Penitence and Praise

In Lent, our worship looks and feels different, the tone is more somber and penetential. We will begin our First Sunday in Lent with the Great Litany and other Sundays in Lent will begin with the Penitential Order. This holy season of self examination and reflection prepares us for the joy awaiting us at Easter. Reflecting that move from penitence to praise, this year on the Sundays between Easter Day and Pentecost our services of Holy Eucharist will be distinguished from “ordinary time” by the addition of the Doxology before the Eucharistic Prayer.

East Range Episcopal Churches' News

Three-Church Vestry/Bishop’s Committee Meeting

Members of our Vestries and Bishop’s Committee will meet together on Tuesday, March 14, at 6:30 pm at the Mary Brown Environmental Center in Ely. This is an open meeting and everyone interested is welcome to attend.

New Directory

The new East Range Episcopal Church Directory is ready for pick-up at our churches. If you cannot get to church to pick it up, contact Pat and she will stop by with one.

Vestry Retreat

Fellowship and Fun, Team Building and Leader-ship Development for our Vestries and Bishop’s Committee on Retreat. Saturday, March 25 at the Mary Brown Environmental Center, 10 am until 5:30 pm (including the St. Mary’s Worship Service).

Region II Meeting

The Region II meeting was held Saturday, February 4, 2006 at St. Andrew’s by-the-Lake Episcopal Church, Duluth. The main points of the meeting included:

• Postponement of election for Dean and Sub-Dean
• Discussion of new diocesan guidelines for lay pensions
• Announcement of Session clarifying the Windsor Report, to be held March 4, 10 AM to Noon at St. Paul’s, Duluth
• Discussion of Creation Season celebrations within the Diocese of Minnesota for Oct 8 to Nov 12
• Native American Ministry (“Where Feather Meets Cross”) continues to grow in/around Duluth.
• St. Edward’s, Duluth, has petitioned the bishop to close at the end of the year.

Lenten Seekers:
Prayer - Reflections and Practice

Sundays at 12:15 - 1:15 PM at St. Paul’s. Everyone is welcome:

• March 5: The Lord’s Prayer
• March 12: The Book of Common Prayer and the Psalms
• March 19: Petition, Intercession, and Praise
• March 26: Listening and Meditation
• April 2: Contemplation

Future Options for Our Churches

People from the East Range Churches met recently with the Rev. Canon Sandi Holmberg and then with Pat to consider a variety of options for ministry and the future of our churches. The financial states of both St. John’s and St. Paul’s indicate that we cannot continue “business as usual.” St. Mary’s, while in a good financial state, is going through changes too, growing into their new worship space, adding new members and ministries.

We considered various rearrangements of the cluster, finding a priest willing to serve less than 3/4 time, and beginning a program of Total Ministry. For details about the options discussed talk with a member of your vestry or bishop’s committee or with Pat. Most questions about the options have focused on total ministry. For details about that, visit Spirit of the Heartland’s webpage of “frequently asked questions.” Here’s the answer to the first question:
What is Total Ministry?

Total Ministry is all the baptized members ministering together. It prepares members of a congregation to serve as a team in the ministerial leadership roles traditionally filled by a seminary-trained priest. Total Ministry may also be called “mutual ministry,” or “collaborative ministry.” Congregations that cannot find or afford a seminary-trained priest may then have the full range of traditional ministries – regular Eucharist, original sermons, and personal pastoral care. Instead of paying a priest to minister for us, we are able to do the ministry ourselves.

Great North TEC

Great North TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) will be held March 17-18-19, 2006 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Duluth. The weekend is open to ANY youth in grades 9-12. If you are an adult who would like to connect to TEC in some way, there are many options for participation also. Contact Gail Coon with any questions or for registration forms at:
(H) 218-744-5138 (W) 218-744-5099.

Diocesan Convention

The 148th Convention of the Diocese of Minne-sota was held on Friday and Saturday, October 28 and 29 at the St. Paul River Centre.

Last issue we reviewed the Rev Bill Tully’s problems concerning church growth, which he called “Assumptions, theological and otherwise”. This issue we will look at Rev Tully’s principles for “Leadership for Growth.” These included:

1. The leader must lead by self-definition. Tully stressed that the leader for growth must rise out of the congregation and not be named by others as a way to control growth.
   
2. This may need to be preceded by conversion to the idea that the church's purpose is to grow. This is perhaps the hardest step. Many people do not see or understand that a church, like any living organism, must continually grow. A church that is not growing is dying. Many people do not recognize this until the situation becomes dire.
3. The leader must work hard – and be accountable to self – and be accountable to the other leadership and the congregation and stay home and stay focused. The leader of the growth effort will be giving much time and talent to making growth happen. This activity does not happen in a vacuum. Account-ability is critical – to one’s self by setting realistic and achieveable goals, to others in leadership positions by.keeping them informed of plans and changes, and to the congregation by being around and available all the time. The leader will be sacrificing some personal time for the common good of the congregation.
4. Leader defines growth as both goal and a strategy. If growth is a goal, it can only be achieved by growing attendance and participation. Growth as a strategy implies more effort and commitment by the leader to create the environment for growth to happen.
5. Find those who want to grow and change and work exclusively with them. In every congregation there are individuals and cliques that will feel threatened by growth. The leader should identify those individuals whose focus is on the common good of the congregation and then work with them to grow and change the congregation while excluding interference from those who would stop change.
6. When growth begins, “they” won't like it. Every group has a “they” that seem to loom large as an inhibitor to change. Much of change is dealing with the unknown and this is unsettling to “them”. The leader must not be side-tracked or diverted by roadblocks set out by those who do not embrace change.
7. Anyone can start growth. Only a faithful, persevering, non-anxious, self-defined leader can keep it going. Like any project, ideas and start-up are relatively easy. When “they” begin to complain about a lack of visible “success” (a nebulous term allowing “them” to question the validity of a project) the leader needs to keep the focus and control the negative “vibes” that those with an agenda are propagating in the congregation.
8. Two words: expect sabotage. Every undertaking will have those who sabotage projects they do not like or cannot control. Sabotage generally strives to keep the status quo or to manage any change by controlling it. Sabotage, if successful, dooms the congregation to failure in growth. The leader needs to be aware of the potential for sabotage and be pro-active in stopping or minimizing sabotage.
9. Taking the long view: managing the reactivity to change by managing one's own reactivity. The leader must remain calm and present a calm image to the congregation. Saboteurs and other “theys” will work to get the leader to react unfavorably to their public actions. If the leader responds without thinking, the leader can lose support from parishioners who are not strongly committed to growth.
   

As we look at what our congregations decide to do to sustain and grow our presence, keep the points from the Rev Bill Tully’s presentation (and summarized in this and the two previous issues of the Epistle) in mind.

Each year the Diocesan Convention has a keynote speaker to provide insight in various aspects of spiritual growth and congregational activities. The 149th Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota will take place at the DECC in Duluth, October 27-29, 2006. Plan now to attend some or all of it.

Information about our Webpages

Since Summer 1996, our congregations have had a presence on the Internet, when our pages were some of the few online. Now we are one of thousands of churches with a “web-presence”.

At St. Paul’s Annual Meeting Chuck Morello shared some statistics for 2005 about the pages visited. Afterwards, he also shared this electronically with the leaders of all 3 congregations and with Pat.

Data is only available for the top 30 pages visited (of some 340 pages on the server). Fourteen of those top 30 pages pertain to our congregations and represent 15,094 visits in 2005.

The Homepage had 2,588 visits (an average of 7 visits each day), with the St. Paul’s (12.3 daily visits), St. Mary’s (11.1 daily visits), and St. John’s (7.4 daily visits split between the homepage and the second history page) covering 74% of the visits. Some online issues of the Epistle were heavily visited this past year (September 2000, October 2003, April and November 2004, and July-August 2005). It is a safe estimate that our webpages have been visited around 50 times every day in 2005.

The counter cannot tell us who the visitors are or why they are visiting. However, the numbers are too high to be skewed by our own parishioners visiting the pages. What we do know is that people are looking at our pages.

The Internet can be a tool to advertise what our congregations are doing, where we are going. As we look at how our congregations will grow, let us not forget this tool and its potential to reach people.

We should ask ourselves how we can minister to these electronic visitors. What is the impression we make with the content and format of the webpages? What is it that we are not saying that we should? If our focus is growth in the demographic grouping with children, perhaps we should dedicate space on our webpages to youth programs. If we want tourists to stop in on Sundays, perhaps we should dedicate space to what we offer for tourists. Will you be the person in your congregation to take the lead in this ministry?

Take time to visit our webpages and give your thoughts and comments to your leadership. Links are in the left margin of this website.

St. John's Episcopal Church News (Submitted by Jane Kingston)

Vestry Notes

From the meeting of February 7, 2006:
+ Final ‘05 YTD actual disbursements $31,894. Final ‘05 YTD actual receipts $20,516. Annual ‘05 shortfall $11,378.
+ Revised 2006 Budget by -$490 (First Sunday Supply Services had been counted twice)
+ January 2006 expenditures $2559.36, receipts $1043.30, $1531.82 monthly deficit, checking account balance $16,060.70.
+ An anonymous gift was made to pay for the recent furnace repair.
+ Region II delegate Liz Lenich reported on the February 4 meeting held at Saint Andrew’s in Duluth which she and Jane Kingston attended. Creation Period Seasonal planning, courses to be offered at the Mary Brown Environmental Center, possible aid for mileage, possible assistance from the Agency on Aging, and Saint Edward’s closing were main topics.
+ The next Region II meeting on March 4 at Saint Paul’s in Duluth will center on the Windsor Report.
+ Moved and passed paying Region II 2006 and 2007 dues of $7.80 (10 cents per 39 communicants per year).
+ Tom Kingston continues to investigate raised insurance rates.
+ Nancy Harvey made arrangements for Reese Coldagelli to provide snow removal services at $25 monthly.
+ Mother Pat was heartily welcomed home and thanks for prayers answered were offered.
+ St. Luke’s solicited nominations for Board of Directors candidates.
Progress is being made on the 2005 Parochial Report (Jane Kingston to prepare draft for Pat and Tom’s approvals.
+ Moved and passed to request increase in Whitman Fund distribution rate from 5% to 7%. JKingston to prepare resolution to that effect.
+ Considerable conversation ensued regarding dissatisfaction on the part of vestry members and parishioners regarding an upcoming wedding which will be held off site and not officiated by Pat. The issue of Rector’s authority was reviewed.
+ Additional views were exchanged involving removal of the Doxology from services and resultant parishioner and vestry disapproval. Mother Pat agreed to resume including Doxology although not at each and every service.
Rector’s Report
+ Mother Pat is very glad to be back! She is extremely grateful for her time away at such at critical time. Mother Pat submitted her summary of time away from work including vacation and personal time off for 2005 and into 2006, which will be reviewed.

Annual Meeting Results

Other:
Liz Lenich: Region II Delegate
Jane Kingston: Epistle Coordinator, Scheduler
Kathy Hall & Kathy Drobnick: Altar Guild Co-Chairs

News of St. Mary's Episcopal Church (Submitted by Mary Groeninger)

Wednesday Discussion Group

The Wednesday discussion group is now in its second year. We meet usually on the first and third Wednesday nights usually at the Presbyterian church, and occasionally at the Mary Brown Environmental Center, since we consider ourselves as an ecumenical group. This group reads books, looks at videos, and hears some speakers on topics that interest the members. These topics are current ones usually of a theological nature. It is a lively group with as few as 6 participating and as many as 17, and we stress the fact that “listeners” are also welcome, so that it is not necessary to have read an entire book, for example, in order to be a part of the group. Our meeting time is from 7:00 until 8:30 PM. It has been our goal to always welcome a wide range of opinions on any one topic because, for example, some people may truly like what a particular book may have to say while others in the group may have found it contrary to what they believe, or they may even find it somewhat boring. It is within both the Episcopalian and Presbyterian traditions historically to welcome a rather wide range of opinions, and we like to think we are continuing that.

Please feel welcome to see if our topics are of interest to you even as an observer. You may contact any of the members, but especially Mary Groeninger (218-365-3364) for any questions you may have.

Annual Meeting Notes

Junior Warden Gail Sheddy called the meeting to order.
Dick Borgstrom presented the Treasurer’s Report.
Elections: All current vestry members agreed to continue in their posts, including Junior Warden Gail Sheddy and Senior Warden Carol Collins, subject to Pat’s approval since those attending were uncertain about term limitations.
Appointments: The following committee chairs were appointed:

• Christian Education: Mary Groeninger
• Publicity: Eunice Koch

Reports:
Vicar’s report was read aloud by Gail Sheddy.
The Tower overview was given by Dick and Patty Borgstrom. No significant changes have been made to the church or to services in the past year.
The Ely overview was given by Gail Sheddy. Our worship time and format remains the same. We have continued to use the New Zealand Prayer Book for worship with the Book of Common Prayer used on third Sundays. Five lay readers were trained in November December and three have led us in evening prayer since then. We have added Taizé chant to our music during worship. We participated in Ely’s first Gifts that Give sale in December running a SERRV table.
The Education and Formation overview was given by Mary Groeninger. We continued to share Sunday school with the Presbyterians in 2005. We also led two Lenten activity day events and made Advent wreaths on Saturdays before worship.

Discussion:
Worship: All agreed to continue with our current use of prayer books. Dick Borgstrom will replace Mary Groeninger as piano accompanist during worship. When Dick is not present, Mary will lead the congregation in Taizé chant. Mary Groeninger requested that the church purchase 10 books to use for Taizé chant, and the request was unanimously approved.
Finances: The proposed budget was presented by Dick Borgstrom and was accepted after some discussion of advertising costs. Patty Borgstrom requested that her name be included on the signature card for the church account in Tower, and her request was unanimously approved. There needs to be a special meeting to discuss the needs of the St. Mary’s Tower Church (facilities, etc.) which we will plan on Pat’s return.
Welcoming: All agreed that while we provide a warm welcome to church visitors, we could do a better job with follow up. Gail Sheddy and Sue Spencer agreed to act as an informal welcoming committee, following up visits from potential new church attendees with a quick visit. Mary Groeninger agreed to supply baked goods. Gail volunteered to make sure that visitors filled out cards in the offertory and were invited to take church information from the table by the door. Ways to include a St. Mary’s phone number in the local directory were discussed; Mary Groeninger agree to investigate listing possibilities with the phone company.
Mary Brown Environmental Center: Gail updated all present on the current status of the Mary Brown House. Dick presented a to-date expense report which was shared with the members of the Environmental Stewardship Committee at their meeting Jan 20 and 21. The Board of Trustees for the Diocese is currently reviewing a request by the Board for additional funds to improve wiring and plumbing, add an additional bathroom and dishwasher, and make other minor improvements to the house.

Preparing for Easter at St. Mary’s

• March 4, 2:30-4:00: Easter’s Coming! Cool stuff for the Lenten season. A variety of projects to make and take home to count the days to Easter in a meaningful way. We’ll plant grass and “trees,” make Easter cards, carve soap crosses … something for all ages and interests!
• April 1, 1:00-4:00: Seasonal Breadbaking. Make breads of the seasons—pretzels, hot cross buns, and a special Easter bread, some to freeze and some to eat right away. Hear the stories that go with each bread. (Come from 9:00-10:00 am if you want to help mix and knead the Easter bread dough).
• April 8, 2:30-4:00: Egg Decorating. Decorate blown Easter eggs to decorate your home at Easter. Something for all ages, from pysanky for older children and adults to plastic eggs and stickers for the youngest. Blown and plastic eggs provided: bring your own (any if you’d like to decorate lots).
• April 15, 8:00-9:30 pm: Easter Vigil Service. Join us as we greet Easter with fire, water, story, and song. A dramatic and moving way to begin your Easter celebration. Children are welcome.

Call Mary (218-365-3364) for information. All are welcome!

News of St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Vestry Notes

Unofficial Minutes of the Vestry Meeting of February 14, 2006:

The Planning Committee:

Calendar events:

• February 28 — Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper (4:30——)
• March 1 — Ash Wednesday Service (7 p.m.) Wednesday evening service each week during Lent at 7 p.m.
• March 14 — 3-point vestry meeting in Ely at 6:30 p.m.

Outreach

The vestry decided that the account for Bev’s Magic Penny should become a church account, subject to audit like other discretionary funds providing anonymity of donors and recipients can be strictly observed. As a church account, Bev’s Magic Penny will permit tax deductions for donors.

Building and Grounds/Restoration:

Vestry approved that St. Paul’s allot up to $100 for a new sump pump to replace the one that has failed at the front of the building. The Vestry agreed that money for the sump pump come from the restoration funds, since it has monies designated for such purposes.

Youth:

On Friday, February 17 the youth group from St. John’s in White Bear Lake will be staying in the church prior to skiing at Giant’s Ridge. Area youth have been invited to join them

Treasurers' Reports:

The vestry discussed the January report for St. Paul’s noting that expenses already exceed income by $500.

Rector’s Report

Pat thanked the vestry for their support in her recent absence to be in Florida with her daughter who is recovering from transplant surgery. She is working with Joanne to reconcile expenses for supply clergy while she was away.

She said she would like to arrange for the congregation to attend services at the Native American church in Cloquet and to plan a “for fun” service at St. Paul’s perhaps with a Red Green theme.

The 3 point vestry will hold a retreat at the Mary Brown Environmental Center on either March 18 or 25.

Old Business:

The vestry had previously agreed to begin considering the proposed by-laws for St. Paul’s prepared by Chuck Morello. Since not everyone had his/her copy at the meeting, the discussion was deferred. It was hoped that significant time on it could be given at the vestry retreat in March.

New Business:

David said that meetings like those with Deacon Tom Campbell and Canon Missioner Sandi Holmberg have been fruitful in suggesting new, revitalizing directions the 3-point churches may take in the future. He said, however, an immediate concern should be the approximately $18,000 short fall St. Paul’s foresees in its approved budget. A very real possibility is that St. Paul’s will be out of funds the last quarter of 2006 or even before and unable to meet its obligations, especially those to the 3-point in support of clergy. The Vestry agreed the problem was serious and said we need to use the 3-point all-member meeting with Pat on February 22 to at least partially address this problem. After the 3-Point Vestry meeting on March 14, the vestry decided a letter should be sent to all members defining the problem and agreed on steps to resolve it, and soliciting member help.

Wednesday Lenten Services

Reflection is a thought, idea, or opinion formed ... as a result of meditation. For five Wednesdays during Lent St. Paul’s will be doing a “reflective Lenten Service” consisting of music framing a mostly spoken Service for Evening (not to be confused with the Evening Prayer Service). On different Wednesdays, Russell Bergum, Catherine McBride, Susan Lindmeier, and Carol Morello will making musical offerings for personal reflection. A sung evensong may happen on April 5.

Service will start at 7 PM and end 7:45 PM. There is no additional discussion program planned for Wednesday evenings. However, if you wish to stay around afterwards for conversation, the Guild Hall will be available.

Episcopal Relief and Development

During Lent we will be collecting money for Episcopal Relief and Development via Hope Chests. They work similar to the collection boxes for UTO. There are many needs in countries less fortunate than ours and with the money collected we are going to help a family/families with supplies to start a fish farm or perhaps a flock of chickens for fresh eggs and a steady income or supply farming tools to help a family thrive. So the challenge is put forth to you this Lenten Season to help as many families as we can and your generous giving will be well received. Look for your Hope Chest in Church soon and let’s see how much good the East Range Churches can spread to the world!

Intertribal Worship at St. Andrew’s in Cloquet

Looking for a group of people to attend a worship service at St. Andrews on Sunday, April 23rd, the Sunday after Easter. This would be a wonderful educational experience to feel the Spirit. If you would be interested or would like more information let Cheryl Killien (218-254-2487) know. There is a feast after the service and you are asked to bring something to share and as you all know sharing brings good things.