I have a poster that says, "If you can walk you can dance, and if you can talk you can sing." I believe it, but I'm sometimes scared to act on it.
Singing, at least in front of anyone besides my dogs, is scary for me. Those of you who see me in the church as an agent of change may have a difficult time believing that I too can find it frightening to try new and unfamiliar things.
But we're doing something new this Easter season. Between Easter Day and Pentecost we will be singing more of our Sunday service. Singing has always and everywhere been part of worship and especially part of thanksgiving. Singing our prayers is an important part of our Anglican tradition.
So for my lenten discipline I asked our team liturgist, Lu Tax, if she would help me learn to chant the Eucharistic Prayer. I kept reminding myself that our God, who created the raucous crows as well as the lovely nightingales, loves a joyful noise and delights in all our thanksgivings and songs. Lu is a gifted teacher and confidence builder, so I'm willing now to try something new. And if can do it, we all can.
Of course, God doesn't require us to sing for our supper. God's gifts are free, no strings attached. Yet the gifts and the supper are so sweet ... what better and more joyful way to offer our thanks than in song? So crows and nightingales, bullfrogs and beagles, priest and people, let us praise God with song.
"Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the whole earth.." (Psalm 96:1)
Blessings !
pat +
MEET OUR MINISTRY TEAM
Randy Welsand
St. John's, St Cloud
Called as Priest / Preacher
Greetings my brothers and sisters in Christ. Much has happened in the last year. As a team we have continued to grow together both spiritually and educationally. The third year of EFM has been a blessing and most importantly, I have begun to more fully understand my call. Called to ministry as a Priest / preacher, I have come to appreciate my place in the sharing of the priesthood of Christ as godparent to others on the same path. Postulancy! Preaching-stretching-learning-changing. To be of the order of Priests and to do the sacramental part of it. To pray on the tug of another call to pastoral care. To touch the hand of God, to do God's work. If I could use a single word to encompass the last year it would be growth. personal -spiritual -team . Rapidly approaching is candidacy in June, ordination to the Diaconate in December and to the Priesthood in June of 2002. Still lots to do! In God's name.
WHERE'S OUR TEAM
Johanna Morrigan, Our Saviour's
The Peace of Christ to all of you in Spirit of the Heartland. After a working retreat in March, the Ministry Team met at Good Samaritan on Holy Saturday for a reflective time of contemplation and prayer. Unfortunately there were so many things requiring attention, that the time for reflection was somewhat shorter than we had hoped for. There was time, however, for all of us to practice our chanting - with Lu, our Liturgist from Church of Our Saviour, providing tips and moral support for those of us who don't have a great deal of confidence in our abilities to chant. The day ended with a service for Holy Saturday. We were delighted that several members for Good Sam joined us for the service. It was a quiet and peaceful way to begin our preparations for Easter morning. We very much missed our ministers from St. Stephen's: Doris was home sick; Antonia was out in San Francisco finding housing and making plans to move in May; and Harriette was still in Arizona. We are saddened by the loss of Antonia, but happy and pleased for her and Erin as they embark on a new adventure. Harriette plans to be back with us early in May, and we pray that Doris is feeling hale and hearty.
There is growing excitement about events that are approaching in the near future. On June 3, Pentecost, our Preachers will be licensed at the 10:00 a.m. service at Church of Our Saviour in Little Falls. The preachers are Rob Cavanna, Randy Welsand, and Johanna Morrigan. They have completed two years of study and practice in preparation for licensure. They are very much looking forward to being joined by other Spirit of the Heartland folks who will be called and discerned for this vital ministry. We have noted that several folks are being called to preach. Our prayers are with them all, as well as with all of you who are being called to a variety of Parish and Team Ministries. We very much need each and every one of you to listen to God's call in your heart, and to respond with trust and faith in our Lord's need of you.
What is fondly being referred to as our "Dog and Pony Show" is being refined and will be presented in each of our churches this spring. We have had a great deal of delight and fun in developing this presentation. We hope that all of you will enjoy it. Stay tuned for more details. Meanwhile, our Outreach and Evangelism Minister, Harriette, is busy organizing Alpha groups for each of our communities. More information is coming about this as well.
We are scheduled to meet with the Commission on Ministry on June 9th at St. John's, St. Cloud. Following our Postulancy interview with the Bishop in December, this is the next big step along the road toward ordination and commissioning of your Team. We ask for your continued prayers and give thanksgiving for every one of you.
Yours in Christ, Johanna
MEET OUR PARISHIONERS
Bernice (Bunny) Zehren
Our Saviours
For eighty-three years I have been proud to be an Episcopalian. I was baptized, confirmed and married at St. John's Episcopal Church in Moorhead, MN.
After college, marriage and the war, Vern and I moved to Little Falls in 1950. We both taught in the Little Falls school system. During these years we were active in church affairs, serving as Senior Warden, Sunday school teacher for 17 years, co-chairperson of our annual turkey supper, altar guild and serving in many other ways. Our two sons were loyal acolytes and both received the God and Coventry Award.
We retired in 1980 and enjoyed ourselves until Vern's death in 1986. I have kept my home and keep busy gardening, reading, doing needlepoint, knitting, crocheting - as well as playing bridge several times a week!
I watched as our beautiful church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has always been a shrine in my eyes.
Now, in my golden years, I pray for the Total Ministry Team as they serve this wonderful church. May they be blessed with God's guidance and help.
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Good Samaritan, Sauk Centre, is beginning a news Bible Study Series on The Acts of the Apostles. Second and Fourth Tuesdays at noon.
St. Stephen's, Paynesville, continues a book study on The Dance of the Spirit on Thursday, May 3. Look for a new book study on C. S. Lewis in June.
MINISTRY DISCERNMENT?
The lists of names are right up front in all our parishes; please pray for them and for their ministries. Please check the list of ministries and note beside your name and the names of others those ways that you/they are serving or might in the future serve in our churches. Give thanks for all the wonderful things our ministers are doing.
ANNUAL MEETINGS & REVIEWS
Good Samaritan and St. Stephen's are in the process of changing their annual meeting times to summer, as Our Saviour's has already done. This year's "annual meetings" in Sauk Centre and Paynesville are "reviews" of the year rather than business meetings. Summer of 2002 will be our first summer annual meeting with elections and other business.
Here's the annual meeting schedule for this summer. Save the dates!
TRAINING EVENT
We are hosting a training event on June 2. See the Region News for details. As many as possible of our acolytes, lay Eucharistic ministers, lay readers, and altar guild ministers should attend. Each church is required to have at least one person from their altar guild at this meeting so they can pass the information on to any who may not be able to be there. In preparation for our team of sacramentalists who will be serving at all three of our parishes we need to begin now adjusting to a consistent arrangement on our altars.
MINISTRY DEVELOPERS' WORKSHOP
As part of her continuing education, Pat will be going to a workshop for total ministry mentors May 14-18 at the Institute for Anglican Ministry, St John's College in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Emergency messages left on her home phone answering machine will be forwarded to the appropriate team minister or a priest on call.
LICENSED LAY PREACHERS
On Pentecost Sunday, June 3, we will be commissioning three newly licensed lay preachers: Johanna Morrigan, Randy Welsand, and Rob Cavanna. Come celebrate their completion of the training program and our good fortune to have them with us.
WHERE OUR TEAM WILL BE
Look out, here we come! The Ministry Team will be attending worship all together on May 20 at St. Stephen's and Good Samaritan on May 20; and at Our Saviour's on June 3.
OUR SAVIOUR'S CHURCH CLEANING
After discussions at several Vestry meetings, it was agreed that the cleaning at the Church Of Our Saviour will have to be done by members of the congregation. We can either do it by individuals or by members of our coffee committees. We suggest the coffee committees work together as a group to accomplish these responsibilities. Duties to be done weekly would include:
We ask your cooperation in helping keep our church clean. A general cleaning will be scheduled in the spring for everyone.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! Your suggestions are most welcome!
The Vestry.
MAY BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES
Church of the Good Samaritan, Sauk Centre
May 1st -- Lois Kaufman
May 8th -- Cynthia Evans
May 24th -- Ivy Hildebrand
May 28th -- Thomas Pelkey
May 28th -- Cheyenne Pelkey
Church of Our Saviour, Little Falls
May 9th -- Millie Thomson
May 12th -- Marge & Mike Hayden
May 13th -- Lalo Quillo
May 15th -- Kori Quillo
May 26th -- Joe Hayden
May 30th -- Mike Hayden
St. Stephen's, Paynesville
May 14th -- Betty Halvorson
St. Johns's St. Cloud
May 6th -- Maren Kay Welsand
MINISTRY SCHEDULES
Good Samaritan
Our Saviour's
St. Stephen's
Read our Region News
Check our Calendar
Newsletter Archives
Return to Spirit of the Heartland INDEX