Epworth Echoes: Winter 2021

By  Nancy Meisel Youngman   I took this photo when the light was flooding through Epworth’s entryway at the front door. I thought about God’s light and how God is waiting to welcome everyone into our church.   “ Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28)

  By Saundra Johnson After some discussion with Epworth lay leaders, Pastor Steve proposed creating an Epworth Lenten Devotional like the ones Epworthians created in the past.    As she did for the 2019 Epworth Devotional ( Faith, Hope, Love: These Three ), Shirley Durr hopes to be involved with putting together the 2021 Devotional.   “Considering we spent most of 2020 physically apart from each other,” she said, “and the trauma of COVID in our world, political turmoil in our country, and racial unrest in our neighborhood – I think people must have lots to share.”   Pastor Steve is ready to accept whatever personal reflection people want to send for Devotional 2021 and other church leaders, like Judy Ayers, agreed.    Shirley said people were especially moved by the words and art from the children and youth that appeared in the 2019 Devotional. These received the most meaningful. attention and comment during Lenten Study time that year.   But without Children’s Class and Youth Group ga

By Steve Reiser Epworth’s 2021 response to the crises of 2020 – pandemic, racial injustice, climate crisis, and political unrest – is to declare 2021 the  Year of Justice . Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice.”–Matthew 5:6 (NLT). This year, we’ll hunger and thirst for justice in all that we do.   Advocating for Racial Justice   As part of this call to justice, we have already launched a virtual Racial Justice Book Club, which is open to both congregants and community. Crixell Shell, Assistant Executive Director of the Minnesota Peacebuilders Institute, is facilitating the current conversations. Read more about the Book Club on page 4.   We want to continue not only facilitated conversations but also actions throughout 2021 and beyond to raise up justice issues we face.   Hungering for Food Justice   We  came face to face with the food and hygiene product needs in our community while we hosted the First Aid station in the summer

Micah takes race track home on his sled When Nan Rice, determined to have Cabin Fever for Winter 2020-21, came up with the idea for a Toy Lending Library open, she said if only one family a week showed up, it would be worth it.   Using multiple safety precautions --  sanitizing toys, wearing masks, using gloves to look through the toys, families keeping 6-feet apart, limiting the number of families to four at a time– Epworth’s Toy Library clearly offers the respite families need from the isolation of COVID compounding the confinement that a Minnesota winter brings.    Families were asked to share photos from home on the Toy Library Facebook page so others could see what happened when the toys they had checked out got home.  “It's such a joy to see them explore and then hear about how they enjoyed the toy when home!” said Nan.   Like Cabin Fever for the past few years, the Epworth Toy Library is free and open on Wednesdays from 9:30-11:30 am. Cabin Fever traditionally ends in March

By Nancy Meisel Youngman   What can you do with mashed potatoes, cream, butter and a little bit of love? Make lefse!   Thankfully, we have a neighborhood friend who combined those ingredients to provide lefse for sale to the Epworth community and the Seward/ Longfellow neighborhood.    Julia Vanetta knows that this pandemic season has been hard for everyone. She shared her skills and a favorite family recipe to bring cheer to neighbors and financial support to several charitable organizations, including Epworth.   Not only did Julia make lefse to sell at Epworth’s Holiday Boutique in November and other places, she also donated all proceeds to Epworth,  Second Harvest Heartland , and  Sisters Camelot .  Julia learned to make lefse from her sister who learned to make lefse from their Norwegian grandmother.    When Julia was a young girl, she sold wooden “lefse turners” at her parent’s store. These turners were made of hard wood by her grandfather who immigrated from Sweden in 1907 and la

By Susan Mullin and Cindy Saufferer   “Don’t desecrate the land in which you live. I live here, too— I, God, live in the same neighborhood … .”  ~  Numbers 35:34 ( The Message ) Minnesota Conference United Methodist Women (MNUMW) and Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light (MNIPL) received a Justice 4 All Grant from the National United Methodist Women to collaborate in two different campaigns, seeking an equitable and speedy transition to a renewable energy economy for the people of Minnesota while demonstrating the breadth of the climate justice movement in Minnesota and the groundswell of demand for strong action on climate justice.   100% Renewable Energy One campaign is MNIPL’s 100% Renewable Energy Campaign which embraces a vision of a Minnesota run on 100% renewable energy, with 100% access to the benefits of renewable energy.    MNIPL plans to amplify this work in 2021 by working with congregations in Minnesota to help them craft their climate stories, and then join together in mee

Epworth has partnered with Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute for a virtual book club focusing on racial justice. More than a book club, more than a conversation, this is transformative work, a call to action to change how we live and behave towards others.     The Book Club first had its first Zoom session January 13 to introduce participants, establish discussion guidelines, and start discussion with the Introduction to the first book,  How to be an Antiracist  by Ibram X. Kendi. Sessions will continue at 6:30 pm every 2nd  and 4th  Tuesday through April   The current sessions are being facilitated by Crixell Shell, Assistant Executive Director of the Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute. She is a Peacebuilding Trainer and a Coming to the Table Racial Talking Circle Facilitator.   Although the number of participants has reached the maximum, keep looking for updates about the next book. Although we received a small grant from Minnesota Church in Society to cover the

  Advent at Home kits containing items for communion, candles, crafts ala Advent Workshop, and illustrated Ministry's An Illustrated Advent for Families: Do Not be Afraid  were hand delivered in paper bags and mailed in packages to Epwroth's extended  family near and far. We asked people to share photos of their crafts and a few did. The Advent bags also had paper bags and shapes for making luminaries to be returned to church where they were used to enhance our Christmas Eve service. Communion elements and votives for  passing the light on Christmas Eve were also in the bag.

imgur.com By Dennis Alexander   Facing a New Year is like coming up to a boundary or standing at the edge of new possibilities. The way things were, the past, does not have to be a forerunner of our future. If, at the boundary, we pause to reflect and act - we can "unload" things at the boundary we don't want to take with us into the new journey ahead. We can "dump the crap" and start fresh; choosing to take "the best" forward with us.   A pastor I deeply admire, Rev. Paul Engstrom often shared with me these words:  "I wish there was some wonderful place called “The Land of Beginning Again!” where all our mistakes, and all our heartaches,  could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door and never be put on again." That place is here and the time is now! Facing a New Year -- much like a boundary, an edge, or a bridge --  may we pause and take stock and "drop", indeed leave behind, all that holds us back from truly being the wonde

Blessings, fellow Epworthians!  We made it to 2021. Can you believe it? We are calling 2021  The Year of Justice . How can we be engaged with God’s plan to make the world a more Just place? What is Epworth’s place in that plan? What is  your  place in God’s plan? We began the  Year of Justice  in worship on January 17. Our Scriptures throughout the year will explore justice. We’ll go in depth into the Older Testament book of Amos and the New Testament book of James, taking particular note how they address justice.   We’ve just started a Racial justice Book Club. We are reading  How to be an Anti-Racist  by Ibram X. Kendi. Even if you don’t join the Book Club, I’ve got copies of the book for you. I’m confident that the conversations will be rich and enlightening. I hope that we’ll come to new understanding, perhaps be transformed, and maybe even endeavor to change the world. Hopefully this will be just the first Book Club in a series, so if you didn’t join this first one, look for the n

January 6 was the Epiphany. When the word is capitalized, Merriam-Webster defines it as “ a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ.” Manifestation of meaning                       Most Christian churches in this country don’t make much of this “church festival” but ever since I’ve had my own home, it marks the end of the Christmas season for me. There really are 12 days of Christmas starting with December 25. Epiphany also marks the day to put away my Christmas decorations. I also wrapped a Christmas gift for a friend who has recently left COVID quarantine and can now receive it. But I didn’t feel very wise doing it and    I needed no star to guide me to her  because  I just traveled to my front door to deliver it. Still, an Epiphany moment of  gifting . Without a capital letter, Merriam-Webster says an epiphany is “a usually sudden manifestation o