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.
Livestreaming Schedule
March 19 – 9:00 and 10:30 a.m
All livestreamed worship will be on Vimeo but you don’t need a Vimeo account to view the livestream. The livestream will begin about ten minutes prior to the start of the service so you can make sure you’re able to connect.
The links:
Traditional Service at 9:00 a.m.: Traditional Worship
Contemporary Service at 10:30 a.m.: Contemporary Worship
Lent Worship, March 22: Worship
If you have trouble viewing the livestream, please contact Mike Sell for assistance. If you’re unable to watch live, a recording of the service will be available around an hour after the livestream ends, on Vimeo and Youtube.
Subscribe to the Youtube or Vimeo channel to get notifications of new videos!
Download a PDF of a guide for families worshiping together
Worship Banner
The quilted banner features a cross in shades of purple, the liturgical color for Lent. In antiquity, purple dye was expensive, and only the wealthy could afford it. Purple apparel came to signify power and royalty. Roman soldiers mocked Jesus as “King of the Jews” and dressed him in a purple robe (John 19:2-3) before his crucifixion. Purple, therefore, is a reminder of the true King. In addition to signifying royalty, purple symbolizes repentance and sorrow.
KAIROS Winter/Spring 2023
Sundays, 10:15 a.m. Fireside Room
March 19 and 26: Ecclesial Storytelling
Ecclesial Storytelling is the process of learning new ways to recount the biblical story in a changing cultural context. As an ecclesial storyteller, The Rev. Dr. Joy J. Moore, Luther Seminary professor of Biblical Preaching, offers the world a different story, a story that has impacted every culture that has received it by offering a worldview of hope, honesty, and hospitality.
Dear White Peacemakers: Book Discussion Small Group
Connect with others in a small group to talk about the book, Dear White Peacemakers, by Osheta Moore. Drawing on the Sermon on the Mount, spirituals, and stories from her work as a pastor in St. Paul, Minnesota, Moore invites all enter into the story of shalom and the work of anti-racism peacemaking. The group will take part in discussions on the book, along with a visit to the Science Museum (optional) and/or a service project (optional). Osheta Moore was a guest preacher at Incarnation in 2021. The group will meet once a week, starting in mid-April. Register: nancystutzman@comcast.net. Order the book or find out more at: www.osheta.com. Order the book or find out more at: www.osheta.com.
When: Five Tuesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m., hybrid (attend in person or by Zoom)
All Hands on Hope MobilePackTM
April 26-30, 2023
Register to Pack Today!
The Feed My Starving Children All Hands on Hope MobilePackTM will be held at Incarnation Lutheran Church from April 26-30, 2023. Over five days, we will host over 3,000 volunteers to pack at more than 600,000 meals to feed children all over the world suffering from food insecurity. We are also planning to raise $180,000 to pay for the meals we pack. All this leads to feeding 1,683 hungry kids for one year.
Volunteer is now open. Simply visit our All Hands On Hope web page for all the information you will need. You can register to pack, volunteer as a “Green Shirt”, register for nursery for kids under 5 and find out how you can donate to support the meals we will be packing.
This will be our 16th MobilePack held at Incarnation. Since 2007, we have hosted over 28,000 volunteers who have packed 8 million meals and raised over $1.6 million to combat world hunger. We need your help in many ways to make this year’s MobilePack a success.
Don’t forget: Vounteer. Donate. Pray.
Packing at the FMSC Permanent Site in Coon Rapids!
Packing shifts are available at FMSC in Coon Rapids next week. Last month, a nasty snowstorm prevented many packers from attending one shift and cancelled two others. Let’s fill the packing room next week to make up for Mother Nature’s interruption. There are three shifts reserved for any Incarnation community members and their friends and family to help pack meals to serve God’s kids around the world.
Tuesday, March 21, from 7:00 – 8:45 p.m.
Wednesday, March 22, from 2:00 – 3:45 p.m.
Thursday, March 23, from 4:30 – 6:15 p.m.
All are welcome to join and pack meals! Visit HERE for information and sign-up links.
Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign 2023
Food & Fund Drive to benefit the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf
February 26 – April 4, 2023
The largest grassroots fundraiser and food drive in the state, the Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign brings together various community organizations, businesses, and faith communities to help restock food shelves statewide, including the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf. The Ralph Reeder Food Shelf invited us to participate in the Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign by joining your friends and neighbors in collecting donations.
Your efforts will provide food and other programming and services for over 3000 children, adults and seniors that receive services from the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf each month. Last year alone, the food shelf gave out nearly one million pounds of food and other essentials to our neighbors in need.
You may be asking yourself, “How can we help this year?”
Donate Food – Incarnation will be hosting a month-long food drive targeting the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf’s most needed items at this time. Paper bags with grocery lists will be available at the church starting on Sunday, 2/26/23. Please return the bags to the church no later than Sunday, 4/2/23. The more pounds of food and hygiene items we collect, the larger the bonus Ralph Reeder receives from Minnesota Foodshare. Share what you can!
Donate Funds – We know that there are some folks who may still want to donate money or a combination of food and money. Donations can be made in a number of ways:
● via a check made out to Incarnation with Ralph Reeder Food Shelf in the memo
● online via this link to Incarnation’s Realm Give Now page, choosing Ralph Reeder Food Shelf from the Fund drop-down box: https://onrealm.org/IncarnationLuth/-/form/give/now
Every little bit helps! We thank you for your generosity.
2023 Holy Hammers/Habitat for Humanity Project
The Holy Hammers this year has an opportunity to address a pressing need in our community – increasing the availability of affordable housing, especially for Black families. The Twin Cities affiliate of Habitat for Humanity has initiated a program as one step in narrowing Minnesota’s persistent racial disparity in home ownership.
By 2026 one goal is to increase from 7% to 25% ownership of Habitat homes by foundational Black American families – those recognized as descendants of slaves. This will be accomplished by improved financial coaching, more flexible underwriting criteria, and additional financial assistance.
A second goal of the current four-year campaign is to provide a total of 650 homes. The financial contribution to TCHFH that Incarnation makes as a congregation is used to buy building materials and to subsidize affordable mortgages. We can support these goals by providing resources – both labor and money.
For those who are not familiar with the Holy Hammers, it is an ecumenical ministry of 15 area churches who since 1999 have built 24 complete homes and parts of 14 others and contributed more that $1.5 million to sponsor our building projects.
The Holy Hammers building project this year will be similar to last year as we will be working at two locations. The first project will be three weeks to finish construction of a new house on Fremont Ave in St. Paul. The second project will be five weeks to remodel an existing house in Roseville. This house is one of the houses that the city has purchased as part of a land trust. These homes will be updated and then sold to TCHFH.
The eight week project will run from April 10 to June 9. The contribution by Incarnation will include construction workers, food providers and, of course, financial assistance. There will be a table available after each service on March 5, 12 and 19 where you can get information on the project and sign up to contribute. No particular skill is needed for the construction work, just a willingness to learn and help. Everyone 16 and older is eligible to work. There is no upper age limit.
Spring Garage Cleaning at LifeHaven
Helping youth experiencing homelessness create a brighter future
As Spring quickly approaches, our friends at LifeHaven are planning to clean out their garage for organized storage for their residents.
On April 1st (no foolin), 9am, LifeHaven is looking for:
*Six volunteers to help remove items from garage
*Two pick-up trucks & drivers to deliver trash to transfer station/dumpster & donations to Bridging & Good Will
*If you are available & would like to take part, email Cindy Nielsen at niels007@mac.com.
*Stay tuned for more Spring Service opportunities at LifeHaven coming soon! *
LifeHaven provides housing & support to young women who are pregnant or parenting in a home setting. LifeHaven is currently home to five mothers, six children, and one baby on the way.
Middle School – Confirmation – High School Updates
Summer Service Trip Info – There’s Still Time to Signup!
- HSM to Milwaukee, WI through Serve Boldy, a ministry of Green Lake Lutheran Ministries (GLLM), June 11-16 – register here
- MSM to Lake Traverse, SD with Youthworks, June 25-30 – register here
- All other Summer Camps and Activities – register here
Service Opportunities
- Serve cookies and coffee on Sunday (2.5 hr time commitment) – sign up here
- Pizza People on “First Wednesday” (2 hr time commitment)- sign up online
- Mentoring an 8th grader during Lent – you may be invited to be a mentor between Feb 22 (Ash Wed) and April 9 (Easter); other details include…
o 45-minute conversation, 1x per week (Feb 22-Mar 29), on Wednesday
either before or after 7:00pm worship (or another agreed-upon time)
o Using Pastor Kai’s Less Is More resource adapted to fit our current needs
- Come hang out with middle and high school kids after school, 2:30-4:30 p.m.
- Consider being a MSM/Confirmation small group co-guide next school year (a formal invitation coming soon…)
After-School Hangout & Open Gym, Wednesdays, 2:30-4:30 p.m. – Continuing during Lent… Open to all middle and high school youth. Bring friends! We also need a team of safe and trained adults to pull this off (2 or 3 weekly). Interested? Need more info? Contact Nate Bergengren.
MSM/Confirmation Update – 6/7 graders are exploring the Hebrew Scriptures, which formed the core of Jesus’ faith. We just learned about the life and lessons of Elijah: the get-r-done prophet. We’ll take a break and switch gears for Lent and come back together on March 22 for Daniel: the Invincible Visionary. 8th and 9th grade are stepping into their time with mentors. High School Youth Group meets on Sunday, 6:45-8:00 p.m.
Disaster Response
Lutheran Disaster Response shares God’s hope, healing and renewal with people whose lives have been disrupted by disasters in the United States and around the world. When the dust settles and the headlines change, we stay to provide ongoing assistance to those in need. Learn more.
- Middle East Crisis
- Hurricane Response
- U.S. Flooding
- Horn of Africa Drought
- Eastern Europe Crisis Response
- U.S. Wildfires
Like Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook, follow @ELCALDR on Twitter and follow @ELCA_LDR on Instagram.
Sanctuary Altar Flowers
Given For the Glory of God by Dave & Sue Katzke
If you would like to have altar flowers given in honor or memory of someone, please contact the Incarnation Office at 651-484-7213 to sign up (cost: $25). Donations help offset the cost of the beautiful flowers that the Worship Arts team provides. Altar flowers express our love for God, enhance our gathering around the Word and Sacrament, and represent changing seasons both inthe church year and nature.