Dear Friends of St. Paul’s,
A church is a building shared by a community of faithful people—a community that is often run with volunteer hours and devotion across a lifespan. While a few Episcopal churches in Minnesota have an expansive staff with multiple fulltime employees (and it is just a few), the majority of Episcopal churches here are run by volunteer lay leaders.
They lovingly tend to their sacred spaces because these are their meeting houses, the home and hearth of a long and multigenerational relationship with God. Our meeting spaces become holy containers for stories, spiritual experiences, and—as you might notice—a great deal of stuff. It can be hard to share the work of tending for a community home as we would our own family’s home, because we share the space with so many others. Sometimes it’s unclear who is responsible for what, what belongs to what ministry, or what certain things are used for. Sometimes it is hard to stop in the busy cycle of the year to notice that things look askew, that the papers have piled up in a certain way, or that those brochures have actually been in that same spot since 1993.
That’s why it can be so helpful to schedule a time when the community gathers together to spend some time giving our sacred home some TLC. This summer, Sophie Sephar and Bill Stapp have been working together to put together a parish “work week”, when we can spruce up our space for the fall. We invite all St. Paul’s parishioners to join us for some time in the afternoon next week for a series of gentle but important tasks to help tidy, spruce, and tend to our community’s home.
Some examples of tasks on our list are: tackling paper piles in the common areas, sprucing up the 3rd floor rooms, tidying the nursery, and more! We will be gathering from 2pm to 6pm daily from Sunday, July 14 to Saturday, July 20. You can use this sign up genius to let us know that you are coming: St.Paul’s Work Week 2024 (signupgenius.com) Don’t worry, if you sign up for a shift, that doesn’t mean we need you here right at 2pm. Put in the comments when your available times are, and we’ll work with that.
This coming Sunday, I’m pleased to share that my father, the Rev. Paul Nancarrow, will be joining us as our guest preacher at the 10 am service. My dad has long been interested in the theology of science and nature, completing a PhD in Process Theology when I was in elementary school. He’s worked trying to deepen theologies that help Christians integrate scientific understanding with theological knowledge, and was instrumental in our diocese’s environmental stewardship efforts in the 2000s. It’s always a great honor to preside with him, and to share in this work with him. I hope you’ll gather with us this Sunday!
Peace,
Maggie
Sunday Schedule, July 14
8 am – Rite 1 with Dwelling in the Word, Maggie Presides & Leads Discussion
10 am – Rite 2 with Sermon, Maggie presiding and Paul Nancarrow preaching
11 am – Coffee Hour
2 pm – 6 pm – Join us for the kick off to work week! Bring your overalls* and help us tidy the church!
(*Overalls not actually required!)