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The weekly newsletter from the
Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys
April 10, 2019
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We are congregations who seek to be a collective expression of the Body of Christ, joyfully participating in Christ's ongoing life and work. "Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing."
(I Thessalonians 5:11)
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Due to the blizzard, SanDawna and Karen will be working from home Thursday possibly into Friday. Please communicate by email those two days. Thanks!
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Congregation of the Week of April 14-20
Federated Church of Fergus Falls
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Clerk: Jean Bowman
Treasurer: Mark Rodning
Officers: Erik Anthonisen, Amy Donoho, John Erickson, Kurt Johnson, Wayne Link, Linda MacFarlane, Erika Mariotti, Rebecca Michael, Patty Shol, Jon Steinbrenner, Kathy Truax, Steve Weinbar
Staff: Karen Anderson (DCE), Adam Baker (bookkeeper), Ada Erlandson (Admin. Asst), Brian Jensen (Music Ministry), Molly King (accompanist), Pete Konrad (Maintenance), Lilly Makovsky (nursery attendant), Rebekah Meder (pastoral Care).
Pastor: Douglas Dent
Prayers: for the family of Marna Brown; Jo Beck; Joan Ebbighausen
Upcoming events: Easter Sunday celebrations; Senior Brunch (for graduating seniors)
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Sunday, around the world, Christians will begin Holy Week. I’m starting early. I remember my visit to Israel in 2009 and walking the Via Dolorosa. The path went from Mount Olivet to the Lions Gate and into the entrance of the Old City. Our group walked this path as we listened again to the old story. The old stone path had a vendor there waiting to give everyone a ride on a donkey. Instead of making the story more real, the vendor made the experience feel commercialized. I placed my attention on the donkey. The curvy path would be no challenge for the sure-footed animal capable of walking on the edge of mountain cliffs. The feet of this animal reminded me that God created all things with unique purposes.
According to the Gospel writers, Jesus went to Jerusalem greeted by the fickle crowd. He was fully aware of the coming suffering, betrayal, Golgotha, and the Resurrection. Isaiah 50:7 states that the Messiah will approach this moment steady…“He set his face link flint.” ‘How do you respond when you know that things are going to get worse before they get better?’ is always the question that comes to mind for me when reading this text. On May 2, Peter Steinke will help us understand how we respond when anxiety is a factor for individuals and within groups. I look forward to the conversation.
The Apostle John recounts the story in a way that speaks to me deeply. He remembers the events of Passion Sunday quite differently from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John does not tell us about Jesus agonizing in the Garden of Gethsemane. As an aside when we were in Jerusalem, I especially experienced the presence of God in the garden as we walked through the trees that were 1500 years old. Trees that were grafted from the roots of olive trees that existed when Jesus prayed there and before. However, John does not make the experience in the Garden the focus of his story. There is no cup in which Jesus asks that He is spared from drinking. No; John says that Jesus only says the hour has come, Father let your name be glorified. Jesus teaches the disciples one last principle of life…a seed must die before it can produce fruit. This paradoxical truth continues to speak today “death is the way to life.”
In Jesus’ case, His death led to glory and life not only for himself but also for others. One person sacrifices and the masses benefit. We understand this concept well. We have seen it acted out in history through the lives of those we affix the titles heroes and heroines. More personally, this concept speaks to us individually, reminding us that dreams, wants, and aspirations, when we are Christians, are included in an extensive agenda that supersedes our imaginations.
John speaks of the courage of Jesus. He walked in faith. He meets danger with strength and confidence. At times we find courage in knowing that Jesus suffered as we do. Moreover, there are some days when this reality us gives a sense of closest with the human side of Jesus. However, there are other days we need to be inspired and encouraged to boldly face the obstacles in life, Jesus models this before us. He does so, based upon his understanding of his life’s call and purpose.
Mattie Stepanek, a 13-year-old poet and author who died some years ago from multiple sclerosis, once said: “some people are put on this earth and have diseases and others are put on this earth to help to find a cure for them.” This 13-year-old boy understood his purpose greatly in life. He understood the agenda was larger than him. Although he died at 13, he wrote several books. The last book he wrote was co-authored with former President Jimmy Carter entitled Just Peace. For Jesus, Jerusalem was His purpose. Jesus knew what going to Jerusalem meant — facing the cross. Experiencing death for every believer so that death for them would only be a pass through. He would take the keys of “death, hell and the grave.” The physical meaning and the metaphoric meaning of each of these places stand for the areas in life that bound, condemn, deplete our hope, and completely separate persons from God and each other.
We are challenged to understand our purpose. We must start by answering the questions: Who am I? Do I matter? What is my place in life? According to Jesus, we answer these questions through discipleship. When the disciples in Luke’s version of the Passion narrative were told to go and find a donkey with no money or explanation but only to say to those who asked “The Lord Needs Him” was a matter of trust. Could they now, after three years, just follow the command and know that Jesus had some purpose, even if it didn’t make sense at the time?
Squaring our life’s purpose with God’s will for our lives is the discipleship task. We take up our cross by picking up God’s desire for our lives and putting aside, if necessary, our own desires. Proverbs 19:21 tells us “many are the plans in a person’s heart but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Just knowing our purpose is not enough. We then have to make the walk into Jerusalem.
Blessing and Peace,
SanDawna
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Prayer List
Rev. Araceli Itzep from the Occidente Presbytery
Sue Thompson, Clerk of Session at First Presbyterian Church, Maynard
Bev Raske, Ruling Elder at Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Renville
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Grant Applications Sought
The Mission Redevelopment Committee of First Presbyterian Church, Madelia is seeking applications to receive grants. Qualifying projects may include:
- Development, formation, or redevelopment of Presbyterian churches
- Evangelism or recruitment of new members
- New building construction
- Renovations or capital improvements
- Presbyterian sponsored mission projects
A written letter of application describing the project, other funds available for the project, and the amount of grant requested should be submitted to the Mission Redevelopment Committee and postmarked by May 1, 2019. Grants will be selected and distributed by May 31, 2019.
Mission Redevelopment Committee
PO Box 156
Madelia MN 56062
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Presbyterian Hymnals to Give Away
Harrison Presbyterian Church of rural Spicer has 100 blue Presbyterian Hymnals to give if anyone can use them. Contact Dennis Peterson at
[email protected].
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Building a Congregational Immune System
Thursday, May 2 at Green Lake Bible Camp in Spicer from 9:30 – 4:00 – Registration is $40 and includes lunch
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Our Speaker, the Reverend Peter Steinke, Ph.
D, has been a church consultant for more than twenty years. Having studied Bowen Family System Theory under the tutelage of Edwin Friedman, he has attempted to incorporate the theory in his work. He has authored four books with an eye on Bowen Theory. He has developed the Bridgebuilder and Healthy Congregation programs and is initiating New Visions, a system-based project for leadership in congregations. Dr. Steinke is an ordained Lutheran (ELCA) pastor. A prolific author, Steinke is the guru of church systems, congregational health and building the capacity of leaders.
Dr. Steinke, a lead consultant to congregations and judicatories, will provide daylong training for church leaders on the congregation as an emotional system, triggers of anxiety, the immune response, and leadership in an emotional system.
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27th Festival of Homiletics - 2019 Minneapolis
"Preaching as Moral Imagination"
Once upon a time, preachers and churches had a primary role in shaping the moral imagination of a community, a society, even a nation. What happened? “Preaching As Moral Imagination” will inspire and encourage preachers to embrace, once again, their identity as those called to give voice to God’s vision of goodness and mercy, to recover and re-imagine leadership in the church that seeks justice for all. Be inspired by God’s Word proclaimed by some of the nation’s finest ministers and teachers. Experience the fellowship of hundreds of preachers. Learn and worship in an atmosphere that’s dynamic, friendly, nurturing, and prophetic. Come renew, refresh, and recharge your spirit. Come and tap into God’s moral imagination for the sake of the world God loves.
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Synod Gathering for Presbyterian Women in the Synod of the Lakes and Prairies
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June 20-23, 2019
Gateway Hotel & Conference Center
2100 Green Hills Dr
Ames, Iowa
Full registration is $200 and includes meals and programming.
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Join the movement of Presbyterians in Baltimore for a Big Tent like no other.
The theme, Called to a Movement beyond Institution, will emphasize our hope of the Gospel and its power to challenge institutional conventions. The goal is to come together and live in this moment, immersed in our current cultural context of racial division, gender inequality, and economic disparity to be renewed, refreshed and reformed, so that we may be sent out to affect change in our own communities. Big Tent will provide a place where our Presbyterian polity and identity is the foothold by which we proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in action and answer the call to discern the will of God together.
Through worship, Bible study, learning opportunities, and active engagement with one another and the community, attendees will encounter the Church participating in God’s mission for the transformation of creation and humanity.
Organizers for this year’s Big Tent celebration have lined up the guest preachers and leaders for the three-day gathering in Baltimore this summer. The Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah will be the featured speaker at the
opening plenary
on Thursday, Aug. 1.
“Conversations are taking place about the changes that are occurring in our society, especially in terms of our demographics. Churches are experiencing change, including decline and diversity,” said Rah. “I will touch on those, but I really want to touch base on what the appropriate response to these changes should be.”
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Save the date for Boundary Training
Tuesday, October 8 from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church of Redwood Falls
Boundary Training is required for all minister/teaching elder presbytery members and commissioned ruling elders. The Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys will be holding a boundary training on Tuesday, October 8 from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Redwood Falls. The Rev. Mark Sundby from Leaderwise will be leading the boundary training. The training will focus on a holistic approach to boundaries, looking at overall resilience and well-being as the best prevention against impaired decision making and boundaries violations. More information will be coming.
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Church Staff: Schedule a Day with Karen
Associate for Administration Karen Lange is available to spend a day with the person or persons in the church office to share tips on setting up bulletins, newsletters, making a Facebook page or to help with any general questions. The cost is Karen’s mileage to and from the church plus providing lunch. Please email Karen to schedule.
Last Friday, Karen was at Faith Presbyterian Church of Silver Lake with Megan.
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Pastoral Leadership Opportunities
First Presbyterian Church, Fulda
- Solo Pastor, 3/4 time up to full-time
Faith Presbyterian Church, Silver Lake
- Part-time Solo Pastor
Hope Presbyterian Church, Spicer
- Solo Pastor
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