• 9:30am
• St. Paul’s-Duluth
• 1710 E. Superior Street (use Greysolon Street entrance)
• 218-724-3535 to register

This individual provides primary executive administrative support to the Bishop. A description of the position and its responsibilities as well as the desired skills, abilities, experience and background is below, or you may download it as a .doc here.

Please submit your resume with a cover letter by May 31, 2013 to positionopening@episcopalmn.org or to:

Episcopal Church in Minnesota
Attn: Position Opening
1730 Clifton Place, Suite 201
Minneapolis, MN 55403.

Thank you for your interest; we look forward to reading your submissions.

Summary of Position:

The Missioner for the Bishop is a full-time position in the bishop’s office of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. This individual provides primary executive administrative support to the Bishop and secondary support to other Missioners on the Bishop’s team.

Reports to:

Bishop

Work Environment:

This position requires a strong team player who is aware of the role the episcopate plays in maintaining the strength and vitality of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota.  S/he must be able to effectively communicate and interact with a broad range of individuals and constituencies. This individual must be committed to supporting the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota in all dimensions of the job including some flexibility with personal work schedule to accommodate the needs of the Bishop and for special events and conferences.

Essential Duties and Areas of Responsibility:

• Coordinates and schedules Bishop’s calendar and visitation schedules
• Prepares information for Bishop
• Makes all travel arrangements for Bishop
• Produces and disseminates Bishop’s correspondence
• Assists Missioner for Ministry with tracking and filing for Holy Orders
• Provides other administrative support, as needed

Qualifications/Specific Skills:

• Ability to manage, organize, and handle details with accuracy and efficiency
• Ability to hold absolute confidentiality
• Effective oral and written communication skills
• Establish and maintain professional working relationships with a wide variety of individuals
• Proficiency in a wide range of technologies (especially communications platforms, e.g., texting, Skype, etc.), Microsoft Office, social media and other data management programs
• Familiarity with or willingness to learn Episcopal Church structure and language
• Collaborative work style
• Ability to multitask and be responsible for several projects simultaneously

Experience and Education:

• College degree preferred
• Technical proficiency with office systems and software
• 5+ years of experience in administrative work

Benefits and Compensation:

• Salary commensurate with experience
• Full employee benefit package available, including medical, dental, pension, and paid time off

 Note:  The above statement reflects the qualifications, duties and/or responsibilities necessary to describe the position in general terms and cannot possibly set forth every task and expectation of the position. The Episcopal Church in Minnesota seeks to challenge every staff member to make full use of their gifts for service as individuals, and to achieve synergies as a team.

Every May, the upper grades engage God’s mission in the May Program: a World Religion course for 9th graders, and an internship and community service program for 11th and 12th graders.

This spring, Kenyan farmers have been walking their fields, planting seeds.

The money to provide these seeds came from pizza sales in Duluth and dinners in the Twin Cities. Youth sold truffles and seed art, and adults wrote checks after hearing the stories of Mission Project 2013: Seeds & Scholarships.

Faith communities in Minnesota collected nearly $40,000, half sent immediately after Easter to provide seed money for the current planting season. The other half will be used for scholarships for the next school year, which starts in January.

“Thank you so very much,” wrote the Rev. Paul Korir from the Anglican Diocese of Eldoret in Kenya. “We are forever grateful for your love and care for our people. The Bishop and all of us have greeted this good news with joy.”

It’s a story about giving, and what that means to neighbors in Kenya.  And it’s a story about relationships, whether learning about new friends in Kenya or strengthening existing friendships in faith communities here in Minnesota.

“I’m really grateful for people’s giving, but also for the relationships they are building,” said Bishop Brian Prior. “They are learning about the world’s needs and becoming aware of how they can use their gifts to address them.”

How do we define our neighbor?

It’s a familiar Biblical phrase: love your neighbor as yourself.  And for the leadership team for Mission Project 2013, this was a chance to empower others to live that out.

“This was an opportunity for all of us to live out God’s call to love our neighbor as ourselves, no matter who that neighbor is or where they are located,” said Eileen Harvala, part of the leadership team for Mission Project 2013. “It’s about embracing whoever that neighbor may be.”

The Mama Ada Foundation was formed several years ago after Mama Ada visited St. David’s Episcopal Church in Minnetonka. Her stories of children orphaned by AIDS and farmers without seeds resonated with that faith community. The foundation grew out of that relationship, and many visits with partners in Kenya.

“Ultimately, it’s about relationships,” said Bishop Prior. “We are building relationships afar, and strengthening relationships with those folks around us. And we are also strengthening the relationships with the people in sub-Saharan Africa who work with us. Those relationships are one of the great outcomes of our mission projects.”

“A whole community of people got involved”

Donations from faith communities who participated ranged from a single scholarship of $250 to more than $10,000 from St. Mark’s Cathedral in Minneapolis.

“What I really appreciate is the creativity in which faith communities engaged with this,” said Bishop Prior. “I’ve seen charts that track the money coming in by how many scholarships and crops it would provide, and beautiful displays put together by someone in that faith community who did a lot of their own research. Every faith community brought their own stuff to it, and it was uniquely theirs.”

At St. Mark’s Cathedral, it was a broad effort among dozens of people, said deacon Patrick Markie.

“We were really fortunate that the whole faith community got involved,” he said. “A whole community of people got involved, had ideas and wanted to do things.”

Boxes labeled “Coins for Kenya” were filled by youth and adults at St. Mark’s, he said. A Kenyan art and food festival brought in more donations. The Cathedral Book Store sold fair trade items and pledged half of the proceeds to The Mama Ada Foundation. And the Easter offering, which is normally pledged to outreach ministries, collected about $12,000, with half going to MP2013 and half to local food ministries.

And the opportunity to educate members about Kenya was a key component, as well, Markie said.

Two teenagers from St. David’s Episcopal Church came to speak to the youth groups at St. Mark’s about their visit to Kenya with The Mama Ada Foundation. Another member of St. Mark’s who had been to Kenya spoke at a forum for adults on a Sunday morning. People from St. David’s came to speak at the Cathedral as well.

“And all this really came from people who said, ‘I want to do this’ and ‘I can do that,’” Markie said. “A lot of people got really excited about this.”

An invitation to participate

Mission Projects in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota are an invitation, Bishop Prior said.

“It’s always an invitation or an opportunity,” he said. “In some cases, in some faith communities, it may become sustainable for them, where they became aware of Nets for Life a few years ago and are passionate about that and continue with that.”

At St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Bemidji, that faith community chose to support The Mama Ada Foundation during Lent, but also continue with other outreach projects as well. In the first quarter of 2013, St. Bart’s has raised more than $7,000 for outreach, and contributed about $1,200 of that to MP2013.

“We announced the projects every Sunday and the money poured in,” said deacon Don Conner, who leads outreach efforts there. “It’s just part of who we are. We weren’t really surprised.”

The faith community chose to add The Mama Ada Foundation to its other outreach efforts, which include support of food ministries in Bemidji and money sent to a member of St. Bart’s who is serving in the Peace Corps in Namibia. The faith community also reached out to the broader community through a newspaper article in the Bemidji Pioneer.

“We don’t think much about it or talk about it too much,” he said. “We do things and make it happen.”

The next step

As youth at St. Paul’s in Duluth were raising money by selling home-made pizzas and truffles, Sunday School leader Beth Fait thought about how to help them make a connection to the people they were helping in Kenya.

“I teach online, that’s my career, and that’s just my mindset” she said, “What I thought is that it would be really cool to connect by Skype and talk to a student.”

Because of school schedules in Minnesota and Kenya, that connection will hopefully take place next fall, Fait said.

“Why wouldn’t we hook up that way?” she asked. “It would be great to learn more about other people and their lives. I value that as an educator and a parent. I just love when you can expand your horizons and learn about others.”

Pictured: (L to R): Marvin Plakut (President & CEO, Episcopal Homes of MN), Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, City Council Member Russ Stark, George Latimer (former Saint Paul mayor and future resident of The Terrace at Iris Park), The Rt. Rev. Brian N. Prior, Bette Ashcroft (Chair Episcopal Homes Board of Trustees), and Paul Woxland (HUD).

With seven stories and more than 180,000 square feet of senior housing, community amenities and retail space, Midway Village represents the largest investment to date along the light rail line. It will be located on the corner of University Avenue West and East Lynnhurst Avenue, the site formerly occupied by the historic Porky’s Drive In. The project, expected to open in fall 2014, is the fifth facility on the headquarters campus of Episcopal Homes, a nonprofit provider of senior housing in St. Paul since 1894.

“Episcopal Homes has consistently demonstrated their love of the City of Saint Paul and their faith in the future of Saint Paul, so to see them expanding on University Avenue is a great testament to not only their vision of their service network, but also their vision for the City of Saint Paul, which includes vibrant places for seniors to live,” said Mayor Coleman.

“Midway Village will be a different kind of landmark, representing the latest thinking about senior living,” said Plakut of Episcopal Homes. “Our location on the Central Corridor Light Rail will provide unprecedented mobility for our residents. It will allow them to embrace life more fully than ever before.”

Funding for the project includes an $8 million grant for affordable housing through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Additionally, through Episcopal Homes’ Capital Campaign, private philanthropic dollars will secure a line of credit and the issuance of tax exempt bonds to secure immediate funding. The ongoing Capital Campaign, the HUD grant, and funding from the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, the Metropolitan Council, and the City of Saint Paul secures this $45 million project.

The Midway Village complex will house three distinct residences:

The Terrace at Iris Park includes 63 “catered living” apartments with studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom designs where residents can expect to age in place, catering to their needs as they evolve over time. Amenities will include morning and evening meals, light housekeeping, a warm water therapy pool and fitness center, private rooftop garden spaces, a private community room, and a private activity room.

Episcopal Church Home – The Gardens will be the first long-term care residence in Minnesota to offer the Green House Model of Care, which mirrors the experience of living in a private home with family caregivers. Six distinct Green House homes will include a private room and bath for 10 residents, which surround the central living, dining and activity spaces. Learn more about the Green House Model of Care at thegreenhouseproject.org.

Midway Pointe will be Episcopal Homes’ fourth HUD 202 Independent Living residence for low-income seniors with 50 one-bedroom apartments built to the same high standards as all Episcopal Homes residences. “We believe that limited income needn’t mean limited quality of life,” says Plakut. “The proof is in the pudding – all of our current HUD 202 residences were full with waiting lists the day they opened.”

At street level beneath these three new residences will be an indoor Village Plaza accessible to all residents of Episcopal Homes. It will feature a two-story winter garden, warm water therapy pool, fitness center, business center, hair salon, village market, deli, pub room, theater, community rooms, concierge service, and access to a private greenway. An onsite day care center will serve neighborhood children and provide a rewarding intergenerational experience for the kids and resident volunteers alike.

Over the past 12 years, Episcopal Homes has invested more than $80 million in University Avenue, with its Carty Heights and Kings Crossing senior housing developments, Plakut noted.

But this represents its largest undertaking to date, he said, adding: “When we open our doors, Midway Village will represent the first five-star urban village for seniors on the Central Corridor Light Rail Line.”

• Christ Church is located at 520 Pokegama Ave, Grand Rapids, MN
• Gospel-based Discipleship, mission, ministry, and management presentations, including:
• Treasurer’s report
• Proposed Mission Area 2013  Calendar
• School for Formation
• Lifelong learning for Clergy
• Commission on Mission
• Planning for fall MAG, visits by Bishop Prior
• Missional report
• Discussion regarding Cultivating the Missional Church, by Randolph C. Ferebee

• Under the Called to Common Mission between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America  and the The Episcopal Church
• Officiating: Pastor  Larry Wohlrabe, ELCA Bishop of Northwestern Minnesota Synod and
  The Rev. Canon Sandi Holmberg, The Episcopal Church of Minnesota
• St. James Episcopal Church: 321 South Lakeside Drive, Fergus Falls, MN
• This will be a Celebration with a Eucharistic Service followed by fellowship with a meal.
• Please RSVP by email or phone call to the church office
  stjames@prtel.com or 218-736-6736
• For more info:  http://stjamesepiscopal.net/

• St. Paul’s, Le Center: 181 Lexington Ave, Le Center, MN
• Bishop Prior will preside at thes ervice, and then deconsecrate the building
• During and after the service there will be time to celebrate memories of important events, times and ministries from the history of St. Paul’s.
• Your prayers are much appreciated.
• Please join St. Paul’s for this farewell service if you can.