THANK YOU from Pastor Melissa Melnick Gonzalez of Tapestry Church in Richfield

On December 16, 2023, members and friends from St. Stephen volunteered at Tapestry's annual Santa Day to help families select and wrap donated presents. Pastor Melissa shared "grateful and heartfelt" feedback from her congregation, including the following email:

Good afternoon,

We just left event, and I cannot begin to tell you how amazing that was and how blessed I felt. I took my daughter and she was able to get presents for her dad brother and uncle that mean the world to her but that would definitely not in budget. But what I absolutely loved and just filled my heart was taking my nephew. My sister's a single mom and very proud so she doesn't often ask for help.... Well my nephew was able to get presents for all the special people in his life acquired food, found shoes and a sweater that fit him which he proceeded to put on immediately. They both got beautiful quilts for their beds. The volunteers were absolutely amazing my nephew is a talker and he chatted their ear away, my daughter loves crafts and she absolutely had the best time. My heart was just exploding though to hear their excitement over the gifts that they purchased and chose out for each unique family member.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 

St. Stephen appreciates everyone who volunteered their time at this event -- you have made such a difference in these lives!

Donate gift cards to Oasis for Youth this January!

Oasis can help youth experiencing instability this winter with donated Target and Cub Foods gift cards in any amount. St. Stephen will collect gift cards and deliver them at the end of the month.

Please drop off at the church office or welcome desk. Thank you for supporting this community!

Adapted from Women of the ELCA "Daily Grace" blog for January 1, 2024

For many of us, January is a time for reflection.

We can never predict what the Holy Spirit will do in our lives

or in the life of our beloved community.

But we can name what we hope the Spirit will bring about in the next year

for each and all of us.

Healing for all our ills and comfort for all our sorrows.

Good fruits like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Paul's letter to the Galatians 5:22).

And we can know that the Holy Spirit will continue making us all anew.

Amen.

Through the resources shared in this email, St. Stephen Lutheran Church is helping build Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s global vision of a beloved community "in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth." St. Stephen strives with “an all-inclusive spirit” toward a beloved community where “love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred.”