Oak Grove’s annual Alternative Market is Sunday, December 8, 2019. The marketplace will be open between services (9:00 a.m. -10:30 a.m.) and after the second service for about ½ hour.
Donations can be brought to the church on Saturday, December 7, between 8:00 am and 12 noon. Contact Sandy Crum with questions (952-888-2114). To allow time for pricing and set up, it would be helpful for us to have the items (except for the baked goods!) delivered prior to December 7. Things will be stored in Mary Koon’s office until the day of the sale.
This is a MISSION project. Our sole purpose is to raise money to help those in our world who need our assistance. Please keep this in mind when you are bidding in the silent auction. Give and bid generously. As usual, we will have hand-crafted items, pickles, jams, candy, breads, books (somewhat current, please), and the children’s legendary cinnamon rolls. Some items will be sold outside the bidding process.
In addition to the silent auction, the following will be offered for purchase:
· SHE PROJECT (wearable items from Pakistan)
· GUATEMALAN AND MEXICAN FREE TRADE COFFEE
· OLIVE OIL AND ZA’ATAR FROM PALESTINE
· KIVA (MICROLOANS THAT ARE GIVEN AND PAID BACK TO DONOR)
“Sharing our Story” rises to a new level! Acclaimed story teller, author and playwright, Kevin Kling, will be delivering the message at the 10:45 a.m. Worship Service on November 17, 2019. It is a perfect Sunday to invite a neighbor or friend to Oak Grove!
Oak Grove welcomes Britta Weber as our new Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry. Britta started at Oak Grove on August 19 and comes to us with a variety of experience with youth and children.
Britta is a recent graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN with a dual degrees in Norwegian and Religion, and concentrations in Middle Eastern and Nordic studies. She is especially intrigued by the intersection of religion and politics, and loves to figure out what unites us, rather than divides us across religious lines.
Britta spent the first half of childhood in Austin, TX, and her middle school years in Telemark, Norway where she discovered her love for the Norwegian language and culture. In high school, she was mega band-nerd. This was where she also met her now fiancé, Peter. They are very excited to get hitched this coming May!
Britta loves spending free time enjoying nature: in a hammock, on a hike, by a lake, or on a run are some of her favorite ways to be present in God’s beautiful creation.
She is also always on the hunt for cute coffee shops, thought-provoking books, and good indie/folk and jazz music that she can play or sing along to.
Britta is very excited to join Oak Grove and to grow in the compassionate and driven spirit of this community. She feels especially blessed to serve alongside such an inspiring bunch of youth!
Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 14, 2019, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. for Oak Grove’s Second Annual Electric Vehicle (EV) Expo! Attendees are invited to test drive the latest electric vehicles (and Animobiles) and talk with owners about the benefits of going electric.
In addition to test drives, we have a great line-up of speakers:
11 am Daryl Thayer, Daryl Solar 1 “EV Charging and Chargers” 11:30 am Jukka Kukkonen- MN EV Owners- “What EV is Best Fit for You?” 12:00 noon Alisa Sobczak, Xcel, “Programs for Charging Your EV from Xcel” 12:30 pm Joe Strommen, Bloomington Sustainability Commission- “City’s Effort to Promote EVs” 1:00 pm Women’s Panel of EV Owners (Mary Crampton, Sunny Snyder, Sandy Crum, Erin Anderson-Wenz, Karen Gerdes) 1:30 pm Jukka Kukkonen- MN EV Owners- “What EV is Best Fit for You?” 2:00 pm Noa Shavit-Lonstein or Gabe Epstein, MN 350, “EV Legislation in MN and Trump’s Drive to Scrap US Mileage Standards” 2:30 pm Pdon Pinkham, Oak Grove Green Committee, “Why I am an EV Owner and What It Means for Creation”
Food: hot dogs, chips and veggie hot dogs, popcorn and water available in Social Hall. Free will offering to support youth mission trips.
Environmentally-friendly car wash near rain garden in north parking lot, 12-2. Free will offering to support youth mission trips.
The EV Expo features:
Test drives from 11am to 1pm of the latest EVs with dealers, giving you the chance to get behind the wheel and drive some truly awesome cars. Sponsored by the American Lung Association.
Talks with
EV owners about their experiences — different weather conditions,
charging at home, at work and on the road, maintenance, cost of ownership and the
“thrill” of stomping on the accelerator of their EVs.
Electric bikes, scooters, mowers, and many other electric toys and tools for you to try out – the future of e-mobility in urban environments.
Learn from expert talks in the sanctuary about special utility rates, tax breaks, and EV charging corridors for long-distance travel, along with a panel of woman EV drivers talking about why they prefer driving the EV to their family “gasmobile.”
Refreshments and places for families and kids to hang out and chill.
Why is Oak Grove sponsoring this 2019 EV Expo? Because we are concerned about climate change. Oak Grove has made great progress in cutting our emissions from energy use, but the fact is that we all need to stop burning fossil fuel, now. EVs are an excellent and cost-effective way that people can take action individually and collectively to deal with climate change; and, as you’ll discover at the Expo, they are really cool to drive.
We hope to see you
there. Plan to attend and to volunteer
if possible. Bring your family and
friends.
*By EVs we mean vehicles that are all-electric –that use batteries for their all their power and also PHEVs (Plug In Hybrid Electric) which combine electric power and internal combustion engines for their power. We will have both EVs and PHEVs dealer and owner models at the Expo.
Pastor Anne Fisher started work today as Oak Grove Presbyterian Church’s Transitional Pastor. Please stop by to welcome her and to say hi. Anne’s office hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
There will be a welcome reception for the congregation to meet Anne after the 9:30 a.m. service on Sunday, August 4. Hope to see you there!
On, July 29 the Rev. Dr. Anne Fisher will begin her time as Oak Grove Presbyterian’s Transitional Pastor.
Anne graduated from Princeton Seminary and was ordained in 1982. She has served 20 congregations as an interim/transitional pastor, including large city and suburban churches and small rural churches.
Anne and her husband Gregg Dana lived for 21 years in Gurnee, IL, a Chicago suburb. Gregg retired as a Presbyterian minister and mental health counselor, and their plan was to move to interesting places as Anne continued her career as a transitional pastor. They moved to Plymouth MN where Anne served the Plymouth Presbyterian Church and enjoyed this area so much that they changed their plan and decided to make the Twin Cities their home base.
Since March, Anne and Gregg live in a newly-built 49-unit Cooperative Living building in St Anthony Park on the Luther Seminary grounds. They are enjoying their new home and getting acquainted with 75 new friends.
Anne and Gregg have four children and five grandchildren. Robert and family are in Reston, Virginia. William and family live in Minneapolis. Elizabeth and her new husband live in Berlin, Germany, and Christina lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Anne and Gregg enjoy traveling, spending time with family, working out and taking walks around the many lakes in the area, and reading the books suggested by the Minneapolis Institute of Art Book Club. Anne is excited and looking forward to entering into the wonderful ministry of Oak Grove Presbyterian Church.
