Celebrating the Life & Legacy of Beatrice Garubanda  
By The Rev. Blair Pogue

This coming Sunday, September 25 at the 10:30 am service, the people of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church will celebrate the installation of a portrait of one of our own saints, Beatrice Garubanda! 
Her portrait was painted by Leslie Barlow, a recent graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and a student of St. Matthew's parishioner Howard Quednau. Leslie is a gifted artist and we are so blessed to have one of her paintings. At 9:15 in the Parish Hall, I will interview Leslie about her work as an artist, Beatrice's portrait, and how her identity as a bi-racial woman has influenced her life and art. We will bless Beatrice's portrait at the 10:30 service, which will include service music from the Anglican Church in Uganda and sung prayers Beatrice brought back from Uganda and gave to Music Director J Michael Compton. The service will be followed by reception in the Parish Hall featuring Ugandan foods. Hope you can join us!

- the new portrait of Beatrice Garubanda
Beatrice was born in Kazo Town, in Southwestern Uganda. She was a lifelong follower of the Way of Jesus, an educator, and a visionary. The Blue House, an orphanage in Kazo Town for girls whose parents have died of HIV-AIDS was her brainchild and dream. The idea for this home, in which girls would be loved, mentored, housed, and fed as they grew up and went to school, developed during one of her visits home. For the first time, she saw young children who were homeless and living on the streets. Formerly local families would have taken these children in, but the havoc wreaked by AIDS had overwhelmed them. 

Beatrice dreamed of a home that would not only provide shelter, but a hopeful future for these girls. She and her husband James purchased land for the Blue House and began to house and provide clothing and meals for a handful of girls. She reached out to the people of St. Matthew's who began to raise funds to help Beatrice support this important ministry. When Beatrice died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2005, a group of St. Matthew's parishioners and friends of Beatrice, packed into the church Library. Led by the Holy Spirit, they vowed to expand upon the work Beatrice had done and make her dream a reality. With the leadership of many parishioners over the last twelve years including Duke Addicks, Birdie Carter, Marilyn Grantham, James Garubanda, Esther Garubanda, and Pat Owen, friends of Beatrice like Carol and Jerry Roeller, Dr. John Wathum Ochama, and Karen Lilley, and members of the Ugandan Board, and community, the Blue House was built and expanded. Under the leadership of Aine Abel, Director of the Blue House, the Blue House has become more entrepreneurial and self-sustaining, the young women are learning skills and trades, and those with academic gifts have gone on for higher education.

Beatrice was known for her passionate prayers, her hospitality, warmth, and friendship. She is responsible for helping St. Matthew's become a neighborhood church with a worldwide community. She invited Christian friends and neighbors from around the world to worship at St. Matthew's, and regularly brought a van full of children to church. I am told that the children she brought filled at least two pews! She also started a tutoring program for African immigrant children at St. Matthew's with the help of many St. Matthew's parishioners including Rosa Uy & Warren Poole, who provided dinner.

There are so many wonderful stories about Beatrice, and she leaves behind a powerful and lasting legacy. God clearly worked through her in so many different ways.
Special thanks to Arnold Carlson, Mary Ann Evander, and Art Ministry members Susan Hardman, Yusuf Shalita, Janet Murphy, Duke Addicks, and Laura Bathke for their support of this project and leadership in identifying a gifted artist to do Beatrice's portrait. Thanks also to those who worked behind the scenes to get this portrait framed and mounted, and to prepare the church for it: Mike Bartch, Arnold Carlson, Keith Ringold, Bob Evander, and Ed Lotterman. Finally, many thanks to those of you who gave financial donations to help us purchase this portrait! We are still accepting donations to cover the cost of this portrait and its installation. If you would like to contribute please contact Blair Pogue.
Artist Leslie Barlow at the September 25 Faith Forum 

Join us for  a conversation at 9:15am this Sunday with Leslie Barlow - the artist who painted Beatrice's portrait. 

Leslie Barlow is an artist living and working in Minneapolis, MN.  Barlow received her BFA in 2011 from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and her MFA in 2016 from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She has exhibited her work throughout the Midwest and has received numerous awards for her paintings. Most recently Leslie received a Third Place award in the Minnesota State Fair Juried Exhibition in 2015 for a large oil painting from her latest series. She appeared in the season 7 television segment of TPT's Minnesota Original, airing April 2016, and was published in the "Best New Art 2016" list in Minnesota Monthly Magazine. Her work can also be seen at the new US Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis, where she was commissioned by the Vikings team to create 6 portrait paintings of iconic Vikings players.
 
Children's Building Discernment 
By Heidi Gordon

While the adults met on September 11 to discuss the future of our building, the children held their own session.  the attendees included Aine Johnson, Sylvie Christensen, Charli Gordon, Kai Halker, Mollie Jenkins, Mingli Halker, Heidi Gordon, and Terese Lewis.
We started with a discussion of what types of repairs the kids have needed at their homes. Then, we mentioned that the adults were discussing the St. Matthew's building requiring similar repairs, and what other things we would change to help our ministries.

We took a tour of the building, looking at details and nooks that we hadn't noticed before. We discovered/remembered ways that parts of the buildings are often used - the prayer chapel, the high altar (during Lent), the columbarium garden, storage spaces, etc.
We returned to the room and built structures with toothpicks and marshmallows while answering the following questions:

1. What is your favorite part of the St Matthews building?
  • Lego classroom
  • Outside, garden area
  • Prayer chapel
  • The park across the street
  • The kitchen (and Rosa)
2. What is your least favorite part of the building?  The boiler room - it's scary and smells bad .

3. If you could change or add anything to our church building, what would it be?
  • Add a pool with a taco bar
  • Beds and couches 
  • Cushions on the pews and buckets for toys under the pews
  • Air conditioning upstairs - or at least a fan by the acolytes (robes are hot)
  • Playground in the back yard
  • Add on an apartment - for when Aine's family had to stay in a hotel while their furnace was fixed. Also for project home.
  • Hang out space for kids after church that's not locked (sometimes use the area outside the library, but get kicked out if there are meetings)
  • Make a dome on top of the church
  • Rock climbing wall on the room, or anywhere. Blow off steam after church while parents talk (forever)
  • Telescope on the roof
  • Kids' library - open all week
  • Coffee shop for all the time, breakfast bar (like the food this morning)

We ended by combining all the projects everyone had built with toothpicks and marshmallows, working together to add or take away what was needed to make one unified structure.

Historical Context of Our Building Discernment Process

Senior Warden John Lawyer shared this introduction to our Discernment conversation on September 11: 

St. Matthew's Episcopal Church was formally organized as a parish of the Diocese of Minnesota in 1888, which would take us back to the first Cleveland Administration. At that point the British Empire controlled a quarter of the world's land surface and a third of its people; the Austro-Hungarian Empire ran from Poland to the Mediterranean; czars still ruled in Russia, and the Middle East was at peace under the firm hand of the Ottoman Empire. Our present building was dedicated in October 1914, two months after World War I broke out in Europe and those venerable empires began to crumble.

Since then we have seen the rise of the U.S. to world power, the birth and death of the Soviet Union, the creation of the State of Israel, the emergence of modern China, the advent of Elvis, the arrival of the Beetles, Facebook, Uber - the world keeps moving on. Through it all this unpretentious outpost of the Kingdom of God has been faithfully holding up the light of God's love for the world from our quiet corner at Carter and Chelmsford while empires have come and gone. Wow!

So where are we today? We did our last major discernment about the building some 20 years ago. As a result we added the library, office area, classrooms, and developed the undercroft art gallery. It was something of a leap of faith at the time, but I can't imagine our life together today without these spaces. Read More Here...
Welcome to Fariba Sanikhatam!
 
Fariba Sanikhatam is our new bookkeeper at St. Matthew's and begins this month making sure our finances are in good order. She takes over the job previously held by Nigel Spottiswoode, who retired this year. 
 
Fariba was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to the United States in 1975.  She lives here in St. Anthony Park with her husband and two college-age daughters and a dog. Fariba also works as the bookkeeper for St. Clement's Episcopal Church as well as several other organizations in St. Anthony Park. She is looking forward to working with St. Matthew's and getting to know the members of the congregation.  
The Few, the Proud, the Contact People
By Dan White  

Actually not so few, we need about 30 Contact People. This year's pledge drive will be fueled by personal interaction between parishioners, and specifically by parishioners helping each other be aware of important dates and events.

Recently every parishioner household received a letter inviting your participation as a Contact Person. Job responsibilities consist of inviting four other parishioners to the Generosity Luncheon or Dinner, October 23 and then to church on Commitment Sunday, October 30 when we will offer our pledge cards during the services.

If there are four households or parishioners whom you wish to invite then just let us know and they are yours (unless someone else grabs them first). Please email Dan White or call me at (952) 457-8660 to help out. It will be greatly appreciated!
Faith + Learning
  • October 2 Faith Forum with Mike Christenson & Judy Johnson on Higher Education and Social Justice, 9:15am
  • October 9 Faith Forum with Craig Lemming, and the Circle of the Beloved
  • An all day workshop titled "If it Matters, Do Something, from Ferguson to Falcon Heights" takes place Oct. 15 with the Rev. Willis Johnson. Sponsored by the MN Commission on Religion and Race of the United Methodist Church. Learn more here
  • Protect Minnesota is a nonprofit organization working to create safe communities by preventing gun violence. On Sunday, September 25, they are hosting The Concert Across America to End Gun Violence at International Market Square from 3-7pm. They have a number of free tickets - click here for more information.
Looking Ahead: Calendar Highlights
  • September 25: St. Matthew's Day, 10:30am service - Installation and Blessing of Garubanda portrait; Faith Forum with Artist Leslie Barlow at 9:15am in the parish hall.
  • September 25: Financial Peace University Class begins, 4:00pm
  • October 2: Celtic Liturgy Begins
  • October 2: Faith Forum with Mike Christenson & Judy Johnson on Higher Education and Social Justice issues, 9:15am
  • October 28-29: St. Matthew's Men's Retreat at Dunrovin Retreat Center
 
Please share your news and photos with us:  tidings@stmatthewsmn.org 

Visit our website for the prayer list, calendar and sermons