Weekly Programming

• This Sunday
• Children and Youth Ministry

Community Events

• Kickoff Sunday
• All Parish Picnic

Outreach

• ICA Update
• Loaves and Fishes
• City of Minnetonka Climate Action
• Beacon Housing - Unlock the Metro

Announcements and Reports

• Office Administrator Update
• Picnic Volunteers needed
• Gifts of Gratitude Benefit Drawing
• Bible Study Resumes
• Calling All Bridge Players
• Calling All Mah Jongg Players

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

Send it to office@stdavidsparish.org before 9:00am on Tuesday to be featured.

Weekly Programming

Church this Sunday

Kick Off Sunday, this Sunday!

This Sunday will be a special day as we kick off the new year, welcome children back to Children's Time during worship, bless backpacks and planners, and gather after our service for a picnic...and bouncy house! Please see full details below.

It will be good to be together!

Note: One Service at 9:30

Click Here to view Sunday's Bulletin.

We continue to Facebook Livestream the Sunday 9:30 service and upload to YouTube.

Children’s Time

This Sunday we have our first Children’s Time since spring. During the 9:30 service, children ages 3 through grade 5 are invited to process out during the Song of Praise, returning for communion. 

For children’s time this week, we will meet one another, share about our summers, talk about our community covenant, and get a little tour of our two classrooms. 

Calling all 3rd Graders!

Sunday, September 17^th we are presenting and gifting Bibles during the 9:30 service for any children and youth 3^rd grade and up (if they did not receive one last year.) Please email Anna abrock@stdavidsparish.org if your child is in 3^rd grade, or does not have a Bible. It is a gift that we are blessed to be able to give away!

Youth Group

We had so much fun at Dairy Queen last night! Next week for youth group, we will have LIFT at Trinity Episcopal Church in Excelsior from 6:30-8:30pm with dinner included. All 6^th-12^th graders are invited, regardless of church or faith affiliation! Bring a friend!

Save the Date: Saturday, September 23^rd we are going for a hike with our friends from EYMF (Ecumenical Youth Ministry Fellowship)! 

(More information coming soon – hike will be short on a paved path, late morning-afternoon, staying local to the West Metro).

Community Events

The Bouncy House has been ordered, the grills are getting cleaned, and our time to gather for an old-fashioned church potluck picnic has finally arrived.

All are welcome to come partake in this fun, delicious get-together on Sunday, September 10th immediately after church. Plus, recall this is also Kick-Off Sunday celebrating our reuniting after a long hot summer, complete with new updated Ministry Guides and Church Directories for you to take home. If we still have not sold you on the day, remember this is also the day 13 lucky winners will find out if their ticket is a cash winner from our summer-long Gifts of Gratitude fundraiser!

As always, we appreciate a head count of attendees, and a mention of what you would like to bring to share (side dish, salad, or dessert). Burgers, hotdogs, buns, condiments, beverages, and paper products will be provided.  Please sign up from the Sign-Up Genius link below or opt to sign up by pen to paper on the clipboards at church (narthex/undercroft).  If you are unable to bring a dish to share, or forget to sign up, no worries…. Please just come as you are as there is always plenty of food!

Sign up at:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040544AFA82DA6FB6-stdavids

Here’s to seeing all on Sunday, September 10^th under seasonal, sunny skies…. fingers crossed!  

Brought to you by your 2023 Vestry.  Questions, contact Diane Curley, Jr Warden at dcurley@stdavidsparish.org

Outreach

ICA Update

ICA Sunday is this Sunday, 9/3

It is likely   you have at least one person in your family that needs to watch what he/she eats due to food allergies or intolerances. This results in shopping for specialized foods to keep that person feeling well & staying healthy. These specialized foods can make a tight food budget even tighter.  The theme for this month’s ICA collection is Allergy Aware. Here are some ideas for things you might consider donating with this theme in mind:

• Gluten-free snacks (ex. Annie’s variety snacks, Nature’s Bakery double chocolate brownies, Heavenly Hunks oatmeal chocolate chip cookies)
• Dye-free cereal (ex. Cheerios, Special K, Fruity O’s, Quaker Oats)
• Nut-free granola bars (ex. Kind oats & honey, Quaker chewy chocolate chip granola bars)
• Shelf-stable milk alternative (ex. Milkadamia unsweetened milk, Horizon organic whole milk)

As always, we welcome anything you would like to donate. Now especially with school starting & fall around the corner, the needs at ICA are greater.

If you prefer to donate funds to ICA, you can drop a check made out to ICA in the Sunday collection plate or donate online using the QR code on the ICA poster at each entrance or at www.icafoodshelf.org, clicking on the Donate section. Thank you for however you choose to support ICA.

Gardening for a Cause

Are you enjoying the bounty from your vegetable garden? If you have more than enough for your family, we hope you will consider sharing some of your harvest and support local families, many of whom do not have access to fresh produce. ICA relies a great deal on homegrown donations throughout the summer and accepts any size donation of vegetables, herbs and fruits. Homegrown produce is an incredible gift to share.

The Great Taste planned for October 12th

This year’s Great Taste will be a celebration of ICA’s 52nd anniversary. This fun event will be held at Oak Ridge Country Club in Hopkins. Early bird tickets must be purchased by September 13th. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www..icafoodshelf.org/taste. 

Loaves and Fishes

Four Volunteers are needed for each date. Two for cooking with the L&F coordinator from 3:00-5:00 and two to package and serve from 4:30 to 6:30. 

Upcoming dates 

• September 12
• September 25
• October 10
• October 23
• October 31

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

See the May 25th weekly news for full update.

This year, the City of Minnetonka is working to create a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP). This plan will provide the city with strategies to reduce our community’s impacts on the environment and adapt to our changing climate. However, to make this plan, we need the community’s input! Specifically, the city is looking for input from all community members (anyone who lives, works or visits Minnetonka). Community members can provide their input by:

• Taking the CAAP survey at https://www.minnetonkamatters.com/climate-action-plan (click on “Take Survey” at the bottom of the page; or
•  Attending the CAAP Open House on Thursday, Sept. 14th from 6:30 – 8 pm at the Minnetonka Community Center (14600 Minnetonka Blvd.)

Feel free to contact Drew Ingvalson at dingvalson@minnetonkamn.gov or 952-939-8293 if you have any questions.

OUR GOAL

Our goal is to make more project-based vouchers (PBVs) available for suburban development. Without these vital resources, it's virtually impossible to create deeply-affordable homes for families in the suburbs. We’re calling on the Met Council to instruct its regional housing agency to provide a reliable annual pipeline of project-based vouchers across the whole 7-county metro area.

OUR ASK

Since the Agency’s plan will lock in their current policies for another year, we’re calling on the Committee to "unlock the metro" by adding a new goal to the 2024 Annual Plan before they vote to accept it on September 18: dedicate 30% of the Met Council's vouchers as PBVs to develop housing affordable to people who make 30% or less of the Area Median Income. It's a "30-for-30" plan to create homes families need in the suburbs.

OUR ACTIONS

Tuesday, September 5. The meeting starts at 4 p.m. We’ll gather at 3:30 p.m.

Met Council Building, 390 Robert St. N, St. Paul 55101

The Agency will present its annual plan--and our objections to it--to the Committee. They need to see that Beacon is in the house and paying attention!

Click HERE to register to attend.

Monday, September 18. The meeting starts at 4 p.m. We’ll gather at 3:30 p.m.

Met Council Building, 390 Robert St. N, St. Paul 55101

This is the most important in-person event of the Unlock the Metro Campaign.We’re calling for 50 or more Beacon advocates to pack the room when the Committee votes on the Agency’s annual plan. They need to know that we’ll hold them accountable. 

Click HERE to register-- then call 5 friends and get them to register too!

We cannot go another year without a change to the Agency’s project-based voucher policy. Low-income families in the suburbs are waiting for these homes. Let’s show the Met Council how serious we are. Please take action and help Unlock the Metro!

Together, we can do hard things.

Rev. Nancy Nord Bence, Public Policy Manager

nbence@beaconinterfaith.org

763-639-5941

As you may know, Anna Belz-Brock's last day as Office Administrator is today, August 31. We are in the process of reviewing the Office Administrator job description and will then be ready to post the position and review candidates for this important, part-time role.  

In the meantime, we are happy to announce that Vida Edmond, a parishioner who has frequently volunteered in the office, will serve as our paid interim administrator, working approximately 15 hours during the work week. Thank you, Vida, for stepping up when we needed your help, and welcome to this role!

Finally, since Vida is a parishioner, we ask for your support in keeping roles and boundaries clear: please refrain from asking professional, office questions on Sunday mornings and other times when Vida is at church as a parishioner and member of the choir. We appreciate your understanding and support.

The office email remains the same:  office@stdavidsparish.org.  

For more information, please contact the Rev. Katherine Lewis, Allison Ferro, Sr. Warden, or Diane Curley, Jr. Warden.

I have truly enjoyed serving as Office Administrator over the past year or so. I appreciated the chance to spend more of my time at St. David's and to work with folks I wouldn't have normally worked with in my Children and Youth Minister role. I am both sad to let this work go, and excited for the next chapter both for St. David's, and for myself.

As some of you know, I am in discernment for seminary, and have been for quite some time. My hope is to fully begin classes in the Fall of 2024 to work towards a Masters of Divinity. I am grateful to be able to work as your Children and Youth Minister, and plan to continue in that part-time role through graduate school.

Thanks and peace,

Anna Belz-Brock

Picnic Volunteers Needed

The call is out for willing worker-bees to assist the Vestry crew setting up and cleaning up for the All-Parish Picnic.

Please see if this might work in your busy schedule and click on the link below to see the open options and sign up!

Much thanks in advance. Any questions or trouble with the link, please contact me, Diane Curley, at dcurley@stdavidsparish.org

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040544AFA82DA6FB6-picnic

Bible Study will resume next Tuesday, September 12th at 11:00 on Zoom. We will pick up our study of the Book of John with the Rev. Basil Owen leading the way.

See Zoom link under 'Regular Offerings'

The St. David’s Bridge Group will be starting on Friday, September 15 at 6:30 PM in the Conference Room across from the Library. If you are interested in playing bridge, please email Susan Taylor at ss2taylor@comcast.net to be added to the list of bridge players. We play a friendly game of party bridge on the third Friday of each month, September through May except December. You sign up on a month-by-month basis so there is no obligation to find substitutes if you can’t play one month. 

The St. David’s Mah Jongg group will be starting up soon. We play American MahJongg two afternoons a month. The dates and times are yet to be determined. If you are interested in joining the group, please email Susan Taylor at ss2taylor@comcast.net.

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.