We kick-off our fall adult education on Sunday, September 19 with special guest, Chris Farrell, economics editor of Minnesota Public Radio and columnist for the Star Tribune. Farrell is an award-winning journalist, a regular contributor to Marketplace Morning Report and chief economics correspondent for Minnesota Public Radio. His latest book is The New Frugality: How to Consume Less, Save More and Live Better.
Chris Farrell will discuss how giving should be the center of every personal financial plan. He will also connect being frugal with being generous and being green. We will meet in the fellowship hall at 9:40 am.
September 26: Join Pastors John and Sarah as we lead a follow-up discussion to Chris Farrell's presentation. We will examine ways to incorporate his ideas into our daily lives and explore Biblical Principles of Stewardship.
Click here for the current Sunday Adult Education Schedule.
The Gethsemane Library offers these new books to enrich your long, summer days. Families, check our webpage for a link to some outstanding summer reading programs for kids.
Historical Fiction
The Hidden Flame, by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke, is an epic tale of romance and intrigue set in first-century Jerusalem.
Though Waters Roar is Lynn Austin’s newest novel that traces the stories of four women who dare to challenge their society’s feminine expectations.
Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett, is a spellbinding tale of ambition and power that tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a monk driven to build the greatest cathedral in the world. (An Oprah Book Club selection.)
World Without End, by Ken Follett, picks up the story two centuries after the townspeople of Kingsbridge finished the exquisite cathedral that was the heart of the Pillars of the Earth.
Contemporary Fiction
Beguiled, by Deanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand, is set in the historical city of Charleston, South Carolina. It blends romance and suspense as two people tackle the question of who is the thief terrorizing this historical city?
Fall to Grace, by Kerry Casey, is the story of an eight year friendship between two boys of different backgrounds, but similar tragedies. This book was an all-congregational read at Pastor’s Sarah’s previous church.
Leaving Yesterday, by Kathy Cushman, is a contemporary re-telling of the prodigal son. Is Alisa’s son truly ready to seek help or is he covering up past and new temptations?
Watch Over Me, by Christa Parrish, tells of a baby girl abandoned in a field. Ben and Abbi seem like the obvious couple to serve as foster parents, but the newborn’s arrival challenges their already precarious marriage.
Sunday School is held during Education Hour between services at 9:40 am. Click here to download a Sunday School Registration form.
This year we will activate our Sunday School kids faith with a new curriculum called Spark. Spark is a Sunday school faith formation program that empowers kids' creativity and imagination. With Spark, kids open their Bibles each week and engage in Scripture! Kid’s faith will grow as they encounter God’s Word while participating in activities that reinforce the Bible stories.
Spark lessons are designed to engage every child in active learning! Age-appropriate lessons designed for multiple intelligences reinforce key points of the stories and help kids get more out of Sunday school, no matter what their learning style may be.
Join us this year as we help our kids be Engaged by God in a Living Faith, at Home, at Church and in the World.
Volunteers are needed to staff the church nursery on Sunday mornings in one-hour shifts. Sign up under "volunteer opportunities" in Access Gethsemane, or contact Sari Johnson at sari@silverimages.com or 952-908-0790.
Are you looking for a way to serve at Gethsemane but don't have a lot of time? Consider becoming one of our Sunday Scripture Readers. Contact Bob Dummer to sign up at 952-797-0428 or bdummer@quixnet.net.
Gethsemane offers transportation to individuals who need a ride to and from church for our traditional worship service on Sundays. We have a need for more volunteer drivers. A driver usually drives about once a month. Please consider volunteering for this important ministry. Questions? Call Sally Haugen at 952-935-5611 or e-mail her at sallymhaugen@live.com
Run, don’t walk, to the library and be the first to check out our new books. Following is a sample of some of the titles that will intrigue, entertain and educate the entire family:
Adult Fiction
Patty Jane’s House of Curl by Lorna Landvik
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The New Woman: A Staggerford Novel by Jon Hassler
The Preacher’s Daughter by Beverly Lewis
A Promise to Remember by Kathryn Cushman
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
I Am . . . Biblical Women Tell Their Own Stories (fictional autobiographies) by Athalya Brenner
Adult Non-Fiction
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Bipolar Disorder by Francis Mondimore
Great People of the Bible: The Apostle Paul, DVD
The Wonderful, True Story of John Hus, DVD
The Journey Towards Wholeness, video set
Upper Elementary Fiction
The complete four book set of the Landon Snow series by R. K. Mortenson
Each Little Bird That Sings (National Book Award Finalist) by Deborah Wiles
Picture Books
47 Beavers on the Big, Blue Sea
God Gave Us You
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
The Forever Dog
A commitment to community participation and service has always been a way of life for Krista Furan.
The second oldest of five siblings, Krista Maus grew up on a farm in Watkins, a “very small town” about an hour west of the Twin Cities. She describes small-town life as somewhat insular. She grew up Catholic and went to Catholic school until she reached the 8th grade. “I could still name every kid in my class to this day. And I still keep in touch with some of them,” she said.
Being involved in the community and in extra-curricular activities was expected, and a “very big deal,” she said. She played piano, joined the marching band, played softball and volleyball, and went skiing and snowboarding almost every weekend in the winter with her brothers and sisters, a “lifetime sport that stuck with me,” she said. The family also went camping often, another activity she continues to enjoy.
Anyone who knows Krista is likely not at all surprised that she was an active kid. In addition to music and sports, Krista volunteered regularly at the local nursing home, and got her first job there when she turned 16. She continued to work there until she graduated high school.
Girl Scouts were also “a very big deal in a small town,” she said. She participated fully and enthusiastically until around Junior High; her mom was a troop leader.
The family was also committed to their church community and attended worship every Sunday, even when they were camping. Her parents were involved in Bible studies and modeled servant leadership by serving on the church council and in a variety of volunteer roles.
After graduation she decided she needed a change from the small town life and chose to attend college at the U of M in Duluth. “I really wanted to go where no one else was going,” she said. “I really wanted to be on my own.”
Though she had always done well in school and knew college was the logical next step, she struggled with identifying a major, much less a vocation. The summer after her sophomore year she took a live-in nanny position in the Cities, and that fall she transferred to the U of M in Minneapolis along with some friends. She ultimately chose a major in kinesiology as the quickest path to graduation.
She took a part-time job at Regis Corporation while attending school, and that’s where she met Brian Furan. Though at first she had reservations about dating someone from work, they were engaged 3 years later.
After graduation she was hired full time at Regis Corp. in the advertising and project management department, experience that led to her current position in project management at a company called Digital 1Stop. It’s a good fit for Krista, and she enjoys her work.
There was one thing she always knew was in her future, however, and that was being a mom. “That was one thing I could always see when I thought about the future,” she said. “I played ‘house’ all the time as a kid; I always wanted to be in charge.” Benjamin was born just before Krista and Brian’s 2nd anniversary, and Nathan followed 16 months later. Naturally, the boys are already involved in a number of extra-curricular activities.
It was when the couple was expecting Ben about 8 years ago that they decided it was time to find a church home. Brian grew up Lutheran so they began visiting a lot of different churches “with a totally open mind,” looking for a place they could both feel comfortable and establish roots. Gethsemane was close to home, not too big or too small, and they both felt welcomed immediately. Krista said the worship service was very similar to the Catholic mass she attended growing up, so it felt familiar. Though she did worry briefly about what her mother and grandmother would think about her joining a Lutheran church, her family has been very supportive.
Brian began volunteering as an usher right after they joined, and Krista said that’s what initially got them to church on a regular basis. They began attending Family Ministry events soon after Ben was born and Krista said it was a great way to start building relationships. When Ben turned 3 and enrolled in Vacation Bible School and Sunday School, they became even more involved.
She has continued to be an active member of the church community by teaching Sunday School, helping plan and teach Vacation Bible School, serving on the Family Ministry Board and as Mary Circle chair, and volunteering as a Sunday morning greeter with her family. Along the way, she has developed spiritual friendships that she expects will be lifelong.
She said it feels like there is a new energy at Gethsemane, and she’s excited by new church initiatives and developments in technology such as Access Gethsemane.
“It’s funny how we moved from the back pew to the front pew,” she said. Involvement and participation in church life is what makes it feel like a community, a home. “It’s definitely become more a part of our lives than just a place we go,” she said. “The boys take their shoes off at the door.”
by Amy Furan
Hospitality is more, much more, than saying “Good Morning!” Still, being greeted with a sincere “hello” when you arrive for worship is an important part of hospitality. Thank you to everyone, from adults to youth and children, who has stepped forward to serve as a greeter for worship. An additional thank you to those who have been willing to commit to a specific time in the effort to establish a regular yearly schedule and minimize the need for telephoning.
Still, there are openings. Please check, regularly, the sign-up chart under the Welcome Kiosk in the Gathering Space and help when you can. If you haven’t served in this way before and feel like being a greeter is a fit for you, please call Bev Paterson at 952-476-1340.
“Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Romans 15:7
Gethsemane’s Scandinavian Fall Fair is valued as a colorful experience of friendship and creativity, but funds raised by the Fair do solid work in meeting needs both at Gethsemane and beyond our walls.
A distribution of funds from the 2008 Fair recently approved by the Gethsemane Church Women reveals a broad array of contributions to a variety of projects.
A total of $7,950 given in support of outreach includes gifts ranging from $200 to $1,500 to: Chapel View, Amazing Grace, Luther Seminary Friends, Lutheran Social Service, Hopkins-Minnetonka Family Resource Center, Sojourner Shelter, Peter and Solvei Stohl, Vail Place, Feed My Starving Children, Simpson Housing Services, Dinner at Your Door, Community Emergency Services, Lutheran World Relief and Coral Rose.
Gifts ranging from $200 to $2,000 were made to programs at Gethsemane for a total of $8,050. These included: After School for Kids (ASK), wages for our Kitchen Coordinator, Gethsemane Children and Youth Ministries, Choir, Habitat for Humanity, the Gethsemane sound system, and the GCW reserve fund.
