Dear Friends of St. Philip the Deacon:

Yesterday in worship, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of Pastor Valerie Strand Patterson’s ordination. Pastor Valerie was ordained to the ministry of word and sacrament on July 13, 1986, and began her tenure at St. Philip the Deacon in April of 1989.

During yesterday’s services, we thanked Pastor Valerie by presenting her with a special print from the St. John’s Bible. The illumination is called “Life in Community,” and visually interprets the passage from Acts 4:32-34.

As I mentioned in worship, following are some of the reasons this particular artwork was chosen for this important milestone:

• Jesus, the center of our life, is shown drawing believers together into community. These believers are seated around an altar with bread and wine, representing the sacrament of communion, which Pastor Valerie presides over as an ordained minister.
• There are images of the St. John’s Abbey Church and the Stella Maris chapel, which are important to Pastor Valerie—both as an alum of St. Ben’s, and also as a retreat leader at St. John’s for many years.
• One of the primary colors in the illumination—and also the matting—is ruby red, the color of 40th anniversaries. This color symbolizes devotion and love, hallmarks of Pastor Valerie’s ministry.
• The text includes the line: “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul . . . and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them.” This points to Pastor Valerie’s large heart, and her passion for ensuring that no one is forgotten—especially during the holiday seasons, when she manages major ministries for individuals in area shelters.

We give thanks for Pastor Valerie’s 40 years of ordained ministry, and are especially grateful that most of her ministry has been at St. Philip the Deacon. As I mentioned yesterday, we are also glad to know that she has no intention of retiring anytime soon.

Please join us in congratulating Pastor Valerie on this important milestone, and thanking her for her ministry among us.

Grace and Peace,
Tim Westermeyer

Dear Friends of St. Philip the Deacon,

I write to share news that, after 25 years as part of the St. Philip the Deacon staff, Trish Bode is stepping away from her role here to spend more time with her growing family.

Trish began her work at St. Philip the Deacon in August 2001, and since then has been a valuable and important part of the lives of our members and their children. She has led regular outdoor activities, managed our incredible Vacation Bible School, delivered heartfelt and meaningful children’s messages, and touched the lives of countless young people through a variety of annual special events.

Just last week, Trish’s first grandchild was born—Tate Bradley, born on June 30—and Trish plans to spend time in this next chapter of her life helping his mom and dad as Tate grows. Another grandchild is also on the way in November—and Trish will be helping when that one arrives, as well—which ultimately made this decision an easy one for her.

“I have absolutely loved being a part of St. Philip the Deacon for the last two and a half decades,” Trish said. “This has been much more than just a job—it has been a family. I will always remember fondly my time here, but I am also very excited about this next stage of life, and grateful to be able to spend more time with my own growing family.”

We will formally thank Trish at services on Sunday, July 26, and her last week at St. Philip the Deacon will be the week of Aug. 3—which, appropriately, is 25 years exactly from when she started.

Please extend your gratitude and appreciation to Trish for all she has meant to St. Philip the Deacon in the weeks ahead, and keep her in your prayers as she makes this important transition in her life.

Peace,

Tim Westermeyer, Senior Pastor

The drive for school supplies has begun! Now through Aug. 9, donations may be brought to Fellowship Hall. The detailed list is below. (Please note, we are not listing backpacks. Backpacks are covered by a generous donation.) The donation place is the east end of Fellowship Hall.

You can pick up a shopping list in Fellowship Hall. Please check out the back of the list for more ways you can make an impact!

A strong school year begins long before the first bell rings. Through partnerships with Messiah Lutheran Church (our sister church in the Minneapolis Phillips neighborhood), Interfaith Outreach and area social workers, children are equipped with the supplies they need.

Here is the list:

• Composition notebooks
• Spiral notebooks
• Washable markers—10 classic colors (broad or fine tip)
• Crayons—24 pack
• Colored pencils—12 pack
• Pocket folders
• Highlighters
• 3 ring binders—1” rings
• Loose-leaf paper
• Watercolors—8 count
• Glue sticks—washable
• Dry erase markers & erasers
• Scissors—5” blunt tip
• Ball point pens
• #2 pencils—Ticonderoga brand, sharpened
• Pink erasers—large
• Tissue boxes (full-sized)
• Disinfectant wipes (full-sized)

Socks and Underwear

• All items need to be NEW!
• Underwear—size toddler and up
• Socks—all sizes and varieties
• Sports bras—women and teen sizes

Dear St. Philip the Deacon friends,

You may remember that last year St. Philip the Deacon moved to new online calendar and registration systems. Thanks to our talented staff, that transition was smooth and seamless, and these new systems have created important efficiencies for our members and our staff over the last few months.

The final step in this process—which we have been working on behind the scenes for the last couple of months—has been to move our online giving platform to this same new system. As with the calendaring and registration modules, this new platform will be both easier and more straightforward for our members to use, and will also create important efficiencies and process improvements.

These new changes are live effective today, and we encourage you to check out the new on-line giving page here.

If you have set up recurring giving using our old system, we will be in touch with you again in the next week or so to walk you through how to move your recurring giving to the new system. Note that until you move your giving over to the new system, your giving will remain unchanged.

As always, we are grateful for your partnership in the gospel at St. Philip the Deacon, and give thanks for your faithful generosity. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly at twestermeyer@spdlc.org, or to our finance team at finance@spdlc.org.

Gratefully,
Tim Westermeyer
Senior Pastor, St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church

Dear Friends of St. Philip the Deacon,

We write to invite you to attend one of two special Estate Planning Workshops sponsored by the St. Philip the Deacon Foundation on Tuesday, April 14. The event will be held from 1–2:30 p.m., or from 6:30–8 p.m. Both events are identical, there is no registration or cost to attend, and anyone is welcome.

The sessions will be led by three experts in Estate Planning, each of whom is also deeply committed to the Lutheran tradition:

• Joe Sullivan: Regional Gift Planner for the ELCA Foundation, based in the Twin Cities. Through his work with the ELCA Foundation, Joe provides individual donors with confidential, free consultation on a wide variety of charitable giving options.
• Jason Watt: Senior Manager at DAFgiving360, a national provider of charitable solutions, specializing in donor-advised funds. A licensed attorney and CPA, he has dedicated much of his career to helping donors support Lutheran ministries.
• Kimberly Gray: Estate Planning Attorney for her own practice, representing clients in estate planning, probate and trust administration, real estate transactions, and planning for long-term care.

These experts will help attendees more fully understand the fundamentals of estate planning, how to most efficiently gift assets, and the benefits of establishing charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts. They will also be able to respond to whatever questions about estate planning you may have.

The St. Philip the Deacon Foundation exists to augment and expand the mission and ministry of St. Philip the Deacon. It does this not only by receiving and managing assets to benefit the congregation—now totaling more than $1 million—but also by offering periodic educational events like this one.

We hope you will join us for one of these free sessions. If you have questions we invite you to reach out to Pastor Westermeyer at twestermeyer@spdlc.org or foundation@spdlc.org.

Blessings,                                                                                  

Tim Westermeyer, Senior Pastor, St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church
Jason Bixby, President of the Board, St. Philip the Deacon Foundation

Dear St. Philip the Deacon Friends,

After careful consideration of the weather forecast for this weekend, we have made the decision to cancel our Sunday morning services tomorrow.

This is a highly unusual action for us, but given the expected levels of snowfall, high winds and dangerous travel conditions, we feel it is best not to put our staff, volunteers and members at risk by attempting to get to church in the morning.

Please note: We ARE holding our Saturday evening service tonight as usual at 5 p.m., and will record this service so we can rebroadcast it on Sunday morning at our usual livestream time of 9:30 a.m. Please join us for worship this evening in person if you can.

We hope that we are communicating this decision early enough for this message to get to everyone connected to the congregation, and we encourage you to share this news with others so they are aware of these plans.

For our families who were planning to celebrate First Communion tomorrow, we will work to get that rescheduled soon, and we invite the congregation to keep these young people in your prayers as they prepare for this important step in their faith journey.

Be safe this weekend, and God Bless,

Tim