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June 21, 2022
From Pastor Kai Nilsen
Though today, June 21, is the official start of summer, the rhythms of summer are already in full swing. Schools officially broke for the summer. The warm days and cool nights of the past few weeks were welcome reminders of why we live in Minnesota even after the seemingly never-ending winter. The combustible energy of Vacation Bible School. The withering heat this week. The working for the lake-weekend rhythm of Minnesota summer has commenced for many. The rhythms of summer are in full swing.
Early in my ministry, I thought of summer as “down” time. A chance to breathe, vacation with the family, and make preparations for the fall. I can’t remember when it changed, but it did. Yes, it’s a different rhythm than in the fall through spring. But it’s a rhythm that connects with people in new ways and gives us a chance to highlight ministry in a new light.
This week we welcome 200 kids and volunteers for Vacation Bible School. Throughout July we will launch our yearly Tons of Love campaign to support our work with Ralph Reeder Food Shelf. At the end of July, Feed My Starving Children will host a weekend pack that will give our community, through these two initiatives, an opportunity to serve, financially give, and give tangible food items so that those who are food insecure, locally, and globally, will have access to nutritious meals. In August, our teens will engage in their yearly Summer Stretch and ministry plans will be finalized to launch another season in the fall.
On top of all that, we just crossed over the halfway mark on our giving for the water intrusion project and parking lot. More than $270,000 has been given or committed. Time is of the essence to get these done this summer. If you are able to give now, please do so. If you plan on giving but it may come in over the next few months, just let us know so we can be confident moving forward with these projects. Thank you for your commitment!
Are you getting a sense of the abundance of our common work this summer? As a reminder to all of you, no matter what your summer rhythm, these ministry rhythms will continue and will need your bodies and your energy to do the onsite work and your financial support to make it happen.
Three asks:
- Give consistently and generously this summer. As a congregation, we voted on a 7% increase to our budget in 2022. As you can see from our income/expense lines through May, we will need your attention and ongoing generosity toward the operating budget this summer.
Operating Budget
Income: $805,950 Expense: $869,029 ($63,079)
Mortgage/Deferred Maintenance
Income: $150,651 Expense: $123,740 $26,911
- Give over and above so that we can complete one or both of our proposed capital projects this summer. As a community, we need to take care of the facility that houses much of our ministry.
- Give of your time and energy and money to support our ministry initiatives like Tons of Love, Feed My Starving Children, and ministry to our children and teens.
It’s a different rhythm this summer but we strike it to live out the same vision—At Incarnation we envision “A world filled with God’s grace and love.”
There are many ways for you to be part of that vision this summer! Peace. Kai
June 13, 2022
From Pastor Kai Nilsen
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June 7, 2022
From Pastor Kai Nilsen
In the past two plus years, we have spoken repeatedly about our identity using the language of “a church without walls.” Though it became our only reality during seasons of the Covid pandemic as we gathered on Zoom for our small groups and learning, our worship and community building, the church has always been “a church without walls.” You are the church—in all the places you live and learn, play and pray, hope and help. Your life, as a follower of Jesus, has never been bound by walls it has only been confined by your imagination. Where you are, God is. Where God already is, you are invited to go.
So, we are “a church without walls.” We always have been and always will be.
At the same time, we have walls that surround worship spaces and learning areas and prayer-filled corners and gathering spaces for the community. What happens within those walls can comfort us in times of sorrow and inspire us to new joy. That is critical stuff for the everyday lives that we lead and the motivation that it takes to engage those everyday lives with hope and love. So, we need to care for those walls and spaces—kids learn there, families grow there, adults mature there, community is sent into the world from there.
This summer we hope to care for those walls and spaces by repairing the water intrusion around the windows on the east end of Incarnation Hall and updating the parking lot to provide better access for our handicapped parking. See the end of this article for more specific information about the scope of the projects. Both of these projects are long overdue. It’s now time for us to make this commitment to our present community and our future ministry.
So, how will we fund these projects? The good news so far is that a few members of our community feel so strongly about making these projects happen that they have already given or committed over $200,000, with more to come soon. Since we are all part of this community, there are also ways for all of us to consider being part of our common work.
Using a round number, let’s say the total for both projects is $526,000. We’ve already had $200,000 committed. Since there are over 700 giving individuals or households in this congregation, $450 per household would come very close to covering the cost of the project. Or maybe we can think about it more specifically:
- A full window replacement and repair would cost about $6,000 per window.
- Maybe you are able to pay for the cost of one of the windows for around $1,500.
- You could pay for the approximate cost of the one of the parking spots that will be redone for $2,100.
- You could pay for the painting of some of the new lines at $100 each.
All gifts will be celebrated. We know the giving ability is not the same for each household, but we hope you would consider some level of response. We are always “a church without walls.” At the same time, we need to care for our walls and spaces—kids learn there, families grow there, adults mature there, community is sent into the world from there.
Peace, Kai
May 2, 2022
Last week, I was one of the leaders of a retreat for fifty pastors spanning the denominational spectrum. It was hosted by Renovare’, a cross denominational movement of spiritual formation. I have been connected with this movement for more than 15 years.
At the heart of our living and teaching at Renovare’ are these principles:
- The goal of spiritual formation is for our lives to become more like Jesus’ life.
- The transformative energy behind this lifelong process is the gift of God’s Spirit.
- This Spirit is always available and accessible.
- Spiritual practices (like worship, prayer, giving, serving, acts of compassion and justice, etc.) give us the opportunity to experience this transforming grace in our lives.
- Through this grace and these practices, we CAN become more like Jesus and be co-creators of a more loving world, just as Jesus helped us imagine.
In other words, we want to learn to live and love like Jesus, for a lifetime!
This process doesn’t just happen because we want it to happen or because we periodically dabble in it. The process of life change is life-long, take a great deal of intentionality, and requires a whole lot of patience—qualities in short supply in many of our lives.
It’s also a process that we can’t do alone. We need one another—parents, kids, neighbors, friends, and faith community. We need great writers and faithful witnesses from the past to show us the way. We need loving people in the present to show us that the way is still possible.
In a consumer driven (I want it my way, on my time), quick fix (let’s make it happen now), and individualistic (my needs come first) culture, this hill of spiritual formation is a steep climb. So, we take steps forward, see how it goes, and then step again. Intentional steps. Communal steps. Forward-looking steps.
Last summer as we were beginning to launch our ministry year, we had this formation process in mind. We knew that the experience of one hour a week (if that, for some) wasn’t going to be enough to invite and immerse our kids and parents in this life-long journey. We knew that a Jesus’ life, if we are going to pursue it, needs to be thought about and practiced at home as well as in our faith community. We wanted to create common experiences for our kids and their parents to worship and learn and serve.
We wanted to push against the consumer driven, quick fix, individualistic culture and say, “This Jesus life matters!” If it matters, we need to be willing to invest in it. Spiritual muscles, like bodily muscles, grow through consistent and ever-increasing engagement.
Now that we are at the end of this year of ministry year, we want to take some time and see how it went for those who were involved. The attached survey includes questions about children, youth and family ministries, as well as worship. Please take some time and fill out the questions that apply to you and/or your family. They will help us as we continue to shape and reshape our ministry.
The attached survey will only take a few minutes to complete. We hope you will complete it before May 15.
A phrase I have used often since I have been here is “Jesus didn’t come to help us build bigger and better churches; Jesus came to help us imagine and co-create a better, more loving world.”
Can you imagine being part of that more loving world?
Peace, Kai
April 19, 2022
From Pastor Kai Nilsen(email Pastor Kai directly here)Beauty inspires. Passion inspires. Excellence inspires. The Great Story of Jesus still inspires.
This captures Holy Week at Incarnation. I am so grateful for all the staff and volunteers that came together to create such an inspiring week. The tech team, the worship arts team, the worship teams—including hosts and ushers and communion assistants (on Palm Sunday for the first time in two years!), and the staff all working together to create an environment where the SPIRIT can make its way IN (IN-SPIRIT…INSPIRE) to our lives and we can feel a little more ALIVE.
Thank you.
I want to express a particular word of gratitude to Sean Turner and Amy Maakestad, our primary musicians. Music can lead us into and through the great story of Jesus’ death and resurrection in ways that nothing else can. This week it did.
Working with Sean and Amy I have been impressed by their passion for their work and for this community. They both bring a dedication to expanding our musical repertoire and are deeply embedded in the larger music scene of the Twin Cities—two of the many reasons why they are so well suited to lead us forward in our music ministry.
This week was a great example of what they can do. They told the story with both classic and contemporary music, with musicians from our community and from the larger community, and they told it with beaty and passion and excellence. Thank you, Sean and Amy. We are grateful for your ministry and we look forward to more of it!
This next week will be more of the same. The Senior Choir, along with a choir from Path of Grace Church, the Copper Street Brass, organ and timpani will sing three movements of the Gloria by John Rutter. There will be one service at 10:00am both in-person and livestreamed.
Beauty inspires. Passion inspires. Excellence inspires. The Great Story of Jesus still inspires.
See you in worship as we immerse ourselves in the Easter theme…BE ALIVE!
Peace. Kai
April 11, 2022
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April 4, 2022
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March 28, 2022
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