Welcome to Incarnation!
If you are new to Incarnation or you want to learn more about Incarnation ministries, please complete this online form we’ll use to connect you to a ministry leader according to your interests.
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Worship LivestreamingWe will be livestreaming to Incarnation’s Facebook account for now, but will update you should platforms change. If you can’t worship during these times, don’t worry. The videos will be available after the livestream ends. (Please note it may take a few hours for the service to be uploaded to Vimeo and Youtube after the livestream ends.)
Livestreaming Schedule: May 2 – 8:45a & 10:15a | May 9 – 8:45a & 10:15a | May 16 – 8:45a & 10:15a | May 23 – 8:45a & 10:15a | May 30 – 8:45a & 10:15a
If you are having trouble joining the livestream, please contact Erin Thorstad, Director of Communications.
Easter begins our new sermon series “After . . .” Click here to download the “After . . .” resource guide.
TODAY is Offering of Letters Sunday
This is Incarnation’s emphasis Sunday for the Bread for the World Offering of Letters. Check out the Incarnation website to find everything you will need to be in contact with Minnesota U.S. Senators and Representatives asking them to work specifically for hungry children/families in our country as well as those around the world who do not have enough to provide sufficient nutrition for daily life.
Please join Incarnation’s Hunger Awareness and Advocacy Group and write – – or text, email or phone – – to make that important connection with those in our government who can make changes much larger and far-reaching than those we make when we donate to our local food shelf. Important as our community is, the country and the world are waiting for us to speak up, too.
If your life is busy today, do it tomorrow or the day after. We will all benefit when our society and world is a better place, a place of hope for the future for all.
Feed My Starving Children MobilePack Trial Event Results
After months of very careful planning and preparation, FMSC and Incarnation together hosted a safe and effective MobilePack Event Friday and yesterday. Here are the results:
Meals packed: 85,536
Kids fed for a year: 234
Number of Volunteers: 298
COVID cases: NONE!
Thanks to everyone who supported this experience whether as a volunteer, a financial supporter or someone who prayed for its success. This work couldn’t be done without your partnership. Also, mark your calendars for the last weekend of October 2021 when Incarnation will host its own All Hands on Hope FMSC MobilePack Event!
16th Annual Every Family Needs a Home Virtual Breakfast for Solid Ground Every Family Needs a Home is an inspiring morning of community and philanthropy. The 45-minute, virtual event on May 5 at 8:00 a.m. is free to attend; register directly here. Guests will join via Zoom to learn more about the great work Solid Ground is doing and explore the various ways you can contribute to this worthy cause of helping families end the cycle of homelessness.
This year’s program will include a keynote address by Stephanie Land, bestselling author of the memoire, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive, a personal testimonial from a Solid Ground participant, and a call for giving.
Quilts on Display for Mother’s Day
On May 9, Mother’s Day, quilts assembled by the Incarnation Quilting Women will be on display. The majority of quilts will be given to Global Health Ministries for distribution to ELCA hospitals around the world. Quilts are also donated to Life Haven, Gillette Children’s Hospital, Habitat for Humanity and other church and community outreach efforts.
Quilts will be available for purchase and proceeds used to buy materials such as batting and fabric for backing. Contact a Quilter at the Information Desk for assistance after the service or contact Amy Martell in the Incarnation Office to put you in touch with a Quilter either May 10 or 11. Quilts will be packed and distributed May 12.
The Quilters are grateful for donated quilting fabric, solid colored sheets and any volunteer help whether for one hour or a few days at home or at church. The group meets for fellowship and work the 2nd and 3rd Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. in Grace Hall year round. New volunteers are always welcome.
Self-care and Pampering Items for the Residents and Staff of LifeHaven
The Derek Chauvin trial as well as other trials related to the death of George Floyd, retrigger some trauma for the community of LifeHaven. This coupled with an already challenging lifestyle of online schooling, homework and child raising with no volunteer childcare support available due to the pandemic, means it’s a great time to offer both the residents and staff of LifeHaven a little extra care and love. Fun food, self-care and pampering wish list items are detailed here as well as ways to drop off donations at the LifeHaven house. Contact Katie Nichol, LifeHaven Program Manager with questions.
Incarnation Office Project: New Carpets
Due to new carpets being installed, the Incarnation Office will be closed to foot traffic Thursday, May 6 through Thursday, May 13. Office staff will be available by phone during normal office hours (Monday – Thursday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and Sunday 8 – 11 a.m.) but are not having guests in the office space during this construction window. Any groups that are scheduled to meet in the building during this time are still able to do so.
Another Kind of Happy Hour
Another Kind of Happy Hour is a workshop designed to help increase the capacities within each of us to flourish in our lives and is based in scientific research and intersects with faith-based practices. It includes understanding what positive emotions are and how to cultivate them, optimism as a skill we learn, the importance of practicing gratitude, learning about our character strengths and how we use them to be more engaged in life, identifying and defining our meaning in life, and skills to make us better at all kinds of relationships. There will be a spring session and a fall session facilitated over Zoom. The spring session has two dates, May 20 from 6 – 8 p.m. and June 17 from 6 – 8 p.m., with the same content, so you only need to attend the date most convenient for you. Click here for more information and to register.
Vacation Bible School (VBS) Volunteers Needed!Help support youth make friends, have fun and deepen their faith by being a Vacation Bible School Volunteer. Click here to tell us which VBS Training you would like to sign up for. Training will be on either June 16 or 20.
Summer Student Interns
Supported by the Endowment Team, Incarnation is seeking summer student interns for a six to eight week pilot project in leadership development. The participants need to be at least 18 years old or older and the internships will be 20 hours per week. There are two categories of interns who will be considered: 1) People, inside our community or community extended, who may be thinking about a career in public ministry. 2) People, inside our community or community extended, who have specific skills that can push us forward in a targeted ministry area. As Incarnation has just started to journey into livestreaming, an intern with skills directly relating to livestreaming would be of particular interest, but candidates with other goals will be considered. Click here to read more about the Summer Student Intern program.
Thank you for Serving Solid Ground and Congratulations to Gil Hartley, 2020 Volunteer of the Year!
Each year at Solid Ground, hundreds of volunteers come together in support of Solid Ground families as they transition out of homelessness and into more fulfilling lives–and 2020 was no exception. Although programs looked different this past year, Solid Ground volunteers gave their community much to celebrate and be thankful for, and Incarnation people were a large part of the volunteer base. Here’s a video recap of what Solid Ground was able to accomplish in 2020 thanks to their volunteers and supporters. Also, congratulations to Incarnation’s own Gil Hartley who was named a Solid Ground 2020 Volunteer of the Year!
St Paul Area Synod Invitation: The Road Toward Racial Justice This specific initiative to which all of the St Paul Area Synod are invited is called The Road Toward Racial Justice. It is not a packaged program, led by one committee or group of leaders. Instead, it is a commitment to the lifelong work of better understanding and addressing the systems of racism and white privilege that shape attitudes, perspectives and relationships within our households and faith communities, and diminish our national and global work as a church. The power of Christ’s resurrection gives us the courage to examine our own lives and institutions today, trusting that a Living God is leading us toward justice and equity for all the beloved children of God. We are all invited to commit ourselves to this journey with other persons in the Saint Paul Area Synod. Learn more and make your commitment here.
Resuming In-Person WorshipAttend in-person services at 8:45 a.m. (Traditional) and 10:15 a.m. (Contemporary). For social distancing, the number allowed in each space will be limited. Call 651-484-7213 or email Amy Martell to register. You may also just show up (doors will be open 20 minutes before service time). When you come to worship, you will check in and proceed to the worship area. Masks are required for attendance and extra masks will be available if needed. If you aren’t feeling well, we encourage you to stay home and view worship online. Children are always welcome in worship and there are activity bags you can take with you when you leave.