Episcopal Mission 2012

Nativity, Burnsville: Ready for Success drive a success

wendy — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:21:20 +0000

by Anna Ostenso
Here’s some shots from Nativity’s Mission 2012 RFS drive. It was all handled and run by the middle school youth group. Then they headed to RFS to sort not only Nativity’s donations, but the Curve drive as well.

Epiphany Student Writes Poetry to Build a House

wendy — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:22:17 +0000

Erin Dehler, a Sophomore at Cooper High School, has written fifty poems in her first publication, OPPOSITES. The poetry book was her personal project to earn the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program Certificate. Just before the project was completed, Erin decided to sell her creation for $10. $5 is going to be sent to EpiscoBuilders to assist in funding Robin’s home in White Earth.

Erin is a member of Church of the Epiphany in Plymouth. She is one of Epiphany’s student Delegates to Convention, one of the student peer ministers and is active in TEC. Erin is looking forward to joining a group of people from Epiphany when they go up to White Earth to build Robin’s home in July. She sings in church and school choirs, plays the bassoon, girl’s softball, tennis and will march in Cooper’s marching band this fall.

If you are interested in purchasing one of Erin’s books, please send an email to: thedehlers@hotmail.com.

Opposites by Erin Dehler

One to rise,

One to fall,

One to live,

One to die,

One to cheer,

One to cry.

We all have our upsides

We all have our downsides

We just have to choose

Which to be.

Photos from the Brooklyn Park EpiscoBuilders/Habitat site

wendy — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:17:39 +0000

Great progress is being made but more volunteers are needed to finish the job. Volunteer online at www.ecsmn.org/episcobuilders.

Photos taken Friday, May 4, 2012.

St. Bartholomew’s, Bemidji: Little church making a big difference

wendy — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:07:22 +0000

Pictured below is the Lenten display in the sanctuary of St. Bartholomew’s, Bemidji, as it appeared after their first week of collecting. Bookmarks were created using metal washers and ribbon, with the Mission Project prayer attached, and were given to donors. The large house was vividly decorated with stickers to highlight the theme of ‘family’, especially children. A large donation slot was made on the roof. Also displayed was a small box that was decorated to look like a house by the Sunday School children—and that little ‘house’ also had a slot for donations. The children decorated a similar box to take home with them and make prayerful donations during Lent. The children discussed the Mission Project all through their Sunday School sessions during Lent.

Through their Lenten display efforts, St. Bart’s raised $1601 for the Mission Project 2012 project for building homes, and another $867 for a local multi-church ‘FaithBuild’ being organized by Habitat for Humanity. The grand total was nearly $2500. It goes to show that even little churches can make a big difference in our world.

Food donations were highlighted with a shopping cart (for the Bemidji Area Food Shelf) and a large bin (donated to Peoples Church)—along with many quotes and information about poverty and hungry. Cash donations were also connected. The Mission Project 2012 logo was prominently displayed throughout.

On the Night of Hunger, St. Bart’s prepared and served a robust meal at Peoples Church. Over the years, St. Bart’s has partnered with Peoples Church, ELCA, on many occasions. Peoples Church has a major mission to help the homeless and impoverished of our community. The menu for the Night of Hunger included pulled pork sandwiches, venison sloppy joes, coleslaw, fruit, vegies, and several desserts. In addition to feeding the homeless people that were staying at Peoples Church, several neighbors dropped in to eat dinner that night. About thirty people attended, in addition to eight people from St. Bart’s. It was a warm and festive evening of sharing food, conversation, and wonderful fellowship.

On Easter Sunday, the children accompanied the offertory to the altar. Each child carried a symbol of our Lenten Mission Project—food, tools, and a baby doll—which were placed in a basket on the altar. It was a meaningful way to celebrate our Risen Lord. Alleulia! The Lord has risen, indeed! Alleulia!

St. Bart’s has been invigorated by doing mission work jointly with their Episcopal brothers and sisters across Minnesota. And they’re excited to begin work on phase 3 of Mission Project 2012: collecting nice accessories to be used by Dress-for-Success. “Phase 3” will begin on Pentecost Sunday.

Shattuck-St. Mary’s work group at Brooklyn Park EpiscoBuilders site

wendy — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:16:50 +0000

Photo of the Shattuck-St. Mary’s School work group at the Brooklyn Park EpiscopBuilders Habitat House this past Saturday.

Gethsemane, Minneapolis: Raising money, building houses

epmadmin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:28:41 +0000

Submitted by: Sandy Obarski

The congregation of Church of Gethsemane has fully supported Project 2012. We have a team of Episc-Builders who are going to assist in the building of the house in Brooklyn Park, collected 3 boxes of accessories for Dress for Success, and have given $1,025 to our Shelf of Hope to feed the hungry who come to our doors every Wed. from 10AM-1PM. Thanks be to God for our Episcopal Church in Mn. Project 2012!

Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour, Faribault: Nights Without Hunger

wendy — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:50:08 +0000

St. Paul’s, Minneapolis: Bridging the Meal Gap

epmadmin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:30:54 +0000

Submitted by: Eileen Harval
St. Paul’s in Minneapolis conducted a Bridging the Meal Gap fundraiser and food drive. It raised $128 that was given to Episcopal Community Services for the purchase of food cards, and 70 food items were taken to Groveland Food Shelf. Parishioners learned about hunger in their community and participated in a hunger-awareness activity.

A Ton of Tuna

wendy — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:48:53 +0000

submitted by the Rev. Ian Punnett, St. Clement’s, St. Paul
If you total all the checks still coming in, the tuna we had yet to pick up, and all the last minute contributions, I’m not sure that we didn’t make our 6,000 can mark of “A Ton of Tuna.”

Thanks to all of you and many of the deacons:

Irma Wyman,
Rick Todd at St. John in the Wilderness, White Bear Lake,
Christopher Haack at Church of the Holy Apostles, St. Paul,
Elizabeth Herman at St. Luke’s, Hastings.

Either way, it was A Ton of Tuna.

Distribution is already underway and all the food shelves are excited.

Nativity, Burnsville: Night Without Hunger nets results

wendy — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:09:20 +0000

by Anna Ostenso
In addition to the usual community meal, Nativity, Burnsville raised $470 that will be donated to Lakeville and Eagan Resource Center, who oversees the local food shelf.

Next up: the middle school youth group has already launched their annual Ready for Success drive.