During the month of June, a group of committed parishioners read and discussed the book, Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace and Healing by Emmanuel Katolonge and Chris Rice.  The Rev. Blair Pogue hopes the following insights encourage members of our faith community to read this excellent and moving book!

Lloyd Latty

Katongole and Rice, the authors of Reconciling All Things, argue that Christians look no further than the Bible for a comprehensive story in which to place our call to reconciliation. This God-story stretches back to the beginning of creation, is grounded in historical human drama, and calls us to the future reality in which all things will be reconciled to God. Even a cursory reading of Scripture points the reader to a reconciling God. As the people of St. Matthew's engage in acts of reconciliation, we bear witness to who God is and to the world that is coming and is, even now, breaking into our age. Reconciliation is nothing less than "enemies and strangers becoming friends and all becoming God's companions" (p. 145).

 

Cindy Howard

Here are the points from the book that have caused me to think more deeply about my spiritual health and relationship to others -

• Lamentation as public confession in the sequence of - truth, cost and conversion
• Looking to God for resources when we are "in over our head"
• The need to unlearn speed, distance and innocence
• The reminder that God is doing a new thing - that the doing takes time - that we are a critical part of the doing -
• The reminder that hope celebrates joy and beauty
• Reconciliation is grounded in God's story
• Reconciliation is God's gift not a result of our work
• Hospitality in the midst of interruption - being present -
• Leaders absorb pain without passing it on to themselves or others
• God's gifts of prayer and meditation, community, theological reflection, sabbath give us courage.  Read More Here

What I have learned about reconciliation is that I sense it as the heart of Christian faith - for us to be reconciled with God, others, ourselves, and all creation to be restored to healing relationships - relationships without violence - restored to the image of the relational and triune God.  For me, I sense relocation as the beginning of reconciliation - starting with God's relocation in the incarnation. "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." God relocated to us, to our places of joy and pain, to meet us, love, heal and forgive us as we are. For followers of the way of Jesus, this also means being sent to crazy places - to relocate, even if that just means a paradigm shift about where we find our sense of belonging and home - instead of in our physical homes, tribes, clans, and communities of like-minded people, to find our sense of belonging in the triune God. Then we are freed to follow God's call - like Abraham, who went on a crazy journey of relocation. Like the early disciples, who - because of persecution - were sent to Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and from there to the ends of the earth. 

Read More Here
 

Tina Maynor  

Each week was full of timely insights, informing our understanding of how we can work for reconciliation at St. Matthew's and in our communities. One key learning has been lingering with me: a Rwandan proverb, "To go fast, walk alone. To go far, walk together."  The authors go on to elaborate, "When we learn how to slow down to make room for walking together across divides, we become more Christian."  What a perfect reminder as we seek to go deeper into relationship, together, with those in our communities who face the greatest challenges.

If you've been coming to St. Matthew's for awhile, you've probably noticed that from time to time, people are called forward at the end of a Eucharist to receive a small kit with consecrated bread and wine and sent forth to take these sacraments to someone who is hospitalized, ill or otherwise unable to come to church to participate in the Eucharist.  These people are Eucharistic Visitors (EVs) ... lay persons who've been trained and commissioned to do this adjunct work that connects those absent from us with worship and pastoral care.  During their visits they conduct a brief version of the Eucharistic service.

St. Matthew's has had EVs for more than 10 years but our ranks have thinned for various reasons.  We need more new EVs.  So we are planning to offer a training session on Sunday, August 9, after the 9:30 am service.  Since we are hosting Project Home in our air-conditioned space, we are looking for air-conditioned meeting space nearby.

If you feel that you are called to offer this service to other parishioners ... or if you've been an EV in the past, we welcome you to this training on August 9.  In Blair's absence, please let me, Marilyn Grantham  (651 644-5422) or the Rev. Lisa Wiens Heinsohn (651 246-8547) know of your interest.  Existing EVs are also requested to attend and share their experiences.  EVs are required to have completed Safe Church Training as well before they can be commissioned to serve in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota.