In this Edition:

• This Sunday - Youth Led Worship, Coffee Hour, and Forum
• Upcoming Community Forums
• Cinco de Mayo Variety Show
• Newcomer Brunch
• Faithful Innovations
• Job Posting - We're seeking a part-time Sexton!
• 3-5 grade spring overnight - May 12-13
• Beckmann's Bike Brigade
• Justice Collaborative Event
• Wonder Women Happy Hour
• Loaves and Fishes
• Women's Camping Trip
• ICA Update
• PercoLAYte

Have an announcement you would like to share in this weekly email?

Send it to office@stdavidsparish.org before noon on Monday to be featured.

Church this Sunday

8:00 and 9:30 service of Holy Eucharist

Join us for worship, May 7th at the 9:30 service, for a special youth-led service.

Youth grades 6-12 will be preparing and practicing to share their favorite songs, readings, baked goodies for coffee hour, and leading us in the forum. We'll even have our own Owen Kuyper preaching the sermon (at both the 8:00 and 9:30 services!

This Sunday will also be the day we celebrate our high school graduates. Please join us in this celebratory day!

There will be not Godly Play or Children's Time during the 9:30 service.

ICA ingathering this Sunday - see full update at the end of this email.

We will continue to Facebook Livestream the Sunday 9:30 service and upload to YouTube to accommodate those who choose to stay home.

10:45-11:30 Community Forum

Learn from the youth group terms and facts about our LGBTQ+ siblings

Upcoming Community Forums

Sunday, May 7

Youth Led Sunday - Learn terms and facts about our LGBTQ+ siblings

Sunday, May 14

Social Time (Mother's Day)

Sunday, May 21

Newcomer Celebration Brunch

Sunday, May 28

Social Time (Memorial Day Weekend)

Sunday, June 4

Safety Plan 

Variety Show on Cinco de Mayo

Newcomer Welcome Brunch - May 21

In Luke 9 Jesus says, If the people there do not welcome you,

Shake the dust off your feet when you leave

 As a testimony against them.

And so we welcome all who come to our doors. Twice each year St. David’s welcomes all newcomers and also all our old friends to a welcoming brunch in the undercroft after a Sunday service. In May, on the 21st we invite all of you to join us as we welcome newcomers, visitors, and new members.

We need help in planning, preparing and serving this brunch. We're also looking for more folks to join the Newcomer Ministry Team for upcoming efforts. This would be a not-too-demanding commitment and even the shortest or smallest contribution of your love and time would be appreciated.

Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/aMhtfmi1Bpah2KmU6

Faithful Innovation

What Might God Be Up To In Our Neighborhood?

What a great question this is! Come with us, and let's find out together. Save a date, out of the following times, to join in on an observational walk around St David's neighborhood. This is a step in our, and ECMNs, Faithful Innovation journey. Stay tuned for more informational announcements.

Sunday May 14th, Forum time

Sunday May28th, Forum time

Your time, anytime................

We will have coffee to go, and remember DQ is in our neighborhood..... treats at the end?

Hope to see you there!

St. David’s is Seeking a Part-time Sexton

We are looking for someone willing to work 17-20 hours a week taking care of our building, arranging furniture as needed for services and programs.  A position description that lists responsibilities and expectations can be found on the home page of our website at:  www.stdavidsparish.org  or by contacting us at staffing@stdavidsparish.org

Children and Youth Ministry

Beckmann's Bike Brigade

The Bike MS: Twin Cities Ride is back for another year.

The formal event will be in St. Paul on Saturday, May 13^th. Beckmann’s Bike Brigade (B^3) has decided to model after previous successful outings and will hold our own ride on Saturday, May 13^th in Minnetonka.  

For those who are newer to Westwood, we ride to support our own Dan Beckmann, who lives with MS. Through the miracles of modern medicine, Dan has been able to juggle a full work and family life despite the disease. Dan will be the first to say this event isn’t about him, it is about supporting a community of friends and family members who have been impacted by MS and working towards a cure.

For the event in May you have the option to sign up as a full participant through MS Society webpage. This allows you to fundraise on your own, yet be included as part of our greater team. Since we’re organizing our own version of the ride, you also have the option of simply showing up and riding with us on the 13^th….without formally signing up.  

This provides the opportunity for more folks to informally join the ride and simply donate to the team without paying a registration fee. My 7-year-old is planning to give it a try this year, so feel free to bring the kids and make it a family affair. This will be pretty informal, so just drop me a note chris.carda@westwoodps.com or call (612-209-2616) before the event (the day before is still not too late) for planning.

We’ll plan to meet at Westwood’s parking lot.

Westwood is where Dan Beckmann and Chris Carda Work

12701 Whitewater Drive, Suite 300

Minnetonka, MN 55343

We’ll meet at the SE side of the building for a 9:00 departure on Saturday morning, May 13^th. We’ll ride the Minnesota River Bluffs LRT Regional Trail to the southwest for about 7.5 miles to Lake Riley and then turn around and go back to Westwood (15ish miles total). We’ll supply Yo-Yo Donuts for all to enjoy at the end of the ride. The trail is hard-packed gravel, so plan accordingly with your bike. If it looks like a complete washout with rain, we’ll hold Sunday, May 14^th (same time and place) as a backup.

You can sign up for the team here. Our team name is Beckmann’s Bike Brigade.

If you can’t ride, but would like to donate, click here.

Justice Collaborative Event

Please join us in the Undercroft on Tuesday, May 9 at 7pm for a discussion with Ricky Kamil from the Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative www.beaconinterfaith.org. Mr. Kamil will be discussing homelessness and race. From the Beacon website, "Encampments of people without a home are again growing. Racial disparities in housing continue to harm communities of color." Mr. Kamil will also be giving us an update on Vista 44, the affordable housing development in Hopkins that St. David's raised $13,000 to help fund. If you want to learn more about Vista 44 on your own, Beacon is hosting a Zoom event on April 26 to discuss this project in detail. You can find the info on their website, mentioned above. Beacon is also hosting a Groundbreaking and Reception for this project on May 3 at 4pm.

A huge thank you to Daniel Romero and Priscilla Hagerman from the Minnesota Council of Churches (MCC) for their incredible and heart moving presentation on April 11 about "Asylees, Refugees, and the Undocumented." They encouraged the church to develop an Immigration Justice Team that could volunteer with MCC, sponsor a refugee family, discern to learn more about immigration policies, or work to have St. David's be a Sanctuary Church. If you'd like to be a part of creating this team, email huldah.violin@gmail.com If you missed the presentation or just want to learn more you can visit https://www.mnchurches.org/ 

Huldah Niles, Chair, Justice Collaborative

Wonder Women Happy Hour

Attention all St. David’s Women! 

The St. David’s Wonder Women will be hosting a social gathering each month during the summer (weather permitting on our patios & porches & decks!) Please join us for drinks & appetizers and a time to socialize. Plan to bring an appetizer or snack to share and if you have a favorite drink, that too. Beer/Wine/non-alcoholic options will be provided. 

We hope to see you this summer! 

5:00-7:00pm

Friday, May 12th (Huldah Niles)

Thursday, June 8th (Joann Allan)

Thursday, July 6th (Susan Taylor)

Thursday, August 10th (Ann Carda)

Loaves and Fishes

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.  I was a stranger and you invited me in. 

St. David’s is expanding our presence at Loaves and Fishes at St. Gabriel’s in Hopkins.   We will be taking the 2nd Tuesday and 4th Monday of the month in addition to our quarterly 5th Tuesday. Loaves and Fishes moved to a cook and package method so not as many volunteers are needed. Two for cooking with the L&F coordinator from 3-5 and two to package and serve from 4:30 to 6:30. 

Please contact Sue or Basil Owen to sign up. Sue’s cell is 612-716-1945. Basil’s cell is 612-716-0683 or email at bowen3@fastmail.com

Upcoming dates 

• Tues May 9th
• Mon May 22nd
• Tues May 30th 
• Tues June 13th

Wondering if you can volunteer as a family or if there are other opportunities besides St. Gabriel’s?  The Loaves and Fishes page might help you.  Volunteer – Loaves and Fishes (loavesandfishesmn.org)

St. David's Women Camping Trip

St David’s women are going into the woods again!  We’ll leave August 13 (Sunday) and return August 17 (Thursday).  We will be staying at Lake LaSalle Recreation Area.  This is adjacent to Lake Itasca. Join us for hot dogs, s’mores and great fellowship!

Susan Taylor      952-944-7241

Launa Tucker     952-935-1294

ICA Update

ICA Collection this Sunday, May 7

This Sunday is the first Sunday of the month and that means it’s ICA Sunday. As the statistics we have been sharing show a continued increase in families and individuals accessing ICA’s resources, your donations are needed more than ever. ICA has suggested using themes for our ICA collections and has created some posters to advertise the different themes. We will post each month’s theme at the church entrances near the ICA baskets the week before each first Sunday. Watch for them to get some ideas of items to bring on ICA Sunday. 

Since spring finally seems to be here and we are starting to get into the spring cleaning mode, it was decided to go with the theme KEEP IT CLEAN. The poster lists the following needs: 

• Dish soap
• Laundry soap
• Shampoo
• Toothpaste 
• Deodorant

However, any personal hygiene items and household cleaning products are welcome and, as usual,  any other food and non-food items you wish to contribute. This includes brown paper bags and egg cartons. Bring your items to donate to church on Sunday or you can drop them off at your convenience in the ICA baskets at church entrances.

You may prefer to support ICA financially, which is always appreciated. You can drop a check made out to ICA in the collection plate or give through an online donation on the website: www.icafoodshelf.org and choose Donate, then Give Financial Support from the menu. Or simply use the QR Code below, which takes you directly to the Donate page.

Collaboration with Relate Counseling Center

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Although most of us usually associate ICA with food distribution, it has been expanding other services such as employment assistance and housing resources. For the past seven years, ICA also has been collaborating with the Relate Counseling Center to offer free mental health services to our neighbors. Founded in 1969, Relate offers outpatient assessments and counseling services to individuals of all ages. Every Wednesday from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. a Relate counseling professional comes to ICA and is available for appointments with anyone in the community. These sessions are free and completely discreet. If you know someone who may be interested in receiving free mental health services, please call 952-932-7277 and ask to schedule an ICA appointment.

More Astounding Statistics

In last Thursday’s Weekly News, we shared some statistics about the neighbors ICA served during the fiscal year of 2022. Here are a few more astounding statistics from that report. 

ICA ‘s Food Shelf is a choice-model food shelf, which means it is organized much like a grocery store or local market. When neighbors visit ICA for a food appointment, they select groceries they and their family enjoy and know how to cook. Households are encouraged to utilize the Food Shelf up to twice a month. In the last year:

• 1,164,093 pounds of food were distributed!
• 18,574 visits were made to ICA food programs.
• 27 pounds was the average amount of food received per person per visit.

ICA also has a mobile food shelf which delivers food to low-income apartment buildings in its service area. In addition, home delivery is available for neighbors who are unable to come into the Food Shelf due to disability or medical reasons. In the last year:

• 1471 mobile food shelf deliveries
• 385 neighbors served through mobile deliveries
• 847 home deliveries
• 267 neighbors served through home deliveries

Percolayte

Second Thursdays, 12pm

Register here.

Find recordings of past gatherings here.

All Minnesota Episcopalians are invited to join PercoLAYte. We'll continue to meet monthly to "steep" ourselves in the lay order of ministry. This Thursday, join Meg Stump and Margo and Steve Druschel, lay leaders from St. John's, Mankato, as they share stories of that community's explorations of what "lay-led, clergy-supported" looks like.

• Thursday, May 11, 12pm
• Thursday, June 8, 12pm

Want to view the full calendar for the week? Click here to view the St. David's website complete with a calendar to keep you updated on events and offerings! Scroll all the way to the bottom to view it.