Twenty-plus EMC members headed to Chanhassen Dinner Theatres this week to see “Sister Act” and our own Music Director Alex Heetland both playing keyboards and directing the band. His two-week stint as director follows another he enjoyed there last fall for “Mary Poppins.”
TRUST, an interdenominational group of South Minneapolis churches, will present its annual worship service to celebrate the life and legacy of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at Living Spirit United Methodist Church (4501 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis) on Sunday, Jan. 17, at 5 p.m.
EMC confirmands are encouraged to attend and invite the rest of the congregation after a year in which our consciousness has been raised about the need to continue reaching toward fair and loving race relations. Afterwards, we’ll head to a burger or pizza joint for those who would like to eat together.
Before heading back to normal routines after the holidays, EMC teens and adults remembered those whose routines never change. On Sunday, Jan. 3, five middle-schoolers and three adults spent the afternoon at Boneshaker Books, reading letters from women incarcerated throughout the U.S. and selecting books they requested to mail to them. It is a ministry our young people especially love, choosing titles with tremendous care in hopes of providing those who are imprisoned comfort, intellectual stimulation, education, and the sense that they are not forgotten.
Is this the year you’re finally going to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and tell your story? Let Morningside U help you get started.
Edina Morningside Community Church is hosting an intergenerational workshop on writing memoirs on Saturday, January 16, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Experienced and beginning writers, ages 10 to 100, are encouraged to sign up. Come listen to excerpts from great memoirs, prime your creativity with writing exercises, and share with others the pleasure of crafting art from experience.
This one-time class is part of Morningside U, a program hosted by church members who share their talents with the community. Janet Anderson leads this month’s class. She is director of faith formation at EMC, a former English faculty member at St. Kate’s, and a volunteer with gifted and talented students in the St. Louis Park Schools.
To register, please email your interest with the class title, Memoir Writing, in the subject line to emcucc@emcucc.org. Each class has a limit on registrations, so sign up soon. All classes are held at Edina Morningside Community Church, 4201 Morningside Road, Edina.
Image courtesy of Brent Kastler, Kastler Art & Design
Which Christmas Eve service will you attend? Consider joining us for the Christmas Eve Intergenerational Service at 4 p.m. We’ll welcome Baby Jesus by lighting the Christ Candle, listening to special music, singing carols with accompanists Alex Heetland on piano and Pete Haugen on guitar, enjoying Time with Children led by Janet Anderson, hearing a homily from Pastor Howard—and, of course, handing out glow sticks!
Prefer a late-evening service? Then join us for the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 10 p.m. We’ll welcome the Baby Jesus by lighting the Christ Candle, listening to the Chancel and Bell choirs perform, singing Christmas hymns, hearing Pastor Howard’s sermon and participating in the Service of Candle Lighting.
Whichever worship service you attend, may you have a blessed Christmas.
Join us this Sunday as our young members tell the Christmas story during our annual pageant. The children will perform “Merry Christmas, Grandma,” written by Alex Heetland, EMC music director, and adapted and choreographed by Janet Anderson, EMC director of children, youth and families. See you there at 10 a.m. All are welcome!
Morningsiders met for brunch, caroling and a bit of shopping yesterday morning. We kicked off our day at Victory 44 in north Minneapolis, where we ate eggs with bacon, dates with bacon, French fries with bacon, snow peas with bacon—and discussed our favorite Christmas movies.
With happy stomachs, we walked Victory Memorial Parkway, caroling to
bicyclists, dog walkers, and a baby in a stroller, and passing out candy
canes, Hershey’s Kisses, and waves at traffic intersections. A woman wiped
tears from her eyes as she sat in a car with a baby in the back and her
husband at the wheel. “He was laid off last week,” she said. “It’s just so
nice to see that good things still happen.” Our last stop was the Goddess
of Glass, where we put a little bit more money into the north-side economy
by purchasing glass, soaps, and baked goods made by local artists.
The University Singers and Chamber Singers celebrate the holiday season with selections by Bouzignac, Bach, Puccini and Monteverdi’s Magnificat from the 1610 Vespers during a concert on Thursday, Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m. The performance is directed by Alex Heetland, Edina Morningside Church’s music director, plus Matthew Mehaffey and Kathy Romey. The free event takes place at Hamline Church United Methodist, 1514 Englewood Avenue, St. Paul, 55104.
Yesterday we lit the second Advent candle, the candle of peace. During another week that seemed full of sadness and tragedy in the world, it was good to gather together, seek solace in God, and share community with one another. We were reminded: “Even where there is war and discord, whether between countries, within families or within our own hearts, God is present, gently leading us to new possibilities.” The choir’s Godspell selection, “Save the People,” seemed fitting.
Over 100 children and parents from our congregation, our preschool, and our neighborhood gathered yesterday in the church basement for our annual Advent workshop—making everything from sugar-cube houses to tin luminaries to wine-glass snow globes. Thanks to Cathy Baldwin for organizing such a charming and successful event! To quote the Grinch, “Oh the noise, noise, noise, noise!” It was a symphony.
