Alleluia Booklet Art

Mary Souza (check out her other amazing art), a member of St. Jude's Episcopal Church in Cupertino, California provided this art work for the Alleluia Booklet. The first is a world map with the Millennium Development Goals around it and the second is called 'Important News' and portrays the women delivering the news of Jesus' resurrection.

The world serves as the cover art for the paper booklet and 'Important News' is the meditation for today. It is the very first meditation in the booklet.

So many people have asked for posters of this work that we went wild and made a Cafe Press Store where you can purchase lots of goodies with this great art on it. All of the proceeds from the store will go to the 'pot' of money raised for the Millennium Development Goals and will serve as part of our loans given to women on Kiva.org.

What is the Alleluia Booklet?

The Alleluia Booklet includes 50 meditations or alleluias, one for each day of the Easter season. Each alleluia is a story, poem, image or other creative piece about resurrection. Some are grand resurrection stories and experiences, some more humble.

Each meditation is written or offered by a member of our community. Many are offered by members of The Garden, Gethsemane Church, our growing church in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Others are offered by members of our larger church community.

At the end of the Easter season, on the Sunday after Pentecost, a day set aside by General Convention for fasting and giving to the Millennium Development Goals we ask for an offering for the Millennium Development Goals and the growth of our mission as a church.

How to Sign Up for the Easter Season Meditations

We'll deliver it to you by email each day of the Easter Season. This method saves trees, time and money for our small and growing church. We never, ever share email addresses. Simply sign up by filling in the form at this link.

History of the Alleluia Booklet

In 1998 our 25th Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold preached about St. Francis of Assisi at his investiture. He spoke of rebuilding the church and the call we all have to do so. He spoke of the need for renewing, repairing and reconciliation.

After this moving sermon The Rev. Canon Howard R. Anderson, PhD Warden of Cathedral College, then Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Duluth, Minnesota and member of The Standing Commission on Stewardship and Development dreamt up the Alleluia Booklet as an exciting way to rebuild the church.

The Alleluia Booklet was created to provide a tangible way to celebrate the season of resurrection, the Easter Season, as a community. Meditations about small and large resurrections would be shared for each day of the Easter Season and at the end of the season, on Pentecost, people would give money in thanks to help rebuild the church.

Churches would use that money to work beyond their doors and toward our mission as a larger church. St.Paul's and a handful of churches around the country have used the Alleluia Booklet in the years since.

Our 26th Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, and the General Convention of the Episcopal Church have called all of us to work toward Peace and Justice and to focus on the Millennium Development Goals as our top budget priority.

In the spirit of rebuilding our church, something The Garden takes on each day as we are a congregation that has been resurrected in an old building with new ideas and money from the sale of The Church of the Resurrection, Spring Lake Park, Minnesota we invite you to participate in our Easter Season journey by joining us in 50 alleluias or meditations about resurrection.

General Convention calls upon us to set aside the Sunday after Pentecost as a day for fasting and giving toward global reconciliation and the Millennium Development Goals.

At the end of the Easter Season we ask that you give in communion with all of us here at the Garden.

What Are the Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals are 8 goals that 191 United Nation member states have agreed to achieve by 2015. The goals are:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation and wikipedia do a great job of describing the goals.

How Much Do You Expect me to Give?

Our suggested gift at the end of the Easter Season is $2 per day for each day of the Easter Season ($100 total) or .7% of your income ($70 for every $10,000 you make).

The Millennium Development Goals are designed for individuals, organizations and governments to give .7% (that is seven tenths of one percent) of their income or budget or GDP toward the goals.

.7% is equal to $70 for every $10,000 you make. So if you make $30,000 a year that is $210 per year or just over $4 for every day of the Easter Season.

We ask you to reflect during the Easter Season about your personal commitment. If you are already giving .7% this may be an opportunity to 'dedicate' that giving for a portion of the year or to double it. If you've been thinking about giving .7% and haven't yet this may be an opportunity to put it in your budget for 50 days (and hopefully continue to do so afterward). Perhaps this is an opportunity to give your entire year's .7% in one lump sum.

Where Will the Money Go

In the spirit of the Millennium Development Goals we encourage you to send your gifts and spend your time in the place that best fit your passion.

Money collected through the Alleluia Booklet will be used to sponsor a woman on Kiva.org.

Kiva.org is a place where ordinary people can give micro-loans to unique small businesses in developing countries. Each person who receives a loan through Kiva.org is vetted by a credible non-profit and they have a high rate of loan re-payment.

Micro-loans have consistently lowered poverty and hunger and improved education levels. When we choose to give loans to women we directly empower them.

As a participant in this Easter journey we ask you to do one (or more) of the following:

• send your offering to Gethsemane to be given on Kiva.org
  
• send your offering to Gethsemane to be used for our Alleluia Fund - a fund we will use to further our mission in the world - we will discern the specific use of this fund during Lent
• send your offering directly to an organization working toward the Millennium Development Goals
  

If you choose to send money directly to an organization we ask that you let us know. We would like to track the effect of our community's efforts toward the Millennium Development Goals. We also love hearing about (and spreading the word about) organizations that others support.

Please share your favorite organizations with us by posting a comment or let us know through email - 50alleluias@gmail.com.

I Have More Questions

If you have more questions about the Alleluia Booklet or would like to talk with us about it contact us at 50alleluias@gmail.com or contact our Vicar, Aron Kramer at aron@downtownepiscopal.org or by phone at 612.332.5407.