Your leadership team has made the most difficult decision to suspend church services and ALL church-related activities at Saint Paul’s Church indefinitely with the sincerest hope to reconvene starting 1 April.
St Paul’s Church Photo Album
(thanks to Angie Paulson for compiling and creating the video!)
|
Dear friends, Never has a church leader told anyone to stay home from church services. Every church leader has always stressed the importance of being in community with other believers. Yet today we are asking this: PLEASE STAY HOME! Your leadership team has made the most difficult decision to suspend church services and ALL church-related activities at Saint Paul’s Church indefinitely starting today, 13 March 2020, with the sincerest hope to reconvene starting 1 April. This decision was made with varied input: from information given by Bishop Prior, the faith communities around us, and from data, guidance, and suggestions from the Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization. COVID-19 really is a dangerous virus and decreasing opportunities for transmission is the key to stopping the spread of this virus. Friends, our community has persons who are in the highest risk category. We have persons who need to take care of their vulnerable and/or elderly family members. We owe it to each other, to them, and to the greater community to stay as healthy as we can and decrease the opportunities for this virus to infect anyone else. Our main goal is to be proactive and positive regarding this issue. That is why we are adopting this Social Distancing policy: by staying home and avoiding group gatherings we decrease the potential of spreading the virus. Even now we are working and acting creatively to offer all of us at Saint Paul’s opportunities to read the written Word, gain access to prayers and hymns, and read comments on weekly Gospels via our website and our E-pistle. Just because we cannot be physically present does not mean we cannot continue to worship at home knowing that our brothers and sisters of Saint Paul’s are doing the same. We can retain community in spirit, allowing the Holy Spirit to enter in helping us to remember we really are not alone after all. Our pastoral care and leadership teams will continue to reach out with calls to any in need, whether it be illness or needing an encouraging word. You can call our leadership team or use REALM to message any of us and we will respond! In God’s love, Your Leadership Team |
Prayer Calendar
In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we pray for the Church of England.
In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, we pray for those involved in specialized licensed ministries throughout the Episcopal Church in Minnesota, including lay preachers, Eucharistic ministers and visitors, and lay readers; and for our musicians and worship committees. We also pray for the Cathedral of our Merciful Savior (Faribault).
Pray for migrants, refugees, and displaced people throughout the world. Pray also for those in our country who have been taught to fear or hate people different than they are.
Our weekly Parish Prayer List can be found here. If you wish to be visited by a member of our Pastoral Care Team and/or deacon, request prayers for yourself or someone else on the Parish Prayer List, or simply make someone aware of an acute or ongoing need, click the blue button below.
Our votive candle stand is a beautiful symbol of our collective prayers coming into the light of Christ. When you light a votive, please consider leaving a contribution to help fund this amenity.
Common Book of Prayer
provided for your prayers and meditations
Sunday Bulletin
This Sunday’s bulletin is available here for your use. Click image to open in full view.
Anthem – Like as an hart Herbert Howells
Faith in Action
Joyce Uptown Food Shelf joyfully receives Saint Paul’s weekly donations. We will continue our Advent/Christmas practice of using the blue Advent Calendar bag (available in the Narthex) through Epiphany as well. Following the guide sheet inside, collect and bless one item each day. Drop off your donations in the bins at Saint Paul’s as needed.
We URGENTLY need drivers: It’s just a one-month commitment (once a week!) to deliver food shelf contributions to the Joyce Uptown Food Shelf. The 2020 sign-up sheet is posted on the bulletin board next to the nursery. Because drop-off hours are limited (M-F 1:00-3:45pm, Th 5:00-6:45pm), this is a perfect opportunity for those who live close to church and have daytime availability. Contact Laurie Larsen with questions: 612-849-1348. Let’s fill the calendar!
Upcoming Events
19 MARCH: LIVE from Saint Paul’s Church Saint Paul’s Vestry will be meeting via ZOOM this month. Please contact your Wardens by Wednesday if you have items for the agenda.
* Please note: Vestry meetings will now be held on the third Thursday of the month, rather than Monday.
Holy Week and Easter schedule:
5 Apr 10am – Palm Sunday procession (outdoors, God willing!) and Eucharist
9 Apr 7pm – Maundy Thursday Eucharist
10 Apr 12 & 7pm – Good Friday prayers
12 Apr 10am – Easter Day Eucharist
19 APRIL – Meteorological redemption! Norm Mitchell’s Master Class presentation, “Defeat the Tyranny of the Blank Page”, has been rescheduled for 11:15am following the liturgy. Join him in the Kellogg Room as he shares highlights of international intrigue from The Prisoner of Hope, second novel in his People of the Blood trilogy.
5-7 MAY – Building Beloved Community is a gathering at Saint Mark’s Cathedral for those seeking to share, learn, and grow the Church’s capacity and passion for the work of racial justice, healing, and reconciliation. Participants will experience inspiring panels and workshops, a keynote from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, share resources, and join in vibrant worship. Find more information and register here.
General Announcements
|
|
|
|
Coffee Hour Corner
Food Shelves
Have you taken the Saint Paul’s Food Shelf Challenge?
The need for grocery assistance never wanes. Let’s fill the baskets each week!!
Pastoral Care
Saint Paul’s Leadership
Barbara del Caro Scaia
deacon
Kate Maxwell, OSB
pastoral intern
Jacob Manier
choirmaster-organist
Jacob Reeves
finance
Food Shelf
From the Pulpit
Catch up on our most recent sermons
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Pentecost sermon
IN THE NAME OF THE GREAT ONE…WHO CREATED THE SUN AND THE MOON AND THE EARTH AND THE STARS…AMEN [May 31, 2020] The following is the text of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Pentecost sermon from the Washington National Cathedral service that was live-streamed on...
We All need a Lazarus Story
IN THE NAME OF THE GREAT ONE…WHO CREATED THE SUN AND THE MOON AND THE EARTH AND THE STARS…AMEN I firmly believe that this deep story of Lazarus is a gift to us today. Wouldn’t we all right now want an experience to ‘just take all of this Coronavirus away’?...
Jesus said to her,
"I am the resurrection and the life."