Hygeine Kits for Nigera

Today, Zion sent off 300+ Hygiene Kits, assembled by VBS kids, to the Demsa Hospital in Nigeria via Global Health Ministries!

Cross-posted here

Bold Women Quilt Auction at Redeemer

The Block Club at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Zion’s mission partner congregation, is holding their 2nd Annual Bold Women Quilt Auction (at Redeemer, 1800 Glenwood Avenue Minneapolis) on July 25, 2009 at 10am.

A brunch will be served the morning of the auction, everyone attending is asked to bring school supplies. There will be a live auction of handmade quilts, silent auction baskets and handmade items for sale. Proceeds from the auction will be going to a Women’s sewing project in Mexico, a school in Togo and to Redeemer Lutheran’s Capital Campaign.

The Block Club at Redeemer is an outreach ministry to women, teens and kids in the Harrison neighborhood. The age range of the quilters is 8 to 93. This outreach ministry was formed 4 years ago and has been a blessing to many.

Job Transition S.O.S.

Job Transition WorkshopStrategies, Opportunities & Support

The volatile economy and increasing number of job losses are tough on all of us, both financially and emotionally. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans recognizes that these issues are heavy on the minds of our members and our community, which is why they are offering this FREE seminar:

Tuesday, July 14
6:30-8:30pm
at Zion Lutheran Church

Alleviate your distress by learning simple, actionable strategies from industry expert Catherine Breet-Byers (www.changeyourstripes.net) on how to:

  • Differentiate yourself in a tight job market.
  • Network for success and interview to win.
  • Overcome the obstacles and knock your financial fears out of the way.

You’ll also find opportunities to take these strategies and customize them for your individual job hunt. You will leave knowing that you have support from your faith community and your Thrivent Community.

There is no cost to attend, and no products will be sold at this event.

Please register here.

LSS Adoption Resources

Join Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota for these upcoming dates:

Learn about the exciting opportunities and recent changes in adoption.  Discover the tools and support for families who would like a flexible, proactive adoption process, and learn how LSS can partner with you to grow your family.  LSS can help families adopt children locally, and from countries around the world.  6–8pm on Tuesday, July 21, at the Center for Changing Lives, Room 182.

2-day Special Needs Adoption Training Workshop. “Special needs” describes children who have experienced abuse or neglect and now live in foster homes. This workshop is the first step in preparing families to adopt and parent those special children. Topics such as Attachment, Grief & Loss, Impact of Abuse, and Cross Cultural adoption are covered. You will hear from adoptive parents and children who have recently been adopted. LSS offers a tremendous amount of support for children and parents following this type of adoption. 9am–6pm on Thursday, July 16 and 9am to 3:3pm on Friday, July 17 at The Center for Changing Lives, Centrum B.

The Center for Changing Lives is located at 2400 Park Avenue in Minneapolis. For more information, or to register for either of these meetings, visit www.minnesotaadoption.org or call Lynne Haggar at (612) 879-5230 or 1-888-205-3769.

Harvest of Hands Crafts

P1100904

These are a few of the projects that the Harvest of Hands group is working on this summer. They are also looking at making stained-glass business card holders.

Companion Team Meeting

If you would be interested in being a part of the Schelleng Companion Team, please contact the office through the website or Pastor Judy, or come to the first meeting at 6:30pm on July 9.

The Tenth Person

By Pastor Kelly Chatman of Redeemer Lutheran Church

This month as we celebrate the 100th anniversary at Redeemer, we give thanks that for one hundred years Redeemer has been blessed to lead people to faith. A congregation is a faith community where people witness to the story of God’s love and inspire others to have lives of faith.

On July 23, 2002, nine miners in Western Pennsylvania became trapped in a flooded mine. The injured and desperate miners tied themselves together so that the stronger ones could sustain the weaker ones as they waited to be rescued. Journalists from across the nation reported the rescue effort, which took five long days. No one could believe it when all nine miners emerged safely from the mine.

On July 30, the people of the small mining community gathered for a worship service to thank God for saving the miners’ lives. At the ceremony, there were ten miners’ lamps set up on the altar, even though there were only nine miners. At that worship celebration, the tenth lamp was to represent the presence of God, which the miners claimed they could feel as they waited to be rescued. It was this “10th Person” they honored as they read Psalm 103: “Praise the Lord . . Who redeems your life from the pit.”

This month we celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Redeemer Congregation in thanksgiving that God has been present in our midst as that “tenth person,” for without God this surely would not have been possible. Read the rest of this entry »

HOH July Crafts

There are only 4 months left to finish lots of projects for the annual Harvest of Hands bazaar. Volunteers are needed to make this event successful; there are many projects to be completed and coordinator positions need to be filled by September.

July Crafts at Zion

Harvest of Hands volunteers meet on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening of each month. June’s stained glass class was a wonderful time and the butterflies that were made are beautiful. There are more great projects to come in July that you can help with:

  • July 7, 9-11am: Stained Glass & beaded projects
  • July 8, 7-9pm: Jewelry & beaded projects
  • July 21, 9-11am: Ornaments & Bookmarks
  • July 22, 7-9pm: Tree Skirts & Jewelry

Those unable to attend these times but want to help with the projects can call Joy to get the supplies to work at home.

Clean Out Your Junk Drawer: Donations of old custom jewelry, old silver hollow handled silverware, and old dishes are needed for upcoming projects (please bring them to the Wilderness Room).

Coordinators: Volunteers are still needed to coordinate White Elephant, Silent Auction, Baked Goods, Egg Rolls, and Omelets & Crepes. These positions need to be filled so the committee can start putting ideas together.

Harvest of Hands has had so much success over the years. . . Please say you will help make it a success again this year!

Love INC-Heartland

The Love INC Heartland local office is located in Delano. Over 20 area churches are part of this ministry. Some Buffalo churches are currently working to bring Love INC to the Buffalo area as well.

Zion’s Social Ministry Committee will be highlighting Love INC with an educational program in July and a service project in August:

Learn more about Love INC from Pastor Terry Harris, Executive Director of the Delano program, by attending a brief program in Fellowship Hall after the first service on Sunday, July 26.

During Lent of the past 2 years, Zion’s mission project for Love INC has been to supply diapers. This August, Zion will collect  school supplies to be distributed through Love INC to those with predetermined legitimate needs. Please look at the list below and consider bringing any number of items to Zion during the month of August and placing them in the cart in the narthex.

Requested school supply items are: Read the rest of this entry »

Helping the Homeless

linnea logasLinnea Logas, Zion member (confirmation class of 2002) and a student at St. Olaf College, recently received a grant from a local church in Northfield for a project to assist homeless people in Ramsey county obtain bus passes and information regarding local shelters and soup kitchens.

She has put together bags of essential supplies to keep in your car or a convenient place, that you can give to someone who is homeless, instead of money.  Each bag contains essential hygienic tools a person needs to present well and start becoming self-sustaining. A donation of $5 or more is requested for each bag, which will be used to buy bus passes to be distributed at a local convention held each year for homeless people in St. Paul.  Additional donations to this project are welcome.

Bags and a donation box can be found in the Narthex during the month of July.

Linnea’s interest in working with homeless individuals and families comes from her own immersion experience in Berkley, California. She shares: “I spent all day walking and couldn’t find (a safe shelter) since I still had to meet deadlines in order to get to a soup kitchen on time.”

Through this experience I know how difficult it is to get food and find a shelter in the same day due to long lines and limited resources.“

Linnea hopes to speak at Zion about this project after the convention, and also to set up libraries of used books in local shelters around the cities to help combat boredom and the risk factors associated with it, such as drug use and violence.

Love INC Starting in Buffalo

Over the past year some of the area churches have been meeting in an effort to start a Love INC (Love In The Name of Christ) branch in Buffalo to help those in need in our community. Love INC-Big Woods, serving Buffalo, Maple Lake and Hanover is now an affiliate member of Love INC with the minimum six different denominations. The Development Committee consists of Buffalo Covenant, St. Francis Xavier, Spirit of Joy, Buffalo Presbyterian, Buffalo Evangelical Free ad Bethlehem United Church of Christ.

Please pray for the development of the Love INC in Buffalo, Maple Lake and Hanover. For more information you can contact Cindy Nelson (612)201-0888. Anyone interested is invited to their next meeting on June 30 at the St Francis Xavier Library.  Representatives from Zion will be attending this meeting but we are not an official affiliate church at this time.   Zion also continues to work closely with Love INC-Heartland which serves the Delano and Montrose area.

Meals on Wheels

Drivers are still needed for Saturday and Sunday, contact Sherilyn ASAP if you can help :)

Thrivent Financial Family Day at the Zoo

Thrivent Financial members should have recently received a postcard with information about Family Day at the MN Zoo (4:00–8:30 p.m., Sunday, July 12).  Bring the postcard invitation with you to receive $5 per person discount admission.

Visit the returning AFRICA! exhibit and the brand-new Woodland Adventure play area. Enjoy free beverages at the Thrivent Financial Tent (until 6:30 p.m.), monorail rides, musical entertainment, and a bird show. Also, $12 (reg. $15) IMAX movie Transformers 2 tickets available – by calling Zoo Hotline.

A portion of ticket proceeds from this event will benefit Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity.

For more information call Zoo Hotline: 763-746-3280 or visit www.thrivent.com/memberperks

Harvest of Hands Project Change

The project for the Wednesday evening session (June 10)  is changed. We will work on bookmarks and beaded projects. The scheduled project was Tree Skirts. We will work on that at the next evening session (June 24).

Stained Glass Butterfly Class

If you are interested on joining the Harvest of Hands group on Tuesday, June 9 to learn how to make these stained glass butterflies, please sign up here so we know how many to plan for.

Redeemer Celebrating 100 Years

Next Sunday, June 7, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Zion’s mission partner congregation in North Minneapolis, will begin their Centenniel year of celebration.  They will be remembering their history and imagining their future as a Beacon of Hope in Harrison Neighborhood and North Minneapolis. Worship is at 10:30, preceeded by a time of prayer and praise and special music, and followed by a reception displaying memorabilia of the past as well as architectural ideas for Redeemer’s future.

Who Is Terri Harris?

The Delano Herald Journal recently printed an article about Terri Harris, Executive Director of Love INC Heartland, and the miracle that led her to Love INC.

Love INC is one of the local partners that will be highlighted by the Social Ministry committee in coming months.

Coordinators, Supplies, and Craft Projects

Stained Glass Butterfly that will be taught on June 9

The annual Harvest of Hands bazaar is just 5 months away. Volunteers have been very busy and having fun at Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening sessions. They have created an assortment of crafts for our sale and have many projects to complete in the coming months.

Coordinators are needed early this year to be ahead of the game, positions include: White Elephant Silent Auction Bake Shop Demonstrators Cleanup Flyers Publicity Price tags, nametags, labels, & tickets.Please consider serving as a coordinator this year. If you have never been a coordinator and want to try, please call Joy Arens at 763.658.6124 for details.

Supplies are needed for some of the planned craft projects. If you have any of these items, please drop off in the Wilderness Room: Old jewelry to make brooches and chains, old silverware to make jewelry pieces, or old dishes to make mosaic art pieces.

Work on Crafts at Home: If  you like to work with beads making jewelry, bookmarks, and/or ornaments, or like to embroider, consider making jewelry or towels for this year’s sale. Please contact Joy for supplies if needed.

June Crafts at Zion are

  • Stain Glass Butterflies on June 9th, 9-11am (with a special guest teaching the project)
  • Tree Skirts & Jewelry on June 10th, 7-9pm
  • Stain Glass Art on June 23rd, 9-11am
  • Tree Skirts & Jewelry on June 24th, 7-9pm

Sheets Needed for Mission Quilts

During the months of January to April, the Monday morning quilters made and delivered 35 quilts to missions in Liberia and Kenya.

Currently they are in need of twin sized, flat sheets for the backs of the quilts. If you can provide some for them,you may bring to the Wilderness Room behind the kitchen.

Shelleng Companion Team

Would you enjoy learning more about Zion‟s Partnership with Shelleng congregation of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria?

The stars on this map indicate other existing partnerships between LCCN and MAS congregations

The stars on this map indicate other existing partnerships between LCCN and MAS congregations

Zion is looking for members who would be a part of a Shelleng Companion Team. This team would be responsible for communication to and from Shelleng, raising awareness about the Shelleng congregation and it‟s ministries, working on building joint projects with Shelleng (such as, but not limited to: children to children, women to women, outreach projects),and, especially lifting up this partnership in prayer on a weekly basis.

If this is something you would be interesting in being a part of, please contact the office or Pastor Judy.

More about Zion’s new partnership with the Shelleng congregation.