Redeemer Announcements & Prayers | July 31, 2020

image: Lonna Field, Pr. Babette Chatman, Jennifer Starr Dodd, Anna Kottkamp, and Amy Koopman gather after food & supplies distribution at Holy Trinity on Friday, 8/31

H-Cubed Returns TOMORROW! // After a year of being away on pastoral internship, graduating grad school,, traveling out of the country, while still organizing for Black Liberation and racial justice, H-Cubed is back to continually cultivate hope, healing, and harmony in our community! Join us in Redeemer’s Backyard for our next official gathering outdoors on Saturday, August 1st from 3-6 PM, featuring community healer, author, and speaker Dr. Joi Lewis. Stay connected on social media for more info!

Volunteers Needed for Holy Trinity Food Distribution // Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis has been providing goods and services to neighbors who, over the course of the Minneapolis Uprising, lost or experienced significantly reduced access to transportation services and affordable grocers. They plant to continue distribution every Wednesday and Friday through September 4th. They are asking for 5-10 volunteers weekly from Redeemer to help organize and distribute goods to neighbors. Their greatest need is for second-shift volunteers. Please sign up here.

Climate Justice Voter Training: Relational Organizing for Transformational Change - Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light // Join Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light to learn how you can be a Climate Justice Voter Champion. Virtual trainings will be held throughout the summer and fall, including on Thursday, August 6, 4-5:30 pm. Visit mnipl.org for more information or Register here. 

North Porch Project // Leila, one of the Center for Leadership and Neighborhood Engagement (CLNE) and RCFL’s summer interns, has developed the North Porch Project to depict North Minneapolis neighbors at their homes and share their stories and what sparks hope in this moment in history. Families are asked to pose on their porches (or at home) in a way that genuinely portrays their life. The purpose of North Porch is to give North Minneapolis a face and create a sense of familiarity to the non-suburban communities; to show how real people are living and connecting right now. If interested please contact Leila Rocha Fisher.

GALA BIG-TICKET DONATIONS NEEDED // The 2020 RCFL Gala: Rooted in Community is around the corner on September 12th, and the Gala Committee is looking for three big-ticket items to include on their auction for this year's virtual event. Do you have a North Shore cabin you'd be willing to open up and share? Do you know of a chef who'd be willing to donate an in-home cooking experience for four? Do you have a personal talent or skill you'd be willing to donate or host for a small group in 2021? Please connect with Mali to share your ideas with the Gala Committee.

The Bright Stars of Bethlehem-Minnesota team wants to stay connected to Redeemer Lutheran congregation. They will look forward to engaging Redeemer congregation in the HOPE that Bright Stars of Bethlehem brings to our sisters and brothers in the occupied Palestinian territories through awareness and education, advocacy, and financial support. Please contact Amy if you’d like to be part of the Redeemer partnership.

REDEEMER COMMUNITY GARDEN EVENTS  // Summertime is busy in Redeemer garden! Along with our weekly garden work days every Sunday afternoon from 1-4pm, we’d love for you to join us at these social-distanced events! For more information, contact our garden coordinator Greta.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED // In light of the May 25th murder of George Floyd, Siri Fiebiger (Redeemer Church Council President) and Mali Jensen (RCFL Director of Volunteers & Partnerships) are working together for Redeemer to help meet community needs! If interested in becoming part of Redeemer’s team of volunteers who receive ongoing calls to action (e.g. Holy Trinity, church cleaning, donation supply management, voter registration, etc), please contact Siri or Mali.

ZOOM FELLOWSHIP at 9:30am Sundays // Join us Sunday mornings at 9:30am for fellowship and prayer. Follow this link to join or open the Zoom app and enter the following: Meeting ID: 820 1983 1981 | Password: 814644. You may also call in by phone to (312) 626-6799.

MENTAL HEALTH CONNECT (MHC) // Mental Health Connect is a local non-profit based out of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis offering free, non-biased support for anyone seeking mental health resources. Visit their website to learn more, or contact Mali, Redeemer's MHC ambassador.

HELP US MAKE MASKS! // As this pandemic continues amidst reopening, summer life, and the current Uprising for Justice, the need for cloth masks is growing! If you or someone you know is able and willing to help sew masks for ongoing distribution, please contact Redeemer's minister of service and advocacy, Holly De Souza.

HEALTH COMMONS at the LIVING ROOM continues to provide services to the Harrison and North Minneapolis community, including an outdoor book club meeting on the the first Tuesdays of the month from 3pm-5pm in Redeemer’s backyard August through October (8/4, 9/1, 10/6). You can stay updated on their schedule of services and events, including virtual nurse consultations and Zumba classes, via their facebook page! 

REDEEMER FINANCIAL UPDATES: Please contact the church office if you would like a copy of the monthly' treasurer's report!

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    Readings: Isaiah 55:1-5 | Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21 | Romans 9:1-5 | Matthew 14:13-21

Intercessor: Confident of your care and helped by the Holy Spirit, we pray for the church, the world, and all who are in need-  a brief silence.

You take resources that appear to be meager, bless them, and there is enough for your church to trust that what you bless and ask us to share with the world is abundantly sufficient. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Protect abundant life on land and in water by reversing the damage we have caused your creation in fields, parks, lakes, and the Mississippi River. Replenish land by providing needed rain in ground water supplies, in places of drought, and forests under wildfires. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

You offer yourself to all the nations and peoples of the earth, inviting everyone to express shalom in Brazil, Bolivia, Ethiopia, and these United States especially in Minneapolis, Portland, and Seattle. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Hear the anguish of tender hearts who cry to you in suffering and satisfy their deepest needs in body, heart, soul, and mind especially any living with the COVID-19 condition and quarantine, and with whom we name before Mary Lou, Jane . . . Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

You offer freely the fullness of salvation so our congregation by its welcoming heart in words and actions may extend your free and abundant hospitality to our expectant pastor and all whom we encounter. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Pastor: In the certain hope that nothing can separate us from your love, we offer these prayers to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.