Fall 2021: Being Church

 

Maximizing Growth with new Governance model

by Pastor Elizabeth Macaulay

      Epworth is seeking to move into a streamlined governance system.

      Streamlined governance maximizes the talents and energies of members while creating a decision-making process that is collaborative and nimble.

      This process of working effectively and well together has been under consideration for months at Epworth and is being implemented by many other United Methodist Churches.

      Each facet of our shared ministry -- finance, trustees, staff -- has representation at the board level. The Board serves as a governance body, making policy decisions and working with the pastor to keep the ministry focused and effective.

      We have an opportunity to learn more about the streamlined governance on September 11 at 9:00 AM. In preparation for the meeting, please read Winning on Purpose by John Edmund Kaiser.  

      Join us on the journey starting September 11 as we learn about this model for ministry and consider how it can help Epworth UMC Nurture Faith, Do Good, Welcome All, and Be Church.

 

Meet new Administrative Assistant/Communications Coordinator

 

      Church Council recognized that as we move to hybrid worship – online and in-person, expertise with technology and social media have become even more vital. With the assistance of the Staff Parish Relations Committee, new job descriptions were written for the Administrative Assistant and Communications Coordinator positions, with the option of combining the two positions for one person.

      The positions were advertised on the Minnesota UMC Conference website and on Epworth’s Facebook page. After receiving several applications for consideration. SPRC, Church Council members, and Pastor Elizabeth held interviews and chose our new hire.

      Tara Tieso will start September 7 as Epworth’s new Administrative Assistant/ Communications Coordinator. 

      An alumnus of the University of Minnesota with a B.S. in Psychology (cum laude) and a Masters degree in Social Work, Tara comes to Epworth with a plethora of leadership skills and experiences in art, communications, community-building, and working with a team.

      Please help make Tara feel welcomed here as part of the Epworth family and help her learn about us as we learn about her.

 

Cultivating Connection

Every Wednesday you are invited to join Pastor Elizabeth for twenty minutes of prayer and connection.

      At 8:00 AM on Facebook (@EpworthUMCMPLS) there is time to pray together about community concerns as well as our joys and challenges.

      During this time of pandemic distancing, it is a gift to gather together.

      You can share prayer concerns in the comment line on Facebook or email your prayer concerns here epworthumcmplsmn@gmail.com.

      Prayer is powerful connection.

Religion & Race Team seeks to live vision

by Saundra Johnson

 

      Movies, education, action, interaction, and more!

      An intergenerational group met after worship on August 15 to envision a new small group at Epworth. Using the United Methodist Baptismal Covenant as a guide -- “accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves” – the group drafted a plan to live out its vision of God’s kin-dom on earth as well as Epworth’s vision.

      Plans were drafted to host a community showing of Malcolm X on September 25 at 6:30 pm. The movie will be shown outside at Epworth with food served following COVID protocols in place at that time. If COVID restrictions by that date do not allow for meeting at church, we will make other arrangements to see the film and hold discussion, possibly via Zoom or other media.

 

    This 1992 biographical epic, directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington as the title character, depicts the controversial and influential Black leader from his early life and career as a small-time gangster to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam. 

      In what ways does this film speak to where we are today on issues of race? What roles do religion and race play in this film? How did Malcolm X’s faith struggles inform his actions? Come with your own questions as we discuss the film.

      The Religion and Race Team also plan interactive sharing on social media and other places to keep us learning and growing each month on current issues like climate change, immigration, and Critical Race Theory where religion and race may intersect

      Join the Epworth weekly announcements email or the Echoes email to keep aware of when other films will be offered and where to connect with this work. Look for opportunities to take specific actions in support of groups and organizations in line with Epworth’s stated values and visions.

      “It’s not enough to have a vision,” Shirley Durr told the Team. “We must give substance to our vision and live it in visible ways.”

      Planned actions include simple things such as raising our voices, writing letters, and signing petitions in addition to showing up at events to bear witness and stand in solidarity. 

      The Team plans to reach out to potential guest speakers who can give us new perspectives from their knowledge and lived experiences, and let us know how we can walk with them. 

      The Team also hopes to offer worship experiences and cross-cultural, cross-racial experiences to awaken our awareness and practice “seeing God in others.”

 

Thank you, Asia, for your years of service to Epworth 

By Nan Rice

 

     In the midst of raising two delightful children, you have been there to get events off the ground, keep our calendar straight, do mailings, see that supplies are ordered, update our mailing lists, and much more! 

      We value your work and we especially value you as a member of our Epworth Family. 

      Our hope is that on Sunday mornings, we get to see you along with Abel, Millie, and Matt when the pressure of work will not be on your shoulders. 

      We love you! Thank you! Thank you!

How About Cursive?

By Mary Ellen Reetz-Pegues

 

    As a child, I practiced and practiced my cursive writing as did my classmates. We called it “penmanship”. There was no seeing into a future time when “cursive” would become nearly obsolete. 

      Each of us had penmanship that was unique. Margie’s was so scripty, Mary Gale’s was as nearly perfect to the examples as possible, Lenore’s was swoopy and beautiful, and mine was at times slightly messy and at other times quirky and attractive. 

      However, for each of us, cursive writing had one thing in common. The pen (or pencil) never left the paper until the word was finished. Cursive writing flowed. It still flows.

      Now that I’m aging, I think of my life as cursive. “My Life Flows on in Endless Song” is a favorite hymn, one that says it all. Our Christian life flows along and sometimes surprises us that we’ve flowed so FAR! 

  However, for me, it has been an easy flow, no stopping, other than occasional breaks between words (life’s episodes)—just flowing. Cursive is a smooth flow, like the unwinding of a ribbon. God is with us in the flow.

Enriching the garden: preparing for Fall

      As part of the preparation for Fall, Nan Rice re-finished the doors for the cabinets located in the Epworth kitchen and Fellowship Hall. Using sawhorses borrowed from her neighbors, she stripped and sanded the old finish and coated them with polyurethane before returning them to church and replacing them on the cabinets.

 

Letter from the Editor

Changes ahead for Echoes, this Editor; 

opportunities for you to grow into the changes

By Shirley Durr 

      This will be the last issue of the Echoes that I will edit. The next issue of the Echoes will be something wonderfully new. Look for this new incarnation of the Epworth newsletter in the coming months.

      The year ahead will be a busy one as I prepare for the UMC’s General Conference now scheduled for August 29 to September 6, 2022 in Minneapolis. As of now, the Minnesota Delegation will be meeting in preparation for GC 2022 – via Zoom if not in person -- and scheduling opportunities to hear what you have to say on legislation and other issues facing GC 2022. The Delegation also has commitments to attend North Central Jurisdiction where Bishops are elected.

Although I don’t plan to continue on the South Minneapolis Meals on Wheels Board of Directors in 2022, I will try to continue as a member of SMMOW’s Fundraising and Marketing Team. This local ministry needs more volunteers from Epworth, in my opinion. Contact Nan Rice, Epworth’s Driver Coordinator, and ask her how you can help.

      I have one more year to serve on the Minnesota Conference Board of Pensions and, if I have the energy, plan to serve out my term. Stepping away from the Echoes may give me that extra energy.

      I will continue to serve on the Minnesota Conference Church and Society Team as long as possible, seeking “justice in a variety of social issue contexts” and administering grants to “both local congregations and United Methodist related agencies engaged in ministries to promote peace and advocate for the poor and the marginalized and to develop programs that work towards justice.” Justice, especially to the poor and marginalized, is high on my list of passions.

      My Minnesota United Methodist Women commitments, which feed those same passions, are also shifting to new opportunities as I leave co-chairing the MN UMW Committee on Nominations this year to possibly other leadership positions next year that are new to me but speak to my passions.

      I’m looking for people who are ready to join me in UMW’s “work for justice through compassionate service and advocacy to change unfair policies and systems.” UMW invests a lot of time, attention, and funds to “equip women and girls to be leaders,” not only in churches but also in the community, workplace, and government.

      I will continue to serve Epworth getting the new Religion and Race Team off the ground. See page 13. I hear God calling me to this ministry and pray I have the mind and body as well as the Spirit to give to this nascent effort. I also hope more of you join us on this multi-generational journey towards justice.

      Of course, you still will see me at worship whenever possible. Returning to in-person worship, congregational singing is spotty due to changing COVID guidelines and signing is a way I sing without vocalizing. It was a joy to see so many signing “Give Thanks” with me on August 22.

      Some of you have also asked about bringing back the free sign language classes I’ve offered in the past. Some of you want to refresh your skills while some of you would be new to the class. All would be welcomed. ASL classes might be offered in 2022 once I see how busy my calendar becomes.

      I hope to continue writing for the Echoes occasionally, reporting on my work across Annual Conference and the community, sharing my passions and my faith stories, advocating for vital issues – like voting rights, climate change, and racism -- and offering ways for all of us to “resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.”

 

Wake up and join the dance

By Steven Charleston

 

Last night I dreamed the spirits of the Earth were being called from all four sacred directions, called to gather beneath the watchful moon, called to dance beneath the stars. And so they came, from all points of the wind, from every land and sea, all flying here, to turtle island, to the place of emergence and return. 

Somber were their faces, but determined were their voices, as they took up the ancient chants, the oldest chants, words of healing older than time. They were dancing to rescue the Earth. They were dancing for the salvation of the Earth. They were dancing to wake us up. And I did wake up. And I know you are awake too. 

In fact, I hope the whole world will wake up, wake up and join the dance, join the spirits of the Earth, join the salvation of life.