Did you know...

• In 2016, the Thrift Shop donated $366,158.00 to area charities, including $40,008.00 to our own St. Matthias' outreach, making it possible for our church to help fund programs such as Caritas, Tom's Community Table, St. Francis Project, Personal Products Pantry, and several other worthwhile programs and projects.  What a blessing our Thrift Shop is to this community!
  
  
• 64 of us celebrated our Winter Survival!  Many thanks to all who helped, and to all who attended this fun evening!
  
  
• Because of your generosity, we were able to 'shower' Cherie & Justin with some wonderful gifts - a changing table, baby monitor, miscellaneous treasures - and enough cash to keep them in diapers... at least for a while!
  
  
• We hosted a truly beautiful Ash Wednesday service for the members of Church of the Pines, Ascension Lutheran, and of course, St. Matthias'.  All three pastors were involved in the service, the congregation had an opportunity to receive ashes, Holy Communion, and to paint a cross on the altar cloth, which will be used during Lent.  Lots of positive comments on the service and our beautiful sanctuary were shared after the service.
   

Watch for more reasons to celebrate next month.

If you have something to add, please let us know!

Hi! I'm Emily, and live with darling grandmother Moosie (Joellen Hagge) in Hazelhurst. I work at the Great Lakes Inter Tribal Council as an evaluator and community health epidemiologist, where I work with Tribal communities in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

 

I am a cradle Episcopalian, and was actually baptized at St. Matthias' several decades ago, although I only just got around to getting confirmed this past summer. I have spent a good deal of my time traveling/living/studying all over. I grew up between Switzerland and Boston, went to college in New York, where I studied Arabic literature & environmental studies, and spent 2 years in Lebanon getting my MPH where I was able to work with Palestinian refugees with disabilities.

 

I have always considered the Northwoods home, and am happy to finally have a way to stay here year-round and work in a meaningful capacity.

  

Favorite... 

• Color:  Seafoam Green
• Plant:  Cactus
• Food:  Turtle Cheesecake
• Sport to Watch:  Non-Major League Baseball
• Sport to Play:  Speed Walking
• Game:  Mensch ärgere Dich nicht
• Play or Musical:  Madama Butterfly
• TV Show:  The Golden Girls
• Book:  Cities of Salt, by Abdul Rahman Munif
• Hobby:  Basking in the Sun

Would You Rather...

Be behind the scenes  |  Be front and center

Find the perfect job  |  Win the lottery

Never speak again  |  Always speak your mind

Visit 100 years in the past  |  Visit 100 years in the future

Not too long ago, a customer gave a donation to the Thrift Shop while shopping there, in the form of a check from his IRA. He was older than +70.5 years, and therefore was required to take a yearly distribution of roughly 4% of his IRA assets, and knew that he could donate a portion (or even all) to a charitable organization and not have to pay taxes on that amount. Somewhat recently, a federal law was passed allowing for such an arrangement.

 

Vestry Member Table

 

Starting in March, and continuing through August, one Vestry member will be seated at a table in the Parish Hall during coffee hour to speak with anyone who has a question, comment, suggestion, compliment, or complaint. In order to receive and respond to information as effectively as possible, the Vestry needs to know who we are hearing from. We will refer to your name when sharing your thoughts with the Vestry, and ask that you discuss matters which you wish to be kept in confidence with our Rector. We truly want to hear whatever is on your mind and look forward to listening to you.  Please come and talk with us!

Vestry Nominations 

 

At the St. Matthias' Annual Meeting, there will be three Vestry member positions to fill, as Chris Clark, Karen Larson, and John Randolph will be going off the Vestry. In addition, a Senior Warden and Junior Warden will be chosen. According to Diocesan Canons, Vestry terms are for three years. Warden terms are for one year, with the possibility of re-election up to a total of three years of service. Vestry meetings are held once a month.

 

We hope that St. Matthias' will have the benefit of a range of candidates with different backgrounds and skill sets. We will be asking parishioners for nominations to the Vestry, and self-nomination is encouraged. In nominating a fellow member, it is of course expected that the proposed candidate agree to serve if elected.

 

Our nomination form is included in this issue of the Ambassador (see below), and we anticipate posting brief candidate bios on the bulletin board well before the Annual Meeting.

 

Serving on the Vestry is a major opportunity to make significant contributions to the mission of St. Matthias' and the health and vigor of our parish family.

St. Matthias' has a Board of Directors that is called a Vestry. The Vestry meets monthly in order to guide the decisions and activities of the parish by discussion and informed decisions. Each Vestry member is expected to:

• Serve as a liaison to at least one existing St. Matthias' team
• Assist in Vestry projects
• Provide reports and updates on projects and teams
• Provide input regarding decisions and future planning

The Vestry is made up of the Rector, Senior Warden, Junior Warden, Clerk, and five other representatives elected from the congregation. The Rector chairs the meetings. The Senior Warden is the lead lay Vestry representative, and liaison between the Rector and the parish. The Junior Warden assists the Rector and Senior Warden by overseeing facility maintenance. One of the Vestry members is selected as Clerk and records the minutes. The church Treasurer also attends the meetings.

 

Each year, at the Annual Meeting, new Vestry members are elected. Below the dotted line is a nomination form for those interested.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

I, __________ , would like to nominate myself,

or (and please be sure to obtain approval before nominating someone),

I would like to nominate __________ ,

...for a three year Vestry term, beginning May 21, 2017, and continuing until the Annual Meeting in May, 2020. Vestry members are expected to attend most Vestry meetings, and a day-long retreat, generally held in January, and to represent St. Matthias' in a positive Christian spirit.

 

I feel __________ (yourself or other) would be a good Vestry member because:

(fill in here)

 

Recently, I have been thinking about the role of improvisation in church music. The question arose for me after talking with several parishioners, who said they sometimes found it difficult to sing some of the hymn stanzas because they had trouble hearing the melody line. Sometimes organists alter these inner hymn stanzas through improvisation, which might be confusing to the congregation unless they are familiar with the hymn. During the service, the congregation might hear unexpected variations in other music as well. Also, organists might do an improvisation on either prelude or postlude, for example, playing variations on a hymn tune.

 

A simple definition of improvisation is: "performance given extempore, without planning or preparation." Another definition is to: "play... extemporaneously, by inventing variations on a melody, or creating new melodies, rhythms and harmonies." (Wikipedia) Perhaps the clearest examples are seen in jazz. When listeners hear a famous jazz musician, such as Louis Armstrong or Miles Davis, they likely will take for granted that a musician will 'take off' on a given tune and extemporize.

 

Parishioners may not have a similar comfort level or even recognize improvisation when they hear it on the organ. Yet improvisation is considered an important art form in organ musicianship. In this article, I present a brief background on organ improvisation, and ask our new Director of Music to comment on his use of improvisation in our services.

 

Historical background. Some say improvisation has lost its prominence as a necessary skill in an organist's repertoire. Yet historically, most well-known keyboard composers and players have counted improvisation as one of their most important skills. Wikipedia, for example, says that "throughout the eras of Western art music tradition, including the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, classical and Romantic periods, improvisation was a valued skill." Famous composers and musicians, including J.S. Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt, were recognized for their skill at improvisation. During his lifetime, Bach was considered the "greatest improviser on the organ in Europe." (The Daily Improvisation, Eric Barnhill, 2006)

 

A well-known story about Bach: A famous French organist came to town to compete against Bach, but after hearing him improvise in a 'warm-up', the organist immediately left town.

 

French organist Marcel Du pré w as said to have "astounded American audiences in the 1920s by improvising whole organ symphonies on themes listeners submitted before his concerts." (NY Times, Organ Improvisation as an Art Form)

 

Today's Reformed churches encourage the "old art of improvising". (Reformed Worship, Issue #41, September, 1996) They say there is a "crying need for live music, for spontaneity and creativity" that cannot be replicated using prerecorded music (a common practice these days, particularly in small churches). The American Guild of Organists includes improvisation among the skills required of an advanced level organist, and AGO regularly holds national competitions in organ improvisation. At the Paris Conservatory, students take a required course in Improvisation, and France is said to "keep alive a tradition that has made its organ virtuosos admired he world over." (NY Times, Organ Improvisation as an Art Form) At some churches though, organists use improvisation as bridge music - a kind of filler - to connect parts of the service.

 

Regarding improvisation in services at St. Matthias', I asked George, our new Director of Music, a few questions about how and why he uses improvisation and how he learned to use it. George said he uses improvisation regularly "as the spirit moves me." In his view, improvisation "enhances the music and makes the congregation better listeners." George said he learned basic techniques of improvisation as an undergraduate at Westminster College. He also learned from hearing other organists use improvisation. In particular, he mentioned Pierre Cochereau, principal organist at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris from 1955-1984. George said that Pierre often used 'motives', little snippets of a hymn tune, that he then expanded through improvisation. A budding organist can learn to improvise, though the techniques appear to come easily to some musicians, but are more difficult for others. George said there are two main formulas in the formal study of improvisation. Both involve considerable choice of variation of melody and chords, and can become quite complex.