Programs & Events
In addition to our weekly Sunday worship Epworth provides a number of ongoing programs and one-time events that are full of community, fulfillment and fun. See upcoming programs in our calendar and check out descriptions of our recurring programming.
Blue Christmas Worship Service
As the longest night of the year approaches, we will gather to remember those no longer present upon the earth in a Blue Christmas worship service.
We will bring light to our grief, we will pray and sing as we lift their names. All are welcome as we remember family and friends - including four legged and winged loved ones.
Join us for worship to remember those we miss.
ALL ARE WELCOME!
WORSHIP + Communion - LOVE: Hope is worth the risk
Hope is vulnerable and can feel like a tremendous risk, especially if you’ve experienced loss or trauma. But Mary shows us a resilient hope that takes risks—she risks her body to bear a son who will become the hope of her people.
Similarly, Joseph makes a risky choice to stay with Mary; dismissing her quietly would have kept him safe. But instead, he chooses hope. He chooses to trust the angel, and it makes all the difference. It can feel safer and easier to be a cynic, but the world doesn’t need more cynics. It needs people who say, “It can be better," and make it so.
Scripture Readings: Matthew 1:18-25 & Luke 1:46-55
Worship Lead: Jean Long
Reader: Nan Rice
Advent Candle Lit by: Novotny Family
Worship will be in person or LIVE on Facebook.
LUNCH & CAROLS to Epworth Shut-Ins
After worship will join for lunch and then head out to see Epworth members who are not able to attend for Christmas caroling. We will sing and bring joy to those that are not able to be present with us every Sunday!
Bundle up and come warm up your caroling voice!
CHRISTMAS EVE WORSHIP: Love Knows Your Name
Come and enjoy the preparation of the birth of Jesus through readings, Christmas songs and candles.
Worship Lead: Jean Long
Reader: Shirley Durr
Advent Candle lit by: Lillquist Family
Worship will be available in person and LIVE on Facebook.
WORSHIP: Don’t Forget to Laugh!
The birth of Christ brings good news of great joy to all people, which is cause for celebration. On this Sunday after Christmas, we encourage you to be playful, to not take yourself too seriously, to laugh. For laughter is like hope—it has a ripple effect. It’s one of many ways we live and share good news.
Worship lead: Jean Long
Reader: Nancy Miesel-Youngman
Worship is available in person and LIVE on Facebook
WORSHIP: The Road Isn’t Straight
The birth of Christ brings good news of great joy to all people, which is cause for celebration. On this Sunday after Christmas, we encourage you to be playful, to not take yourself too seriously, to laugh. For laughter is like hope—it has a ripple effect. It’s one of many ways we live and share good news.
Worship lead: Jean Long
Reader: Nancy Miesel-Youngman
Worship is available in person and LIVE on Facebook
WORSHIP w/ Pageant - JOY: Do the good that is yours to do
Come and enjoy the advent season with our intergenerational pageant! There will be acting, singing and lots of fun - come and check it out.
The play is from Bridgewater UMC Sunday School - "The Christmas Story".
Worship lead: Nancy Miesel-Youngman
Advent Wreath, lit by: Fors Family
Worship is available in person and LIVE on Facebook
BONFIRES & CAROLS
Come to the front yard at Epworth and enjoy a good fire while we sing Christmas Carols, eat candy canes and enjoy hot chocolate!
Bundle up and warm up your caroling voice!
ALL ARE WELCOME - free event!
Advent Workshop
Come to the workshop to build a yule log, crafts for the tree, decorate cookies, carols to sing and lunch to eat!
Get ready for the holiday season.
Kid friendly and all are welcome!
WORSHIP: PEACE: We can’t go alone
One of life’s most essential lessons is that we are never meant to go alone. And yet, modern culture pushes us more and more into lonely silos. If Ruth had followed her culture’s norms, she would have gone home to her family of origin after her husband died, but instead, she commits herself to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Together they form a new family and covenant.
Ruth and Naomi travel together to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest, foreshadowing the journey Mary and Joseph will one day take to be counted in the census. Both Ruth and Naomi as well as Mary and Joseph are unconventional pairs, but if God can bring unlikely people together, God can form us into a covenant community too.
Scripture Readings: Ruth 1 & Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Worship Lead: Jean Long
Meditation/Sermon: Nan Rice
Reader: Tim Rice
Worship is in person and on Facebook LIVE.
WORSHIP: HOPE: You are a blessing!
Advent is a season of endings and beginnings. As the calendar year comes to a close, a new church year begins. Christ’s birth ushers us into new ways of living and loving; and yet, the world as we know it spins madly on.
And so, we invite you to move through this Advent season as if you are entering a sacred new chapter, holding fast to the reminders that will bolster you for the journey ahead. As you journey through this season, may you find words for belovedness and hope.
May you find words for beginning again. For no matter what you are facing, no matter what this new day brings, love is your beginning. | @sanctifiedart
Worship Lead: Jean Long
Reader: MaryEllen Reetz-Peagus
Worship will be available LIVE on Facebook.
WORSHIP + SERVICE PROJECT: Thanksgiving & Hamline Student Sunday
Come and take time to breathe and offer Thanksgiving. While also hearing from our college students from Epworth. In service we will learn more about Hamline University, a United Methodist college in St. Paul and hear from a student attending there now.
HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE!
Enhance Your Holiday Season with Unique & Artisan Gifts, Decorations, Grandma’s Attic & Yummy Treats to Go!
Also to go lunches are available.
HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE!
Enhance Your Holiday Season with Unique & Artisan Gifts, Decorations, Grandma’s Attic & Yummy Treats to Go!
Also to go lunches are available.
CABIN FEVER
Caregivers! Bring your toddlers 0-5 for child’s play, story time, fun, exploration & snacks!
CABIN FEVER
Caregivers! Bring your toddlers 0-5 for child’s play, story time, fun, exploration & snacks!
CABIN FEVER
Caregivers! Bring your toddlers 0-5 for child’s play, story time, fun, exploration & snacks!
WORSHIP + LUNCH: All Saints Day - Home of God
We will celebrate and grieve the loss of loved ones on All Saints Day.
AUTUMN PASTY SALE - Come and get them!
No preservatives, fresh made and good for you! Just $8 each. Order by Wednesday, October 30.
PASTY SALE PREP
Do you have time to lend a hand in cutting up vegetables or making dough? Come on over to the church kitchen and help us prepare for the big pasty making day. All are welcome for a short or long time. Get ready to get your hands dirty!
CABIN FEVER - Costumes are optional!
Caregivers! Bring your toddlers 0-5 for child’s play, story time, fun, exploration & snacks!
HARVEST FESTIVAL in the FRONT YARD!
Wear your Halloween costume to church and enjoy the fall weather at Epworth this Sunday!
WORSHIP: Walking with Faith - Let Me See
Have you ever walked through your neighborhood with someone who has never been there before?
WORSHIP + SERVICE PROJECT: Walking with Faith - How to Serve
Jesus, as usual, gives us a good place to start. We serve. We realign ourselves toward service with one another, our community, and our world.
BRUNCH BUNCH: In the Neighborhood
We will be meeting after worship to walk down to enjoy lunch together at locally owned India Kutir. Come enjoy good conversation and a great fall walk in the community!
WORSHIP: Walking with Faith - Using our Tools
There are many opportunities today to not only teach a new thing but also to enact a new thing in the community as we let go of the weight of stuff so that we can use what we have to further God’s beautiful purposes in the world.
WORSHIP + COMMUNION: Walking with Faith - Deep Connection
Let’s take a walk with Jesus this October. As you might suspect, walking with Jesus is not only good for the body, but is also good for the mind as Jesus often asks us to stretch our thinking into new possibilities and new understandings.
Worship: For Such A Time
What characteristics do you think it takes to influence a person effectively?
All Church Picnic & Fishing @ Lake Nokomis!
After church we will carpool over to Lake Nokomis for a potluck picnic lunch and enjoy some fishing on the pier.
Worship: In Praise of Women Who Lead
What women in your life lead? What characteristics about them do you admire?
Rummage Sale
Bring what you like to church before Wednesday 9/18 and we will have a reuse and repurpose sale in the basement. Bars and coffee will be available as well.
Worship: Holding Onto Wisdom
How do you define wisdom? What are the characteristics of someone who is foolish (not wise)? Join us as we explore these topics.
Ongoing Programs
Book or Bible Studies
There are also book studies and bible thumping sessions throughout the liturgical seasons and as the activist spirit calls.
Typically 2-6 weeks long the topics vary and are always supported by a facilitator. Watch our calendar and Facebook page for specifics.
Prayer and Prayer Chain
Epworth believes that prayer, whether as a united body or as an individual - is crucial and important to a sacred and spiritual life. We do pray together during worship. There is also an active prayer group that maintains the prayer chain – taking in requests weekly from those in need. The chain is important and isn’t broken.
Weed & Water Wednesdays/Cabin Fever
Besides worship, families in Longfellow, South Minneapolis engage in Weed and Water Wednesdays throughout the summer and Cabin Fever Wednesdays throughout the winter. These two programs are active times for children and caregivers from 0 to 100 to interact, play and be social together.
Weed and Water Wednesdays involve organized learning and tactile experiences in the Community Garden next to the building. Cabin Fever is a time in the colder winter months to come together and participate in the warm building basement. Both programs offer free, social and support opportunities for kids, parents and grandparents!
Brunch Bunch
About once a month we meet after church on Sunday to go and enjoy lunch together in fellowship at a local neighborhood restaurant in the Longfellow or Seward neighborhood. Come enjoy conversation and get to know each other a little more while enjoying the wonderful family owned restaurants in our neighborhood! Keep an eye on the calendar for when and where.
Weekly Sunday School for All Ages
There is a weekly Sunday School available before worship, specifically for adults and kids. Once a month we do an intergenerational lesson and singalong.
