Accent on Worship

Crazy news we have seen in the last few weeks! Historic decisions came from the Supreme Court, including same-gender marriage and changes to the Voting Rights Act. Donald Trump was fired, and escaped convicts captured.  Greece faces financial ruin, and acts of terror and the spread of ISIS threaten people across the world. And President Obama eulogized Reverend Clementa Pinckney, and the FBI is investigating fires at several black churches in the south (3 confirmed arson at last count). Taken all together, it feels pretty chaotic. I find myself getting overwhelmed, and wonder, when is God going to straighten out this crazy world we live in?

And then, in this week’s reading from Mark, after describing how Jesus’ childhood neighbors resisted believing that Jesus has power from God, there is this: “And he could do no deed of power there . . .” What? Jesus can’t perform miracles because people don’t believe? This sounds like a “fake preacher” movie starring Steve Martin!

Matthew 13:58 reads differently: “And [Jesus] did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” Not that he couldn’t, but simply did’t. Either way, it hints of a requirement of belief for miracles to take place! With the reality of the violence of racism revealed at Emanuel AME fresh in my mind, I wonder . . . if belief is required for miracles, whose belief, exactly?

The words of African American theologian and minister Crystal St. Marie Lewis echo in my mind: “Is it possible that our prayers for God to somehow “fix” the world seem unheard because we don’t yet see ourselves as the answers to those prayers?”

We—not “we” as in white-people-only or “we” as in Mount-Olive-members-only, but an all-encompassing corporate “we” that propels us into the community. God has created each human being to work for the realization of the kingdom of God. “We” are the answers to our prayers. God is waiting on us. Are “we” ready?

– Vicar Meagan McLaughlin

Sunday Readings

July 5, 2015: 6th Sunday after Pentecost, 14 B
 Ezekiel 2:1-5
Psalm 123
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13
______________

July 12, 2015: 7th Sunday after Pentecost, 15 B
Amos 7:7-15
Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:14-29

Meet Our Missionary July 12

     After church on Sunday, July 12, grab some coffee and a seat and spend some time getting to know Karen Anderson, our ELCA missionary to Chile. We support Karen through the ELCA and her community health work through our support of EPES/ (Educación Popular En Salud) Action for Health in the Americas. Karen had wanted to be with us when we celebrated the Taste of Chile a few years ago, but at that time her delayed flight kept her away. Now is our chance to catch up with Karen, learn about her commitment to developing strong community health organizations that meet the real needs of the communities they serve, from strengthening prenatal health to helping rebuild after a community fire to campaigning to end smoking. And even more: Karen and her team are now reaching out to teach com-munity health techniques to community workers through-out Central and South America, and even to those working in Africa. Through our support of Karen we have real impact in improving health and lives in Chile.

     Save the date. Save the time. Join the conversation.

Olive Branch Summer Publication

     During the summer months of June, July, and August, The Olive Branch is published every other week. The next issue will be published on July 15.

     If you have information to be published in the July 15 issue, please have that information to the church office by Monday, July 13.

 July Vestry Meeting Rescheduled

     To accommodate Pr. Crippen’s schedule, the Vestry will have its July meeting on Monday, July 20, rather than the regularly scheduled date of July 13.  Pr. Crippen will be accompanying youth to the ELCA 2015 Youth Gathering in Detroit during the week of July 13.

     The Vestry meetings are always open to congregation members, and are usually held on the second Monday of each month at 7:00 pm.

Book Discussion Group Update

     Mount Olive’s Book Discussion Group meets on the second Saturday of each month, at 10:00 am in the West Assembly Area at church. All readers are welcome!     For July 11 meeting, they will read, Bleak House, by Charles Dickens, and for August 8 the collection of essays, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris.

Spiritual Gifts Workshop

     Have you been asking yourself these questions? What gifts has God given me?  Where is God calling me now? How can I be the presence of God for those around me?

     Explore these questions and more at this workshop!

Unwrapping Your Spiritual Gifts:
Saturday, July 25, 8:30 a.m.–noon
Mount Olive Lutheran Church
Workshop Leaders: Connie Marty and
Vicar Meagan McLaughlin

Before the workshop, take an online gifts inventory: www.elca.org/Our-Work/Congregations-and-Synods/Faith-Practices/Assessment-Tools
 
RSVP Required: Vicar McLaughlin at 612.827.5919 or vicar@mountolivechurch.org.

The Diaper Depot Needs You!’

     The Diaper Depot is open Tuesdays (4:30-6:30) and Thursdays (1:30-3:30) each week. Dozens of families make their way to Mount Olive each week for this extra support. Please consider if you can help any day this summer – just two hours of greeting families and neighbors who need diapers! Call Anna Kingman 612-827-5910 for more info and thank you.

Mark your Calendars for Wednesday, August 5: Transitions Support Group

     All are welcome to visit the Transitions Support Group meetings if you’ve been hoping to find new ideas or encouragement to meet the challenges or uncertainties that are before you. This is an opportunity to share in fellowship, prayer, and discussion with others in the Mount Olive community.

     The next session meets on Wednesday, August 5, from 6- 7 pm at Mount Olive in the lower level Youth Room, and will be facilitated by Amy Cotter and Cathy Bosworth.  

     If you have questions, please contact Cathy at 612-708-1144 or marcat8447@yahoo.com.

Donations Needed!

     Mount Olive and another ELCA congregation will be assisting Pr. Helge Voigt and his family from Leipzig, Germany, (friends of this congregation), as they spend a year in Minneapolis to study and work beginning in August.        

     Please click on the link below (or cut and paste, if needed), to be taken to the wish list of items.   You can sign up on line and then we’ll get in contact with you with details.

     Scour your closets and donate to the Voigts!  Cash and gift cards are also welcomed, as noted on the sign-up sheet.

     We also need moving vehicles and people to help, dates TBD.   For questions, contact Lora Dundek at 651/645-6636 or by email to lhdundek@usfamily.net.

http://www.jooners.com/guest?l=45905ed6-a225-4f5e-a7ba-b7e7edad8a64

Flour, Sugar and Oil, Oh Yeah

A request from our ACTS summer program kids and helpers:      

     After working at the Community Emergency Services food shelf this week, we noticed totally bare shelves above the flour, sugar and oil labels. We asked. We found out that these are items most needed and least donated. We encourage you to fill those shelves!  

     Place your donations in the marked spot in the coat room. Thanks.

Bargain Box

     What’s better than the start of a new school year? Making sure that all children have clothes and school supplies to make school something to look forward to!

     On Saturday, August 1, Bargain Box will sell new and gently-used clothing for kids. School supplies will be distributed to all children at the Community Meal. Each year, we are able to supply about 100 students with clothes and school supplies, which makes going back to school fun for kids and much easier for parents!

     You can help by volunteer-ing a few hours on that day, by bringing donations of gently used kids’ clothes, by donating new and gently used back-packs, or by making a mone-tary donation to purchase school supplies.

     On Sundays July 5, 12, and 19, someone from the Neighborhood Ministries Committee will be outside the lounge during the coffee hour to receive your donations.

     Thank you for making this annual ministry so successful!

News From the Neighborhood     
                                     
Profiles: conversations

     Having the role of Coordinator of Neighborhood Outreach and Ministry is a really amazing position. It’s challenging to walk through hardships with others and learn how to best support people. It’s immensely gratifying to see relief and hope and abundant blessings. It’s also really fun to chat with moms at the Diaper Depot or get to sort food with ACTS kids or play games after tutoring. But the most wonderful part of this role is the ability and (dare I say) call to actively pursue positive change and betterment for the neighborhood that Mount Olive is a part of and each one that our members and sojourners goes home to. It’s been all about conversations; talking with Meagan about how to recognize and address the complicated subject of racism, or to an Ethiopian Muslim man from LSS on respectful behavior at a mosque, to chatting with a forlorn woman over a bowl of soup after she literally bathed in the bathroom sink after days of unpaid work. All of these things, and so many more good, meaningful conversations make this job a ministry.

     We all have this opportunity within our lives. We all come across people we do not know or do not understand or do not appreciate, and we have an opportunity to start conversations in good faith with open hearts. It’s how we will all, in this big, broad, broken world, go about healing and hoping with one another. Where, when, and how are you starting new conversations and being a good neighbor?

P.S. I’m learning how to do that well, so any conversations or advice are always welcome.

Summer ACTS

     Summer ACTS is providing jobs for 19 neighborhood youth and it’s going great! It’s a fun group of youth, helped and mentored by some wonderful adults and we still need mentors to make it through the end on July 16. Yet to come: Stone’s Throw Urban Farm, the Minneapolis Police Dept., Handyworks home help, and an art project. If you can be a part in these kids’ life and this program any Monday – Thursday through July 16, from 10am – 2pm, please let me know: neighborhood@mountolivechurch.org or by calling 612-827-5910. Thank you.

Celebrate Ramadan with our Muslim Neighbors!

     Ramadan is the month on the Islamic lunar calendar during which Muslims abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset, each day the fast is broken with a meal called Iftar. The Minnesota Council of Churches and the Muslim American Society of Minnesota is hosting a series of open houses at area mosques. Attend an iftar dinner in your area! There is no charge, but RSVP required.

     Anna Kingman and Vicar Meagan will attend the dinner on July 7, at Dar al-Hajira Mosque. The link below will take you to registration for all the events scheduled for Ramadan this year. Hope you can join us!

http://mnchurches.org/respectfulcommunities/interfaithprogramming/takingheart/registration.html

Open Space Event on June 20, 2015: The Neighborhood Garage Sale

     Mount Olive hosted a community-wide garage sale in the OPEN SPACE of our church parking lot on June 20. Thank you to all who participated and made this activity a success. There were 12 vendors selling their goods; 5 members and 7 neighbors. There were 16 Mount Olive member volunteers whose main role was to be the presence of God for our guests! They put up handmade signs to draw in the guest shoppers, offered assistance to the vendors as they unloaded and set up, directed cars for parking in the lot, welcomed at our south church door to greet guests for tours of the building, and joined in the community meal over the lunch hour. Here are some comments from those who volunteered:

“I liked the mix of Mount Olive vendors and neighborhood vendors.”
“I didn’t hear any complaining from anyone – the feeling was almost celebratory.”
“The comments I heard as they came in to the church were positive. They liked having it in the area.
Also gave people a chance to come in to the church which many of them liked.”

     Yes, we literally opened our doors and our space which gave us a chance to show that we are part of the neighborhood, not just talk about it. Check out photos from the day in the main display case and watch for the next Open Space event coming up in August!

– Connie Marty and the Open Space Leadership Team

Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Conference

July 31-Aug 2, 2015 – Augsburg College, Minneapolis

     At the end of July we have an opportunity to show our support and commitment to the RIC program and to be a voice to the many other congregations in the ELCA who have not become RIC congregations.

     The National Reconciling Works Assembly and RIC conference is being held at Augsburg College July 31-August 2. If you would like to attend, visit www.reconcilingworks.org to register. If you cannot attend the entire conference, consider attending the July 31 gala. Gala tickets are $40 there will be a dinner and silent auction.  If you or you and your spouse would like to attend the gala please call or email me so I can get you on the list.  (Paul Nixdorf – 612-296-0055; pn@paulnixdorf.com )

     We are collecting items for the silent auction, asking each RIC congregation to assemble a set of items to be placed in the silent auction at the gala.  If you have ideas or know of that we can assemble for the silent auction please call me.
– Paul Nixdorf

Accent on Worship

“Cantor”:  What does this mean?

     I was called to Mount Olive with the title “Cantor.”  I’ve learned that we (Lutherans) have a particular understanding of that role which is not shared among all who use the term.  A Jewish “Cantor” is one who act-ually sings.  In current Roman Catholic practice, a “Cantor” stands in front of the assembly and sings and gestures, with the goal of inviting the assembly to join the singing.  Verses may be sung by this person, with every-one joining for a refrain.

     For us (and for me), “Cantor” is better defined as the steward of the congregation’s song.  The Lutheran Cantor doesn’t sing for you, but facilitates (encourages/enables) and cares for the assembly’s song.

     First, this involves decisions about what is sung.  Those decisions have many contributing factors.  Of course it means making sure we offer the best we can – discerning what is worth the time and effort to offer up to God in song or, over the long haul, what is worth adding to the communal memory bank.  Another factor is ensuring that a sense of “we” remains important, so that we are not tempted to have the goal of satisfying individual’s subjective preferences – including those of Cantors themselves!

     Then it is the Cantor’s task to be sure the assembly has what they need to sing the song, clearly knowing what it is they are to sing,  and when they are to sing it.  This means access to both text and music.  It is inhospitable to provide words only as there are always folks in any given assembly who DO know how to read music and can do their part to help.

     Any directions for unified singing and maintaining vitality are also the Cantor’s responsibilities.  Tempo, when to breathe, and even “how” to sing a particular melody and text meaningfully can be encouraged by the Cantor.  Gregorian chant with its mystical flow is quite different from Renaissance Chorale with its rhythmic dance!  Some texts are full-bodied praise, others are muted prayer.

     Most of these “unifications” occur with the help of the organ, sometimes the piano, choir, or even drums!  This Cantor feels best, however, if these tools feel almost unnecessary –because it means the congregation has understood and is able to clearly and vibrantly sing.  The singing is always the point.  When that is going strong, the organ is free to bring out the text and its meaning.

     As always, I pray for full-bodied singing every time we gather.  It’s like nothing else and it is very hospitable to folks who aren’t used to singing in public.  Do your part: sing out!

– Cantor David Cherwien

Sunday Readings

June 21, 2015: 4th Sunday after Pentecost, 12 B
Job 38:1-11
Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41
______________

June 28, 2015: 5th Sunday after Pentecost, 13 B
Lamentations 3:22-33
Psalm 30
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Mark 5:21-43

Quick Look: Our General Fund Giving

+28% = May giving, compared with May 2014
+9% = Year-to-date giving, compared with the same period in 2014
98% = Year-to-date expenses covered by gifts
122% = May expenses covered by May gifts

Yes, May was a very good month! Thanks for generous and faithful giving. Our challenge remains: to have that second percentage (here 9%) at or above 7% at the close of the year. Remember, we’ve often experienced a summer slump in giving. Regarding that 122% above note that Mount Olive’s general fund expenses can and do vary from month to month.

     Credit for the above way of showing trends in our general fund giving goes to outgoing treasurer Kat Campbell-Johnson. She’s for some time provided this information on the first page of her detailed monthly treasurer’s reports, and it’s my sense that vestry members and other leaders have found it clear and helpful. Miss the dollar figures? Don’t worry. We’ll continue to provide them from time to time.

– Donn McLellan, director of Stewardship

Olive Branch Summer Publication

     During the summer months of June, July, and August, The Olive Branch is published every other week. July issues will be published on July 1 and July 15.

     If you have information to be published in the July 1 issue, please have that information to the church office by Monday, June 29.

Communion Ministers Needed!

     Every week, parishioners bring the Eucharist to Mount Olive members who are unable to join us for liturgy.  

     Additional communion ministers are needed, especially for the summer months. If you are willing and able to bring communion to Mount Olive members in their homes, please contact Tom Graves and Ginny Agresti.

Book Discussion Group Update

     Mount Olive’s Book Discussion Group meets on the second Saturday of each month, at 10:00 am in the West Assembly Area at church. All readers are welcome!

     For July 11 meeting, they will read, Bleak House, by Charles Dickens, and for August 8 the collection of essays, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris.

Mark your Calendars for Wednesday, August 5: Transitions Support Group

     All are welcome to visit the Transitions Support Group meetings if you’ve been hoping to find new ideas or encouragement to meet the challenges or uncertainties that are before you. This is an opportunity to share in fellowship, prayer, and discussion with others in the Mount Olive community.

     The next session meets on Wednesday, August 5 from 6- 7 pm at Mount Olive in the lower level Youth Room, and will be facilitated by Amy Cotter and Cathy Bosworth.  

     If you have questions, please contact Cathy at 612-708-1144 or marcat8447@yahoo.com.

Meet Our Missionary July 12

     After church on Sunday, July 12, grab some coffee and a seat and spend some time getting to know Karen Anderson, our ELCA missionary to Chile. We support Karen through the ELCA and her community health work through our support of EPES/ Action for Health in the Americas. Karen had wanted to be with us when we celebrated the Taste of Chile a few years ago, but at that time her delay-ed flight kept her away.

     Now is our chance to catch up with Karen, learn about her commitment to developing strong community health organizations that meet the real needs of the communities they serve, from strengthening prenatal health to helping rebuild after a community fire to campaigning to end smoking. And even more: Karen and her team are now reaching out to teach com-munity health techniques to community workers through-out Central and South America, and even to those working in Africa. Through our support of Karen we have real impact in improving health and lives in Chile. Save the date. Save the time. Join the conversation.

News From the Neighborhood         

Come to the Neighborhood Garage Sale This Saturday!

     The sale is this Saturday, June 20, from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm in the parking lot. Come and see what treasures you might find! We have ten vendors signed up so come support our community and neighborhood.

     If you would like to sell a few items at the sale, please mark the price along with some way to identify your goods (i.e. initials/name). Your “earnings” will be returned to you along with unsold items.  If you choose to donate this money to Mount Olive, you can do so on your own, after the sale.  We will follow the general plan that has been put in place for neighbors selling their goods for personal profit.  Since this sale is an effort to get to know our neighbors, it seems we who are joining them by selling personal items should follow the same protocol so that it doesn’t have the appearance of being a fund-raiser.

Summer ACTS

     Summer ACTS program begins on Monday, June 22, and runs Monday to Thursday for four weeks. Eighteen kids ages 9-14 are ready to come do jobs around the community and learn valuable life skills. Mentors (you!?) help build relationships and provide positive role models. Do you have a day or two between 10 am and 2 pm to come be a mentor or a kitchen crew member and help this program make an impact in the community? Call or email Anna Kingman, 612-827-5910 or neighborhood@mountolivechurch.org.

     We will partner with organizations such as: Community Emergency Services, Stone’s Throw Urban Garden, HandyWorks, Courageous heARTS, and the Minneapolis Police Department.

Extra Hands Needed at the Diaper Depot This Summer! 

     The Diaper Depot program runs Tuesdays (4:30-6:30) and Thursdays (1:30-3:30) each week. Dozens of families make their way to Mount Olive each week for this extra support. Please consider if you can help any day this summer – just 2 hours of greeting families and neighbors who need diapers! Orientation for volunteers will be offered on Tuesday, June 30, at 4:00 pm. Call Anna Kingman 612-827-5910 for more info and thank you.

The Bargain Box

     Saturday, August 1 will be a busy day at Mount Olive as we help to get neighborhood children ready for the school year with the Bargain Box!  We need donations of cash, new and gently used children’s clothes (no adult clothes, please), school supplies, and backpacks.

     If you have time to help with the meal, or assist with clothing or school supplies distribution, please plan to come to the August Community Meals!

Church Library News

     A special display in our church library includes specific books that are meant to help revise and upgrade our current Reference section.  Before Pastor Crippen left for his sabbatical, he came to the library with two arm-loads of books (donated to our library by Robert Gotwalt) and he challenged us to find room for them in our already crowded Reference section, plus 3 or 4 in other related categories as well.  The display will be available for about three Sundays, and then each item will be incorporated into our present shelving.

 Nave’s Topical Bible, by Orville J. Nave, editor
 Lutheran Questions, Lutheran Answers (Exploring Christian Faith), by Martin Marty
 The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians, by Robert Eisenman
 Principles of Lutheran Theology, 2nd Edition, by Carl E. Braaten
 A Compend of Lutheran Theology, by Hugh T. Kerr, editor
 The Promise of Lutheran Ethics, by Karen Bloomquist and John R. Stumme, editors
 The New International Dictionary of the Bible, (Pictorial Edition) by Merrill Tenney and J.D.                       Douglas, editors
 Selected Writings of Martin Luther (1517-1522), by Theodore Tappert, editor
     Also same (1520-1523)
     Also same (1523-1526)
     Also same (1529-1546)
 Martin Luther, Selections from his Writings, by John Dillenberger, editor
 Luther’s Spirituality, by Philip and Peter Krey, editors
 Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, 2nd edition, w/CD by Timothy Lull, editor
 The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, Volume 1, by Nicholas Lenker, editor
     Also same, Volumes 2, 3, and 4
 The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, Volume 5, by Eugene and F.A. Klug, editors
     Also same, Volumes 6 and 7
 The Seven Storey Mountain, by Thomas Merton

     Last September I wrote about a “Floating Library,” built on an 8′ square raft and holding approximately 80 unusual book titles, that would appear on Cedar Lake during the weekends during the month of August.  This unusual library is the brain-child of Sarah Peters, a teacher at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.  Watch for this special library again this August (weather permitting), and be one of those privileged to check out a book or two from a different kind of library!

– Leanna Kloempken

Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival

     Again this year, Mount Olive will be one of the area churches who will staff an information booth at the Twin Cites Gay Pride Festival, June 27-28, 2015.

     Would you be interested in staffing a one or two hour shift at the booth?  If you can help, call Andrew Andersen at 763-607-1689 or the church office at 612-827-5919.  Times are open:  Saturday 10–6, and Sunday 12-6.  If you would be willing to share information about Mount Olive with folks who stop by the booth, please call.

Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Conference
July 31-Aug 2, 2015 – Augsburg College, Minneapolis

     Mount Olive has been a long standing RIC congregation and we have been exemplary in our welcome of the LGBT community.  At the end of July we have an opportunity to show our support and commitment to the RIC program and to be a voice to the many other congregations in the ELCA who have not become RIC congregations.

     The National Reconciling Works Assembly and RIC conference is being held at Augsburg College July 31-August 2.  I want to encourage any member of Mount Olive who would like to attend the entire conference to go to the www.reconcilingworks.org website and get information and register for the conference. If you cannot attend the entire conference I would like Mount Olive to have a delegation at the July 31 gala (Friday night) for the Assembly.  Tickets are $40 and it would be great if we are represented at the gala.  There will be a dinner and silent auction.  If you or you and your spouse would like to attend the gala please call or email me so I can get you on the list.  (Paul Nixdorf – 612-296-0055; pn@paulnixdorf.com )

     Second!  I am chair of the Twin Cities ReconcilingWorks board for the two ELCA synods and we have been asked to gather items for the silent auction.  We are asking each RIC congregation to assemble a set of items to be placed in the silent auction at the gala.  If you have ideas or know of items from Mount Olive that we can put together for the silent auction please call me.

     I hope you will consider coming to the gala on July 31, and also please help me with Mount Olive’s Auction Items.

– Paul Nixdorf – Chair, Twin Cities Reconciling Works Board

Accent on Worship

Nothing Ordinary about “Ordinary Time!”

     We have just finished the first half of the Church Year, some-times called the Festival half or our Lord’s half.  It runs from Advent to Pentecost and keeps us focused on God’s saving activity in Jesus Christ.

     Now, with the Ascension of our Lord and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we turn our attention to the life of the Church.  No more great festivals, bombastic worship, or striking symbols.  Instead, we settle into “green worship,” marked by a subdued liturgy, a simplified style, and a more modest agenda.  We count these Sundays by noting their numerical place “after Pentecost.”    
     This second half of the church year is often called “ordinary time;” but not because it is in any way bland or mundane.  It comes from the Latin ordinal and means something counted in a
sequence. So we count the Sundays after Pentecost in sequence.

     This is a time when we hear about our Lord’s teaching, his miracles, and his parables.  We struggle to apply what we hear to our Christian lives so that we can grow in sanctification, or become “greener.”  As the psalmist pleads, “Teach us all to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

     This numbering should be a salutary time for us—not just one darn thing after another!  Time that marks our mundane existence we call “chronological,” from the Greek word chronos.  So, we waste time, kill time, save time, etc.  The Church also knows a different time; time that is marked not by a clock, but by the significance of an event.  For that time, the church borrows a different Greek word, kairos.  As we head into this ordinary season, I trust that we will know many more kairotic moments, filled with grace and truth.

– Interim Pastor Robert A. Hausman      

Summer Worship

Holy Eucharist is celebrated each summer Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m.

Sunday Readings

June 7, 2015: 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, 10 B
 Genesis 3:8-15
Psalm 130
2 Corinthians 4:13—5:1
Mark 3:20-35
______________

June 14, 2015: 3rd Sunday after Pentecost, 11 B
Ezekiel 17:22-24
Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15
2 Corinthians 5:6-17
Mark 4:26-34

BACH TAGE: This Weekend!

     Bach Tage is this Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and June 7. Two public concerts are a featured part of Bach Tage – invite your friends!

• Saturday, June 6, 4:00 pm: Music of Johann Sebastian Bach presented by the Bach Tage soloists and orchestra
     Cantata BWV 196, Der Herr denket an uns,  by the Bach Tage soloists and orchestra; Concerto for Oboe and Violin, BWV 1060R, with soloists Marc Levine and Stanley King; and Prelude and Fugue in c minor for organ, by Cantor David Cherwien.

• Sunday, June 7, 4:00 pm: Service of Evening Prayer with Cantata BWV 150, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, and Buxtehude’s Befiehl dem Engel dass er komm will be performed by the participants in the weekend conference, with soloists and orchestra. Kathy Romey of the University of Minnesota is our guest conductor for the weekend, with Cantor David Cherwien, organist.

There will be great music at both programs. Tell others – and don’t miss it!

Honoring the Graduates

     Next Sunday, June 14, we will honor our graduates at a reception following the 9:30 a.m. liturgy.
     Those in our midst that are graduating from high school, college, and graduate school include:

• Kaiya Ruff
• Maddie Nelson
• Peter Crippen
• Mikkel Sawyer
• Erika Thurston
• Jacob Ruff
• Micah Marty
• Steve Lenius
• Elsa Marty

   Plan to stay a few minutes following the morning liturgy for a light reception and to greet and congratulate the graduates!

Communion Ministers Needed!

     Every week, parishioners bring the Eucharist to Mount Olive members who are unable to join us for liturgy.  

     Additional communion ministers are needed, especially for the summer months. If you are willing and able to bring communion to Mount Olive members in their homes, please contact Tom Graves and Ginny Agresti.

Neighborhood Garage Sale: Saturday, June 20, 9am to 3pm

     This is a great opportunity for you to step into the journey of Being the Presence of God in this neighborhood.  Please join in this activity and connect hearts, break barriers and spend some fun time in your church neighborhood.

     Actions you can take to participate:

• Be a vendor!  Find some items you no longer need and reserve a parking space size spot in our church parking lot to sell your goods and have fun with neighbors. Collaborate with others or call Anna for options if you’re interested.

• Be a volunteer!  Take a shift from 8:00am – Noon or Noon – 4:00pm to host and help.  Welcome the vendors, put up signs, and be available and visible.  We open our sanctuary doors to welcome any who want to see who we are and what is going on inside as well.

• Be a promoter and spread the word! And then come shop!

     Questions? Contact any Open Space team member to join in or for further information:  Tim Pipkorn, George Ferguson, Connie Marty, Julie Manuel, Carol Austermann, Paul Nixdorf, Patsy Holtmeier, and Anna Kingman.
   
     Thanks be to God for our life together!

The Bargain Box

     Saturday, August 1 will be a busy day at Mount Olive! We will be helping to get neighbor-hood children ready for school year with Bargain Box fitting children with new school clothes and distributing school supplies during the Community Meal.

     We are looking for donations of cash, new and gently used children’s clothes (no adult clothes, please), school supplies, and backpacks.

     If you have time to help with the meal, or assist with clothing or school supplies, please plan to come to the August Community Meals!
     
– Neighborhood Ministries Committee

Olive Branch Summer Publication

     During the summer months of June, July, and August, The Olive Branch is published every other week. June issues will be published on June 4 and June 17.

     If you have information to be published in the June 17 issue, please have that information to the church office by Monday, June 15.

Our Saviour’s Housing: Building Home

      Next Sunday, June 14, Our Saviour’s Housing will host a block party to benefit the homeless – and all are invited!  Tour the newly refurbished emergency shelter and enjoy a backyard cookout for $5/plate. This event will feature a live concern with folk-blues musician Charlie Parr.

     Celebrate summer, meet your neighbors and learn more about our local homeless shelter.

     No tickets or RSVP needed. Come and go as you please. Activities will happen between 11:30 am and 2:30 pm. For more information, visit their website at
www.oscs-mn.org/buildinghome.

News From the Neighborhood                        
Anna Kingman            
   
Profiles: 
     I had a young woman in recently who was struggling with an electric bill. Her lights had been shut off for 15 days and she was exasperated by the process and the monumental cost of getting them back on. Sixty days ago she became unemployed, and this was so foreign to her as she had worked since she was 11 years old and had never needed assistance like this before. Everything had always gotten paid for and the extras she used for her son. Now it was a desperate situation with only closed doors and no options. As she said, it’s made her thank God for what she had and helped her realize how easy it is to sit in a position above people and judge. She now sees how terribly difficult it is to need help.

     I was really humbled today by her sharing this good reminder that we are all just sheep in the field of the Shepherd – no better or worse than the other, just together and under the mercy of our caretaker. It caused me to examine my heart to any stores of feeling any more or less privileged, blessed, superior or inferior than any of my sisters and brothers. Please take a moment in your day and examine your heart, your head, and your tongue for any ways that we may judge or shame people whose stories we do not know, and how instead we can boast love, encouragement, and care for ourselves and for our neighbor.

Coming Up: Summer ACTS:

     Summer ACTS will take place for 4 weeks, June 22– July 16, from 10am-2pm Monday–Thursday. Kids ages 9-14 will learn about service and responsibility by holding a summer job while participating in fun, meaningful projects. WE NEED MENTORS to work and play alongside them. Please consider if this is an option for you and your family to be involved for 2 days during 1 or all of the weeks! Sign up at church. Questions? Ask Anna Kingman 612-827-5910 or Neighborhood@mountolivechurch.org.

June 22-25:  Summer ACTS Orientation and Baking Skills with Cynthia at Mount Olive
June 29-July 2:  Food Packing at CES and gardening at Stone’s Throw Urban Garden
July 6-9:  Helping our neighbors with HandyWorks and TBD activity
July 13-16:  Nutrition & Cooking skills at Mount Olive, and Personal Art with Courageous heArts

 Upcoming Grant-Writing Workshop Opportunity!
     Mount Olive is hosting a 2-day grant writing workshop held by Grant Central USA on July 16 – 17, from 9am-4pm. For hosting, we are given two free spots at this event. Are you interested in attending this free workshop? Whether professional, personal, non-profit, or fun, please let Anna know ASAP if you’d like to attend. For more information, visit: http://www.grantwritingclasses.org/gallery.html or contact Anna at church or neighborhood@mountolivechurch.org.

Needed! 

     Neighborhood Ministries is currently in need of two things:
• Paper grocery bags with handles (these may be left in the donation area of the coat room)
• 10×10 pop-up canopies to borrow for the Neighborhood Garage Sale on June 20 in our parking lot.

Food and Personal Items Needed!

      Now that school is out for the summer, many children who receive free or reduced-price lunches at school will often go hungry.  Please keep up or increase your monetary and food contributions during the summer months.  You may use your blue envelopes and designate “food shelf” as the recipient.  Food contributions may be placed in the shopping cart in the coat room.

      In our summer travels, let’s remember that the complimentary toiletries provided by hotels and motels are ideal for homeless people who have little space for such items. Most of the time, we are charged for these items as a part of the payment for accommodations.  Please bring your unused toiletries to the designated basket in the coat room.

Book Discussion Group Update

     Mount Olive’s Book Discussion Group meets on the second Saturday of each month, at 10:00 am in the West Assembly Area at church. All readers are welcome!

     For the June 13 meeting, the Book Discussion group will read The Last Chinese Chef, by Nicole Mones, and for July 11, Bleak House, by Charles Dickens.

CoAM Day Tour: St. Croix River and Stillwater

     All are invited to ride the stern-wheeler “Showboat” on the St. Croix and enjoy a buffet lunch before taking a trolley tour of Stillwater with Cooperative Adult Ministries.

     The tour will take place on Friday, July 17. A bus leaves from Bethel Lutheran (4120 17th Ave. S., Minneapolis) at 10:15 a.m. Cost for this event is $57/person.

     Interested in joining them? Call the CoAM office at 612-721-5786 and leave a message to reserve your space, or send an email to trustinc@visi.com.

Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival

     Again this year, Mount Olive will be one of the area churches who will staff an information booth at the Twin Cites Gay Pride Festival, June 27-28, 2015.

     Would you be interested in staffing a one or two hour shift at the booth?  If you can help, call Andrew Andersen at 763-607-1689 or the church office at 612-827-5919.  Times are open:  Saturday 10 – 6, and Sunday 12 – 6.  If you would be willing to share information about Mount Olive with folks who stop by the booth, please call.

Accent on Worship

   My birth story is my favorite story to tell. You may have heard it already, but it’s got a surprise part that I love. It’s the part where, despite ultra sounds and medical knowledge, my parents did not know that they were having two babies instead of just one. Surprise!  After my twin sister Amy squirmed her way out into the light of the world, no one was anticipating that there was another baby waiting in the wings, umbilical cord wrapped around my neck, pressing for light and air. Alas, with many exclamations of disbelief greeting me, I made my grand entrance. I’d like to consider it a blessing, although I imagine for my parents it was more of a shock.

     My twin sister and I share a type of bond that only other twins can know. It’s one of separation and sameness alike. It’s another person who is so similar to you in experience, there from the literal beginning, and sharing in the lifeblood that makes a human a human. We have the same face, the same mannerisms, and dispute certain memories we both share.  
   
     This experience as a twin gives me even the smallest sense of what it means to be one, but three. To be whole, separate, complete, but to be a part, a moving piece with no boundaries or borders between the others. This Sunday we acknowledge the triune God, that there is community within God – not outside, but reflecting from within. One of the most grounding phrases for me right now is “in you we live and move and have our being.” It eliminates any separation between us and the God the flows within, before, beyond, and forever around us. This is an encouragement to me on the days when I feel like I’ve let things fall away, or I’m holding back out of worldly fears, or just laziness- the matter that I the triune God in all the ways that the Spirit moves in the world, despite my efforts or lack thereof.

     Far from understanding all of the intricacies of the triune God, I will lean in to my understanding of being a twin – of sharing in the special relationship that we have as a guide to how we all, as sisters and brothers under one God the Father live, move, and have our being together in this world.

– Anna Kingman  

Sunday Readings

May 31, 2015: The Holy Trinity
 Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 29
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17
______________

June 7, 2015: 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, 10 B
Genesis 3:8-15
Psalm 130
2 Corinthians 4:13—5:1
Mark 3:20-35

Sunday’s Adult Forum: May 31, 11 a.m.

     Lora Dundek and Larry Duncan will share high- lights from the recent Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly.

Book Discussion Group Update

     Mount Olive’s Book Discussion Group meets on the second Saturday of each month, at 10:00 am in the West Assembly Area at church. All readers are welcome!

     For the June 13 meeting, the Book Discussion group will read The Last Chinese Chef, by Nicole Mones, and for July 11, Bleak House, by Charles Dickens.

Calling All Graduates!

     On Sunday, June 14, we will honor our graduates at a reception following the 9:30 a.m. liturgy.
     If you are graduating from high school, college, seminary, or another post-secondary school, or if you know of some-one else from Mount Olive who is graduating this spring, please take a moment to notify the church office. We want to be sure that all of our graduates are invited!

Personal-sized Toiletries Needed!

     During your summer travels, save the personal-sized toiletries provided by hotels. We are collecting them for distribution to the homeless who stay at Our Saviour’s Shelter. Place them in the designated basket in the coat room.

That Campaign? We’re Still Giving

     The “asking” phase of last year’s campaign to restore funds borrowed from Mount Olive’s restricted funds and to create a reserve fund to see us through future general-fund shortfalls ended some months ago, but we continue to receive gifts—and they’re welcome and needed.

     Paid gifts now stand at $107,578, and outstanding pledges total $10,600. (It should be noted that close to half the dollars received to date come from households that did not turn in pledge cards!)
     What should your priority be if you have outstanding pledges to the campaign and to this year’s general fund and find it difficult to give to both just now? Give to the general fund, from which we pay the congregations ongoing expenses.

     To check the status of your campaign pledge or to adjust it, phone or email Cha at the church office.
     If you’ve forgotten the exact purpose of the campaign, here’s a quick recap. We’ve repaid what the congregation borrowed from its restricted funds in lean times several years ago, and now have formally made those funds unavailable for future borrowing. We’ve established a reserve fund, now about $26,000, from which we could borrow before needing to turn to more costly short-term loans at the bank. The reserve fund will be minimal—but still important—even if all pledges are fulfilled.

– Donn McLellan, Director of Stewardship

YOUR Neighborhood Garage Sale:  June 20,  9am to 3pm

     This is a great opportunity for you to step into the journey of BEING THE PRESENCE OF GOD in this neighborhood.  Please join in this activity and connect hearts, break barriers and spend some fun time in your church neighborhood.

     Actions you can take to participate:
• Be a vendor!

Find some items you no longer need and reserve a parking space size spot in our church parking lot to sell your goods and have fun with neighbors. We will call you a vendor for the day. Our youth will be selling food and drink to raise funds for their mission.  Bring your own table.

• Be a volunteer!
Take a shift from 8:00am – Noon or Noon – 4:00pm to assist with set up and hosting for the day.  We will welcome the vendors, put up signs to encourage neighbors to stop by and shop and just be available and visible.  We open our sanctuary doors to welcome any who want to take a peek inside these walls and see who is here and what is going on.  We will also offer restrooms to the vendors.

• Be a promoter and spread the word!
Take an assignment to walk the neighborhood and deliver flyers door to doors and/or post flyers in businesses so people know what Mount Olive is doing on June 20.

     Questions? Contact any Open Space team member to join in or for further information:  Tim Pipkorn, George Ferguson, Connie Marty, Julie Manuel, Carol Austermann, Paul Nixdorf, Patsy Holtmeier, and Anna Kingman.

          Thanks be to God for our life together!

Help Earthquake Victims

     From your Global Missions Committee–Our ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response is working with the Lutheran World Federation and Lutheran World Relief on large scale disaster response in Nepal. If you would like to contribute to this effort, please mark either a blue envelope contribution or a donation check ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response and our collected contributions will be forwarded to this important work.

Communion Ministers Needed!

     Every week, parishioners bring the Eucharist to Mount Olive members who are unable to join us for liturgy. Additional communion ministers are needed, especially for the summer months. If you are willing and able to bring communion to Mount Olive members in their homes, please contact Tom Graves and Ginny Agresti.

The Ninth Annual BACH TAGE

     Bach Tage is Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and June 7. Two public concerts are a featured part of Bach Tage – invite your friends!:

• Saturday, June 6, 4:00 pm: Music of Johann Sebastian Bach presented by the Bach Tage soloists and orchestra

     Cantata BWV 196, Der Herr denket an uns,  by the Bach Tage soloists and orchestra; Concerto for Oboe and Violin, BWV 1060R, with soloists Marc Levine and Stanley King; and Prelude and Fugue in c minor for organ, by Cantor David Cherwien.

• Sunday, June 7, 4:00 pm: Service of Evening Prayer with Cantata BWV 150, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, and Buxtehude’s Befiehl dem Engel dass er komm will be performed by the participants in the weekend conference, with soloists and orchestra. Kathy Romey of the University of Minnesota is our guest conductor for the weekend, with Cantor David Cherwien, organist.

Great music at both programs. Tell others, and don’t miss!!

May 31 Adult Forum

     On May 31, there will be an opportunity to hear what the Minneapolis Area Synod did during the Synod Assembly a couple of weeks ago.  The Assembly theme was “The Word Was Made Flesh and Moved into the Neighborhood.”

     The Mount Olive representatives to the Assembly were Lora Dundek and Larry Duncan, and they will present a few observations on the gathering.  Meet in the Chapel Lounge following the liturgy, and after you get your coffee, of course!

The Bargain Box

     Saturday, August 1 will be a busy day at Mount Olive! We will be helping to get neighborhood children ready for school year with Bargain Box fitting children with new school clothes and distributing school supplies during the Community Meal.

     We are looking for donations of cash, new and gently used children’s clothes (no adult clothes, please), school supplies, and backpacks.

     If you have time to help with the meal, or assist with clothing or school supplies, please plan to come to the August Community Meals!
     
– Neighborhood Ministries Committee

Olive Branch Summer Publication

     During the summer months of June, July, and August, The Olive Branch is published every other week. June issues will be published on June 4 and June 17. If you have information to be published in these newsletters, please have that information to the church office by Monday, June 1, and Monday, June 15, respectively.

News From the Neighborhood
Anna Kingman                

 Coming Soon!   Summer A.C.T.S.  (Adults, Children Teaming to Serve)

     This is going to be fun! Neighborhood Ministries Summer Program this year is an opportunity for adults and youth from the congregation and community to work together on “jobs” with meaning and purpose while building relationships and learning from each other.  The program will run four half-days a week for four weeks from June 22 through July 16 (10:00 AM to 2:00 PM including a light lunch). Youth ages 9 to 14 can work for four weeks, two half-days a week on either Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays, and earn $30/week.  Adults can volunteer to work on a team with youth for any length of time – whatever fits into your schedule. Each week we will focus on a different community project and skill building. The program will culminate on July 17 with a celebration! Job sites include: food packing at CES, Artwork at Courageous heARTS, cooking/baking skills at Mount Olive, Urban gardening, etc!

     Do you have a child, grandchild or friend who would like to work this summer, earn a little cash, and learn about service at the same time?  Would you like to take two half days off work and be a part of the action?  Are you available this summer and looking for a way to serve as a mentor, helper, or kitchen worker extraordinaire? WE NEED YOU!

     For applications for participants, sheets are located outside the main office or from Anna
If you are interested in any way, please contact Anna Kingman Coordinator of Neighborhood Outreach and Ministry at 612-827-5919, neighborhood@mountolivechurch.org, or just talk to her on Sunday.

Upcoming Grant-Writing Workshop Opportunity!

     Mount Olive is hosting a 2-day grant writing workshop held by Grant Central USA on July 16 – 17, from 9am-4pm. For hosting, we are given two free spots at this event. Are you interested in attending this free workshop? Whether professional, personal, non-profit, or fun, please let Anna know ASAP if you’d like to attend. For more information, visit: http://www.grantwritingclasses.org/gallery.html or contact Anna at church or neighborhood@mountolivechurch.org.

Spanish phrase:

     Part of sharing in community is understanding one another through language, culture, or experience. As we explore our community and get to know our neighbors, let’s continue with some helpful language lessons.
English: “We are a part of Mount Olive Church”
Spanish: ”Somos parte de la Iglesia Mount Olive” (Sow-mohs par-tay day lah Eeg-lay-see-ah Mount Olive)
Review: ‘Where is your family from?”’ Spanish:”De donde es su familia?” (Day-dohn-day es sue fah-meel-ee-ah)
     Go out and be fearlessly friendly folks!

Needed! 

     Neighborhood Ministries is currently in need of two things:
• Paper grocery bags with handles (these may be left in the donation area of the coat room)
• 10×10 pop-up canopies to borrow for the Neighbor-hood Garage Sale on June 20 in our parking lot.

Keep Heroin out of Hennepin County!
     Learn, share, and support the Keep Heroin Out of Hennepin County Town Hall. This meeting will take place on Thursday, May 28 (tomorrow!), from 7:00- 8:30 pm at the Church of Gitchitwaa Kateri (3045 Park Ave.) right down the street. Heroin, Opiates, and Meth are a problem everywhere, so let’s support the efforts to stamp them out.

Accent on Worship

About those hymns…

     I’ve noticed in my travels that very few of our colleague congregations practice what we do with hymnody:  alternation.  (Alternation means that various sub-groups sing stanzas, like “men,” “women,” “choir,”  “organ,” etc).  In case you’ve wondered why we do that, the bottom line is that this practice helps bring and maintain vitality to our hymnody. How?    

     First, it provides variety. When we have men and women alter-nate, it’s really two different octaves, musically.  I’ve experienced other attempts to accomplish the same without using gender language, but it always led to confusion.  With the example of “high voices” and “low Voices,” tenors and altos would say, “which am I?”  I’ve found it most clear to simply say “men” and “women.”   I’ve also noticed that when we return to an “all” stanza after taking turns, the singing is always increased – as if having the unity of the entire room adds to the freedom to sing out more!  We also achieve variety through alternating unison and harmony, and often in canon.  These, too, are tools for variety which contributes to vitality in our song.  We had a rule in Germany when I studied there, and we prepared 12-14 stanza hymns:  Never the same thing twice.

     When a choir sings a stanza, it provides the opportunity for a more involved setting, since they have the great advantage of a rehearsal prior.  Or, in the case of our young choir singers, they spend time memorizing that particular stanza.

     The organ occasionally “sings” a stanza as well – which provides the opportunity for the music painting a picture of what the text is saying, thus bringing out the meaning of the words even more profoundly.

     The practice of alternating stanzas also provides rest.  Orchestra players know this: a trumpet cannot play through an entire symphony without rest, nor can wind instruments.  The rests are important rejuvenation time.  This is also true for us. When it’s our turn to “not” sing, it never implies that we cease participating – we can notice the words more, we can participate through listening.  It’s also a time when we can appreciate our singing partners through listening.

     For me it’s very practical.  When alternation is used, the singing is almost always stronger in general.  When we all sing every stanza, it’s more taxing and harder to maintain vitality and, for me, less effective.  Because alternating is our constant practice, we’ve grown accustomed to it and it’s not tricky. Indeed – even when directions are omitted for a hymn, you all decide on your own alternations – which I love!

     Now you know!

– Cantor David Cherwien

Sunday Readings

May 10, 2015: Sixth Sunday of Easter
Acts 10:44-48
Psalm 98
I John 5:1-6
John 15:9-17

May 17, 2015: Seventh Sunday of Easter
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Psalm 1
I John 5:9-13
John 17:6-19

Sunday’s Adult Forum: May 10, 9:30 am

There will be no adult Forum this Sunday. Instead, all are invited to attend the annual Mother’s Day recital, presented by the youth of Mount Olive.

Transitions Support Group

     All are welcome to visit the Transitions Support Group meetings if you’ve been hoping to find new ideas or encouragement to meet the challenges or uncertainties that are before you. This is an opportunity to share in fellowship, prayer, and discussion with others in the Mount Olive community.
     The next session meets this evening Wednesday, May 6, from 6- 7 pm, at Mount Olive in the lower level Youth Room, and will be facilitated by Amy Cotter and Cathy Bosworth.  If you have questions, please contact Cathy at 612-708-1144 or marcat8447@yahoo.com.

Congrats to our Amazing gRace Racers

     Anna Dundek and Eric Bell raced hard on Saturday, riding bikes from north to south Minneapolis and through St. Paul, and completing tasks from planting a garden to matching housing applicants with just the right house, all the while learning about the peace and justice work of Lutheran Volunteer Corps volunteers. . Together with your Global Mission Committee, Anna and Eric raised over $1,400 in support of the work carried out by LVC volunteers throughout the Twin Cities. Many thanks to Anna and Eric, and to all who supported their efforts. It was a fun day; we learned much and met many others who are being God’s presence in our world.

Book Discussion Group Update

     Mount Olive’s Book Discussion Group meets on the second Saturday of each month, at 10:00 am in the West Assembly Area at church. All readers are welcome!
     For the May 9 meeting, the Book Discussion group will read, The Boat of Longing, by O. E. Rølvaag. For June 13, The Last Chinese Chef, by Nicole Mones, and for July 11, Bleak House, by Charles Dickens.

Calling All Graduates!

     On Sunday, June 14, we will honor our graduates at a reception following the 9:30 a.m. liturgy.

     If you are graduating from high school, college, seminary, or another post-secondary school, or if you know of some-one else from Mount Olive who is graduating this spring, please take a moment to notify the church office. We want to be sure that all of our graduates are invited!

The Ascension of Our Lord
Thursday, May 14
Holy Eucharist at 7:00 pm

Manz Endowment Fund Established

     In recognition of the long-time excellence of the musical and liturgical experience at Mount Olive, anonymous donors recent-ly completed their initial funding of the “Ruth and Paul Manz Endowed Fund for Music and Liturgy at Mount Olive Lutheran Church.”  Meeting the initial $25,000 threshold, the Manz Fund will be managed by the ELCA Foundation as a separate fund within Mount Olive Lutheran Church Foundation’s overall endowment.

     Income from the Fund may be used for out-of-the-ordinary course expenses for the Schlicker organ and its successors as well as fees and expenses which benefit and promote Mount Olive’s music program.  The donors’ overall intent is to help sustain the high standards of the worship experience which they find so meaningful.

     The donors intend to supplement the Manz Fund in the future but welcome anyone who shares their passion to join them by benefiting this endowment through a one-time gift, multi-year pledge, or an estate provision.

New Members to be Received on May 17

     New members will be received on May 17, 2015, at the second liturgy.  A welcome brunch will follow the liturgy in the Undercroft.

     Please contact Andrew Andersen at 763-607-1689, or call the church office at 612-837-5910, if you are interested in becoming a member at Mount Olive. The brunch is open to all Mount Olive folk as well as families and friends. Plan to come to meet our newest members and welcome them!

Help Earthquake Victims

     From your Global Missions Committee: ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response is working with Lutheran World Federation and Lutheran World Relief on large scale disaster response in Nepal. If you would like to contribute to this effort, please mark either a blue envelope contribution or a donation check ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response and our collected contributions will be forwarded to this important work.

Spiritual Gifts Workshop

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”   ~ 1 Peter 4: 10-11
Have you been asking yourself these questions?

• What gifts has God given me?
• I can’t do the same things I did before.
• Where is God calling me now?
• How can I be the presence of God for my family? My co-workers? My neighbors?

Explore these questions and more in the upcoming Unwrapping Your Spiritual Gifts Workshop to be held Saturday, May 23, 9 a.m.–noon at Mount Olive Lutheran Church.

Workshop Leaders:
Connie Marty and Vicar Meagan McLaughlin

Before the workshop, take an online gifts inventory:
RSVP Required: Vicar McLaughlin at 612.827.5919 or vicar@mountolivechurch.org

News From the Neighborhood                          
Anna Kingman                  

Profiles: Meseret which means ‘Foundation of Jesus’ in Amharic

     Meseret was told by a friend “Go to Mount Olive and they will help you.” So she came with her lovely daughter and her father and a heavy heart. Without many personal details and a love of bravery, she simply said, “things are very complicated for us.” Her father, an elderly man who only speaks Amharic, had just moved to a new public housing apartment and has nothing at all. Meseret needs to care for him, as well as her two other children all by herself and this is all very over-whelming for her. And yet she said to me, “I don’t want to complain. Everywhere I look there is hope.” Even the way Cantor Cherwien opened the door to her told her that she was in the right place. But this family needs our help and I assured her that we will do just that! Can you and will you help with any of these items to help make this empty apartment a home? Here’s what she is requesting:

–  PRAYERS!  “Prayer is my road, my sunshine” (Meseret asked mostly for prayers for strength)
–  A bed and bedding (sheets, a blanket)           – A small table and chairs
–  Bathroom rug & shower curtain, supplies     – Small kitchen items (kettle, mugs, towels)
–  Lamp, small fan, bedside table                        – Toiletries, paper products
–  Her father has already received towels, silverware and a microwave – thanks to who brought those!

     If you can help with any of these items, please call Cha at the church office so that we don’t double up on items, and then bring the items (smaller items) to church, so that Meseret can pick them up. We must arrange for delivery of larger items.

Just so you know…

A few MO folks and I walked over to All God’s Children Metro Community Church, just west of Mount Olive on 31st  St. This was prompted by the Open Space project to connect with our neighbor churches, and just good old fashioned neighborliness. We met with Donna Olsen, who wears many hats at AGC, and learned about what programs they run there and things they care about, as we shared ours as well. It’s a good reminder of the opportunities for collaboration and care that we easily overlook. So – Opportunities to BE involved: Go somewhere new this week! Pick a new coffee shop, art store, local food corner you haven’t been in yet, or head to a different park than usual and see what lies beyond the beaten path that has something of the marvelous waiting for you to discover!

Open Space First Event

     Outdoor Community Garage Sale & Local Art Sale: June 20, 9am – 2pm in our “Open Space” (the parking lot!) Neighbors, friends, and local artists can have a parking space plot, bring their own table, and set up their goods to sell to the public. We will go door to door to invite neighborhood residents to reserve a spot or come to the sale, and ask churches, coffee shops and businesses to help publicize the event. Mount Olive will publicize and host, opening our doors to offer a glimpse of who we are inside and out.

     We need members willing to post flyers around the neighborhood, assist with hospitality that day, and put up direction signs that morning.  Because we are hosting the community meal that noon hour, around 100 friends and neighbors will be dining with us already, and perhaps they will be customers at the sale. (In case of rain the event is canceled).
Can you help distribute flyers? Please contact Anna at neighborhood@mountolivechurch.org.

The Ninth Annual BACH TAGE: Time to Register!

     The conference this year will focus on two cantatas from Bach’s youth, plus a piece by Dietrich Buxtehude, whose music was an important influence on young Johann. Bach Tage is Saturday and Sunday, June 6 – 7.

Two public concerts are a featured part of Bach Tage – invite your friends!:

Saturday, June 6, 4:00 pm: Music of Johann Sebastian Bach performed by the Bach Tage soloists and orchestra

Cantata BWV 196, Der Herr denket an uns
Concerto for Oboe and Violin, BWV 1060R, with soloists Marc Levine and Stanley King
       Prelude and Fugue in c minor for organ, by Cantor David Cherwien.

Sunday, June 7, 4:00 pm: Service of Evening Prayer            

Cantata BWV 150, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, and Buxtehude’s Befiehl dem Engel dass er komm will be performed by the participants in the weekend conference, with soloists and orchestra. Kathy Romey of the University of Minnesota is our guest conductor for the weekend, with Cantor David Cherwien, organist.

     Musical scores will be mailed next weekend, so the time to register is now. Brochures were sent in the mail, and are still available at Mount Olive. Or, you can find a brochure at www.mountolivechurch.org.

     This is a great opportunity, not to be missed!

Mother’s Day Recital – This Sunday!

     All are invited to attend the annual Mother’s Day Recital by our church youth. The recital takes place this Sunday, May 10, during the Education Hour, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Encounters with Jesus: Bible Study on Thursday Evenings  

     The spring Bible study series on encounters with Jesus continues this Thursday, May 7, in the Chapel Lounge from 6:00-7:30pm. The fifth and final session next week on May 14, will conclude with Eucharist for the Feast of the Ascension. The study begins with a light supper at 6 pm. RSVPs to (vicar@mountolivechurch.org) not required, but appreciated for meal planning purposes.    

New Giving Update

     At our April 26 semi-annual meeting we reported that we ended the first quarter with general-fund giving about where it was in the first quarter of last year—not good news in a year we face increased expenses of some 7%.  

     However, our April giving total, which we got a couple days after the meeting, was about 21% over the same month in 2014 and brought our cumulative giving for the four months to 5% over the same period a year ago. The danger, of course, is that this 5% lead could evaporate over the eight Sundays remaining in our second quarter. Together, let’s make certain it doesn’t and keep working toward our 7% target—which is really about mission and ministry.

– Lora Dundek, Vestry President
– Donn McLellan, Director of Stewardship

Attention Mount Olive Worship Assistants!

    The Servant Schedule for the 3rd quarter of 2015  (July-September) will be published at the beginning of June, 2015.   The deadline for submitting requests to me is May 10, 2015.  Please email your requests to peggyrf70@gmail.com.