News & Updates – September 20
Sunday School Begins this Sunday!
Sunday School starts up again this coming Sunday, September 20 at 9:30 AM on-line. Children ages 3 and up are invited to join us on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85766264892?pwd=OWVJUzJEenhUbWtFYzIwVVFTbTM0Zz09
We’ll divide into two Zoom Rooms: the Pre-School Frolic Room, and the Action Bible Room. For more information, contact Amy Ireland at asireland@hamlinechurch.org
Children & Youth Sign Up!
Please take two minutes to register your child or youth for our fall spiritual formation offerings.
Children and families: https://forms.gle/cGFPz8AkNNUufLJs9
Youth and families: https://forms.gle/soW5rbxCyX36QoyS7
Sunday School starts this Sunday, and you will be contacted next week about our Kids’ Minecraft Group and our Kids’ Bookclub.
Questions? Contact Amy Ireland asireland@hamlinechurch.org
Zoom Tour of SafeZone Drop-in Center for Homeless Youth
Sunday, September 20 at 11:45 am
A thirty minute Zoom Tour of SafeZone is scheduled for Sunday for anyone who is interested. The Zoom link for this meeting is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3750459780?pwd=NjQyYnhJcnV3QlpTOFVQRXlMZUtndz09
Meeting ID: 375 045 9780
Passcode: 9GQY
Contact: stevebloom4592@gmail.com
Youth Group Kick-off Party
Sunday, September 20 at 1pm
This Sunday all youth and friends of Hamline Church are invited to drop by Ginkgo’s Patio (721 Snelling Ave N, St Paul, MN 55104) from 1pm-2:30pm. Play some games, check in with one another, and get the schedule for the year. PLUS get a free ice cream/treat/drink from Ginkgo’s! Contact Ashley (ahoefker01@hamline.edu)
Confirmation Starts Next Sunday
Sunday, September 27 at 1pm
Confirmation at Hamline Church is a two-year program typically for seventh and eighth graders but older youth who have not already been confirmed are invited to attend as well. During this time, we explore what it means to confirm for ourselves the promises our parents made at Baptism. If you have a youth interested, please note that we meet on the 2nd and 4th Sundays at 1pm – first meeting (9/27) will be in person – meeting via zoom after that. Contact Heather (hgrantham@hamlinechurch.org).
Belated Card Shower for Frank Dreisbach
Hamline Church longtime friend and member, the Rev. Frank Dreisbach celebrated his 90th birthday on September 13! We are asking EVERYONE (even if you don’t know him personally) to shower him with good wishes for this milestone birthday:
Rev. Frank Dreisbach
1749 Taylor Ave W
Saint Paul, MN 55104
Card Shower for Norma Fields
Norma Fields, mother of Hamline Church member Sharon Fields, will celebrate her 90th birthday on October 4th! Norma is a lifelong United Methodist now living in a care center in Philadelphia. Sharon would be so appreciative of her Minnesota church family joining in the celebration by sending cards and well wishes:
Norma S Fields
2101 Belmont Ave
APT 3209 Old Main
Philadelphia, PA 19131
Sunday Morning Book Group
Sunday, September 27 at 9:00 AM
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89331241754?pwd=ZVNQZEl6WGJ0WVdxK1JkRTFxSis1Zz09
Meeting ID: 893 3124 1754
Passcode: 512740
Join in via Zoom to discuss “The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy.” Author Michael McCarthy traces his adoration of the natural world to when he was seven, when the discovery of butterflies and birds brought sudden joy to a boy whose mother had just been hospitalized. Krista Tippett, host of On Being at NPR, says “I have rarely discovered a book that so delighted and galvanized me at once.”
Contact Barb Edgar at edgar002@umn.edu.
Hamline Connects Group
This fall, Hamline Church is drawing on an age-old Methodist practice of relying on small groups to help us through these unprecedented times. In September everyone will be invited to participate in a Hamline Connects Group for the fall and winter. Each group will be shaped by a leader(s) and will collectively decide when and how to meet. Groups are encouraged to meet at least twice a month through Zoom, email, text, phone, or mail. Some groups may decide to meet in-person outdoors with masks and social distancing. Hamline Connects Groups are designed to create small groups within the congregation so that members and active friends of the church can stay connected, engaged, and cared for. For more info contact Heather Grantham (hgrantham@hamlinechurch.org)
Yearning for yarn?
League of women voters presents a Candidate Forum for District 66
Racial Justice and Climate Justice
I woke up this morning pondering my own mortality. (As far as I know, I am perfectly healthy). But this is the gift of the pandemic – putting life in its most simple and most stark terms. And so I ponder…
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd repeatedly told police officers, “I can’t breathe.” This is not the first time a black man has died in police custody after saying, “I can’t breathe.” In 2014, Eric Garner told police eleven times, “I can’t breathe,” before he died, face down on the sidewalk in New York City. Over the past decade, at least 70 people have died in custody after saying the same words — “I can’t breathe,” according to The New York Times (Three Words. 70 Cases. The Tragic History of I Can’t Breathe,” June 29, 2020). The majority of them were stopped for minor infractions, calls to 911 about suspicious behavior, or mental health concerns. More than half were black.
Police brutality is real. Systemic racism is real.
Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
As a climate activist, I am sometimes asked to help people connect the dots between racism and climate change. I talk about air pollution, heat waves, rising sea levels, and vector borne illnesses like malaria and dengue fever and the disproportionate impact of each of these on people of color, poor people, and people in foreign countries. I talk about our extractive industries such as mining, logging, and fossil fuels, and the sacrifice zones associated with these industries. And by sacrifice zones, I mean places here and overseas where industries are forcing people to move off their land or exposing them to toxins or increased levels of crime and corruption. And in some cases, killing people because of their non-violent resistance to the extraction.
The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, sums it up when he says, “too many people have been too comfortable for too long with other people’s desperation and other people’s death.”
Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
People are being killed by racism and by climate change. Our systems are violent. It could not be simpler or more clear. I have come to believe there is no difference between racial justice and climate justice. Racial justice is climate justice. And climate justice is racial justice. Once you see it – really see it – it cannot be unseen.
Stark realities.
And we are the people of God. Called to be salt and light. Called to heal a broken world. Hear these words from the Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr, president of the Hip Hop Caucus: “Probably the most important thing is to believe that we were made for this moment. We were put on this planet at this time to fight this battle. That’s the most amazing gift we’ve been given by the Almighty: We are so needed.”
News & Updates – September 13
Fiction & Fellowship
The church’s reading and discussion group, FICTION AND FELLOWSHIP, created by Kent and Diane Krueger, will begin its 21st year today at 4:30pm via ZOOM.
The group meets at 4:30pm on the 2nd Sunday evening each month. ALL ARE WELCOME even if you haven’t finished or even read that evening’s book. To have your name added to the mailing list, send a note to the church office: mfreberg@hamlinechurch.org.
Here are the books we selected:
September 13: The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg.
October 11: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
November 8: My Grandmother asked me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Bachman
December 13:* This Tender Land by Kent Krueger
* Date subject to change.
Join via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81445354127?pwd=M2ZFZHhDZWdzVDVsQ0xVaFdncUN0Zz09
Meeting ID: 814 4535 4127; Passcode: 988134
Pop-up mini concerts by The Bach Society
The Bach Society of Minnesota (BSM) is presenting a series of free, outdoor concerts throughout the Twin Cities this September. Each mini concert is performed by one professional classical musician from the Twin Cities community and lasts about 15 minutes.
Join us outside of Hamline Church on:
- Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at 6:00 pm
(Margaret Humphrey, violin) - Friday, September 18, 2020 at 6:00 pm
(Adrianna O’Brien, cello)
Music brings love, peace, and joy. We hope to bring the gift of music to your community in a safe, masked, socially distanced, and accessible way. Look for more info on our mini concert schedule and learn more about our new season at https://bachsocietymn.org/.
Online Town Hall Forum
Tuesday, September 15 at 7:30 pm via Zoom
The Hamline Church Council invites you to a conversation and update on Hamline Church’s ministry and how we are adapting and innovating in the midst of the pandemic. The forum topics include: finances, capital projects, fall programming, and online/in-person worship. All are welcome!
Join via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82729931291
Fall Book Study
The fall book study will begin Sunday, September 27 and be led by Barb Edgar. The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy by Michael McCarthy. Nature has many gifts for us, among them the joy that can serve as a defense for us in a world where nature is ever more threatened by climate change and inadequate sustainable development. We will meet on Sunday mornings at 9 am on Zoom for our discussions. One or two books should be available from the church office. Contact Barb Edgar for more information (edgar002@umn.edu).
Hamline Connects Group
This fall, Hamline Church is drawing on an age-old Methodist practice of relying on small groups to help us through these unprecedented times. In September everyone will be invited to participate in a Hamline Connects Group for the fall and winter. Each group will be shaped by a leader(s) and will collectively decide when and how to meet. Groups are encouraged to meet at least twice a month through Zoom, email, text, phone, or mail. Some groups may decide to meet in-person outdoors with masks and social distancing. Hamline Connects Groups are designed to create small groups within the congregation so that members and active friends of the church can stay connected, engaged, and cared for. For more info contact Heather Grantham (hgrantham@hamlinechurch.org)