The Messenger
Celebrating who God has made us to Be! We will….Act as a crossroads community church….Respect our diversity… Provide a sanctuary of safety and peace for all ages….Reach out to our neighbors with the love of the Gospel.

March 2010

Our Journey to Easter

Our journey to Easter is always through the season of Lent and the experience of Holy Week. What does it mean for modern people to celebrate Easter? Is it just a tradition that we keep because our parents and their parents kept the tradition of Easter or do we have our own reasons? Of course we know that for many people it is only that, just a tradition, but my hope is that this journey can be so much more for us at St. Matthews.

Holy week and Easter are central to what it means to be Christian. The drama of pain, loneliness, oppression and fear plays out in our own lives and in the lives of people we know and care about all the time. Our celebration of Holy week beginning with Palm Sunday and then Maundy Thursday and Good Friday is our remembering that God’s life in Jesus is along side ours, and one with our own experience. But there is more! Our memory does not end with Good Friday but with Easter. Pain, loneliness, oppression and fear are not the last word. God has something else to say and our celebration of Easter puts all the rest in a context of hope.

A growing number of St. Matthews members have decided to invite others to join us in this week of memory and celebration. Are you one of them? I am going to make a list this week of a few people I want to invite to join us for some or all of Holy Week. Chris Conry is heading up this effort and you might want to talk to him since he always has great ideas about things like this. Would you join us? It can be as simple as finding a blank spot in this newsletter (page 9), writing down a few names and then praying for the courage to make an invitation. When you invite don’t forget to mention that everyone gets their own palm on Palm Sunday, we have a sweet and meaningful living last supper on Thursday and Friday is a dramatic reading of the last hours before the crucifixion.

A lot of good things happen in this community throughout the year, but nothing is more central than this.

Peace and courage to you.
Grant

Lenten and Easter Schedule

March 3, 10, 17, 24 6:30 PM
Lenten Worship

March 28 9:30 AM
Palm Sunday

March 30 7:00 PM
Rehearsal for Living Last Supper

April 1 7:00 PM
Living Last Supper

April 2 7:00 PM
Good Friday Worship

April 4 7:30 AM
Easter Worship
8:00 AM Easter Breakfast
9:30 AM Easter Worship

Music Ministry

March, April and May.....
Musical Points of Interest at St. Matthew's:
 
March -
Please come to the Mid-Week Lenten services on Wednesday evenings!  The Holden Village Vespers Service is enhanced with handbells, flute, cantors and soloists.   I was introduced to this Vespers Service 25 years ago and find it a meaningful, reflective, meditative way to spend 30 minutes during the season of Lent. 
 
March 14 will be the debut of the Youth Handbell Choir.  This choir is comprised of 11 youth ranging in age from 12 to 18.  They have been working hard after Sunday services to rehearse a two songs for March 14.
 
April -
On Easter Sunday, April 4, one of the anthems the choir will sing is the Hallelujah Chorus by Handel.  We would like to invite ANYONE interested in singing this anthem to do so!  We will sing it at the conclusion of the Easter service, and will ask people to join the choir in the balcony.  Please let me know!
 
May -
May 23 will be Music Sunday.  Mark it on your calendar and invite friends and family to come!  Music Sunday began at St. Matthew's 7 years ago because I wanted to set aside a special Sunday once a year to highlight the tremendously talented musicians at St. Matthew's.  Professional musicians from the Metropolitan Symphony accompanied our choir that year, and have done so every year following.  The choir puts forth special rehearsal time to work on a substantial work, sung in Latin.  We have done the Te Deum by Mozart, the Mass in G by Schubert, the Missa brevis in B-Flat by Haydn, movements from John Rutter's Requim and the Te Deum by Haydn.  I'll never forget the Music Sunday when the power went out during our worship hour!  It made things a little more interesting, but we carried on and had a wonderful Sunday.
 
Also...look for a number of special guest musicians during March, April and May to share their talents with us.  I appreciate our guest musicians.  However, I ESPECIALLY appreciate the faithful, talented musicians who attend rehearsals at St. Matthew's regularly, and enliven our worship with their beautiful songs, instruments, and spirits.

VIBE

Hello VIBE Leaders, families and Friends, 

On March 16th, VIBE leaders will be getting together to talk about putting together a new mission and vision for our collaboration.  Please pray for this process as we continue to discern where God is calling us to be as a ministry!

Our monthly Coffee House Gathering for the High Schoolers will be taking place on the 24th of March (4th Wednesday of the month) at Caribou Coffee on Larpenteur (1127 W. Larpenteur Ave, St. Paul) from 7:30-9:00 pm.  These gatherings are about hanging out with each other, having fun and good conversation about life.  Come check it out!

Confirmation this month will be at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church (1390 Larpenteur Avenue East, St. Paul) from 4-7 on Sunday the 14th.  We'll play games, eat food, and of course learn about God!

This summer will be busy.  We are taking trips to Bay Lake Camp for Confirmation Camp (June 14th-18th), Family Camp (July 16th-18th) and 3rd-5th grade camp (Aug 9-13). 

We are also going to be taking the High School group on a camping/canoeing trip to the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota (June 22-28th).  There is limited availability for this trip, so act quickly if you are interested.

To learn more about any of these trips, or if you have questions about events, please call the VIBE office (651-224-3371 ext.17)

Email Justin (justin@vibeyouth.org) or Paul at (pcannon001@luthersem.edu)

Staycation

It is now the month of March, and as Minnesota residents, many of us are anxiously waiting for the snow to melt and Spring to arrive. In the meantime, how would you like to take a trip to Mexico? Maybe Cancun, or Puerto Vallarta, or Cabo San Lucas?

On Sunday, March 21, you can actually experience the sunny atmosphere of a Mexican beach by coming to the St. Matthew’s annual “Staycation”. Put on your beach clothing, bring your family and friends, and come to Fellowship Hall following worship where there will be games, activities, and food for all ages!

Spirit of Truth

Sunday, February 28th our launch team made it's biggest jump in number of people.  Each person on the launch team has been having one to one conversations with friends and coworkers about each others' stories, life, and faith.  On Sunday, February 28th the members of the launch team invited some of these people to join us.  This was our last big push to finish creating our organizing team.  Then, together, we will plan our launch, and practices thereafter.  I feel very blessed to have such a powerful group of people committed to this new ministry, and to building a better world.

Peter Marincel
651-336-6726or petermarincel@gmail.com