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March 14: Men's Ministry New Life Home
Men’s Ministry is reaching into the community with an outreach for men seeking transformation in their lives, away from years of darkness due to incarceration, addiction and homelessness. Come for a presentation and discussion of the Gethsemane New Life Home proposal and hear how you can be involved in this new outreach ministry.
March 21: Legislative Update
Come and hear from Brian Rusche, Executive Director of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC) about what is happening in this legislative session and what it means for our communities as people of faith.
On Sundays in Lent Pastor Sarah will guide us in a shortened Bible experience followed by small group conversations. The Bible study each week will connect with topics and discoveries that have come from the book Surprise Me: A 30 Day Faith Experiment.
Lenten worship is held Wednesdays at 7 pm, Feb 17 - Mar 24.
Join us for a spiritual adventure as we open ourselves up to how God is working in our lives and in our world.
During the Lenten season we will gather each Wednesday at 7 pm for worship with Holden Evening Prayer and a message from a Gethsemane Member on how God has surprised them in life. We will hear stories of healing, forgiveness, belonging, and more.
March 3: Surprised by Being Called to Acts of Justice
Hear what led Cole Anderson to find a career working for the world’s poor at Feed My Starving Children.
March 10: Surprised by God’s Blessings
Hear about Katie Kragtorp’s sense of call to share how we all are blessed to be a blessing to others.
March 17: Surprised by Being Forgiven
Hear about Gary Dass’s walk through broken relationships and addiction and how dedicating his life to God saved him.
March 24: Surprised by Being Known and Belonging
Hear Becky Jyrkas’ story of the impact a sense of welcome and belonging from her church made in her life.
The congregation is invited to read the book, Surprise Me: A 30-Day Faith Experiment, by Terry Esau, which can be purchased through the church office. We encourage you to participate in a discussion group Sunday during education hour or Wednesday during dinner.
Join us for a unique service opportunity Saturday, March 13, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm at Feed My Starving Children, 18738 Lake Drive East, Chanhassen.
Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding children hungry in body and spirit. The approach is simple: children and adults hand-pack meals formulated specially for starving children, and FMSC will ship the meals to more than 60 countries around the world.
Limit 50 volunteers, so sign up today on Access Gethsemane! Volunteers must be 3rd grade or older and must follow FMSC’s student-to-adult ratio. Visit www.FMSC.org for more information.
Men’s Ministry is very excited to have church council approval to move forward with the proposal for Gethsemane New Life Home ministry (GNLH). This is an outreach ministry for men seeking transformation in their lives, away from years of darkness due to incarceration, addiction and homelessness.
Gethsemane will be in partnership with two other organizations: Mentor Corps (MC) and Stewards Orchestrating Accountability Resource Restoration (SOARR). Some of our men have already started training with Mentor Corps to prepare them as mentors. SOARR will provide full-time work for the men who live in the home.
Candidates for the home will come from Christian rehabilitation programs like Teen Challenge, The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center and Lino Lakes Prison InnnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI). The ministry will provide a home, full-time work, mentoring and a faith community. It is intended to give the men a hand up, not a handout. It will be a place to continue their transformation through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The men will be able to stay in the program up to 3 years if they are dependable in their work and do not relapse. The rent they pay will cover the mortgage, insurance and utilities. They will become members of Gethsemane and will also tithe their earnings to our church.
Next Steps
You will be able to provide financial support in two ways:
Make a Tax deductible contribution to the GNLH account
Purchase unit shares to the LLC that will be paid back in
5-6 years with no interest.
We ask for your prayers as we seek God’s spirit among us to open our hearts in Acts of Service and Justice.
We support the MN FoodShare campaign each March to benefit our local food shelf, ICA (Intercongregation Community Association.) We also support Empty Bowls, an annual local food shelf fundraiser in Hopkins on March 16.
Financial donations are very welcome as the food shelves have access to discounted food and supplies. Food shelves also need all types of nonperishable food, personal hygiene products and paper supplies. Foods such as peanut butter, cereals, instant potatoes, canned beans, tuna, salmon, vegetables, fruit, and meals such as spaghetti and chili are especially useful.
People using food shelves do not have enough income to meet their basic needs, and food shelf use in Minnesota has increased each year. Hunger touches people of every age. Over 50 % of food shelf visitors are families with children and more than 20% are seniors. Let’s stock the shelves generously as we give from our hearts to those in need. Each donation makes a difference.
Maundy Thursday, April 1, 11:30 am
This year our Maundy Thursday midday service will combine with the GCW Upper Room program to bring a Seder Supper Service for all.
Our midday worship will be held in the Fellowship Hall as we gather to hear readings from Christ, join together in the rites of a Seder meal, and celebrate Holy Communion in remembrance of our Lord. A luncheon will follow the service. Please sign up in the friendship folder so we can get a head count for the meal.
The Saturday Night Club features entertainment and a delicious dinner starting at 5:30 pm. Everyone is welcome! Reservations are required—call Dorothy Siedler at 952-938-5858 by 8:00 pm on the Tuesday prior.
March 20: Italian Night at Saturday Night Club
Christine Rosholt sings familiar tunes in a sassy and sweet manner
April 24: Note-Able Singers
Show tunes, ballads, folk songs, jazz and swing
May 22: Minnetonka Clippers Barbershop Chorus
Barbershop quartet music in quartets and chorus
Discussions are held each third Tuesday from 7-8 pm in the Gallery. If you love to read, please come. Here’s information about this month’s selection and a special event planned for April:
March 16: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. Written in 1940, this classic novel tells an unforgettable story of moral isolation in a 1930’s Georgia mill town where a deaf-mute is confidant to many residents.
April 20: Announcing a Special Discussion led by a Special Guest. EVERYONE is invited. . . men too! Our guest is Allan Kornblum, Founding Editor of Coffee House Press. Our topic is The History and Future of Books, a subject near and dear to Allan’s heart. Those planning to attend are encouraged to read a background essay by Kornblum, available for download below. All book, bookstore and Kindle lovers, mark your calendars now!
This year we are holding our annual Easter Festival on Palm Sunday, March 28 from 9:30 am - 11:30 am. The Easter Festival will be held in conjunction with the Palm Sunday Youth Pancake Breakfast. This intergenerational family event will offer learning and activities for kids and adults of all ages. Share your faith by inviting grandchildren, neighbors and friends to come learn about the events of Holy Week during this fun interactive event.
Join us in the Fellowship Hall, 9 am - 11 am on Sunday, March 28 for a menu of pancakes, sausage and fresh fruit. Suggested donation is $5 - $10 per person. Most of the servers will be 9th graders earning money for their backpacking trip to Montana this summer—so we’d love to see you help them out so they can have this amazing experience!
Making Sense of Scripture: Big Questions About the Book of Faith Lose, David J.
David J. Lose holds the Marlbury E. Anderson Chair in Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. Making Sense of Scripture is part of the Book of Faith Adult Bible Studies. In his book, Lose invites the reader to engage in a dialogue about the seven major questions of the Bible. Quoting from the introduction, Lose writes: “Making Sense of Scripture is a book about the Bible, explaining enough of the Bible’s history and nature to make it more accessible to you. Even more, it is a book on how to read the Bible in the first place, and I hope and intend that it will give you confidence to explore the actual content and claims of the Bible on your own.” Making Sense of Scripture is written for lay people in a conversational format. It is highly recommended by Pastor John.
Revelation and the End of All Things Koester, Craig R.
Craig Koester is professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. Koester begins his book with this sentence: “The power of a book can be seen in what it does to people, and few books have affected people more dramatically than Revelation.” Revelation has been described as alluring, frightening, sensational, and incomprehensible. Revelation has also inspired artworks, musical compositions, and social upheaval. Koester takes lay readers first into some interpretations of Revelation and then guides them through the entire book. It’s a Luther Seminary Bookstore staff recommendation.
About the Bible: Short Answers to Big Questions, Revised and Expanded Edition Fretheim, Terence E.
Terence Fretheim is Elva B. Lovell Professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. Should the Bible be interpreted literally? What about the Genesis creation accounts and science? How is God related to suffering? Are some parts of the Bible more important than other parts? Fretheim offers straightforward answers to these and 31 more frequently asked questions. Fretheim believes that living with questions is imperative because it keeps us thinking about matters central to our faith. “Even more, we are called to a ministry of questions: caring about the questions that people have and drawing ourselves and others more deeply into the mystery of faith.” It’s a Luther Seminary Bookstore staff recommendation.
There will be drawings for two lovely children's Easter books on Sunday, March 21. Kids, check out any material and you are automatically entered!
Thank you to all of you who have made a commitment to our 2010 Ministry Support. As of 12/22 we are at 77% of our goal of $670,000. Click here for a 2010 Goal for Giving card.
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
Since it began over 20 years ago, the ELCA has been committed to being a welcoming, diverse denomination, and its goal is for at least 10% of its membership to be persons of color or whose language is other than English. Each year, along with statistics about attendance and finance and educational programs, the ELCA asks congregations to report their racial/ethnic make-up in order to measure progress toward that goal.
In the past the GLC staff has estimated this information. But Gethsemane’s ethnic make-up has been changing and we believe that gathering this information in a more accurate, meaningful way will help us understand who we are as a congregation and be respectful of our diversity.
We now have a place in our membership database to record members’ race/ethnicity. We need each member to let us know how they identify themselves. You can do that by going to your Personal Profile in Access Gethsemane and choosing the Race/Ethnicity category that best describes you. Parents, please enter this information for your children as well. You can also check the rest of your information for accuracy, change the Newsletter Options to choose to get your newsletter by email , and complete the Attributes section of the Serving tab to tell us more about your interests and abilities. If you don’t have access to a computer you can contact Karen Eckenrode in the church office and she can record your information.
Thanks to all of you for the witness you gave to our community of faith and to our neighborhood as you worshiped God with your service to all his creation on October 3-4. There was an amazing energy and sense of fellowship as over 125 people gathered in our fellowship hall to work together. There were people from three different congregations, ninety-year-olds and nine year-olds, men and women, all focused on making a difference.
Click here to view a slideshow.
Look at what we accomplished together:
Even with a cold day that kept our numbers down, the day was capped off with a great meal and celebration at Central Park that featured Dixieland music and city leaders connecting with our congregations.
I want to extend a big thank-you to the planning team and especially our very own Tiphanie Dirnberger, Karen Eckenrode, Amy Furan, and Beth Jones who did so much to make this day happen as well as the staff at Faith Presbyterian and Pastor Buck Day.
One fitting piece is that as we went out to serve God, God came out and found us there. Pastor Laurie brought communion to all as they worked at Gethsemane and Alice Smith School to let us know we do not go out alone, but we go with the Grace of God.
Early this spring when Doris Seward brought one of her loads of fabric to the Quilters, a huge piece of royal blue cotton was in the delivery. We estimate it was 75 feet by 15 feet. From this we created 15 quilt backs with the trimmings becoming squares.
The story Doris shared when she delivered the materials is very interesting. The fabric was reported to have been a backdrop at St. Olaf during the choir concerts at some time in the past. She found it at a garage sale in Excelsior.
Through the spring we worked to complete the quilts and on July 29 took a field trip to the LWR warehouse in South St. Paul. Nine church members accompanied the 21 quilts and 18 layettes we delivered that day.
Click here to view the photos showing the work in progress through the spring and the process of folding, compressing, wrapping and labeling of a bundle of quilts in preparation for shipping. The supply of bundles we saw filling the warehouse were to be placed in a container in early August for shipment to Africa. We were invited to autograph and send a message on the synthetic burlap covering of the bundle, which held our special quilts.
We hope the folks who receive them will feel the love and warmth we send as we live the ELCA motto, "Gods Work. Our Hands."
Visit www.lwr.org for more information about Lutheran World Relief.
What happened on June 18, 2006? This was the date, only three years ago, of Opening New Doors, our Dedication Celebration to mark completion of our facility addition and remodel. After years of talking and dreaming, a building project was launched in May 2003 and the vision became reality three years later.
Today we’ve become so accustomed to living in our new spaces that it’s probably difficult for even those of us who were here before the Project to recall how things were different. Remember? No Gathering Space, no Fireside Gallery, no Kid’s Room, tiny narthex, and very different areas for Youth and Music? Check out the photos. It should help all of us to appreciate and give thanks for our wonderful facility.
One very specific way to demonstrate this appreciation is through financial support for our Capital Appeal. Our monthly mortgage for the project loan is $9603; and contributions during 2009 have averaged $9687 through May. While this is not bad news, it’s certainly not allowing us to accumulate a balance in order to make additional principal payments.
We encourage everyone to consider celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Opening New Doors with a Gift of Thanksgiving to our Building Fund. Envelopes are found in your My Offering packet and in the pew racks at church.
I was glad when they said unto me, "Let us go to the House of the Lord." Psalm 122:1
Click here to view "before and during" photos of our Building Project.
Below are the resources that were shared at the funeral planning workshop held at Gethsemane on Sunday.
One of the hardest times a family goes through is the loss of a loved one and often there is little time for thinking through what was important in that person’s faith life. These resources will give you tools to identify things you would like to be a part of your faith legacy, and to share with your family ahead of time the scriptures that gave you strength, the songs that lifted you up, and the faith upon which you stand.
Funeral Planning Brochure
Suggested Funeral Hymns
Funeral Scripture Texts
As people of God, we are given the task of being stewards of the earth and all that He has created. You don’t have to go too far in the Bible to find this message. “And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves over the earth.” Genesis 1:28
This is a powerful statement, and in truth a huge responsibility – we are in charge of taking care of the entire world! As stewards of God’s creation, it is our responsibility to do all that we can to follow His message. It is in this spirit that we at Gethsemane have decided to no longer use or advocate the use of Styrofoam products here at the church. As an alternative, we ask that you strongly consider using the ceramic and glass dishes and cups, and to factor in the washing of dishes when organizing an event and cleanup. (If you are interested in volunteering to help with dishwashing, please let us know.)
Styrofoam is cheap, convenient and easy to use, but is also one of the worst products that can be introduced into our environment. Some facts about Styrofoam:
Styrene, the basic component of Styrofoam, has been classified as a possible human carcinogen by the EPA
In addition to the environmental impact, Styrofoam has been linked to health concerns such as skin, eye and respiratory irritation, gastrointestinal problems, depression, kidney function, fatigue and even links to cancer Styrofoam has been completely outlawed in Taiwan, Portland, and Orange County, California due to its harmful nature.
By not using Styrofoam, we are taking a small but important step toward providing a better environment for our future generations, and are setting a good example for our children and grandchildren to follow. Any questions or concerns you may have regarding the use of Styrofoam can be directed to the Pastors, Gethsemane staff, or Brian Furan at Bfuran@glconline.org
Something remarkable happened. The welfare of a lovely four-year-old child was discussed among seven caring adults – mother, early childhood educator, early childhood speech therapist, and four preschool teachers. This is the embodiment of Minnesota’s vision of what investments and activities are required for all children to have opportunities to reach their full potential. Gethsemane is part of that vision through its support of the Todos los Santos preschool program.
The State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care has indentified assets needed for healthy, thriving children. Included in those assets are early learning opportunities in nurturing environments where children learn what they need to succeed in school and life, and family support surrounding parenting and economic issues.
Specifically Gethsemane has:
Todos los Santos, serving at-risk preschoolers, is a collaborative effort among All Saints Lutheran Church and Preschool, Hopkins Early Learning Childhood Center, Park Nicollet Foundation, and Gethsemane.
