FMF – We’ve finished day 2

We’ve finished day 2 of our Families Moving Forward hosting week. 
The families are so nice and a joy to be with. 
Our volunteer team is absolutely elite!
Please pray for the families and our volunteers.

Christmas 2018 Services

Christmas Worship At Mount Calvary 2018 

 

Pre-Christmas Eve  

Wednesday, December 19 @ 7:00pm 

Pastor David Olson –  “For Everyone Born, a Place at the Stable” 

Music by Chancel Choir, harp, organ, and flute 

We are once again offering a “Pre-Christmas Eve” worship service for those in our community who travel over the holidays and are unable to attend Christmas Eve services at Mount Calvary. This service will be the same as our 10:00pm services on December 24. 

 

Weekend Christmas Services 

Saturday, December 22 @ 5:00pm 

Sunday, December 23 @ 9:00 and 10:30am 

Pastor Brenda Legred –  “The Best Present Ever” 

Music by Saturday Worship Band – featuring North Country Girls with Pat Frederick on fiddle and Diane LaMere on piano sharing Christmas music with a ‘back home’ country/folk style. 

 

Christmas Eve Services 

Monday, December 24 

Pastor David Olson –  “For Everyone Born, a Place at the Stable” 

1:00pm – Cantate Choir, organ and trumpets 

2:00pm – Cantate Choir, organ and trumpets 

3:00pm – Bel Canto, organ and trumpets 

4:00pm – Bel Canto, organ and trumpets 

 

Candlelight Service 

10:00pm – Chancel Choir, harp, organ and flute 

 

Christmas Day 

Tuesday, December 25 @ 10:00am 

Pastor Brenda Legred –  “Good News for All” 

Music by Mount Calvary Bells, and organ 

 

First Weekend of Christmas 

Saturday, December 29, 2018 – 5:00pm 

Pastor Aaron Werner –  “God’s in the House” 

Music by Saturday Worship Band, featuring Pat Frederick on fiddle 

 

Sunday, December 30, 2018 – 9:00 and 10:30am 

Pastor Aaron Werner  –  “God’s in the House” 

Music by Lauren Marty, harp; Maya Schrof, flute; and Susan Lindvall, guest organist 

Many Hands for Malawi

MANY HANDS FOR MALAWI: PACKATHON
NOVEMBER 9 TO 11 

We’re seeking more than 1,000 volunteers this year to help scoop, pack, seal and box 350,000 meals for Malawi. We’re partnering
with Children of the Nations, whose program in Malawi works toward self-sufficiency for meal recipients. We’re excited to support the people
in the program who are working toward sustainability and self-reliance.
The Packathon is a great opportunity for groups to do good and make a difference together! We also need other volunteers, such as team
leaders, who help oversee the packing stations, and those who can help on the equipment and supply teams.

Because the ingredients are not donated but are purchased, we’re also seeking donations. Supplies for the Packathon cost about $45,000. To view volunteer opportunities or donate to the event, please go
to mh-mm.org. Thank you!

His House – June

We usually write in this space about your wonderful donations or items that we need. Today I’m writing about how your wonderful donations make an impact in the lives of our neighbors.

We are working with Carver County in a food rescue program. Food that would be thrown out is recovered from restaurants and events and delivered to families that have a barrier getting to the food shelf.

In May we got a call from a single mother with 5 children. Mom works full time but doesn’t have a car. She rides to work with her co-worker. So, when she was out of food and had no way to get to the food shelf and no money to get to the grocery store she called His House for help.

His House had just received a large food donation from a church event. Our volunteers were able to pick it up and deliver it immediately to the family.

This is the same story over and over again. Whether it’s food, a mattress, a sofa, or clothes that your kids have outgrown, we know neighbors who are happy to receive these items. Yes, leftover food is on this list. After the community meal we help Chris Anderson redistribute the leftovers to families that couldn’t get to the meal but are still hungry.

So thank you for all the wonderful donations given to His House and RAK. We love sharing with our neighbors whatever God has blessed us with in our bin in the atrium of Mount Calvary, or in the kitchen refrigerator after a community meal.

Martha Brannon
His House/RAK

Quilting News

IT’S BEEN A VERY LONG WINTER

Thank goodness for our quilt group that meets three times a month to give us a wonderful opportunity for fellowship while we make warm quilts for the homeless folks in the metro area. If you know of any women who have time on their hands, are a bit lonely, or love to visit or work with fabric, tell them about our group. We welcome newcomers.

Betty Renner hit the nail on the head when she referred to our group as a “joyful ministry.” Betty quilts with a different group nowdays, one that doesn’t miss seams, put knots where they don’t belong, or have one side longer than the other. I do truly expect that when the rest of us get to heaven, God will say, “I know you. You’re a part of the Mount Calvary Quilting Ministry”.

We’re on target once again to make and deliver over 1,000 quilts to the needy homeless in the metro area. We’ve expanded the donations to include blankets, toiletries, tote bags, and hand knit warm scarves and caps. What may surprise you is that we include the warm scarves and caps every single month, as we do get some cool nights in our summers. Or as I’m fond of saying, “If you think this isn’t necessary, you try sleeping under a bridge without a blanket and tell me you wouldn’t appreciate a warm scarf or cap.” That means it takes two vehicles every month to deliver these items. This month’s quilts go to St. Stephens.

Last month we delivered to a shelter, plus provided every single person in the Families Moving Forward with his or her own personal quilt plus a tote bag of needed items. The quilts were particularly chosen for the age and gender of the person with a pocket on the quilt filled with a beanie baby for each of the children.

We thank you for your prayers for this important ministry but even more so, for the homeless people in our midst. You are welcome to stop by for coffee any of the first three Thursdays of any month to see what we’re doing. We take a coffee break at 10:30am so that’s a good time, and we always have treats on hand.

Sharon Roos, Co-chair
Mount Calvary Quilting Ministry

 

Volunteering with Families Moving Forward

What is your favorite kind of volunteering? Do you like making things? Working with people? Beautifying the outdoors? There are so many options, and here at Mount Calvary, we have abundant gifts, a significant capacity to help others, and an amazing spirit for service. But, like most people, we’re busy, and we like to know that our volunteer time makes a difference.

Making a difference is what Families Moving Forward (FMF) is all about. When we volunteer with FMF, we know that we are actually helping families to regain homes of their own. As Chris Anderson says, “It’s the best program out there for homelessness,” and the mission of the organization is to end homelessness – one family at a time. Isn’t it powerful to think we have the ability to affect this kind of change in the lives of people in our community?

I wanted to learn more about volunteering with FMF, so I spoke with the Dutton family. They have been very involved as a family in helping to volunteer since Families Moving Forward started at Mount Calvary. I had a chance to sit down with Lisa Dutton and three of her charming sons – Drew, Charlie, and Jack – to talk about their experiences volunteering with the program.

I asked the Duttons about FMF and why it fits their mission, as a family. Lisa says that what speaks to her most, is that FMF “doesn’t just put a band-aid on the problem. They give families the tools they need to make real change.”

Charlie, age 17, has spent nights with the families as an overnight host and appreciates the chance to interact with new people. He says that although some people can feel shy at first, it’s never long before everyone begins to interact, and soon, people begin to chat and even sing. He told me about part of FMF training, and how it includes conversational tools that help volunteers ask non-intrusive, open-ended questions to make visiting with newcomers easy.

Pastor Dave talks about the “accompaniment model.” It’s where we work side-by-side with people to share ourselves, and to find out about them and their needs. As he says, “It creates the sense that we’re all the family of God”. Drew Dutton, age 19, told me it’s nice to go into the FMF gatherings with no agenda – just to hang out with everyone, just like one big family. He used a great phrase to describe the scene: “a melting pot of conversation.”

Jack, age 12, loves playing with the children. The games and activities provided for the FMF families are right up his alley. I asked him if many of the children are his age. Not often, but he is happy to help entertain kids of all ages. The Dutton boys remembered an autistic boy, who was staying with his grandmother, and homeless. It really affected them to think that a grandmother, who was doing everything she could for her grandson, could be without a home.

Families Moving Forward offers us a unique glimpse into some of the hardships faced by people in our community. We invite you to be a part of that “melting pot,” this August. If you would like to volunteer, or learn more about FMF, contact Chris Anderson for more information.

Time to Plan for the Mud Run!

Save the Date!

Grab your phone or daily planner and flip to July. The Tonka Mud Run, which benefits Many Hands Many Meals, is July 14 at Lake Minnewashta Regional Park. Whether you want to tackle a fun, family-friendly athletic challenge, or would like to volunteer on the course, there are ways for everyone to take part.

Tonka Mud Run: A 3.5-mile timed race, with obstacles including navigating a maze, sliding down a water slide, carrying firewood and more.

Tonka Mud Run “Just Have Fun” option: The same 3.5-mile course, but participants can take shortcuts and skip obstacles (many people opt to walk and chat).

Mini-Tonka Mud Run: A ¼-mile course for younger children, with obstacles including rolling downhill and jumping over hay bales.

Volunteering: From directing traffic to helping at water stations, we need lots of help to make this day a success.

The Tonka Mud Run aims to support those who face the challenge of hunger by completing a challenging athletic event. Proceeds from the race help us purchase supplies and pack life-saving meals that go to local organizations and help those in need around the world.

Registration is open! Sign up to race or volunteer and learn more at tonkamudrun4.mh-mm.org. Thank you!

His House Volunteer Teresa Fuller

It has been Serve to the Max at Mount Calvary and it always reminds me of the volunteers at His House who always Serve to the Max. I wanted to share the story of one volunteer that serves beyond the max —at His House that person is Teresa Fuller.

When my husband had a temporary job transfer to Chicago, I wasn’t sure who would keep His House going in my absence. In stepped Teresa. I guess she didn’t just step in…she jumped in!

It started with donation pick-ups. You might have passed her on the road and wondered if she was from an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies. She will pick up a mattress on one side of town and deliver it to a single mom with five kids that needs it for her 15 year-old-son that sleeps on the sofa. She will pick up left over funeral food from church and deliver it to a family that doesn’t have enough money to buy food. And after she gets home from doing all that, she will answer her phone about another single mom who ran out of gas on highway 7 with her four small children in the car. Teresa will jump in her car with a gas can, drive to their car, fill it up with gas and give the mom’s car a jump.

So when we talk about Serve to the Max I think of Teresa!

Martha Brannon
His House

’tis better to give than to receive

This is never more true than for the Mount Calvary Quilting Ministry. In November, 75 of our quilts went to two Wayside homeless groups for women to become a Christmas gift for their patients. It may well be the only Christmas gift they receive. We did this last year also, and it gives us much joy to do this.

We make and deliver over 1,000 quilts annually to homeless shelters in the downtown and west metro area. It takes two vehicles and four of our ladies to do the delivery each month, as we also include toiletries, warm scarves and hats we knit, and pillows and blankets that have been donated. Some of our favorite quilts are for children, because we sew a pocket on the front and include a color coordinated beanie baby in the quilt. Even if the beanie baby is lost, the child still has a pocket on his quilt to hold any of his little treasures

Thank you, Mount Calvary, for your donations of fabric, sheets for the quilt backings, yarn for the scarves, toiletries (from when you stay at a hotel on a vacation or business trip), and beanie babies. The big oak bin in the entry (the one on the far right) is where you can place any of these donations. Thank you most of all for your prayers for these neighbors in our midst who are homeless.