Family Ministry Events in January
Mark your calendars, families! Family Ministry is hosting the Good Neighbor Meal on Saturday, January 8. Sign up to help at Sign-up Genius. Turkey chili is on the menu for our curbside delivery, and we’ll need about 10 people to prepare and serve on Saturday morning from 9 am-1:30 pm.
On Sunday, January 9, for our regular Second Sunday family event, we will play board games and enjoy lunch together. Watch for a Sign-up Genius to attend.
For the time being, we are limiting these events to young people and their families.
Peace Times Online Recordings
These will be posted on Mondays through February 6.
Vacation
Pastor Gary will be on vacation January 10-14. You may call his cell phone in case of emergency (651-387-4095).
Winter Retreat Canceled
Our annual Peace family winter retreat, scheduled for January 14-16, 2022, has been canceled.
January has 5 Sundays
This is your opportunity to help Peace Church chip away at the principal on its mortgage. You may choose to contribute to Fifth Sundays online (go to the Participants page of our website, note the ‘Donate’ area, log into Simple Church, and click the Fund dropdown to select Fifth Sunday). Or if you prefer, leave a check in the plate on Sunday morning or mail one to the church office with ‘5th Sunday’ written in the memo line. Thank you!
About the Good Neighbor Meal
Have you ever wondered about the “can trailer” in the Peace parking lot? The funds from recycling these cans, donated by you and many others in the Shoreview area, is used to directly support expenses of the Good Neighbor Meal. In 2021, just over $2500 was received from the cans and used to support meals offered twice-monthly to food-insecure individuals and families near the Capitol.
The Good Neighbor Meal began over 20 years ago as a collaboration between Peace, Wheelock Parkway and Central Park UMCs, and was known at the time as the Corridor Meal. Central Park was the original host site, but when they sold their building, the meal moved to its current site, the Good Neighbor Center at 441 Rice Street, and became known as the Good Neighbor Meal. Wheelock Church disbanded; Central Park became the Recovery Church and continues to host six meals each year.
Meals are served on the second and last Saturday of each month. They are staffed entirely by volunteers. Panera Bread donates day-old leftover bread and pastries, which are picked up by a volunteer the evening before the meal.
The program is unique in that host groups fund, prepare, serve, and clean up to make the meal a success. It is one of the few that identify the people who come for dinner as “our guests,” and seconds are usually available. During COVID, indoor dining has been suspended, so instead we pass out bag lunches at the door from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm.
We’re grateful for all the support we’ve received from you over the years. Anyone can help by donating cans, volunteering Saturdays, or making a donation to Peace Church with a memo/note that it is for the GNM. Thank you!
Is Hiyala Still Teaching Yoga at Peace?
Yoga classes on Tuesdays at 9:30 am and 5:30 pm. Sessions are 75 minutes long. We wear masks when arriving and leaving. We space ourselves out in the Commons. Some people might choose to remove their masks once situated.
Healing in the forms of Reiki and Thai yoga therapy (now being called “stretch therapy” in the fitness gyms). Purchase 60-minute sessions for $75 (that price includes the tax).
Currently, there is no pilates class. We hope to resussitate that as time goes on because we love it so much!! In the past, this class was held on Thursday mornings from 10-11am.
Hiyala wishes that all beings (including the members of Peace) enjoy the wonder of the Holy days and a great New Year in 2022!
Mental Health Impacts of our Changing Climate
Climate change is impacting mental and emotional well-being through the trauma of extreme events (e.g., super-storms, floods, wildfires) as well as the anxiety and depression rough by chronic changes (melting sea ice, increased temperatures, drought). Around the world, young people, in particular, are reporting growing levels of anxiety, grief and anger about the diminished prospects for their future due to inadequate societal and governmental response to climate change.
Dr. Christie Manning, Director of Sustainability at Macalester College and faculty member in the department of Environmental Studies, will share a summary of the findings of a 2021 research review of mental health and climate change published by the American Psychological Association. She will also share her own experiences and observations of how young people are coping with the stress of climate change.
Join the Zoom Event on Thursday, January 20, 2022, at 7 pm by typing this URL into your browser: http://tiny.cc/NEMCA0120. Hosted by Northeast Metro Climate Action, northeastmetroclimateaction.org.
Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC)
On January 6 at 6:30 pm, their next housing webinar focuses on “Special Challenges and Opportunities for Inclusion.” https://jrlc.org or jmiltenberger@jrlc.org, or 612-230-3232.
The JRLC 2022 Legislative Kick-off will be virtual this year, on Zoom on January 18, 6:30-7:30 pm. It will include an overview of session challenges and opportunities and the JRLC legislative agenda. Zoom link here.