Ash Wednesday 2016
 
On the advice of a gardener friend, I don't cut down and remove dead flowers and plants when winter approaches, but leave them in place to cover and protect what is alive at their roots. Come spring, however, I remove the old, decaying stuff so the new can come forth. That is what Ash Wednesday and Lent are about for me, removing all the old growth, everything that is lifeless and keeping me from God, so that which is new and beautiful can come forth.

Ash Wednesday, the day marking the beginning of Lent, is not an easy day, but an important one. It is a day when we name the truth about our selves and our lives, that we are mortal and "to dust you shall return." We also repent or "turn" from whatever is not of or is keeping us from God. We are reminded that new life, hope, and eternal life is a gift from God.

The litany leaves us feeling quite exposed. It names all the ways we have been unfaithful, deaf, self-indulgent, prideful, envious, impatient, uncharitable, and wasteful. Here and elsewhere in the Ash Wednesday service we are reminded that God loves God's creation, including us. At the same time, it is only by God's mercy and grace that we are saved from our selves and the destructive words and actions of others.
In her book Learning to Walk in the Dark, Barbara Brown Taylor talks about "solar Christianity," a thin version of faith and worship where it is only permissible to be happy and upbeat. Ash Wednesday, on the other hand, is about reality. There is plenty to lament in our selves and our world. The goal is not to beat ourselves up with guilt and shame, but to ask God for forgiveness and a new beginning.

I encourage you to attend St. Matthew's Ash Wednesday services at noon or 5:30 pm, and to observe a Holy Lent. If you do, I am confident that God will honor and bless your honesty and will help you remove the old growth, so that new life can come forth.
Faithfully,
Blair
 
Northside Achievement Zone Tour: Learnings
 
The purpose of the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) is to permanently close the achievement gap and end generational poverty in North Minneapolis. Multiple efforts are underway to come alongside families and young children with wraparound services to improve their lives, focusing on education, social, health and economic strategies.

A St. Matthew's contingent of about 30 people visited the neighborhood last weekend by bus, led by Don Samuels, Mike Christenson and Tina Maynor. We wanted to engage parishioners in the work of renewal underway in this historically challenged neighborhood. If we want to walk alongside those in need - what is the landscape they live in? What are the challenges, opportunities, pockets of energy and hope in North Minneapolis?

Here are a few important learnings from the tour:
  • The historic perspective of the neighborhood is important to understand what is happening today. The Civil Rights era of the 1960's offered a sea change in integration, allowing people to choose where they live. The results are mixed. Many affluent African Americans moved out of the neighborhood to live in the suburbs, leaving a more struggling group behind, without the leadership of a more stable population.
  • Over time, the Northside became a place where societies' ills coalesced. Drug dealing, prostitution, higher placement of sex offenders and gang activity prevailed, contributing to a cycle of chaos and poverty. 
  • Newcomers - recent immigrants to our country often land first in challenged neighborhoods like the Northside, adding additional stress, but also new life. 
  • Traditional places of stability in cities do not necessarily offer support. Churches and pastors are often not helping the community as they should. Even though large amounts of social capital are expended in schools, police, fire and social services, many leaders do not live in the neighborhoods.
  • Despite the challenges, there are important pockets of energy and hope in North Minneapolis. Many are forging new partnerships to improve housing, schools, economic opportunity and social change.
  • Housing is being renewed by non-profit organizations, the federal government and individual efforts. Examples include Heritage Square, Cottage Park, the Eco-Village and Urban Homeworks.
  • Economic development along commercial corridors is underway by private developers, the City of Minneapolis and nonprofit organizations.
    New partnerships are offering hope to those needing employment, including good public sector jobs. 
  • The Northside Achievement Zone was started 5 years ago with significant federal investment to intervene in the cycle of poverty. Progress is being made with strong leadership and partnerships among existing service providers - currently 1,870 children are enrolled in the program. 
  • Many St. Matthew's parishioners have contributed to the re-energizing of North Minneapolis. Some, like Tina Maynor, live and work there. Others work or volunteer their time to organizations dedicated to improving the lives of others. This spirit of renewal is in St. Matthew's DNA. 
  • How can we leverage the existing efforts of parishioners to forge new and existing partnerships and information? Can we work smarter - improving our combined wisdom, connections and skills?

A discussion of this pilgrimage and our learnings is also underway on The City - our new online social media tool. Many more perspectives are being shared in this important space. Please login and join the conversation.  Also, Cecelia Caspram of the Social Justice Ministry will organize a follow up meeting soon  Here are links to several organizations offering new life and directions. There is much to learn from their examples: Urban Homeworks, Juxtaposition Arts, Northside Achievement Zone,  St. Jane House.  

- Artist Hazel Belvo                              
Celebration of Community Art Show  

The Art Ministry at St. Matthew's is pleased to announce its 18th Annual "Celebration of Community" Art Show in the Undercroft Gallery this month.  A wide variety of art is included in this year's show including paintings, pottery, photography and mixed media.  Everyone is invited to meet the artists at a special reception this Sunday, February 7 at 6:00pm.  

New this year is the decision to have a juried show with prizes given in various categories.  Well known artist and educator Hazel Belvo was the decision maker and jurist for the show.  Here are the criteria she used to evaluate the art:
  •  Does your work show you have developed aesthetic standards by which you can evaluate what you want to happen?  How your process is working for you?  Can you judge your final work based on your aesthetic standards?
  • Does your work show that the relationship between your formal and your conceptual choices are intentional?  That is does your use of the language and your ideas work together?
  •  Does your art show that you are thinking and seeing in an independent way?  Are you constructing meaning in contemporary culture?

Sheltering Arms Sunday, February 7

Mission: The Sheltering Arms Foundation invests in the lives of Minnesota's children to help them reach their full potential.  They fund non-profit organizations and support policies that benefit children and their families who have the least access to resources.

History: Sheltering Arms, founded in 1882 by Deaconess Annette Relf, is governed by a Board of Trustees composed of women members of the Episcopal Church of Minnesota. In response to the changing needs of children Sheltering Arms successively operated an orphanage, a hospital for children with polio, and a day school for special needs children. In 1983, Sheltering Arms was reincorporated as The Sheltering Arms Foundation. Consistent with the beliefs of the founders, the Foundation continues to be committed to the well being of children.

Our Bishop Brian Prior writes in his blog "on this Sunday, we are calling on our faith communities to consider what can be done to nurture and protect vulnerable children, and what roles they can play in making this happen."
He  encourages everyone to visit the Sheltering Arms Foundation's website.
 
Coming Soon: Lent Madness 2016
By John Lawyer
 
Which saint do you prefer - Julian of Norwich or William Wilberforce? Sojourner Truth or Soren Kierkegaard? Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Athanasius? You'll get a chance to boost your choice on Feb. 15, 24, or 26, respectively, among other contests in this year's Lent Madness.

Sponsored by Forward Movement and started a few years ago, Lent Madness is a computerized ladder which pits l6 pairs of saints against each other in an electronic popularity contest. Winners go head to head on subsequently higher rungs, with one contest each weekday across Lent - the Saintly 16, the Elect 8, the Faithful 4, and finally the Golden Halo Winner. Anyone can play at any time; simply go to www.lentmadness.org and cast your daily vote. Past Golden Halo winners include C.S. Lewis (2011), Mary Magdalene (2012), and last year's Francis of Assisi.

A Celebrity Blogger provides a short campaign biography for each contestant to help you make a dispassionate choice. However you should be warned that feelings flare high as the race tightens. When Kamehameha was in the running a few years back the Bishop of Hawaii is reported to have mobilized his entire island diocese to push the cause. Frances Perkins, Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor and the first woman Cabinet member, who gave us Social Security, unemployment compensation, the minimum wage and the 40 hour week, was vaulted into the Golden Halo allegedly due to the energetic mobilization of the New York State Department of Labor and the Vassar Alumnae Association. A similar attempt to promote St. Brigit among various bureaucrats and beer lovers in Washington DC in 2015 propelled her into second place and an unprecedented Silver Halo, though not without some allegations of voter fraud due to too many people using the same computer. Which is not to suggest that any particular parish should form a voting bloc, even if their youth group is joining the fray for the first time this year, unless they really, really want to. Contact Terese Lewis for details. Also, be sure to cast each vote on a separate computer. 
Looking Ahead: Calendar Highlights
  • February 7: Opening Reception for The Celebration of Community Art Show
  • February 10: Ash Wednesday services
  • February 18, 25 and March 3: Lenten Series - Book discussion of "Reconciling All Things"
  • February 21: Lenten Taize Candlelight Prayer, 7:00pm
  • February 28: Loaves and Fishes at the Dorothy Day Center
 
Please share your news and photos with us: [email protected] 

Visit our website for the prayer list, calendar and sermons