St. Nicholas Episcopal Church The Crier Inside this issue: Recycle Sale 2 Vegetables for Free 2 Food Donations 2 SOSDOK 2 In your prayers... 2 Finances 3 Virtual Services 3 COVID 19 Updates 3 Prayer Requests 3 Virtual Services 3 Community Needs 3 Food & Rent Assistance 3 Circle of Care Teams 4 ECMN News 4 Habits of Grace with Bishop Curry 4 August birthdays & Anniversaries 4 Vestry Minutes 6 Vestry Members 7 VEAP Corner 8 Service Times VIRTUAL SERVICES DURING PANDEMIC Latino Service Saturday 6:00 pm On Facebook English Service Sunday 10:30 am on Zoom Compline Oon Facebook Monday-Saturday 7:30pam Rector’s Remarks August 2020 Volume 70, Issue 8 Dear Faithful, As I write this note, we are experi- encing a severe heat advisory and I’m hunkered down at home trying to stay cool. We’ve had an amazing summer —hot days and just enough rain so that I rarely need to water my garden. My to- matoes love this weather and are beginning to ripen on the vines. This is my favorite food time of the year. I love a good hamburger on the grill, some corn on the cob and a few sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. I continue to be amazed at the grace and resiliency of our community as we’ve continued to navigate COVID and how it has limited our lives. We’ve mastered Zoom services and have kept in touch with phone calls, emails, and texts. I’m so grateful for modern technology. Despite feeling limited in some ways, I’ve experienced some freedom (ironically) in the restriction of my moving around. I do with less because I’m not out shopping, I’m enjoying the time with my family, I’ve read many books and watched more movies, and I’ve spent some time in the backyard hammock. I hope you have also had the time to slow down a bit and enjoy some of the aspects of your life that you may be too busy to some- times focus on. And, as always, God is good, and God is at work in our midst. Please let me know where you see God at work in your midst. Enjoy the beautiful summer days! Grace and Peace, Rev. Julie+ Remember the VEAP School Supply Drive see page 5
Transcript
St. Nicholas Episcopal Church
The
Crier
Inside this issue:
Recycle Sale 2
Vegetables for Free 2
Food Donations 2
SOSDOK 2
In your prayers... 2
Finances 3
Virtual Services 3
COVID 19 Updates 3
Prayer Requests 3
Virtual Services 3
Community Needs 3
Food & Rent Assistance 3
Circle of Care Teams 4
ECMN News 4
Habits of Grace with Bishop Curry
4
August birthdays & Anniversaries
4
Vestry Minutes 6
Vestry Members 7
VEAP Corner 8
Service Times
VIRTUAL SERVICES
DURING PANDEMIC
Latino Service
Saturday 6:00 pm
On Facebook
English Service
Sunday 10:30 am
on Zoom
Compline
Oon Facebook
Monday-Saturday 7:30pam
Rector’s Remarks
August 2020 Volume 70, Issue 8
Dear Faithful,
As I write this note, we are experi-encing a severe heat advisory and I’m hunkered down at home trying to stay cool. We’ve had an amazing summer—hot days and just enough rain so that I rarely need to water my garden. My to-matoes love this weather and are beginning to ripen on the vines. This is my favorite food time of the year. I love a good hamburger on the grill, some corn on the cob and a few sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.
I continue to be amazed at the grace and resiliency of our community as we’ve continued to navigate COVID and how it has limited our lives. We’ve mastered Zoom services and have kept in touch with phone calls, emails, and texts. I’m so grateful for modern technology.
Despite feeling limited in some ways, I’ve experienced some freedom (ironically) in the restriction of my
moving around. I do with less because I’m not out shopping, I’m enjoying the time with my family, I’ve read many books and watched more movies, and I’ve spent some time in the backyard hammock. I hope you have also had the time to slow down a bit and enjoy some of the aspects of your
life that you may be too busy to some-times focus on.
And, as always, God is good, and God is at work in our midst. Please let me know where you see God at work in your midst.
Enjoy the beautiful summer days!
Grace and Peace, Rev. Julie+
Remember the VEAP
School Supply Drive see page 5
Page 2 The Crier
In your prayers
you are asked to
remember...
Ministers All Parish Members
Priest The Rev. Julie Luna
Assistant Priest Padre Neptali Rodriguez
Deacon Matthew Johnson
Senior Warden Sunny Slocum
Junior Warden TBD
Saturday Music Director Alberto Castillo
Sunday Music Director
Clara Sanders Marcus
Crier Editor Kathy Cummings
Vestry Members
Ann Bottolene Kathy Cummings
Barb McConnell Sharon Mills
Steve Slocum
Vestry Clerk Keira Stevens
Treasurer Steve Slocum
Karen Bessler’s daughter Stephanie
Reba & Johnny Khodai Mike & Helen Mudgett Michael Anderson
Elvira Almanza Bonifacio Martinez Maria Martinez Maria Ramono La Familia Carretero
Linares Natividad Vildozola Rojas Shelby Rojas La Familia Benitez La Familia Aguirre
Jill Aicher Mary Bolen Fran Merriman Kathy Gasser Cheyanne Davidson Kerry Banks Patty Bringle Richard Miller Bruce Husbands Perce Cody Charlie & Patty Engrem Very Rev. Craig Loya, Bishop
of Minnesota Dan & Ruth, and Cheyanna &
Mariah Flaherty
Brandon Betty, Patty, Tom Bruce & Jilll Donna, Kristin, Jeff & Livia Joshua Miller Marilyn Iverson Ashley Delameter & her partner,
Helen and Helen’s parents, Faina & Jeff
All affected by the Covid 19 virus & those working on a solution.
Respect for the dignity of every human life
The men & women of our armed forces Our Latino brothers & sisters
Fresh Vegetables for Free
Springs of Shalom Chapter of Daughters of the King
(SOSDOK)
Meets at 10 a.m. on the 1st Monday of each month (except when it’s a holiday, then meeting moves to the
2nd Monday)
NEXT MEETING NO MEETING
until further notice
In partnership with St. John the Evangelist who purchases produce from local immi-grant farmers and gives them away to food shelves and other churches, St. Nicholas will receive a load of vegetables each Saturday and give them away at 2:00 at the church. We ask that you pull up in your car and we will place the bag in your car. We currently have two youth that are helping to sort the vegetables into bags. If you are interested in volunteering, con-tact Rev. Julie.
Recycle Sale Date Change Postponed until later this year. Contact Sharon Mills with questions at (612) 708-1322.
Food Donations
Nativity Episcopal Church in Burnsville contacted me about collecting food for our families that have lost employment. They will do a food drive and donate food that will be given away on Saturdays, along with the vegetables, as long as sup-plies last. If you would like to volunteer with this effort, please contact Rev. Julie.
Page 3
Prayer Requests
Barb McConnell is collecting prayer requests from our com-munity. You can call her at (952) 500-2363 or send her an e-mail at [email protected]. Prayer requests must be sent to Barb by Noon on Friday to be included in the weekly prayer list. If she receives it after that, it will go on the following week’s list.
Please know that Rev. Julie prays for you daily. Please pray for all God’s Beloved children that we may work together to care for the ill, the vulnerable, the lonely, and all those suffering from the loss of jobs.
Virtual Services
St. Nicholas Pledges and Plate Offering
Our faith community gratefully relies on your pledges and plate offerings to keep our building open, pay salaries, and offer programs. If you are able, please mail check to the church while we are waiting out the COVID-19 virus. St. Nicholas,
7227 Penn Avenue, Richfield, MN 55423. If you have any questions about your pledge or how to continue your support of St. Nicholas, please contact Steve Slocum at (952) 545-8884.
Morning Prayer on Sundays Please join your St. Nicholas faith community in Sunday Morning Prayer at 10:30 am on Zoom. Rev. Julie sends out the Zoom link each week along with the readings, a reflec-tion and prayers. Morning Prayer begins on page 75 in The Book of Common Prayer.
Compline Every Evening
Please join Rev. Julie for Compline on our St. Nicholas Facebook page each evening at 7:30. Compline begins on page 127 of The Book of Common Prayer.
Need a Prayer Book? As we moved our services online, may of us have discovered that our Book of Common Prayer is not current. If you’d like a current one, please let Sharon and Dick know and they may be able to drop one at your house (612-708-1322).
COVID19 Updates
Please let me know if you are in need of groceries or need an errand run. Our St. Nicholas faith community may be able to assist with that. Families from our Saturday service are beginning to experience economic hardship as they lose employment to do the COVID19 pandemic. Neptali and I are collecting monetary and food donations to assist with rent and groceries. Episcopal churches in the Twin Cities have generously donated to this fund.
The latest from the Bishop’s Office concerning the re-opening of churches is found in this link: https://episcopalmn.org/ECMN%20Faith%20Communities%20Phases%20of%20Re-Gathering%206.23.20.pdf
Community Needs
Families from our Saturday service continue to experi-ence economic hardship as they lose employment due to the COVID19 pandemic. Thank you to our St. Nicholas community for generously supporting our Latino fami-lies. Padre Neptali and Rev. Julie continue to collect monetary and food donations to assist with rent and groceries. If you would like to donate food, paper prod-ucts and baby diapers, please contact Padre Neptali at [email protected] or 651-295-7481. If you would like to make a monetary donation please make out your check to St. Nicholas Episcopal Church with Rector Dis-cretionary Fund in the memo line. Mail checks to the church: 7227 Penn Avenue, Richfield, MN 55423.
Bishop Michael Curry Each week, our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry is offer-ing a brief meditation that he is calling “Habits of Grace.” To join him, you can use this link. https://episcopalchurch.org/posts/publicaffairs/habits-grace-april-13-2020-invitation-you-presiding-bishop-curry
Episcopal News To learn about everything that is happening in the Episco-pal Church in Minnesota visit: https://episcopalmn.org To learn about the events in our national Episcopal Church, visit: https://episcopalchurch.org
Circle of Care Teams During this pandemic, we have created Circle of Care
Teams. Each Team has a leader that will contact each of
his/her team each week. This is a way for us to stay in
touch and be connected during this time of physical dis-
tancing.
In our Christian tradition, our ability to gather for wor-
ship and fellowship is a basic tenet of our faith. We are
a communal church that gathers each week to share the
sacred meal of Holy Communion. I am deeply missing
that holy time spent together praying and worshiping.
When it is not possible to physically be together, making
phone calls and sharing our stories with each other is a
great way to be in touch. If you haven’t already received
a call, please expect a call in the near future. Here is a
list of questions that your Care Team leader may ask.
Do you need someone to get groceries for you?
Do you need help with childcare or eldercare?
Do you need money to pay for food or rent?
Do you have any other needs that are not being met that we could help with?
Do you have any spiritual needs that you would like us to pray for?
And, as always, please call me if you’d like to talk or pray
over the phone. My cell phone is 651-253-7379.
Peace to you! Julie
August birthdays August Anniversaries 12 Seth Hoyle 17 Brian Anderson 26 Diannah Robertson 22 Bekah & Ben Kent 15 Fran Merriman 26 Paul Tsuchiya 31 Mary Jaryan 24 Mary & Alfred Jaryan
Present via Zoom: Rev. Julie Luna, Steve and Sunny Slocum, Barb McConnell, Sharon Mills, Kathy Cummings, Keira Ste-vens, Ann Bottolone
Sunny called the meeting to order
Julie opened with a prayer
Check In- We had Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and the George Floyd protests. Julie’s mom was sick, her daughter graduated and she celebrated her 20-year wedding anniversary. Sunny brought up that through these difficult times she looks for ways to see the positive and use her anger for good (ie cleaning). Kathy and Ken made it home safely, so far, no signs of Covid. Ann said she had a tough case she was working on at work and that thankfully it ended favorably. Barb said Tom’s brother cracked his pelvis. It’s been hard not being able to see him but he’s in rehab.
Financial Report- Steve mentioned he noticed a few errors in the financial report so he will send a new one. Operating income is ahead of the Budget ($5,600) but misleading. It’s $3,700 higher than it should be due to the grant in May, but in budget for June. We will wait for the next meeting to vote to approve the report.
Sunny motioned to approve, Steve seconded and it was unanimously approved. Will correct the spelling of Ann’s last name.
Clergy Report- Julie has been doing the compline's Monday-Saturday and then Sunday service. She has happily noticed a lot of people watching that are not members. The Episcopal church had a meeting on the Covid updates and has the phases listed on their website. Julie’s happy they’re being cautious especially since we have an older congregation. People are still send-ing money to support those in the Latino service needing help. 1 family was back to work but then due to the riots they now need support. 1 family is looking for housing, Julie mentioned a lot are trying to meet the basic needs, so Julie and Neptali have been the “hands and feet in the family”. Some churches are discussing the topic of racism so we could look into and see if we could join Zoom meetings etc. Latino families experience it a lot, but often fly under the radar. We are making sure they are staying safe. Julie said the Bishop granted $150,000 to address racism in MN and address systemic change. Julie is checking in with the care leaders every 7-10 days with phone calls or emails. With everything going on she has had a lot of stress and sleepless nights. Sunny thanked Julie for everything she’s doing; would be nice if the momentum of the riots actually makes a change.
Old Business- Services are still going well; people are enjoying them.
Treasurer transition for Steve is going well. He found computer software for a lot cheaper so he can now work from home and is having the mail sent to his home address for the time being.
Circle of care is going well. Kari Banks had surgery and is doing well.
Prayer list is getting updated weekly and going ok. It was discussed and decided that we should have our prayer re-quests in by Friday at 12pm. If they are sent after that, they will be added to the following week. This will help a lot so the list can be updated in timely manner and people know that if sent after Friday 12pm their prayer request was not intentionally missed. Kathy will send an email with this information so people are aware of weekly deadline.
Building security is going well. Tom has been checking the building on Mondays. Paul and he had been dealing with the lawn mower. A neighbor is getting a new fence and they noticed they will have to redo the black plastic in the back gar-den. Paul is willing to help redo once the new fence is up.
Page 7
Sunny said the PPP loan pushed out 20 weeks, working on when allowable (alot of paperwork to read over). Ann will help her look at and comment on the next meeting.
New business- Printer contract due for renewal and Steve wondering if it’s more printer than what we need. Pay for rental, ink, print-ing etc. Hoping we can look at to make sure we’re getting the most “bang for our buck”. Kathy would like to keep the Crier going, Steve wondering if ok to just print in black. Julie asked if it would make sense to outsource (Kinkos?) to see if it is cheaper. Since it’s an older copier could we get a lower lease rate? What’s important as far as printing? We will revisit the Crier and possibly make it a weekly email vs a 1x mo. printout, add less pages etc. Steve, Kathy and Julie will talk about and can decide the next meeting.
No new update on the Latino/Covid fund.
Building key collection went well. For current keys-Tom has one to check the buildings on Mondays, Steve has one for the mail, and Craig has one to check the building daily. Sunny noticed the needlework guild has 6, do they need all? Otherwise could we keep in a lock box like the AA group instead? Will look into. Last time doors were rekeyed was 2006. Will need to do again due to safety issues, policy and strict rules. With Julie being a new rector and approxi-mately 25 keys lost it is necessary. Tom got an estimate on rekeying vs. getting a keypad. Keypad would be roughly $2,500 just for the front entrance. Floyd’s Total Security would charge $577.50 for the north and south entrances, give us 30 keys (can’t duplicate at hardware stores ourselves) and install cylinder locks. Sunny motioned to approve Floyds Total Security bid, Barb seconded it and it was unanimously approved. We all agreed we need to make a new list of who has a key and everyone with a key must take safe church training. We will get the list of who had safe church training from Matthew.
Steve said there’s a few bills he wasn’t aware of and is wondering if we still need them. “Log me in” software is used by Kathy and Tom to log into the database from home. Kathy said she would like to keep because of the prayer list and Crier. It is $350/year so for now we will keep using this service. Julie mentioned she took 2 reams of paper home; we are all ok with that.
Sunny brought up that we received an email from Carol that she will be stepping down from Vestry due to a variety of reasons. We are sorry to lose her and Vestry members can talk to Julie or Sunny if we need more information. Julie will call Carol and encourage her to express her concerns.
Julie has no plans for a vacation but would like some time off and will inform us. We decided to keep our July Vestry meeting since we haven’t been meeting in person.
Steve said the All in one can do financial reports but need to update Quickbooks and it will cost $360. He will look into it more and will email us.
Julie closed the meeting with a prayer and hopes we all stay safe and healthy
Spirit, and empowered to do God’s work in the world
saint-nicks.org
& Facebook
Volunteers Enlisted
to Assist People
Meeting Basic Needs.
Building Stronger Communities.
Serving: Bloomington, Edina,
Richfield and the portion of
south Minneapolis that is west
of Cedar Avenue and south of
50th Street.
Volunteers
9600 Aldrich Avenie Sout
Bloomington, MN 55420
952.888.9616
veap.org
We continue to rely on volunteers to support our modified service delivery model during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are well and do not have vulnerable people at home and have time to share, please join us.
In order to comply with state guidelines on health and safety, we are offering visitors a drive-up model to receive food packs, closing our building and main lobby for public-facing services, suspending ride services, and encouraging staff and volunteers to wear gloves, a face covering and to maintain at least 6 feet of distance from each other while at VEAP. Learn more.
Masks are required for everyone in the volunteer check-in area
Masks are required for everyone in all food operations areas (warehouse, distribution/pantry, outdoor intake)
Given these extraordinary circumstances, we support your decisions, including and up to a decision to temporarily suspend your own volunteering during this uncertain time. Contact Courtney Flug, Volunteer Director, [email protected] or call 952-955-8325 with any additional support you may need: [email protected] or call 952-955-8323.
