eNews for Thursday, April 15, 2021
Before We Get to Healing
From Conference Minister Rev. Shari Prestemon
Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.—James 5:16
On Monday, I was contacted by a member of the media. “What can we do to heal our communities in the middle of all this pain and unrest?” she wondered. I declined to be interviewed. It felt like she was asking the wrong question. Or that it was at least premature.
Daunte Wright had just been shot and killed by a police officer the day before in Brooklyn Center. We were entering the third week of testimony in the Derek Chauvin trial, the former police officer accused of killing George Floyd less than one year ago. There is an enormous amount of pain in Minnesota right now, to be sure, a whole lot of healing needed. But this is no simple scrape of the knee, fixed up quick with a bandage and a kiss. This is a gaping, raw wound that needs major intervention if healing is to come.
In our Christian tradition, we regularly practice confession. It’s a form of truth-telling, coming clean about our own lives and recognizing how what we’ve done or left undone has caused pain. Our honest confession restores relationship with God and with others. It clears the way for the forgiveness our faith promises, the healing our souls need. Confession is good for the soul. Truth-telling sets us free.
Before we can heal all the wrenching pain and loss that the evil of historic, systemic racism has caused we need to first tell the truth about what ails us. That will take time. Intention. Courage. It will necessitate personal transformation, policy change, reform and legislation. And we in the Church are not exempt. Our Conference and all our churches must find ways to authentically engage in our own processes of confession, so that we too might be changed.
At a vigil held Monday evening near where Daunte Wright was killed, his family wept bitter tears, their grief and shock brutally clear. Daunte Wright’s mother spoke about her son. She talked about his smile, what a good son and father he was, how much she already missed him and couldn’t imagine more days without him. “My heart is literally broken in a thousand pieces,” she said.
That kind of ragged wound and inconsolable grief won’t heal easily. It takes time to put that many pieces back together again. Our shattered community and nation won’t heal easily either. But we can begin with telling the truth. Only then will healing begin.
Church Resumes
From the Church Moderator:
At the March meeting of the Church Council, it was decided that in-person services will resume in the Pilgrim building on Sunday, May 2 at 10:00 am. Live streaming will also take place for those members and guests who prefer to watch the service from home.
Those who attend in-person should:
- Stay home if you feel unwell.
- Cover your nose and mouth with a mask.
- Social distancing will be required. Individuals and family groups may be seated around the sanctuary.
- There will be no congregational singing.
- There will not be nursery care or church school at this time.
- Coffee hour will not be offered.
- Weather permitting, members will be encouraged to visit outside.
Your safety and well-being are important to us! If you are uncomfortable being in the sanctuary at this time, please stay at home and watch the service over Pilgrim’s YouTube channel or Facebook page. We will continue to monitor the CDC for the latest updates on COVID.
Julie Johnson
Planetary Health
Co-Creating a Better Future for All
April 22 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
What do COVID-19, structural racism, and the devastating wildfires in the western United States have in common? They are all symptoms of a planet in multi-system failure. In this presentation you will learn about the human health consequences of the human caused disruptions of Earth’s natural systems. You will also learn that it is not too late for all of us to work together to co-create a healthier future.
Teddie M. Potter, PhD, RN, FAAN
- Clinical Professor, School of Nursing- University of Minnesota
- Specialty coordinator of the Doctor of Nursing Practice in Health Innovation and Leadership
- Director of Planetary Health
Dr. Potter is deeply committed to climate change education including co-founding Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate, membership in the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, and membership on the American Academy of Nursing Environment and Public Health Expert Panel. She is a member of the Coordinating Committee of Columbia University’s Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education and a Fellow in the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. She chairs Clinicians for Planetary Health (C4PH) and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Planetary Health Alliance at Harvard.
Sunday Worship at Pilgrim
Join us Sunday at 10:00 am for Sunday Worship at Pilgrim. You can view the service on Pilgrim's YouTube channel and Facebook page.
You can download a Bulletin here.
You can download this week's hymns here.
Salter Hall Zoom: Join us after worship for conversation and fellowship every Sunday at 11:00 am.
Meeting ID: 843 9163 0668
Passcode: 912010
This Sunday's scripture readings:
- Acts 3:12-20
- Psalm 4
- Luke 24:36b-48
If you have an announcement that you would like read during a Sunday service, please get it to the office or directly to Pastor Judith by Monday each week.
Please send in your prayer requests to include in Sunday services. Send your prayer requests, joys, and concerns to Pastor Judith via email by Friday each week to be included. We will use only first names during the service in order to maintain confidentiality, and your prayer requests will be passed along to Marge Fraser and Pilgrim's Prayer Chain.
In case you missed it, you can view last Sunday's worship service on YouTube.
YouTube views: 23
Facebook reach: 63
Morning Coffee
Wednesdays | 10:00 am
Join Pastor Judith for your morning coffee! We'll have a time for checking in with each other, prayers, and perhaps a brief meditation. Grab the beverage of your choice and join us on Zoom.
Meeting ID: 497 627 641
Passcode: 926781
What Patrick's Listening To
A truly original choral arrangement a classic Lutheran hymn, accompanied by electric guitar.