The Olive Branch, 6/3/15

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)
• 10x10 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.