Disciples celebrate Week of Ministry Our Disciples denomination has designated October 11-17 as The Week of The Ministry. FCC is proud to recognize and celebrate our two pastors, Laurie Pound Feille and Dan Adolphson, as well as the 14 other members of our congregation who are pastors. Many of our congregational pastors are chaplains working in hospitals or prisons, some are retired, and “all of them lift us up so that we, as part of the priesthood of all believers, can lift up others.” Help us remember that their calling and ours, and their thriving and ours, are wrapped up together. We give thanks to you, God, for the chance to minister together to one another. (from a Litany by Rev, Sandhya Jha, Pastor and Author.)

FCC ACTION group has first meeting of year-long project Twenty-five FCC members met via Zoom on October 11 for the first meeting of the ACTION (A Commitment To Inclusion in Our Neighborhoods) project, led by Rev. Jia Starr Brown of First Covenant Church. All of the elders, the board chair and vice-chair, and representatives from trustees, deacons and finance were represented in this initial meeting. In November, the FCC group will join groups from seven other area churches in monthly meetings over the next year and in various learning and action opportunities such as hearing from local leaders or making virtual visits to such places as the Lynching Museum in Alabama. Rev. Starr Brown gave the group background on how the Action Project came about, and on the Intercultural Development Inventory, a 50-question survey that the group will take at the beginning and again at the end of this year-long project.

The COURIER October 14, 2020

What’s INSIDE:

A Message From Pastor Dan Adolphson,

page 2

SpringHouseBoard Notes, page 3

Women’s Fellowship,

October Shower, page 3

UPCOMING

Events:

FCC Board, Tuesday, October 20

7 pm via Zoom

Elders meeting, Wednesday, October

21, 7 pm

Action Project meeting, Monday,

October 26, 5-7 pm

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Minneapolis

Sabbatical 2021 Coming Up! With all of the adventures that we’ve been on in the year 2020, it’s hard some days to think beyond the next hour, let alone the next day, week, month, etc. Yet, there’s been something in the works since last fall, long before COVID changed our world; I will be taking a sabbatical in 2021. I am so grateful and appreciative to the congregation for this opportunity for recharge and refreshment, especially with how ministry has changed since March! The sabbatical will run from after worship on April 18 through July 10. During that time, there will be a couple of guided retreats in Iowa and Minnesota, and a road trip around the western United States to spend time with family and friends, which will include some of our nation’s national parks. Keith will be joining me for the California & Oregon portion of the trip. Also, if it does occur, near the end of the sabbatical I will join Keith here in Minneapolis for the GALA Choruses Festival, a once every 4 years occurrence where LGBTQ choruses from around the world come together for concerts and workshops (it was rescheduled from this summer). Looking ahead, this also means we will be looking for volunteers to help with some aspects of what I do on a regular basis. We want to share this need now so that there can be plenty of time for training and for prep prior to the start of the sabbatical. We’ll need help with the following:

• Heading up our presence of extravagant welcome at Twin Cities Pride in June 2021

• Updating and creating content for the FCC website and updating the SpringHouse website (both are on an easy-to-use WordPress platform)

• Sharing, updating, and creating information on our Facebook page Please let us know if you are interested, or if you have questions/need more information about any of these items. Again, I am deeply grateful to you, the members of First Christian Church, for this opportunity. It’s been 8 years since I first started at FCC as a student pastor, and 6 years since you called me as your full-time Associate Pastor. You have invested so much in me these past 8 years, and the sabbatical is just one more piece of your care and love.

In Our Prayers. . .

Prayers of Sympathy For Darren Armstrong, on the

loss of his cousin Michael For Henri Smith and Theresa

Borschardt on the loss of their long-time pet

Prayers of Concern For Zach Hesano, being

treated at Mayo Hospital and for his family

For Greg and Kathy Merkel For John Carter and Barb

Rusinak, recovering from recent surgeries

For Dan Adolphson, Mitch Grauberger, Deb Murphy and others whose family members are ill

Prayers for the world For LGBTQ community

members facing homelessness, discrimination and violence

For cities, states and countries still in the grip of COVID-19

October 14, 2020 Page 2

A Message from Pastor Dan Adolphson

SpringHouse Board Notes

Women’s Fellowship update The Women’s Fellowship of FCC continues to meet via Zoom, as they follow this year’s study guide “Hope, Healing and Wholeness.” The group will meet Monday, November 2 and Monday, Dec. 7 at 7 pm. Traditionally, the group has gone out for a lunch together in January, but right now, no one is sure if that can happen in January 2021. Members are asked to consider having a study session in January, and then beginning a new study guide series in February. Contact Karen Kandik if you have questions or suggestions.

Mark your calendar: Baby Shower coming] FCC is hosting an on-line gathering during Happy Hour on October 22, 5-6 pm, to celebrate with Serena & Luke Chial as they await their first child. They are registered at BuyBuy Baby, Target, and Amazon. (They do not know if they are having a girl or boy!) Also, Jen Krengel, our Queen of Games, has a plan that involves our own baby pictures. Please dig out those photos and get them to Jen. Scan or take a picture with your camera phone and email to Jen (jnkrengel@gmail.com).

New devotional prepares Disciples for a new year and a new vision Where is God leading us in 2021 and beyond? A new collection of 52 weekly reflections on Isaiah 35, the hallowed passage about finding new life, new faith, and new prophetic vision in challenging times and places, invites you to pray on that question as you walk alongside other Disciples toward a new vision for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Written by leaders of the Disciples general ministries and edited by Disciples historian and Old Testament scholar Rev. Dr. Rick Lowery, Wellsprings of Hope: Prayers for a Prophetic New Vision for Disciples speaks of finding water in the desert, strength and transformation through our faith, and the journey God calls us to undertake as we see a new way of being Disciples, together, for the new year and beyond. (Editor’s Note: As well as Rev. Lowery, Rev. Lee Hull Moses and Kirby Gould, Disciples leaders whom we at FCC have come to know, also are contributors to this collection.) “For Disciples across the country to focus on the same scripture, the same prayer, the same hopes and dreams for what Disciples can be — it’s a powerful idea,” says Lowery, president of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society and editor of Wellsprings of Hope, about the devotional. Learn more about this project in a YouTube interview with Rev. Lowery at https://tinyurl.com/yykpey65

Page 3 The Courier

Eleven SpringHouse Board members participated in the September 28 Zoom board meeting. Highlights of the meeting included the following: • A new boiler has been installed, but it is not yet operational. A new part is on order. The HVAC replacement was approved. • The heating system can now be run on an “unoccupied” mode in order to save on costs and be more efficient. • The Insurance Committee received three bids for insurance coverage for SH. The bid from Church Mutual was finally approved in a follow-up email meeting by the board. •Co-chair Rae Buzzell led an open-ended discussion of concerns for the 2021 SH budget, especially in light of the drop in income from rental groups.

Narrative Lectionary for Sunday, October 18

Hannah Prays I Samuel 1: 4-20

Sundays at First Christian Church LiveStream Worship at 10:30

Li

Children’s Zoom Sunday School at 9:20 am Contact Deb (deb.murphy@fcmpls.org) for the Zoom link.

First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Minneapolis, is a partner church at SpringHouse Ministry Center

A Welcoming Community of Faith in the Heart of the City

Ministry Team Dan Adolphson, Associate Pastor, dan.adolphson@fccmpls.org Rick Bowman, SHMC Building Manager Laurie Feille, Senior Pastor, pastor@fccmpls.org Martha Harris, Courier Editor, harrismartha@mac.com Deb Murphy, Office Manager & Director of Spiritual Formation of Children and Youth, deb.murphy@fccmpls.org & SHMC Building Coordinator, shcoordinator@fccmpls.org Rhianna Peterson, SHMC Child Care Maria Thieling, SHMC Child Care Tanner VanderKrabben, Bell Choir Conductor Mike Vasich -Music Director and Pianist Laurie Zaepfel – SHMC Support FCC Office Telephone: 612.870.1868 www.fccminneapolis.org E-Mail: office@fccminneapolis.org Christian Courier is published bi-monthly. Send items and ideas to church office or to Martha Harris harrismartha@mac.com Next issue deadline is Sunday, October 25.

Reflections on the Word. 1 Samuel-9b-10a: Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. Hannah was anxious. She decides to deal with her anxiety by praying to God. We live in anxious times. But God calls us out of anxiety into urgency to feed the hungry, to welcome the outcast. We can carry our anxieties to God, who will help give us a sense of urgency to help a hurting world. Merciful God, When our anxieties threaten to swallow us, God, be our calm. Amen. Excerpted from the Disciples’ Come Sunday Lectionary Blog

FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF MINNEAPOLIS

(DISCIPLES OF CHRIST) 610 W. 28th Street

Minneapolis, MN 55408

Page 4 October 14, 2020

Hannah thanking God in 10th century Paris Psalter