Pentecost 2
Celebration of Pentecost - Sunday at 9:30am
 
This Sunday, May 24th at 9:30am, we'll celebrate the joy-filled service of Pentecost and the gift of the Holy SpiritPlease remember: this is the first Sunday that we move to one service, so make a special note to come early to church!

Acts 2:1-4 recounts, "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability."   

 

We have several enduring Pentecost traditions at St. Matthew's.  Everyone is encouraged to wear red, the liturgical color of Pentecost, recalling the tongues of fire that rested on Jesus' followers, and we listen as the reading from Acts is spoken simultaneously in the many languages represented in our congregation. Seventeen readers will participate this year -- in Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Latin, French, Dutch, Shona, Hungarian, Chinese, Greek and Filipino. We hope you will join us in this powerful Spirit-filled service and afterward in the parish hall for a festive coffee hour. 

The Rev. Toua Vang to Celebrate this Sunday
 
We are pleased to welcome back The Rev. Toua Vang to St. Matthew's this Sunday, May 24th at 9:30am.  He is the first Hmong to be ordained as a minister in the Episcopal Church.  Not only is he the first Hmong priest in Minnesota, he's also the first Hmong priest in the entire Anglican World Communion.

In 2013, the Rev. Toua Vang completed his Master of Divinity degree at Virginia Theological Seminary, and was ordained as a priest in Minnesota by Bishop Brian Prior.  Fr. Vang is passionate about evangelism and mission.  He feels called by God to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Hmong and SE Asian communities, first in the U.S., and, eventually, in SE Asia.  Fr. Vang is fluent in English, Hmong, Thai, and Lao.

Women's Retreat: "Abundant Life"

Last weekend, 31 women of St. Matthew's traveled to the Riverwood Conference Center in Otsego, MN for a time apart.  We gathered together, deepening relationships, praying, learning and having fun!  Friday evening, we enjoyed a leisurely dinner, dwelled in scripture with the story of Jesus' appearance to Mary Magdalene, and ended the night with a brilliant bonfire, complete with s'mores.

The second day, Blair led us in a spiritual journaling exercise (using the Ignatian Examen) with two questions: "What gives you life, or draws you closer to God?" and  "What takes life away, or prevents you from feeling close to God?" After writing in silence, we shared some of our insights with the larger group.  Judy Johnson also offered an art workshop with a free-form option to use images, color and words to create beautiful, spirit filled collages.  We ended in celebratory worship before heading homeward.  A heart-felt thank you to the organizers who wonderfully brought it all together: Laura Bathke, Blair Pogue, Judy Johnson, Sarah Larsen and Sue Ladehoff. 






  

Sunday Evening Ministry: "Traveling Light"      
 

Dear friends of St. Matthew's,

The Sunday evening ministry has been gaining momentum, excitement, and a growing sense of community this year -- so much so that we began wondering what it would look like to see our summer, not as a time of "hiatus" from the Sunday evening dinner and service, but as a time of being "sent" like Jesus sent the disciples in Luke 10. What might it mean for us to be "sent" to each other and to our neighbors -- traveling very lightly, but with clarity of intention: to encounter God in our neighbors and among one another, outside the doors of our building? To meet with one another and with neighbors outside our building, to pray, learn, worship, and get to know one another more deeply? On May 3 we had a "wondering conversation" to explore this topic. We expressed what "traveling light" needed to look like for it to work: a continued sense of being nourished by the tangible love and community in Christ that we experience in the evening at St. Matthew's; and an absence of "busy work."  

 

On May 17, I preached about Jesus' final prayer to his disciples before he was arrested and crucified. God's call to "abide" in and with us is fundamentally a call about relationship: it's a call to be, not to do. All our lives as Christians, in church and out of it, are based in Jesus' call to rest in relationship with God. I experienced this through weekly visits to YouthLink to encounter neighbors who are homeless, as a time I looked forward to -- because it was the one time I was able to truly let go of all my to-do lists and just be present, for the sake of building relationships with those youths.  By "abiding" with the youths -- and Jesus who is with them -- I actually experienced rest and refreshment much of the time, even when the relationships were difficult or heartbreaking. Far from being a time to exert enormous amounts of energy for the sake of encountering uncomfortable neighbors, I actually found that it became a time to let go of tasks, or the ability to fix things, and just get to know people in reliance on God.

 

This call to rest -- to be present, without an agenda, for the sake of being in relationship with God, oneself, and others--is the heart of Christian faith and practice. It is the basis for any social justice work that we do. And it is the basis for being "sent" as Christians to the world -- whether that "sending" means our Monday - Saturday lives, our summer time, or wherever else we may find ourselves. As the Sunday evening ministry people expressed in our May 3 "wondering" conversation, the one thing the disciples of Luke 10 did carry with them was a "lived experience of Jesus." May we all rest in his presence and in the ongoing experience of relationship with God, even as we go about our lives, and wherever God sends us.

Peace,

Lisa Wiens Heinsohn
Sunday Evening Ministry Director  


Kirsten Whitson in Cuba!     

 

St. Matthew's parishioner and MN Orchestra Cellist, Kirsten Whitson (in the second row) was part of an historic visit by the Minnesota Orchestra to Cuba last week - the first time in 15 years that a major U.S. Orchestra visited Cuba.  The healing balm of music played a joyful role in bringing together and reconciling the people of these two nations.

A photo essay on MPR's website with striking images of Cuba accompanies their story. Also, read the New York Times version of the visit. 
Looking Ahead: Calendar Highlights
  • May 24: Loaves and Fishes at the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul
  • May 24: Pentecost Sunday - We move to a single 9:30am service on Sundays, The Rev. Toua Vang, preaching and celebrating.
  • June 7: Faith Forum - Christian Reconciliation, 11:00am
  • June 13: Novel Faith, Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, 6:30pm in the libary
  • June 20: Ordination Celebration at Breck School Fieldhouse, 1:00pm
 
Please share your news and photos with us: [email protected] 

Visit our website for the prayer list, calendar and sermons