A community of 11 Shaker women in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky in 1837 is forced to confront its beliefs as strange events begin to occur. Thought provoking, challenging and warmly humorous, journey with them on this examination of faith as they join in song and engage in the everyday life of this Utopian society.
November 22nd and 23rd at 7pm. Doors open at 6:30.
Admission: A free will donation
Last Sunday, September 22nd after worship, members and friends of Edina Morningside Church took part in an immersive experience of homelessness and housing needs, thanks to our partnership with Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative. The church’s Beacon Core Team led interactive experiences of a game, bedroom visit, video discussion, and art creation station in order to better convey the need for greater affordable housing in Minnesota, and our faithful vision with Beacon that “all people have a home”. Check out photos of the event below, and join us for another Beacon event in the weeks and months ahead!
Morningside Theatre Company is back again with three great shows:
Our elementary school cast is bringing Annie KIDS to life to think about Tomorrow. Catch it Friday, June 21st, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, June 22, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, our junior high cast performs the Broadway blockbuster Legally Blonde JR., Omigod, you guys have to see it on Thursday, June 27, 7 p.m.; Friday, June 28, 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.; and Saturday, June 29, 10 a.m.
Rounding out our season is another cast of gradeschoolers in Frog and Toad Kids, a delightful musical based on the well-loved children’s books. Catch Frog, Toad and all of their friends on Friday, July 19th at 7 p.m. and Saturday, July 20th at 10 am. and 3 p.m.
Tickets for all shows: $5 General Admission tickets at the door. Doors open 30 minutes prior to curtain.
Our waving rainbow flag outside and the loving community inside welcomes (all year long!) those people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ). This coming Sunday, June 16th, we celebrate with Pride Sunday, a week before Twin Cities Pride and two weeks before World Pride in New York City marks the fiftieth anniversary of the uprising at Stonewall Inn, where queer and transgender people of color fought back against police harassment in days of resistance that began the modern LGBTQ rights movement. We mark the occasion with guest musicians Michael Dhani Bennett and Jeremy Smith (euphonium, piano, and voice) performing works by LGBTQ artists, with liturgy and sermon proclaiming a doors-wide-open rainbow welcome, and with a “Second Hour” after worship by Jesus Lucero from OutFront Minnesota, describing the past year and upcoming needs in the movement for LGBTQ equality.
Please join us for this special worship service next Sunday, where we celebrate LGBTQ strength and inspiration, and enlist allies for the ongoing work of justice in church and society. Wear rainbows if you’ve got them! As we say each week, “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!”
Dozens of children and youth from Edina Morningside Church and our wider community have flooded the halls, rooms, stage, sanctuary and surroundings of the church, as Morningside Theatre Company’s summer suite of musical theatre camps kicked off this week. Youth in grades 2-5 are rehearsing Annie KIDS (adapted from the Tony Award-winning Best Musical), and preparing for performances June 21-22. Youth in grades 6-9 have started three weeks rehearsing Legally Blonde the Musical JR., in advance of their performances June 27-29th. Later this month we’ll do a one-week Children’s camp for those in grades K-1, and there will be another two-week youth camp in July, performing A Year with Frog and Toad KIDS. A dozen adults and young adults, led by our Creative Arts Director Jane Williams, are cultivating youth talent and overseeing their progress. We’ve been amazed to see their progress already, and look forward to the final productions!
Morningside Theatre Company was recently profiled in Edina Magazine for making “sheer magic in a church basement”. This neighborhood ministry, started by church members and staff ten years ago, has been sharing the joy of building community, cultivating imagination, working hard, and realizing dreams for a full decade now. We launched a Winter Workshop after Christmas 2018, and plan this fall to do a show with adult performers, focused on the people and music of a Shaker community. Find out about MTC programs, see upcoming performance dates, and read more at the Morningside Theatre Company webpage. You can also register for one of the few remaining spots for A Year with Frog and Toad KIDS in July!
In recent years, Edina Morningside Church member Gwen Williams has shared in worship and other settings her lifelong efforts to overcome the effects of childhood sexual abuse. Her courage in addressing this history has modeled for the whole congregation the power that comes from leaning into our birthright identity as beloved children of God. Gwen’s story is now reaching a broad new audience throughout the state, thanks to a TV feature story called “Silenced No More: Victims of Sexual Abuse Speaking Out on Criminal Justice Reforms”.
Gwen was interviewed last month on ABC 6 News in southeastern Minnesota, near where Gwen was born. She shared her experience with abuse growing up, and connected it to the need for extending the current brief window of time allowed by law for survivors of sexual abuse to seek justice in the legal system. Gwen’s case put a human face on this broader systemic concern, echoed by Olmstead County law enforcement officials in the television story. For more information, watch the interview or read the associated article by ABC 6 News.
Well done, Gwen! Thanks be to God for your transformational courage!
Morningside Theatre Company is back again with two great shows:
Our elementary school cast is bringing Seussical KIDS to life with the Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant and lots more characters. “Oh, the things you can think!” Catch it Friday, June 22, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, June 23, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, everyone’s favorite ogre is back as our junior high cast performs Shrek the Musical JR., featuring a wisecracking donkey, a princess, a bunch of fairytale misfits and the musical’s namesake. See this sweet and swampy show on Thursday, June 28, 7 p.m.; Friday, June 29, 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.; and Saturday, June 30, 10 a.m.
Special thanks to the Morningside Theatre Company creative staff: Jane Williams, Jim Lansing, Ella Williams, Basil Considine and Cary Van Heel.
At EMC, we’re celebrating new life with our Easter egg hunt on Saturday, March 31, 2 p.m. Children, grades 5 and under, are invited, rain or shine. Find candy and trinkets; plus, we’ll have activities for the little ones. See you there!
Photo: Karin Miller
Services like ancestry.com and 23andme.com plus the “Finding Our Roots” TV series are just a few of the signs that family genealogy is a nationally growing pursuit. In addition, many adults these days are faced with the arduous task of sorting through family papers and photos, and choosing what to save and what to toss.
That’s why Morningside U is offering a new class, Family Genealogy & Archiving 101 — open to the public — on Saturday, March 17, 10 a.m. to noon.
Certified genealogist Tom Rice will share information about getting started with your family genealogy, plus best research practices, note taking, organization, where to look for answers and next steps.
Additionally, EMC’s church historian and archivist Doug Fuerst will offer his best advice about sifting through family artifacts, documents, photos, receipts and more, and then deciding what to save plus how to organize, store and/or display it.
This free two-hour class is another offering by Morningside U, a program of one-time classes taught by Edina Morningside Community Church members and staff.
To register, please email your interest with the class title 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.
Photo: Bekir Donmez
Edina Morningside Community Church will host a series of spring classes introducing students to creative spiritual practices.
Created by Karen Boileau, M.Ed., the classes incorporate stretching, breathing, prayer, drawing, walking in nature, and other activities to integrate the body and the mind, and to draw attention to the spirit within.
Adults of all faith and secular traditions are welcome. Classes are free and will be held Monday nights, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., April 23 through May 21, with a teaser class on March 12. The May 14 class — Magic Door Intuition — is open to students age 7 and up.
If you have questions, contact Janet Anderson at faithformation@emcucc.org.
Follow the links below to register for the classes you’re interested in: