Hennepin Happenings
News & Events @ Hennepin Avenue UMC
February 15, 2019
FEATURED EVENTS
Unity Celebration and Shared Worship
February 17, 10am in the Sanctuary

We will be celebrating unity and sharing worship with Brooklyn United Methodist Church to prepare our hearts for the Special Session of the General Conference in St. Louis.

As we celebrate being a diverse and vital church that is ready to face the future with faith, we'll take time to bless our Minnesota delegates, pray for the Special Session, and receive a message from Rev. Rich Zeck (Pastor, Brooklyn UMC): "In Between Us."

Members of the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus and Chamber Singers will inspire us with their presence and song, and the Sanctuary Choirs of both congregations will combine to minister side by side. Invite your family and friends. Brunch will be in the Social Hall following worship.
Love is Love is Love is Love:
Hennepin Singers Concert & Dessert Buffet
February 16, 7pm in the Art Gallery

A love-themed musical celebration, featuring a choral concert by the Hennepin Singers under the direction of Shari Speer, and accompanied by a sumptuous catered dessert buffet.

Tickets are $25 per person and are on sale here.
Final Call for Lenten Devotional Submissions

Throughout Lent, the congregation will reflect on feeling immersed in and sustained by a "Wellspring of Hope." Each week has a question to ponder: Where do you feel... Well-loved? Well-tended? Well-received? Well-prepared? Well-guarded? Well-protected? Please write an original reflection, poem, or prayer of 250 words or less responding to one of these hopeful questions.

Due Monday, February 18 at noon to communications@haumc.org .
Community Conversations:
Understanding & Addressing Implicit Bias
February 25, 6:30pm at Episcopal Church in MN
1101 W Broadway Ave, Minneapolis

Implicit bias is used to describe times when we have attitudes towards people or associate stereotypes with them without our conscious knowledge. Come and learn how you can understand your implicit biases and ways to address them. This conversation will be led by Dr. Talalya L. Tolefree and Mr. Patrick Seka.
Dr. Tolefree is a Circle Keeper, Trainer and founder and CEO of Koinonia Leadership Academy where she uses the Restorative Practices Engagement Circle Framework to provide leadership development and restorative practices consulting, coaching, implementation and training to schools, nonprofits and faith-based communities.
 
Mr. Patrick Seka is a seasoned community advocate with expertise in relationship building. He has spent more than 20 years in the Minnesota school system working with at-risk youth. Since being trained in the circle process by Alice Lynch in 2012, Mr. Seka has incorporated circle processes in his work as the Student Success Coordinator and Restorative Practices Specialist at Paladin Career & Technical High School. He has his B.A. in Human Service from Metropolitan State University.
 
RSVP to info@rjca-inc.org . $10 donation requested.
MINISTRY NEWS
Pub Theology: Spirited Conversations, Spiritual Matters
February 20, 6-7:30pm
Sisyphus Brewing
712 Ontario Avenue W #100 Minneapolis, MN 55403
This drop-in group of Hennepin members and friends age 21+ gathers monthly to discuss faith, life, stress, family, and so on with a tasty beverage. Invite a friend to join you, and learn more at haumc.org/pubtheology.
Progressive Christianity
February 24, 11:15am in the Harrison Room

All are welcome to this discussion group, which meets the second and fourth Sundays of the month. We will be discussing the trial of Jesus.
Confirmation Spring Retreat
March 1-2, Camp Koronis, Paynesville

8th-9th Graders: take a road trip to Camp Koronis to join 100 other United Methodist Confirmation students from across Minnesota for workshops, service projects, and games. The retreat is free, but registration is required, and we need to register early!

Register at haumc.org/register .
Entry Point: Becoming a Member
March 3, 11:30am in the Longfellow Room

If you are interested in becoming a member of HAUMC, please join us at Entry Point to meet Rev. Judy Zabel and have your questions about membership answered. Child care is available.

RSVP to Larry Duncan at 612-435-1309 or larry@haumc.org.
Adulting 101: What to Say When You Don't Know What to Say
March 3, 1pm in the Longfellow Room

When tragedy strikes, we’re often without words, so we’re too nervous to reach out. Or in desperation to say something, we say anything, including words that seem helpful but aren’t. In this pivotal workshop, learn ways to be a trusted, listening lifeline to a friend in crisis. Get the skills you need to be ready for bad news so you can say and do the right thing when someone close to you is hurting.

RSVPs are helpful but not necessary. RSVP to Nate Melcher at nate@haumc.org.
Youth Mission Trip 2019:
Parent/Teen Informational Meeting
March 3, 5:30pm in the Church of Youth Room

This year's mission trip for 8th-12th graders is to North Dakota to work with Spirit Lake Ministry Center, a United Methodist partner of the Spirit Lake Tribe. God is calling you to make a difference with this week of hands-on mission work. Cost: $350. Scholarship is available. Down payment of $100 due March 17 .

Register at haumc.org/register.
Ash Wednesday Service
March 6, 7pm in the Sanctuary

We begin our journey into a season of Lent filled with wellsprings of hope on Ash Wednesday. Experience a series of interactive, hands-on spiritual practice stations developed and led by our Confirmation class. All ages welcome!
ACTIVISM & OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES
Make Sandwiches for
The Dignity Center Participants
February 17, 9:30am in the Art Gallery

Time to spread some love and help make sandwiches for The Dignity Center participants. Bring your deli donation--sliced ham or turkey, sliced cheeses, and white or wheat bread. Then join the fun of assembling 400 sandwiches immediately following Sacred Journey. All ages welcome. Contact Dennis at dennbehl@gmail.com to let him know what you are planning to bring.
Minnesota FoodShare: Feed the Wellspring of Hope
March 3-31, East Entry

Our 2019 Minnesota FoodShare Challenge with the Blaisdell YMCA is to get our leaders jumping into the deep end of the Y's pool! Our pastors will jump in at the following food donation benchmarks: 2,000 lbs. for Pastor Nate, 2,500 lbs. for Pastor Frenchye, and 3,000 for Pastor Judy!

Bring your filled bag of groceries back to Hennepin Avenue UMC March 3-31. Give a bag to a friend or neighbor and offer to return it for them. All items go to Groveland Food Shelf. Be a wellspring of hope for families in need of healthy food!
Homes for All Forum
March 10, 11:15am in the Art Gallery

As we get ready for Homeless Day on the Hill (March 13), please come and participate in a Forum led by Matt Traynor, the Director of Community Organizing for the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless. Focusing on the Homes for All 2019/2020 Legislative Agenda, Matt will help us understand the complex issues surrounding housing needs in Minnesota and prepare us to talk to our legislators about the solutions proposed by the over 200 organizations that make up the MN Coalition for the Homeless.
Homeless Day on the Hill
March 13, 9am
Central Presbyterian Church
500 Cedar Street, St. Paul

On March 13, we will journey to the state capital as a faith community to influence the shaping of laws that affect persons experiencing homelessness. We will have a bus that departs Hennepin Church at 8am to get to Central Presbyterian Church by 9am (the bus will return at 4pm). After Advocacy training, at 10am, we will travel to the State Capital to meet with legislators. To , please sign up at Hennepin Church’s reception desk and register online (free) at mnhomelesscoalition.org/advocate/homeless-day-hill/ .
Knit or Crochet a Welcome Scarf

The United Methodist General Conference is coming to Minneapolis in 2020. The Dakotas-Minnesota Area has a wonderful opportunity to come together to provide hospitality for this conference. We intend to greet every delegate, dignitary, bishop, and spouse with a handmade scarf. That’s where you come in! We are inviting United Methodists in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota to help us knit or crochet 10,000 purple scarves. We are calling this initiative the Lydia Project, after Lydia in Acts 16. To find detailed instructions, plus knitting and crochet patterns, visit minnesotaumc.org/lydiaproject .

Questions? Contact: Karen Andrew at karenandrew257@gmail.com.
Serve Radical Hospitality at Hennepin's Sunday Brunch

Who doesn't love brunch? At Hennepin, it is a time for radical hospitality, family, friendship and great food! Share these blessings with our community by volunteering to help serve brunch in our social hall. All ages of volunteers are welcome, so your whole family can serve together.

Sign up at haumc.org/breakfast .
Serve During Worship

Share your gifts during Traditional Worship! 
Greeters, Ushers, Acolytes, Sound Booth and Candle helpers serve on Sunday morning before and during worship. 
To Greet, contact Steve Boyd at  theboydsmn@gmail.com  
To Usher, contact Cheryl Gibbons at cheryl@haumc.org
To Acolyte, contact Cheryl Gibbons at  cheryl@haumc.org 
To help in the Sound Booth, contact  communications@haumc.org  
To assist with candles, contact Cheryl Gibbons at  cheryl@haumc.org

Share your gifts during Sacred Journey Worship!
Greeters and Hospitality helpers serve during worship. Contact Denny Smith at monarchdj@comcast.net  for details and to sign up.
EarthKeepers Training
April 25-28, at Koinonia Retreat Center

The God who created us now calls us to participate in healing relationships between people and the earth, and between the peoples of the earth. How are you being called to lead in this healing? Join the United Methodist Hopeful EarthKeepers movement, as we work together to steward a more just and sustainable world!

EarthKeepers work within their communities by:
  • Lifting up the importance of caring for creation at the heart of our Christian faith;
  • Responding creatively to ecological devastation and climate change;
  • Working for justice so that all communities have access to clean water, clean air, clean energy, healthy food, and green space.

Who are EarthKeepers?
  • EarthKeepers are United Methodists who are keenly aware of the ecological challenges in our world today and feel called to be part of a movement to transform the world. They work with their congregations and communities in many different ways: for example, growing community gardens, advocating for renewable energy policies, working for environmental justice, creating liturgy, or leading discussion groups on creation theology.
  • EarthKeepers are laity and clergy, students, part-time and full-time workers, and retirees. They may have a vocation that allows them to focus on caring for creation during their regular work hours, or they may choose to volunteer their time.

Expectations
  • EarthKeepers participate in three days of intensive training in theology and community organizing.
  • EarthKeepers help others understand how caring for God’s creation is a core part of our identity as Christians.
  • EarthKeepers provide leadership for a community project or advocacy campaign that aims to transform our relationship to God, the earth, and one another. Come with a project of your own, or join with others in new or ongoing projects.
  • EarthKeepers meet quarterly with a regional cohort for worship and ongoing support and training.

Cost:
  • $250 early bird / $275 after March 1 (staying at camp).
  • $125 / $150 (commuter).
  • $40 / $50 (Saturday only, for current EarthKeepers, includes lunch and supper).


Deadline: April 17

Questions, contact: Rev. Susan Mullin at susan.mullin@comcast.net
Conference-Wide Spirit Lake Mission Trip
July 7-12, Sheyenne, ND

The Spirit Lake Reservation, located in east-central North Dakota on the south shores of Devil Lake, is home to more than 6,000 people in the Dakota tribes of Pabakse, Sisseton, and Wahpeton bands. Established in 1867 via treaty, those who call the reservation home live in extreme poverty and struggle with incessant flooding and an unemployment rate of over 43%.

This summer, make it your family’s mission to live life through service with them and join us on a conference-wide mission trip led by Hennepin Avenue UMC. The Spirit Lake Ministry Center offers comfortable accommodations and a variety of meaningful service work for volunteers of all ages as well as opportunities to engage with the Spirit Lake community and culture. Total cost is $200 per person (includes lodging, food, and transportation). For questions or information contact Becky Boland at bolandbecky@gmail.com. To learn more about the Spirit Lake Ministry Center, visit www.spiritlakeministrycenter.org.

Register at https://mnumc-reg.brtapp.com/SpiritLakeMission19 . Registrations and deposits are due April 30 .
ART & MUSIC AT HENNEPIN
Copper Street Brass: Tools of the Trade
February 17, 1pm in the Sanctuary

Being a professional musician is something people do as a job. And just like a builder builds houses for her job, musicians use tools (instruments) and materials (building blocks of music) just like a builder to do our job of building songs.

The musicians in the Copper Street Brass ensemble use tools called “Brass Instruments” to build songs. During the presentation we’ll meet each brass instrument, learn its name and job, and hear how it is used as a tool to build songs made of musical building blocks like melody, harmony, and rhythm. Be ready to move and sing along to your favorite songs with CSB! This concert is free and open to all.
Salon se Lève: A Very Special Valentine
February 17, 2:30pm in the Art Gallery

Showcasing the national award winning pianist Shuen Wu, back by popular demand to thrill us with his virtuosic performances of unusually heart-stopping repertoire…And in her debut appearance for Salon se Lève, the violinist Catherine Carson, first prize winner of the Thursday Musical Competition is sure to resuscitate us with her heart warming golden-toned instrument--a VERY special Valentine indeed!
The Ebony, Ivory & Spruce Trio:
Pictures in Music
March 3, 3pm in the Art Gallery

Music @ Hennepin welcomes The Ebony Ivory and Spruce Trio, a true Twin Cities gem, presenting great music reimagined with a new intimate sound; classical, jazz, and popular music are interwoven with stories and humour to show the creative connection between the composer, the performers and the audience. Award-winning photographer Janet Brown Johnson was asked to choose pictures she felt reflected the emotions of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” music written in response to a memorial exhibition of Alexander Hartmann’s works. The original solo piano work has been newly arranged for trio. Other works will also have picture “accompaniments” provided by Ms. Johnson.

Tickets are $20 per person and on sale here.
Current Art Display: Ricardo Levins Morales
Now Through March 4, in Carlson Hall

The HAUMC Fine Arts Team is pleased to present the works of local graphic artist Ricardo Levins Morales in the Carlson Hall gallery during January and February. Morales, who describes himself as a “healer and trickster organizer disguised as an artist,” was born in Puerto Rico and was drawn into activism in Chicago when his family moved there in 1967. His art is an integral part of his activism with farmers, environmental, labor, racial justice and peace movements.

Morales’ art has won numerous awards, but according to the artist the greatest affirmation is the way his art has been used by grassroots movements and communities, including within his Twin Cities surroundings. “I’ve created over the years to encourage the laughter, hope, love and anger that move us toward a better world,” says Morales in regard to the prints on display. “Many were made for and within the labor and social justice movements of our time."
“Ricardo is a visual poet and weaver of hope and meaning for our times.” — Alexa Bradley

“Ricardo Levins Morales’ work recharges my spirit and strengthens my resolve.” — Stone Cairns

“I was attracted to RLM’s art because of its beauty, and I have also found it to be a powerful tool for education about social movement history and current social justice issues.” — Tim DeChristopher
NEWS FROM KOINONIA
The March Women’s Retreat will be held Friday, March 22, through Sunday, March 24. Register at haumc.org/register – and invite your friends! The birds will be back in time for the April 25-26 “Spring is for the Birds” Retreat. Mark your calendars for this Thursday - Friday getaway!

Please pray for this week’s guests: TCVC Retreat in Silence; Gustavus Adolphus College Freshman and Senior Retreat; Valley of Peace and Our Savior’s Retreat.
NEW AT HENNEPIN
Tai Chi Classes Now Being Offered
Beginning January 15
Tuesdays, 11am in the Church of Youth Room
Thursdays, 6pm in the Church of Youth Room
Saturdays, 2:30pm in the Church of Youth Room

Classes will be offered by Rondi Atkin, who has been doing tai chi for more than half her life. She began studying tai chi in the mid-1980s while living in Chicago under the instruction of Elizabeth Wenscott. In 1994 she was awarded an instructor certificate in Tai Chi Ch'uan by Master Hsu Fun Yuer and started her own school in Chicago. In 1999, she returned to Minnesota and in 2004, she resumed her tai chi studies at Twin Cities T'ai-chi Ch'uan. She currently studies under Sifu Ray Hayward at Mindful Motion T'ai-Chi Academy.

Tai chi involves a series of movements performed in a slow, focused manner and accompanied by deep breathing. Tai chi is a noncompetitive, self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching. Each posture flows into the next without pause, ensuring that your body is in constant motion. If you are looking for more balance, flexibility, and strength in body, mind, and spirit, then come try a class.

For more information, contact Rondi Atkin at rondi@taichiinthehood.com. The cost is based on a sliding scale and the first class is free.
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The deadline for announcements is 12 Noon on Monday for announcements to be included in the following Friday's newsletter. 
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