In 1963, the financial report showed a deficit of $2,071. The money to finance operations had to come from trust funds. The Vestry approved a budget with a surplus of $155 if pledge revenue kept up to anticipation. The Rev. Foster made some changes in the use of space in the parish house. He moved the rector’s office to the first floor, making it more accessible. Miss Dorothy Kimball’s employment as a professional Christian Education director was discontinued.
Other changes were made to keep expenses down to income. The kitchen on the first floor was rebuilt and dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Meta Marshall.
Saint Paul’s became very active on the Minneapolis Council of Churches, due to the delegation of Viola McConnell. Viola was very active in Saint Paul’s. She was very knowledgeable in historical facts and had a forceful personality to get things done. A large redwood cross was erected in 1962 at Camp Lawton on the bank of Deer Lake. It was a memorial to Wilkie Shanke, former choir boy. He gave his life in WW II. During 1966, 38 boys and girls, 30 Girl Scouts, 50 Boy Scouts, and 14 families used the camp. Saint Paul’s had a voice in the management of the Episcopal Church Home of Minnesota in Saint Paul, organized to provide a home for the elderly.
The Rev. Foster submitted his resignation in 1966. The Rev. Monroe Bailie served the church as interim rector and assistant rector after January 1967, when the Rev. Willis Steinberg was installed as rector. Bailie remained on staff for several years as assistant to Steinberg. Dr. Bailie was active and popular. He died in 1976.
The Rev. Willis Steinberg’s years were ones of renewed optimism. He brought to the parish enthusiasm and abundance of energy. He made a practice of standing near the entrance before Sunday services and greeted everyone by name, even the neighbors.
The Rev. Dean Rowney, a native Australian, was added to the staff as part-time assistant rector. He developed programs for junior and senior high school and college-aged youths. Long-time member of Saint Paul’s, James Massie, graduated Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in 1968. He was ordained a deacon and preached his first sermon in Saint Paul’s. The next day he went to Duluth and began his ministry at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church there.
Mary Belfry became friends with the Rowneys, who had served in churches and missions in Australia. She went to New Guinea in 1969 as secretary to Bishop Hand. She returned to her home parish, Saint Mark’s Cathedral, entered theological seminary, and was ordained as a deacon. Mary was a deacon on the Cathedral Staff in 1976 when the General Convention in Minneapolis authorized the ordination of women to the priesthood. She became the first woman priest ordained in Minnesota and became a canon at Saint Mark’s.