Weekly Announcements

In chronological order:  Walker events & meetings (all at the church unless noted otherwise) & Public Events organized by others that will be held at Walker.

The Death Café:  Thurs, Sep 24, 7 to 9 pm in the sanctuary. We begin our series with a movie: “Departures: The Gift of Last Memories”. This 2008 Japanese film directed by Yojiro Takita, follows a young man, Daigo, who has failed in his career as a cellist. Returning to his hometown, he stumbles across work as a “nakanshi”- a traditional ritual mortician. He is subjected to prejudice because of strong social taboos against people who deal with death. The film went unreleased in Japan until it won a grand prize at the Montreal World Film Festival. After this honor, it was released in Japan and became the highest grossing domestic film. The Death Café will meet every Thursday through October 29.   FFI Mary Parker or Dianne O’Donnell FFI

Women’s Potluck Brunch:  Sat, Sep 26, 9:30 am at Deb Ramage’s home,

 

Sunday Celebration

September 27, 2015

Greetings by Paul McHugh, Carole Megarry, Anne Tiller

Communal Singing led by Conrad deFiebre & Dianne O’Donnell

Communal Reading:  Our mission is to nurture spirituality, build caring community & work courageously for peace with justice and mercy.

Opening Smudge

Lao Tzu # 76 Stephen Mitchell followed by 5 minutes of silence

We are born soft and supple;
dead, we are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant;
dead, they are brittle and dry.

Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail.

Poetry read by Dorothy Robinson

Welcome, Announcements & Offering

Scripture Reading Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther.  On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.”
Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me — that is my petition — and the lives of my people — that is my request.  For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.”  Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?”  Esther said, “A foe and enemy, this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.
Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.”  So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated.
Mordecai recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.

Sermon by Pastor Walter Lockhart

Special Performance by the Walker Singers conducted by Jim Feldman: “Soon-ah Will Be Done” arranged by William Dawson

Circle with Joys & Concerns & sharing of bread & juice brought by Lulu Philips

Hospitality Time

Thanks for

Hospitality set-up by Barbara Hager

Hospitality treats by Bonnie Beckel & Carole Megarry

Clean-up by

 

Bluegrass Jam:  Mon, Sep 28, 7 pm to 10 pm in the dining hall. The jams are held the last Monday of each month. Coming late and leaving early is okay.  The jam is for folks of all abilities.   Everyone, who wants to, gets to choose and lead several songs. Listeners are also welcome.   FFI Roy Vanderwerf revanster@gmail.com

Rummage Sale Set up begins:  Mon, Sep 28.

Thanks to everyone who has signed up to help at the Walker Rummage Sale.

It’s our biggest fundraiser, and we made over $7,000 last year to support our mission.

Please do not bring any rummage before Sunday, September 27.  Preferably bring it between 9 AM and 8 PM on Monday, September 28 and Tuesday, September 29.  Volunteers will be at the church then to receive your clean, usable items.  After Tuesday, the volunteers will be fully occupied in organizing and pricing, and will not have time to sort additional contributions.

If rummage is left in the church before then, we will have to discard it, which can cost the church money for an extra waste pickup.  There is no space in the church that is not already being used for our activities. Any questions can be emailed to Lulu at juliajtp@gmail.com, or call her at 612-281-3778.

Community Meal:  Tues, Sep 29, 5:30 to 6:45 pm.

Church Council meeting:  Tues, Sep 29, 7:45 or 8 pm (after Walker Singers rehearsal)

The Death Café:  Thurs, Oct 1, 7 to 10 pm in the dining hall.  The Standard Death Cafe program with cake and tea. The Death Café will meet every Thursday through October 29.   FFI Mary Parker or Dianne O’Donnell FFI

Fall Rummage Sale:

Thursday, Oct 1, 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm (neighborhood preview night)

Friday, Oct 2, noon to 8 pm

Saturday, Oct 3, 9 am to 4 pm

Sunday, Oct 4, noon to 3 pm (Sunday bag sale, $4 per bag)

Community Meal:  Tues, Oct 6, 5:30 to 6:45 pm.

The Death Café:  Thurs, Oct 8, 7 to 10 pm in the dining hall.  Guest Speaker Anne Archbold, Green Burial Consultant. Anne will talk to us and answer our questions about an ancient burial tradition which is being retrieved, due to our concerns about polluting our environment. Green burial is available now as an alternative to embalming, concrete vaults, cremation. Standard Death Cafe program will follow in the second hour.  The Death Café will meet every Thursday through October 29.   FFI Mary Parker or Dianne O’Donnell FFI

Indigenous Peoples’ Sunday Celebration:  October 11.  Guest Speaker Susanna De Leon, an attorney who is the leader of the Aztec Dancers who have performed at Walker in the past. Susanna is an excellent public speaker with high ideals and a beautiful vision.

Building Use Collective meeting:  Tues, Oct 13, 5 pm

Community Meal:  Tues, Oct 13, 5:30 to 6:45 pm.

Finance Committee meeting:  Wed, Oct 14, 5 pm

Trustees meeting:  Wed, Oct 14, 6 pm

The Death Café:  Thurs, Oct 15, 7 to 10 pm in the dining hall.  Standard Death Cafe program with cake and tea. The Death Café will meet every Thursday through October 29.   FFI Mary Parker or Dianne O’Donnell FFI

Community Meal:  Tues, Oct 20, 5:30 to 6:45 pm.

The Death Café:  Thurs, Oct 22, 7 to 10 pm in the dining hall.  A guest speaker, Dr. Tom von Sternberg, a family doctor with Health Partners, specializing in geriatric care, end-of-life care, retiree health, nursing home care will talk to us about Living Wills (health care directives) and lead us through the process of making these decisions and getting the task done! The Standard Death Cafe program will follow in the second hour.

The Death Café will meet every Thursday through October 29.   FFI Mary Parker or Dianne O’Donnell FFI

Community Meal:  Tues, Oct 27, 5:30 to 6:45 pm.

 

Remember the Mother Emanuel 9 Prayer Service:  Wednesday, October 28, 7 pm.  Nine black people were shot dead at a Bible study and prayer service at Mother Emanuel AME in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015. This was a racially motivated attack. Those who died were: Rev. Clementa A. Pinckney, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel L. Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Myra Thompson.  The Minnesota Council of Churches is setting up a year-long series of weekly prayer vigils. Every Wednesday evening, some congregation in Minnesota will be hosting a prayer service about the Mother Emanuel AME shootings. We will be holding the Mother Emanuel AME congregation and families of victims in prayer, repenting of systemic racism, and asking God to heal our country. In addition to the wonder of prayer, one of the values is to keep this experience in front of one another as an opportunity for witness and change.

The Death Café:  Thurs, Oct 29, 7 to 10 pm in the dining hall Standard Death Cafe program.  Also included will be a brief introduction to “Samhain”, the annual ritual in which we visit the Roadhouse of the Dead. You are invited to attend, here, on Sat., Oct 31 at 7 PM.

Walter & Roxanne Lockharts’ 50th Birthdays Celebration:  Sat, Oct 31, 1 to 3 pm

Samhain:  Sat, Oct 31, 7 pm to 9 pm in the sanctuary.  FFI Dianne O’Donnell

 

Artists! Mark your calendar for the 2015 Walker Church Holiday Art Fair, Saturday, November 21, 10 am to 4 pm & Sunday, November 22, noon to 4 pm.  No booth fee, donate 15% of proceeds to Walker Church.

To apply, simply send contact information, a description of your work and a photo if you would like us to use your photo in publicity by November 1, email kcbretzke@gmail.com

OK support group will begin soon, and time to be decided by the group.  FFI Greg Garman 612-481-1683.

Native Voices for Planet Earth:  Saturday, September 26, 10:30am -4pm at  Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center, 178 Robie Street, St. Paul.  Tom Goldtooth, of the Indigenous Environmental Network will engage us in a community dialogue about the Paris United Nations Climate Change Conference in December.  Meet indigenous delegates traveling with Tom, raise your environmental concerns and send off our delegates at this fund raising event to assist with their travel expenses on the road to Paris.
Music, Keynotes, Workshops, Silent Auction, Catered Lunch
Register at www.sustainablenorthland.org  A Northland Bioneers event.

 Segway Tours:  Gabe (Maggie Rozycki’s nephew) gives Segway Tours through Erik’s Retreat. Please go to the link below to read about the program and then click on Gabe’s Tour to book a tour with him. He can take parties of 4. It is a great time for a Segway tour around Lake of the Isles, along Kenwood Parkway to the Walker Sculpture Garden. This outdoor adventure is a great way to enjoy these last warm days. Book your party today. http://www.eriksranch.org/livehere/minnesota/takeatour/portfolio.html

 Harvest Time Dance Runners needed:  Led by Janet Skidmore the dance will be performed during Sunday Celebration on November 15.  Anyone aged 8 years old and older is invited to learn and then perform the dance.  No previous dance experience is needed.  I need a number of people who can run with big silk flags. This will be choreographed running in time to music.  There will also be a short movement phrase with the flags to learn.  Rehearsals are set for Thurs, Oct 29. 7 to 8:30 pm, Wed, Nov 4, 7 to 8:30 pm, Sat, Nov 7, 11 to 12:30 pm, Wed, Nov 11, 7 to 8:30 pm, Sat, Nov 14, 11 to 12:30 pm, Sun, Nov 15, 9:15 to 10:15 am, Please call Janet

A Call to Creative People and Hand Workers at Walker,

I would like to gather to make items to sell at Walker Holiday Art Fair which is the weekend of November 21st and 22nd.             I am thinking people can bring their own projects, or bring a project to share with others. If you have a project to teach or suggest, please let me know what you are thinking.             Here are some possible meeting times:

Wed. evenings in the Sunday School room from 6:30-9:00 Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28

Saturday afternoons at people’s homes TBA: Oct. 17, 24, Nov. 7, 14: 1:00-4:00

We will need volunteers to manage our table at the fair. I can be there on Sat. but not Sun.

Who is interested? Please let me know! Margo