PASTOR'S MESSAGE
"Now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:2).
With crowds of millennial Pentecost pilgrims, I toured the Holy Lands - Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more. Tourists and pilgrims, more sightseeing and souvenirs than prayers. People trying to walk where Jesus walked and to buy trinkets that Jesus' first disciples never imagined.
In a boat on the Sea of Galilee, wading in the Jordon River, or walking the streets of Jerusalem, I wonder why I made the journey. To find sermon examples? To buy books and icons? To find new understanding? To walk in Jesus' footsteps?
I confess a faith not only in Jesus, a man who lived in particular place at a particular time long past, but also in the real presence of Christ in the lives of those who love him. I believe God's presence is as real back home in the liturgy, the ladies guild, or the nursing home as it is in the Holy Lands. If I can't meet Jesus in Central Minnesota, I'm unlikely to find him in Jerusalem. So why not stay home?
Yet I visit the traditional places of pilgrimage. I go to both the Garden Tomb and the Holy Sepulchre, knowing that both can't be the place where Jesus was buried and that possibly neither is, in actual historical fact, where the broken body of Jesus of Nazareth was laid. Yet both places are somehow overwhelmingly holy. I do the tourist thing with the cameras. I do the prayer thing, too, pausing to touch the cold stone. There are verses echoing in my heart, something memorized long ago. But it is not scripture.
If you came this way,
Touching the stone. Touching the prayers of the multitudes. The factual is suddenly set aside - whether Jesus body was laid here or there no longer matters - what matters is that in these places prayer has been valid. In community -- the community of faith and the communion of saints -- through prayer, this place is holy. At both the Holy Sepulchre and at the Garden Tomb, the empty tomb of the resurrection is real and present in spirit and in truth.
In pilgrimage one meets the Holy in spirit and in truth, whether in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity or a Central Minnesota convenience store. I am profoundly blessed to have been to the Holy Lands where I touched and was touched by the prayers of so many faithful pilgrims. And I am profoundly blessed to return home again.
We shall not cease from explorationPeace!
pat+
(Both quotations are from T.S. Eliot's "Little Gidding")
Harriette Burkhalter
St. Stephen's, Paynesville
Called to Evangelism and Outreach
I'm one of those "cradle Episcopalians" and a participant in the services at St. Stephens since the mid 1970's. We have a farm outside Eden Valley which was a weekend home for us, while living in Hopkins and being part of St. David's Parish. With Jack's retirement in 1997 we're now Minnesotans in the summer and Arizonans in the winter. We have 2 kids, and two children-in-law, and a lovely granddaughter age 2 1/2.
For most of my adult life I have had some responsibility for the work of the church. Sunday school teacher, guild member, vestry member, and all the other things that make it possible to spread the good news. The opportunity to be part of the ministry team provides me the chance to learn and work from a different perspective and I treasure and enjoy this special time.
Thank you for your support as we move on with total ministry.
WHERE'S OUR TEAM?
The team meeting was held at St. John's in St. Cloud on Saturday, June 10th. The Reverend Connie Claxton facilitated the preaching group in the morning, while The Reverend Dick Bormes facilitated the afternoon session. A film was shown concerning present and future direction of the church, followed by a discussion. One of the themes presented was how to reach and maintain active participation by the youth of the church.
The ministry team would like invite all interested people to consider becoming a member. It's a wonderful opportunity to explore you own commitment to the church, strengthen your own faith, and form friendships with other members.
LuciaPlan to attend the next team meeting - open forum 2-4pm on July 8th at Our Savior's in Little Falls.
TEAM MEETING
All are invited to attend the open session of the Team Meeting at 2pm on Saturday, July 8th at Our Savior's in Little Falls.
The topics under discussion will be Cheerleading and Traditioning: Building up the Church.
THE PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS
It's Saturday morning and the people are gathered at the church. There are a dozen lay people, a deacon, and three priests. Morning Prayer is led by one of the lay ministers. The lay people are being trained to be Lay Eucharistic Visitors - to take Communion after Sunday worship to people who are hospitalized or homebound. It is part of their ministry. The deacon is leading the training. One of the priests is copying Sunday service sheets, another is coloring and cutting out paper dolls for a bulletin board, and the third priest has gone out to pick up refreshments for the lay people. All is ministry, all is holy, set apart for the building up of the church. God calls us all in a multitude of unexpected ways to love and serve God and God's people.
Listen carefully. God is calling you also.
MINISTRY TEAM DISCERNMENT SCHEDULE
Please keep these dates in your prayers as we call new people to our ministry team:
-- July 1, Saturday, 10 am to 2 pm. Cluster Discernment Meeting at Good Samaritan. One representative from each congregation.
VISITORS !
Spirit of the Heartland Churches will soon be welcoming an assortment of diocesan visitors.
GOOD SAM PARISH PICNIC
Get ready for fun! Sunday, July 30, following worship, come to Pete and Lucia Wilson's for a pot-luck picnic on the lake. Deep-fat fried turkey will be provided; please bring a side dish. Get directions at church that morning, or from Pete or Lucia at lucipete@meltel.net or 320-285-5022.
MULTI-MEDIA TOUR OF THE HOLY LANDS
Pictures, music, prayer, food, icons.... but no smelly camels. Catch a glimpse of Pat's recent pilgrimage to Egypt, Israel, and the Greek Islands. You might even consider joining a Spirit of the Heartland Holy Lands pilgrimage a few years from now.
Good Samaritan -- Sunday, August 6, at 12 pm
MENTORING NEW MEMBERS
Do you love the Episcopal Church and her traditions? Do you like to meet and spend time with new people? Are you open to sharing your gifts with others? WELL, have we got a ministry for you . . . there is a new program in the Spirit of the Heartland Churches. We have begun a New Member Mentoring program. What this entails is meeting with new members three times to welcome them to the church, help them to understand what the church is, how it operates, how to use the Book of Common Prayer and answer questions that they may have. Mentors will then present new members to the Bishop for either confirmation or reception into the church. What it means is sharing the Christ within yourself with someone who is seeking to nourish and nurture the Christ within themselves. And along the way, everyone benefits. If you are interested in being a mentor or need more information, please talk with Pat.
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Good Samaritan - Bible Study on the Letters of John. Tuesdays,
July11 & 25 and August 8 & 29 at noon.
St. Stephen's - Book Study on Bishop Whipple, Thursdays, July
6, August 3 & 31, at 11:00 am.
JULY BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES
Church of Our Saviour
July 3rd Charles and Jana PrebleChurch of the Good Samaritan
July 4th Katie BromenSt. Stephen's Episcopal Church
July 20th Antonia Kehr
St. John's Episcopal Church
July 2nd Ben Welsand
MINISTRY SCHEDULES
Good Samaritan
Our Saviour's
St. Stephen's
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