mission cooperation and rejoicing, assuming we all keep our St. Paul - Minneapolis visas stamped and up to date.  In the meantime, I offer humble thanks to God for our time together.

Last Sunday a multi-generational group gathered together to learn more about racism and entered into a powerful and challenging conversation.  We participated in a footrace outside in the church alley highlighting the stark and difficult reality of the fundamentally unequal challenges we face in our lives. Before the race began, the group was asked a series of 30 questions about our childhood and adult backgrounds, with participants taking a step forward or backward depending on their individual experience.  At the end, those at the front and back -- based on racial and socio-economic differences -- were physically separated by a vast distance.  Afterward we shared our feelings: sadness, anger, frustration, guilt and grief.  Dr. McKinney also discussed "race muteness" in our culture - the inability to  talk about these differences which are crucial to acknowledge before we can even begin the task of working to address these racial and class inequalities. 

On Sunday, March 29 from 9:15 - 10:15 am in the Parish Hall, Dr. Karen McKinney, Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Bethel University, will return for a second session to continue this important conversation.  Ages 6th grade to adult are welcome to participate.  Dr. McKinney will lead us through  several additional reflections so that we can engage in intergenerational and experiential learning. One hoped-for outcome is a deeper understanding of how the reconciliation of people across lines of difference (including race, class, and gender) is a critical part of God's vision for human flourishing.  

The St. Matthew's vestry impresses me every month with their thoughtfulness and ability to discuss challenging big picture concepts. The bylaw revisions adopted in January created a smaller body, and it is turning out to be a huge success. Our vestry members are very dedicated in their attendance and participation, and the smaller group allows everyone to feel engaged and able to contribute. Each member is so wise and I am incredibly grateful to them for their obvious care for and interest in the well-being of St. Matthew's.

At our March meeting we discussed how we want St. Matthew's to look, feel, and work. We have been meditating on Dwight Zscheile's latest book, The Agile Church, and how we operate in a very flexible, accommodating, and experimental fashion. The general agreement from the vestry is that we should continue to embrace this kind of environment. We would never want our community to become "stale" or resistant to hearing new calls for our mission from the Holy Spirit. At the same time, the growth at St. Matthew's challenges us to ask if we are going in too many directions at once, and what kind of behavior we want to normalize. The vestry will continue to have these conversations, and will explore the idea of creating a congregational covenant. This may build on the work of the Way of Jesus which was developed a couple of years ago.

With blessings,

Katie White

On Sunday March 15, the high commitment discernment team (HCDT) met to take next steps in St. Matthews' effort to find deeper ways to engage God's mission in the greater Twin Cities. We want to do this in a way that is "generative"- that engages God's will for shalom for all people.  After reviewing our working covenant with one another, we clarified the following issues that we understand to be important to the people of St. Matthew's:

• Education
• Children
• Cultivating mutual relationships that have depth / quality and trust
• Addressing racism, addressing homelessness, and working toward systemic and long-lasting change.

 We decided that our "end game" was to identify at least one local organization working in these areas that we could "adopt"- to develop kinship across lines of difference, and to have lots of opportunities to engage in different levels (including having opportunities for St. Matthews children to engage). To accomplish this we plan to research the organizations suggested recently by St. Matthews parishioners, to visit a broad range of those organizations during the next six weeks, and to write up and circulate our reports about these experiences. In early May we will meet again to review what we have learned and assess whether we are ready to recommend an organization to St. Matthews for broader consideration, or to continue researching at that point.

We are excited and honored by the mandate St. Matthews has given us to discern where God's Spirit is leading us as a faith community. Please feel free to contact any of us with thoughts, concerns, insights and ideas, and look for a progress report by mid-May when we have completed our research.

Thank you and peace,
Lisa Wiens Heinsohn for the HCDT team (Arun & Cecelia Caspram, Birdie Carter, Blair Pogue, Christabella & Joe Shalita, ELaine Tarone, Judy Johnson, Laura Bathke, Lisa Wiens Heinsohn, Terese Lewis, Tina Maynor, and Valerie Matthews).

God of all humanity
You call us to bring about healing and wholeness for the whole world -
for women and men of all races and cultures and creeds.
Help us to respond to a world that is groaning under the weight
of injustice
and broken relationships.
Remind us that differences are a gift,
And interdependence a strength from the same creative God.
Strengthen us to resist the forces that encourage polarization and competition
rather than understanding and cooperation.
We know that your reign is not built on injustice and oppression,
but on the transformation of hearts -
new life, not just reordered life.
Teach us forgiveness, O God.
Bring us reconciliation.
Give us hope for the future.
We pray in Jesus' love.
Amen

 -- Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook