- Table conversations at the Annual Meeting 

Annual Meeting: Discussion, Learnings & Blessings
 
Our annual meeting last Sunday offered a wealth of wisdom and information including learnings from our ministry teams, an overview of our budget, election of new vestry members and table conversations about the future care and maintenance of our building.  We also shared thanksgivings and blessings with each other at the end of the meeting.

Here is a link to the table conversations about our building.  These ideas will help the Vestry discern and plan for the care of our building into the future.  Here is another link to the  full minutes of the annual meeting (thank you to Tracy Dunnwald!).  We have also included a more extensive overview of learnings from the Sunday Evening Ministry (see Lisa Wiens Heinsohn's article below)

Remembrances of Gloria Thayer

We will celebrate the life of Gloria Thayer at her funeral this Saturday, January 30 at 2:00pm.  She was known and loved by many in the parish. 

The following are memories of her life and generous spirit in our community: 
  • "Gloria was a loyal friend who loved life and all it had to offer.  She loved God, the Bible, St. Matthew's family and friends.  She loved music, dancing and poetry (especially, The Party by Paul Lawrence Dunbar).  She loved helping children learn.  It was her idea to get the globe that's in the library.  She thought it was important that they have a sense of the world and locations of their kin.  She loved traveling abroad and with her St. Christopher group.  She loved watching the sun set from her home." - Birdie Carter
  • "I spent precious moments with Gloria in the church office usually laughing heartily about stuff at the University of Minnesota, where she served as head secretary/assistant to Dean Ziebarth, whom she dearly loved. But my most vivid memory of her was at an Ash Wednesday service at noon in the chapel. We were kneeling at the rail and then Grant said, "You may rise." I thought I was saying to myself, "Easy for you to say." Gloria burst into spontaneous uproarious laughter, and we stood clinging to each other and laughing ourselves into tears. She forgave me. What a blessed lady." - Gail Noble
  • "I was privileged to know Gloria for 30+ years through our St. Matthew's family.  She was a steadfast member, and I always appreciated her interest in my family and her love for her own.  She and I talked often about her early years growing up in New York. Being a jazz lover, I savored her stories about going to the jazz clubs in Harlem, particularly the Savoy, where she saw many of  the greats including Duke Ellington and his orchestra.  She was a fascinating link to real musical history for me.  She will be missed." - Bruce Nerland
  • "I knew Gloria for over 30 years and will miss her smile, warmth and humor. It was always such a joy to talk to her, she had such great stories about her life. She had a strong faith and loved St Matthews and her friends here." - Tracy Dunnwald

The Episcopal Commons Project: This Sunday
Parishioner Dan White will offer an update of this important housing project at the Faith Forum this Sunday, January 31 at 9:15am in the library.
 
The Episcopal Church in Minnesota (ECMN), Episcopal Homes and St. Mark's Cathedral are entering into an exciting partnership with significant benefits for all concerned, including those of us who value our participation as members of the larger community of Episcopalians.

Presently the ECMN is housed in an old (and getting older) building near St. Mark's Cathedral.  The ECMN owns the land and building for the current office at 1730 Clifton Place and would like to free itself from steady and increasing maintenance needs.  St. Mark's needs parking.  Episcopal Homes would like to have a property in downtown Minneapolis.  The three entities are coming together in an innovative missional partnership to achieve all three objectives in one new structure.  Come learn about it on Sunday, January 31 when Dan White presents the project at 9:15am in the library.  This may well be the first time three different entities that all wear the Episcopal jersey are collaborating together to achieve something that none of them could achieve on their own.  Come and check it out! 
- A recent Sunday morning at Holy Trinity Episcopal
Lenten Discussions on Christian Reconciliation and Race   

This year during Lent we will partner with another Episcopal Church in St. Paul - Holy Trinity (located in the Midway neighborhood at 1636 Van Buren Ave).  Together, we will read and discuss Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice's powerful book Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace, and Healing.

Plan to join the conversation at St. Matthew's on Thursday evenings in the parish hall: February  18 & 25, and March 3.  We will gather for a  6:00 pm soup supper, followed by discussion from 6:45-8:30pm.  Each week we will pray and dwell in scripture together, using 2 Corinthians 5:16-21.

We will discuss the following chapters on these dates:
  • Feb 18: chapters 1-3
  • Feb 25:  chapters 4-6
  • March 3: chapters 7 & 8 
Sunday Evening Ministry Learnings 
By The Rev. Lisa Wiens Heinsohn

This year I have learned a number of things in the Sunday evening ministry:

(1) If we name the "spaces" in our rhythm as opportunities for God's Spirit to move and lead us, God's Spirit will do so! This summer we named the time without service as, not a "hiatus," but an opportunity for people to initiate gatherings that would be life-giving to them. This was tremendously generative. We had potlucks and taize services, singalongs with project home guests, bible studies in coffee shops, southside abbey style eucharist in Jeff Kidder's yard, an eight week experiment with daily prayer, and we got to know one another better. Out of this time, one of our young adult members has initiated a once monthly Sunday brunch for young adults that is independent of Sunday PM leadership and that continues to allow them to get to know one another and grow together.

(2) Details, and shared ownership of the details, do matter. All this time I have been trying to do everything myself, and I found out this actually ends up making a few key leaders stressed out, since they have continually felt "on call" to step in and cover what I obviously can't do all by myself. This year the leadership team has helped me name the areas where details are slipping through the cracks and come up with ways to manage those details in ways that are fairer for everyone and allow people to step in and "own" what needs to happen for Sunday night ministry. This has been a humbling but helpful learning for me!

(3) Our community is going much deeper spiritually than we have in the past. I am learning that we need opportunities for connecting in vulnerable and open ways about the ways faith intersects with our actual lives. I am not yet sure where this is going to go, but I do sense the need, and this is on the agenda for our Sunday evening leadership team to explore. 
Looking Ahead: Calendar Highlights
  • January 30: Northside Achievement Zone Tour, 10:00am
  • January 30: Community Art Show - Day for Artists to drop off their artwork, 10am - 1pm at church.
  • January 30: Funeral for Gloria Thayer, 2:00pm
  • January 31: Faith Forum: Episcopal Commons project, 9:15am
  • February 1: Funeral for Paul Savage, 11:00am
  • February 7: Opening Reception for The Celebration of Community Art Show
  • February 10: Ash Wednesday services at 12:00 and 5:30pm
 
Please share your news and photos with us: tidings@stmatthewsmn.org 

Visit our website for the prayer list, calendar and sermons