Good Samaritan News
Message from Bishop Plambeck
Please join Bishop Lanette Plambeck in lamenting the unspeakable violence on June 14, and praying fervently for all involved. Read her pastoral letter here.
Minnesota Annual Conference 2025
This year’s session of the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, “Created to Love Boldly”, took place last week in St. Cloud. Pastor Max, Pastor Jim, and Jan attended, along with Brian Boysen as our delegate. Information, videos, and other resources from the session can be found here.
All Church Conference June 22
Our June All Church Conference congregational meeting will be Sunday, June 22, following worship in the sanctuary for approval of the lay leadership list for the 2025/26 program year.
Serve a Meal at Simpson Housing Services
Sunday evening, July 27. Breakfast for Dinner! Ages 14 and up can volunteer. If you would like to help, please email jan@good.org.
Peace Garden Conversations Continue
Join Pastor Jim this summer in Good Samaritan’s beautiful Peace Garden for a short time of reflection and guided conversations on sabbath renewal. Pastor Jim will share a thought-of-the-day, open up space for easy sharing, and close off each time with a simple prayer. Like clusters of day lilies, irises, and bleeding hearts, these conversations will be strewn across the landscape of the summer months, occurring twice monthly from June to September; these peace-filled times will take place for approximately 30 minutes after worship on Sunday mornings. Adjustments will be made, of course, whenever inclement weather occurs. No need to pre-register – everyone will be welcomed as a drop-in guest! Pastor Jim is also willing to facilitate other times, dates, and locations for any group of seven or more; contact him directly to check out availability.
Upcoming Dates (may change): June 22, July 6, July 13, August 3, August 24, September 14, September 21
ASP Mission Trip Gas Can Fundraiser
Help us fill the tanks of the 7 vans going to Kentucky! The gas can will be in the narthex for you to drop cash or check into on June 22, June 29 and July 6.
June is Pride Month and Twin Cities PRIDE
will take place June 28 and 29
PRIDE is an opportunity for LGBTQIA+ persons to celebrate their true selves and for their allies to celebrate with them. As part of Minnesota Reconciling Congregations, we can help make this another great PRIDE celebration!
How can you help? You can help staff a booth in Loring Park to let attendees know that there is a place for them in United Methodist congregations. Jobs are available for both introverts and extroverts! And you can march in the parade with other members of the Minnesota Reconciling Congregations on Sunday.
Sign up at ttsu.me/hnhbvz. Contact Brian Boyson at bteambackup@earthlink.net with questions. Pastor Max will be at the booth on Saturday, June 28, from 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Outdoor worship
Mark your calendars for two fun-filled outdoor services featuring our house band Homeward Bound: July 27 and August 24. Weather permitting, we will be in the outdoor amphitheater.
The Peace Garden needs your help!
The Peace Garden and the East Entry Garden are willing to trade some light gardening (weeding and deadheading) for some quality summertime enjoyment of nature out-of-doors! Do it solo or bring a work buddy for company. People sign up for one week—Thursday through the following Wednesday — and you work at your own pace and schedule. We will show you what needs to be done at the beginning of the week and will help you locate tools if you need them. To sign up, please do so in the Narthex on Sunday or contact Mary Lach (mary@marylach.com). You may also contact Mary or Steve Schultz (shschultz5@hotmail.com) for more information.
Vacation Bible Camp
Vacation Bible Camp is coming up - June 23-27!
We need some more help and supplies.
We still need donations of snacks and other items, so please visit https://tinyurl.com/
Feed My Starving Children Food Packing
Join the group next Wednesday, June 11, 9:30-11:15 a.m. and/or Friday, June 27, 5:00-6:30 p.m. (note new date and time for Friday) at the Chanhassen site – 18932 Lake Dr E. Sign up with Jane Heimerl by two days ahead – jane.heimerl@yahoo.com.
Take a Hike: Revisited
Last summer, a series of ten meditations (each 8-10 minutes in length) was created by Pastor Jim Beard and Christian Nielsen which could be used to enrich your outdoor times with God. They remain available on the Good Samaritan YouTube site and may be tapped onto once again. Immerse yourself in God’s wonderful creation and let these devotional pieces center your senses on the wonders which are all around you. Access the entire playlist at www.tinyurl.com/GSHikePlaylist
Home Restoration with Volunteer Help
The Good Samaritan Hearts & Hammers Program Day is Saturday, September 6. It’s not too soon to sign up now and put this on your calendars!
The Hearts & Hammers mission is to provide exterior home improvement for senior citizens, disabled individuals, and veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces or their surviving spouse so that they may continue living independently. Home improvements are limited to exterior painting and minor repairs. The purpose is to restore the character of a home and improve a home’s weatherproofing and security. It consists primarily of exterior home and garage preparation, scaping, priming, painting and landscape renewal.
Good Samaritan’s 2024 Crew
How can you help? There are volunteer op- portunities before and on our program day. This is a great opportunity to invite friends and family members to participate! Many volunteers help to make a schedule that works for everyone. And there is work for all skill levels!
We need folks to assist with repair and prep work before our program day. Volunteers on September 6 can sign up for all or part of the day to scrape, prime and paint. Volun- teers for landscape work are important to
enhance the appearance of the finished project. We also need volunteers to serve lunch to the workers on the program day.
How to sign up: Please contact Brian Boysen (952) 937-0624 or 612-220-3795 or email bteamback- up@earthlink.net. Let him know your work preference – repair work, program day prep
and painting, landscaping or lunch service.
Toolbox Brigade!
We are recruiting people for the Toolbox Brigade, which has been able to save our church significant money. We do minor repairs, painting, and staining. There are also jobs for those of us who have not learned those skills but are willing to do small jobs like oiling doors, cleaning stains off tables, and removing sticky tape residue around the church. JoAnn Knutson will be in the Narthex this Sunday, hoping to get your assistance with either group. Or contact her at joannknutson@hotmail.com.
Thursday Afternoon Book Club
Good Samaritan is now on BlueSky!
We’re continuing to grow our social media footprint. BlueSky is a new social media space with a strong Progressive Christian presence. They’re also considered by many to be a more ethical alternative to existing social media platforms. If you're on BlueSky, please consider following us here.
Optimal Online Worship Experience is on the Good.org
“Watch & Listen” page or YouTube
We’re continuing to have challenges with Facebook and online worship. They are often mistakenly muting music due to copyright issues. This happens when Facebook’s AI mistakes original recordings for commercially available recordings. This is not an issue on our Good Samaritan YouTube Channel, which features music, prayers, Time with Children segments, visual meditations, and sermons. You can also watch on our Good.org “Watch & Listen” page.
Special News for Youth and Families
BFF – Building Faithful Families! We all have such crazy schedules. Making it to church can sometimes be difficult. To help you build your family’s faith, each month we will have a new resource for you to try at home with your family. These resources don’t need a theology degree, just a desire to be come closer as a family and to strengthen your family’s spirituality. January is all about setting your intentions for 2025. You can pick up these resources at the welcome desk in the Narthex or Jan can email them to you! Let her know at jan@good.org if you would like a copy.
Online Readers Wanted
We want to extend an invitation to those who participate in Online Worship to be readers, especially for those who are not able to come to our in-person services. If you’re in the local area, we would be happy to come to you to record. If you are distant, we can find a way to help you record. We may even include the recording during In-Person Worship as well. Please reach out to christian@good.org if you would like to participate in worship remotely. You don’t have to be the perfect reader to be a part of worship.
Sanctuary Camera System Training
Training is still available for our sanctuary camera systems for Recording and Live streaming. If operating our built-in sanctuary cameras seems too much, there is also training available for our free-standing cameras, which we use in creating Online Worship, and we could use your help. Please contact Chrisitan Nielsen at christian@good.org to learn more or to sign up.
Let the Play Begin!
The Good Sam Pickleball Club invites interested adult Good Samaritan members to join in the newly added introduction/beginners pickleball sessions. The sessions will be held in the church Gym each Saturday from 10:00-11:00 a.m. No previous experience is necessary. Paddle equipment will be available. Regular pickleball play time is Mondays and Thursdays from 3:15 to 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 11:00a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Registration is required for ANY/ALL sessions. Registration forms are available outside the church office or at the Gym.
Memorial Service Help
We are looking for people who are interested in occasionally helping with memorial services held at Good Samaritan. This is something we used to do years ago and are exploring restarting it. The areas we could use help with are baking cookies, making coffee, washing tablecloths, and coordinating. You would be contacted when a memorial service is planned at Good Samaritan where the bereaved would appreciate cookies and bars provided by the church. If you are interested in being on the list, please contact Kathy Clark at kjcclark@icloud.com. Thank you for your time.
Chancel Chimes Needs You!
Chancel Chimes handbell ensemble is looking for new members. If you are interested in ringing handbells or even just trying them, now is the time. Rehearsals are on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:15 pm and we participate in worship approximately once a month. The ability to read music and a can-do attitude are helpful. Contact Kate Graber, kate@good.org, for details. The Bell Room 153 is on the lower level in the Music Wing..
Online Worship on SW Community Television!
Our Online Worship is now on Southwest Community Television, accessible to cable subscribers in Edina and surrounding communities on Channel 15 (Standard Definition) 799 (High Definition). Having our worship on cable will make it more accessible for those with limited technology access or knowledge and we hope it will increase our visibility in the area. Online Worship will also be available on demand from their website http://edinamn.gov/swtv and through their “Cablecast” streaming app for iPhone, Android, Apple TV, Roku and Fire TV users. Our schedule on channel 15 & 799 is:
- Wednesdays 7:30-8:30 pm
- Fridays 9-10 am
- Saturdays 7 - 8 pm
- Sundays 10 am (airs one week behind due to our production schedule)
Help Beautify our Worship
Our altar flower signup sheet for Sunday morning worship is looking very empty. Consider signing up! You can acknowledge an anniversary, honor someone, or provide flowers just because! There are several ways to provide flowers for the altar for all different budgets, including:
- Have Cindy in the office order an arrangement from Bachman’s for a cost of $65 (or more for a larger arrangement).
- To avoid the $18 delivery fee, order your own arrangement and pick it up yourself.
- Grab a bouquet from your local grocery store (Trader Joe’s has a great selection for lower cost) or farmers market (Fulton Farmers Market meets at Lake Harriet UMC on Saturday mornings).
- Cut flowers and foliage from your own yard.
When you sign up on the Altar Flowers chart on the Narthex kiosk, Cindy will be in touch with you to discuss what you would like to do. Contact her with questions - cindy@good.org or 952-929-0049.