In this Edition:

• Annual Meeting Recap
• Music for Black History Month
• Faithful Innovation
• Community of Hope International
• Prayer Update: Amara Strande
• Book Club 
• Invitation to be Vineyard Stewards 
• Help with Coffee Hour 
• Wednesday Dinner
• ICA Update 

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Church this Sunday

8:00 and 9:30 Holy Eucharist

Godly Play will take place during the 9:30 service for children age 3 through grade 5. 

We will continue to Facebook Livestream the Sunday 9:30 service and upload to YouTube to accommodate those who choose to stay home.

10:45-11:30 Community Forum - Refreshments and Social Time

Upcoming Sunday Community Forums:

February 12--Love Makes Room, The Mills Church and Affordable Housing, speakers: Mills Church parishioners Tony and Pat Levy

February 19--ICA, Dan Narr, Executive Director

Annual Meeting Recap

Thank you to everyone who helped prepare for the Annual Meeting and to everyone who attended! It was great to take time to reflect on last year and look forward to the year ahead. We are truly blessed to be in such a vibrant and loving community with a strong financial position as we live into our Vision and Mission. Thank you for your continued presence, generosity, and support!

Here is a summary of the Election Results:

Vestry Members (three-year terms): Nan Drake, Andy Harvala, and David Niles

Senior Warden (one-year term): Allison Ferro

Junior Warden (one-year term): Diane Curley

Treasurer (one-year term): Cathy Schwichtenberg

Diocesan Convention Delegates (three-year term): David Niles

Diocesan Convention Delegate Alternates (one-year terms): Ann Carda and Nan Drake

Here are links to the Amended By-Laws and Mission Statement that were approved at the Annual Meeting:

By-Laws

Mission Statement

The Mills Church was awarded the Abraham and Sarah Hospitality Award for their Love Makes Room Campaign. Virginia Haggart was awarded the St. Matthias Award for all she does at St. David's, especially sending handwritten cards to people on the Prayer List.

A special thanks to Randy Schwichtenberg for his work as Senior Warden last year. He will be missed. 

Thank you all for your support as I transition into the Senior Warden role. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected] with suggestions or concerns.

Faithfully,

Your Senior Warden

Allison Ferro

Music for Black History Month

During the month of February, we will be exploring the work of several Black composers.

This week our focus is on Dr. David Hurd, whose music we sing very frequently from our hymnal. Educated as an organist at Julliard, Oberlin and the University of North Carolina, he served for 39 years as music director and professor at General Theological Seminary in New York. He is widely respected for his elegant hymn melodies and his re-imagining of chant forms for the modern liturgy. For the past several weeks we have been singing the Sanctus and Christ Our Passover from his “New Plainsong Mass”.

Here you can see a wide-ranging and insightful interview with him about his life in the Episcopal Church:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2879102772306280

And here is a video of him improvising at the organ:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-YliRl_-zk

Faithful Innovation

Faithful Innovation: Listening

Listening to each other is an essential practice for learning to ask different questions. As we learn to listen to each other well, we also increase our capacity to hear what God might be saying to us. We might share a story of a time when we were spiritually energized, and felt spiritually engaged. You could ask yourself what was happening in your life during the time you felt spiritually engaged? What energized you the most? Did the church play a role in this experience? And if so, how?

God is present with us, in everything we do, and every place we go, each and every day. Sometimes we are more aware of God’s presence that others.

We want to encourage everyone in the practice of listening to our own lives and stories, and wondering together where God might have been present in the midst of those experiences. We want to get more comfortable naming what we think God might be up too.

Being able to name Gods activity in our midst, gives us the opportunity to join up with what God is already doing.

We will be learning more about Faithful Innovation in the coming weeks, but why not start listening now?

Invitation to Participate in Community of Hope Training

Community of Hope equips lay people to serve in pastoral care, creating communities, steeped in Benedictine Spirituality, to serve others through compassionate listening.   

What: a fourteen module course of study covering listening skills, prayer, meditation and silence, pastoral care of seniors, pastoral visit and boundaries, coping with loss.   

Dates:  

Friday, February 24, 6:00-9:00 pm and Saturday, February 25, 9:30-2:30, in person opening retreat at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral 

Saturday mornings, 9:00-11:00, via Zoom: March 4, 11, 18. 25; April 1, 15, 22; May 6 

Saturday, May 20, 9:30-1:30, in person closing retreat at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral 

Who: St. David’s has offered two training sessions in the past, but this one is sponsored by Episcopal Church of MN. Training will occur with other faith members in our diocese.  Each session will be led by a professional faculty member. 

FAQ: 

Is it required that I attend all the sessions including the in-person retreats? All are required to attend the in-person retreats. Participants may miss up to two of the Zoom sessions, although attending every session is ideal. 

Is there a cost to participate? $45 fee  

What is the location of the retreat? The opening and closing retreats will be held at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral. The other sessions will be held on Zoom. 

How do I sign up? Please reach out to Diane Curley or Carol Johnson (contact information below) who will provide you with an application for participation. 

I still have questions and would like to speak with someone who has taken the training. Who do I contact?  Diane Curley, [email protected], Carol Johnson, [email protected] or the Rev. Katherine Lewis, [email protected].  

Amara Strande

We have been praying for Amara Strande for many months. Amara was 16 years old when she was diagnosed with fiborolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma, a rare cancer that strikes one in 5 million Americans between the age of 15 and 39. Now, at age 20, Amara is speaking out about the possible link between 3M's use of PFAA (sometimes called "forever chemicals") and the staggering statistics of cancers in the east metro, where Amara and her family live.

Amara and her mother, the Rev. Dana Strande, spoke this week at a press conference in support of legislation to ban "forever chemicals" in Minnesota. See link here.

Through Amara and her family's courageous witness, we see again how personal issues can be integrally connected to our public, civic life. May we continue to support Amara and her family with our prayers, and may we also be compelled to act for systemic change and environmental justice alongside them.

For more information about Amara, see this article.

Book Club Update

St David’s Book Club News

by Cathy Schwichtenberg

The St. David’s Book Club met on January 3 to discuss “Proud Shoes” by Pauli Murray and to set the schedule for 2023.  We have an interesting line-up of selections for the club this year and invite all St. David’s parishioners to participate.  We usually meet via Zoom on the first Tuesday of the month from 6:30 – 7:55.  Here is this year’s schedule – please join us!

Our Selection for the February Meeting is “Love is the Way” by Bishop Michael Curry.  

Meeting Link:    

St David's Book Club - February Meeting

Walk the path of love with one of the warmest, most beloved spiritual leaders of our time, and learn how to put faith into action. Much of the world (read: two billion people) met Bishop Michael Curry when he delivered his sermon on the redemptive power of love at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle. Here, he expands on his message of hope, in an inspirational road map for living the way of love, illuminated with moving lessons from his own life. As the descendant of slaves and the son of a civil rights activist, Bishop Curry's life illustrates massive changes in our times. Through the prism of his faith, ancestry, and personal journey, Love is the Way shows us how America came this far and, more importantly, how to go a whole lot farther. The way of love is essential for addressing the seemingly insurmountable challenges facing the world today: poverty, racism, selfishness, deep ideological divisions, competing claims to speak for God. This book will lead readers to discover the gifts they need in order to live the way of love: deep reservoirs of hope and resilience, simple wisdom, the discipline of nonviolence, and unshakable regard for human dignity".  ~ Hclib.org

Invitation to be Vineyard Stewards

Hello St. David's folks!

I'm personally planning to sign up and join a cohort for this opportunity at Good Courage Farm, and I want to pass along the invite to anyone else who may be interested. It's a small group ministry program where we tend to a grape vine together in their vineyard, returning throughout the growing season to prune, net, and harvest the grapes, and finally, press wine to be used at Eucharist. Please check out the link to learn more https://www.goodcourage.farm/smallgroupministry

And please let me know if you'd like to join me!

-Anna Brock (just as a fellow parishioner this time)

[email protected]

Thanks to you, we have been wonderfully cared for during coffee hour. Now your help is needed once more so please check out the new signup sheet for Coffee Hour hosts in the Undercroft. If you prefer to bring baked or store bought treats, that’s another way to help make this a favorite hour on Sunday.

Thanks. Sharon

JOIN IN ON OUR NEXT COMMUNITY DINNER - February 15

All are welcome to come for dinner on Wednesday, February 15th!

This casual, fun, and tasty meal is just the break we all need!

All ages are welcome from 5:30 - 7:00.

Following are the scheduled groups and depending on the date can include choir, bell choir, youth group, and other committee meetings. We hope to see you there! 

ICA Update

ICA Sunday this Sunday

With the continued increase in families and individuals accessing ICA’s resources, your donations are needed more than ever. The following items are some of those in high demand right now:

   * cereal (hot & cold)

   * pasta sauce

   * canned soups & chili

   * peanut butter

   * tea, coffee

ICA also provides snack bins and weekend bags to local schools and need:

   * 1 oz.pretzels

   * .75 oz. goldfish crackers

   * 1 oz. baked chips

   * applesauce cups/pouches

   * breakfast bars

   * gluten-free snacks

   Note: All items should be nut-free.

In addition, brown paper shopping bags and egg cartons are always appreciated. Bring your items to donate to church on Sunday or you can drop them off at your convenience in the ICA basket at church entrances. Many thanks.

Employment Assistance at ICA

ICA has provided employment assistance to about 100 individuals a year since 2011. Most have barriers to getting and/or keeping a job. The employment counselor tries to meet with folks where they are at and will meet with them as often as needed. She provides job search tools, does a lot of resume development and helps identify references. Since most job applications are now done online which many can’t do, the counselor will assist with completing applications. Coaching is an inherent part of her job. 

ICA wants to get the word out about it’s employment service. It is listed in United Way’s 211 for job assistance. The service places all levels of jobs, not just entry level. With so many jobs open in our community right now, ICA has been contacted by many employers lately. An individual does not need to be a foodshelf client to use the employment services. If you know anyone who is seeking a job or if your business is hiring, please consider ICA’s employment assistance as a resource. 

Want to view the full calendar for the week? Click here to view the St. David's website complete with a calendar to keep you updated on events and offerings! Scroll all the way to the bottom to view it.