PASTOR'S NOTE

I"I want their hearts to be encouraged and knit together in love..." Colossians 2:2

That's my wish for you all – for our ministry together, in our team and in our parishes.

We talk a lot about "unity in diversity." We talk about bringing together all our various differing gifts into one united whole, that we hope will become the Body of Christ in our world. We have a wonderful team of ministers called to lead us in this work.

We talk, too, about sharing the priesthood and about collaborative ministry. But when we put our unity and diversity together with the sharing and collaboration, we can easily end up tied in knots and wondering, "Who's in charge here, anyway?"

We won't have a rector like we did before. Now we will have a "pastoral mentor" instead. While that mentor may have "priest in charge" authority, who knows what that might mean for people ministering together as a team. Our team ministers and our vestries wonder who has authority to make which decisions. And we may get all tangled up again.

If we do want our "hearts to be encouraged and knit together in love" finishing that passage from Colossians might help us begin to see some pattern in the tangles and knots.

"so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

Those treasures are hidden in us, Christ's presence in the world. From the middle of the confusing and sometimes painful tangle, we may miss the ‘big picture' and the beautiful pattern that God sees in our togetherness.

Who's in charge here? It's a mystery. Let us hope that mystery is Christ himself. May our ministry together increasingly center on that Mystery as we grow in wisdom and knowledge.

Blessings !
pat+

MEET OUR MINISTRY TEAM

I am a "cradle Episcopalian". I was baptized confirmed, and married at The Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour in Faribault, MN. The liturgy of the Episcopal Church has been an important part of my life. For those who may not know what liturgy is, the word liturgy means "the work of the people". In the church, it refers to our system of public worship. A Liturgist is one who plans and crafts our worship services. Most come from The Book of Common Prayer, though there are many other resources we draw from when crafting these services. As time goes on, I would like to explore other sources for our common prayer.

Even as a child, I took part in our worship services through music. After coming to Church of Our Saviour in Little Falls 22 years ago, I began serving in other ways as well. I am a lector, LEM (Lay Eucharistic Minister, or chalice bearer), Lay Reader, and have served as Sr. and Jr. Wardens and vestry member.

My husband, Joe, and I live in the country between Pierz and Little Falls. We have a business in Pierz, and have lived in the area for about 23 years. We have a son, Peter, who just finished his fourth year of college. This past year he studied in Copenhagen, Denmark. This coming fall he will return to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California, where he will finish his architecture degree.

About seven years ago, I enrolled in a two-year course sponsored by our diocese called Leadership Program for Musicians in Small Parishes, or LPM. It was a great course, and really sparked my interest in liturgy, and how/why all the elements of our services go together as they do. Soon after completing the course, I began to work with Charlie Preble (our priest at the time) in the capacity of Liturgist for our church in Little Falls.

I will be working with all three of our Spirit of the Heartland Churches. Tradition is very important in the Episcopal Church, therefore every care will be taken to maintain tradition in each church while moving toward a commonality between our churches. (This will be necessary since our churches will share sacramentalists, deacons & preachers, etc.). The beauty of The Book of Common Prayer is that it is a framework, and a very sturdy one, encouraging us to live and grow through our worship. It also encourages us to make new traditions as our church communities grow. I look forward to this process!

Soon I will have a mentor to work with in the field of liturgy. Eventually all of the team ministers will have mentors in their fields as well. The studying I have done in the past, and the training we are receiving as the Spirit of the Heartland Total Ministry Team in formation, has deepened my understanding of the church year, our liturgies, and most importantly my own faith.

• Cedar Morrigan, Our Saviour's
• Cynthia Evans, Good Samaritan
• Doris Dodds, St. Stephen's
• Harriette Burkhalter, St. Stephen's
• Jan (Zippy) Zeman, Our Saviour's
• Johanna Morrigan, Our Saviour's
• Lu Tax, Our Saviour's
• Maren Kay Welsand, St. John's
• Randy Welsand, St. John's
• Rob Cavanna, St. John's
• Roger Phillips, Good Samaritan

WHERE'S OUR TEAM?

Our team held its monthly meeting on June 8th at "The Farm" of Harriette Burkhalter near Eden Valley, MN. It was a restful setting for all of us when we were able to find the time to take a break during our busy schedule. Our session began with prayer, followed by check-in time and reflection on team ministry and the question, "Why am I here, really?" We shared our reflective assessments of the gifts we each bring to the team and the gifts we each receive from the team.

We spent some time reviewing our team covenant and discussing any need for changes or additions. Of particular note was a focus on our growing roles within the sphere of Spirit of the Heartland parishes and the "nuts and bolts" of coordination of communications and administration of our team in the service of our churches and communities. We also explored preparation of a project grant to aid us in reaching our communications objectives.

A lot of work and heart goes into our team formation meetings as we learn and grow spiritually toward a common goal of ministering to the many needs of our church families. In the center of learning, exploring our individual gifts, laughter, tears and music, is our faith in God's love for all of His children and thanksgiving for the teachings of Jesus that brought us the knowledge of His love and the responsibility we all share in loving and helping one another as we travel this special pathway called life. God bless you all,
- Jan Zeman (Zippy) - Jan Zeman (Zippy)

CHANGE IN CALLING
by Rosemary Phillips

It was with much thought and prayer that I submitted my resignation from the Spirit of the Heartland Team. When I received the call from the Team, I stated I was "willing to be called." However, as time went on, I found that instead of confirming that call, I was, in fact, feeling that I did not have a particular ministry on the Team leading me to conclude that I did not have a call to Team Ministry.

While I will continue to provide whatever help I can to the Team and am completely supportive of Roger's involvement in it, I believe I should not be on the Team at this point in my life. I look forward to participating in parish life at Good Samaritan while we are in Minnesota.

MEET OUR PARISH MINISTERS

Rose Ekegren and Gene Huber
St. Stephen's

I, Rose, have been a member of St. Stephens for about twenty years or more. My husband and I have a lake home on Lake Koronis where we spend long weekends from mid April through most of October. Our other residence is in Savage, MN. So we have two church homes. St. Stephen's in Paynesville and St. Nicholas in Richfield. I have been actively taking part in the church services for about ten years. First reading sermons, then prayers of the people, the lessons, and lately even leading morning prayer. I must say I enjoy doing it, however if anyone ever would have told me I would be participating in the services this much I would have told them they were day dreaming. I have been and Episcopalian for nearly 48 years, previous to that I was Roman Catholic. Gene and I are fairly newlyweds of two and one half years. Gene started attending church with me soon after we met. He now is Junior Warden of St. Stephen's (he has made me ‘assistant') and is working hard trying to tidy up the grounds around the church and taking care of other odd jobs that nee attention. He also is beginning to read the lessons and prayers of the people during the services. We are both happy serving the church in our limited capacities.

BISHOP TO VISIT GOOD SAM

The Right Reverend James L. Jelinek will visit Good Samaritan Church for the July 28th service. Later in the day he will meet with the SOH team at 2 p.m.

SUNDAY WORSHIP TIMES

9:00 am St. Stephen's in Paynesville
(320)243-2012
320 Wendell Street, Paynesville, MN 56362

10:00 am Our Saviour's in Little Falls
(320)-632-5731)
113 NE 4th Street (PO Box 344) Little Falls, MN 56345

11:00 am Good Samaritan in Sauk Centre
(320)-352-6882
529 Main Street (PO Box 205) Sauk Centre, MN 56378

WEDNESDAY NOON PRAYER

12:00 pm Our Saviour's in Little Falls

ANNUAL MEETINGS

Plan to attend your parish annual meeting scheduled for this month:
St. Stephen's Sunday, July 7, 2:00 pm
Our Saviour's Sunday, July 14, 11:15 am
Good Samaritan Sunday, July 21, 12:15 pm

VESTRY MEETINGS FOR JULY

July 10, 7:00 pm Our Saviour's

WHERE'S PAT?

There's a lot going on with the ministry team these days and in our parishes. With all that busyness, our mentor is sometimes out of sight. During the fall, as the team ministers take on more active leadership, I, Pat, will increasingly be moving to support behind the scenes rather than up-front leadership.

After our team is commissioned in October, I will remain full time with our Spirit of the Heartland Churches until the end of the year. During this transition time, I will be primarily offering resources and continuing support and supervision for our team ministers rather than practicing hands-on parish ministry.

In January, I will shift from being full-time ministry developer for Spirit of the Heartland to a quarter-time combination of "pastoral mentor" and "team pinch hitter." Most of my time will be spent as mentor, supporting and supervising the team ministers. I will also serve our churches in any team ministry role that is temporarily vacant, for example, Christian Education Minister.

If more than one team ministry role is vacant, we may look for grant money to hire an additional part-time staff person, or the team may share that role, or some things may be ‘left undone that ought to have been done' until we call more people to team ministry.

I will still appear regularly, though much less frequently, in our churches on Sundays, rotating with other sacramentalists and preachers. I will minister in our churches one Sunday a month – so you can count on seeing me in your church every other month.

Pat Gillespie

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

* Good Samaritan continues a Bible Study on the Psalms, meeting 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at noon.

* St. Stephen's regular 11 am first Thursday Book Study falls this month on Independence Day. Contact Pat to see if it will meet then or be rescheduled. The topic is Christian Denominations.

* Our Saviour's World Religions group will meet on Wed., July 24th at 7 PM at the Black & White Café. The topic is World Religions, this month studying Buddhism. Come at 6 PM and join us for a bite to eat before the class.

EFM GRADUATION

EFM (Education for Ministry) graduates, Johanna and Cedar Morrigan of Our Saviour's will be celebrated during the service on July 14th. Johanna, also a trained mentor of the Little Falls group, will continue as mentor for the coming year. Thanks, Johanna, for your superb mentoring of the Little Falls Group

Cedar expressed her thoughts about their four year study and graduation, "I am pleased to have had the opportunity to be in EFM EFM offered me many gifts! Leaving a close knit community of prayer, discussion, reflection, growth, laughter, tears, and good food will be a difficult adjustment for me. Good bye to my group and welcome to new members who will be joining this fall."

EFM is for anyone interested in personal enrichment and sharing their spiritual journey in a community of prayer and reflection. If you are interested in becoming part of next year's EFM program, which starts in September, please contact +Pat or Johanna.

SPIRIT OF THE HEARTLAND COUNCIL

The quarterly meeting of the council will be held at St. Stephen's Church in Paynesville August 6th.

MAGNETIC CHURCH

On June 14th parishioners from Spirit of the Heartland gathered at St. Stephen's in Paynesville to have a pot luck dinner and have some fun and comraderie with one another. A presentation was made on "Red Door Evangelism" and we spent a considerable amount of time laughing at ourselves as a denomination and how we need to improve our efforts at outreach and evangelism.

We covered a lot of topics that evening. These are ten practical things that each of us can do both personally and as congregations to make ourselves better known in our communities and at the same time to attract newcomers to our churches:

1. Invite a neighbor, friend, co-worker, acquaintance to church for a Sunday service this summer.
2. Have a bake sale and/or garage sale this summer just as Good Samaritan is doing.
3. Have a fund raiser at a local supermarket. (for example, Good Sam at Coborn's in Sauk Centre). Good Sam parishioners will be selling brats and pop and raising money at the same time.
4. Pray for your communities and the people in them.
5. Pray for growth and the success of attracting new members.
6. Each congregation should choose one "official" greeter who has good communication skills and who likes doing this ministry. Choose someone who is positive about church growth and one who is sincere about bringing others closer to Christ.
7. Live what you say you believe in church. Visitors will sense that our parishes are living out the Gospel in how they care for and love one another.
8. If there's an opportunity this summer or early fall to offer some musical concert/program, invite area musicians to play in your home church. This will bring people not familiar with us into our churches.
9. Don't be afraid to talk about your faith to others. They just may like what they hear and want to learn about the church you attend. Remember, denominational loyalty is a thing of the past! People want to come to a loving and caring church where they sense Christ's presence and they feel loved and affirmed.
10. Talk positively about your parish to everyone - visitors, newcomers, community people and anyone who asks you questions about your parish. This will convey a positive attitude about the future. Don't forget, no one is going to get excited about a "struggling" church!

These are my Top 10 Ways to Do Evangelism right in the ‘here and now'. They aren't any lofty theological or "pie in the sky" theories. Any of you can do them or help accomplish them. If we commit ourselves to bringing others closer to Jesus Christ, our outreach work will blossom and strengthen over time and our numbers will grow beyond our wildest expectations. Don't you want to be part of this exciting and energizing venture?

The Rev. Rob Cavanna, Deacon, Spirit of the Heartland

ALPHA CONFERENCE

A reminder that there will be an Alpha Conference at Hosanna Lutheran church in Lakeville on Monday and Tuesday, July 22 and 23, 2002. Contact Harriette Burkhalter harrijack@meltel.net or320-453-7805 if you are interested.

CIRCLE OF LIFE

David Mitzel, Church of our Saviour youth, recently joined with 10 other people as a group called The Circle of Life on a mission to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the area of Hot Srpings, SD. Supervised by Greg Spofford, Morrison County Volunteer Network Coordinator, they left at 6:30 a.m. on the 10th of June and returned late Friday afternoon on the 14th. David tells us that while there, they built 5 outhouses, painted outhouses, and built three oak decks.

David expressed his thanks to the Spirit of the Heartland team for sponsoring him on this venture. This was David's second year participating in Circle of Life mission and he is hoping to continue in the years to come.

BUILDING UPDATE
On June 17th Harriette Burkhalter and Jan Zeman met with the Diocesan Property Trustee's Committee at St. Mark's Cathedral in Minneapolis. The committee unanimously approved the building plans for Our Saviour's new parish hall addition. The next step will be a meeting with the Diocesan Trustee's committee on July 15th. One local contractor has presented an estimate for construction costs and a second contractor is in process of doing the same.

SUNDAY BULLETINS
Marge Campbell is now preparing a Sunday Bulletin for Our Saviour's. Any news items for this should be put in her mailbox, or e-mailed to her by 8 AM Thursday at MAC1TOBE@ aol.com.

WHEEL CHAIR ACCESSIBLE PEWS
Much muscle was displayed by Paul Schlauderaff, Jon Lovdahl and John Carlson on Sunday, June 23rd when they hauled two long pews from the basement into a van for a trip off to a finishing shop where they will be cut down in length to provide two wheel chair accessible spots in our sanctuary. Thanks, guys.
Donations to help defray the costs of these worthy accommodation are most welcome.

GOOD SAMARITAN PICNIC
Mark your calendars now for Good's Sam's summer picnic which will be held on Sunday, August 25th at the Hughes Cottage on the north shore of Big Birch Lake.

VESTRY HIGHLIGHTS

Our Saviour's
June 12

• Pete Wilson of Good Samaritan attended the June vestry meeting offered his help with our building project . This is much appreciated the committee will be calling on him.
• Pat reported that the Building Fund pledges and donations are now over the $100,000 mark.
• Zippy and Harriette will be attending the Diocesan Property Trustees meeting on June 17 to present the building plans for approval. The plans have been sent out for a second bid.
• Our operating expenses loan request for $10,000 has been approved.
• The third sunday of each month has been designated as a time for loose change offering to go to the Ministry Team discretionary fund to help pay for any needed expenses of team members.
• The annual meeting will be held on July 14 following the morning Please plan to attend and we will try to keep it short.

Good Samaritan
May 19

• Fund-raisers were planned for a yard sale on June 21 and 22 and a food sale at Coborns on July 5and 6
• Caring Tokens money (100) was sent to St Edwards, Wayzata
• Discussed potential sponsorship of Morris University Episcopal Mission.
• Pat presented an excellent summary of team responsibility.

Good Samaritan
June 16

• Discussed plans for the June and July fund raisers.
• Voted to postpone Alpha until next year.
• Look seriously at sponsoring mission at Morris University.
• Discussed preparation for the Bishop's visit on July 28.
• Annual meeting set for July 21.
• Next vestry meeting will be same as annual meeting.

St. Stephen's
June 16

• Moved the altar forward.
• Discussed plans for donating to the team discretionary fund as voted by the Spirit of the Heartland Council, beginning January 2003.

CHURCH RECIPE
Courtesey of Maren Kay Welsand

APPLE PIE CAKE

½ cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda (dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water)
1 cup flour
2 & ½ cup diced apples (peeled or not peeled)

Mix all ingredients together and put in a 9-inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

JULY BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES

Church of the Good Samaritan, Sauk Centre
July 4th Katie Bromen
July 6th Renee Schwanke
July 8th Clayton Peterson
July 11th Aubrey Schwanke
July 18th Arien Schwanke
July 23rd Richard & Monica Schulzetenberg
July 28th Steve Neville

St. Stephen'sr, Paynesville
July 6th Sandy Halvorson
July 20th Antonia Kehr

Church of Our Saviour, Little Falls
July 3rd Charles & Jana Preble
July 10th Margery Brandt
July 15th Maway Quillo
July 15th Elizabeth Quillo
July 20th Hayden Brandt
July 27th Jana Preble

St. Johns, St. Cloud
July 8th Randy & Maren Kay Welsand
July 21st Hi & Priscilla Gray

MINISTRY SCHEDULES

Good Samaritan
Our Saviour's
St. Stephen's

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