Episcopal Press and News
One Miracle After Another
Episcopal News Service. August 4, 1999 [99-124]
Barbara Mraz
(ENS) The connections between the American Indian community and the Episcopal Church in Minnesota are historic and run deep.
When 38 Dakota were hanged in Mankato, Minnesota, the day after Christmas in 1862, the press reported that they sang an Indian death chant as they faced the gallows. Hardly. As they walked to their deaths, the Indians, many of whom had been converted to Christianity by Bishop Henry Whipple, were actually chanting a Native melody accompanied by the words of a hymn in the Dakota language, a witness to an unwavering faith in a loving God. Much later, this song became #385 in the Hymnal of 1982.
These connections were incarnated in yet another form this summer as people from Region VIII of the Diocese of Minnesota, assisted by church members from Indianapolis, joined forces with the people of All Saints Mission in Minneapolis to revitalize a dying building and lay a foundation for an expanded ministry for the community. According to All Saints vicar, the Rev. Melanie Spears, the project has been one miracle after another.
In 1996, All Saints was in a grieving process. The previous vicar had left, the prospects for the future were unclear. A big problem was the building which was severely in need of repair and had poor access for elders. The parish also wanted to be able to serve the surrounding community in much-needed ways. As Spears, the first Dakota/Lakota woman to be ordained to the priesthood, puts it, "It's important for a poor community to be able to serve and not be in poverty forever."
People in Region VIII made a strong commitment to helping All Saints. The Rev. Susan Moss stated, "This region is a family and we're going to take care of each other."
Through the national "Paths Crossings" program, a large church in Indianapolis, St. Paul's, had also become interested in All Saints and formed a partnership. But the model was not strictly a "Habitat for Humanity" one. St. Paul's wanted to learn about Native culture and form a relationship with All Saints that would be one of mutual sharing.
The Rev. Jim Leland of St. Paul's says, "We felt that the Native American community was in some sense a forgotten minority and that we had many things to learn from them. "A series of exchange visits between the two parishes began. Relationships were formed, personal connections were made that were the basis of two work visits made by St. Paul's parishioners to All Saints to help them restore their church building.
In 1998, thirty people from Indianapolis spent two weeks in Minneapolis helping to install a new stone floor at All Saints, funded by St. Paul's. This summer a group returned again: families, people in their 60s, some teenagers. They joined forces with workers from within and outside the region, and got to work on making a vision a reality.
The plan for All Saints evolved in three stages. This summer Phase One has almost been completed. This included a complete renovation of the sanctuary. Phase Two will involve renovation of the offices and other areas of the building and installation of an elevator. And Phase Three will be the installation of facilities for a soup kitchen that will serve the community.
The Indianapolis church provided $40,000 for the project. Another $40,000 was received from a United Thank Offering grant and St. Mark's Cathedral in Minneapolis donated its Easter offering, totaling almost $8,000.
An intensive summer work schedule was set up involving the St. Paul's delegation; many volunteers from Minneapolis churches, including St. John's, St. Luke's, St. James-on-the-Parkway, and St. Mark's Cathedral; and other regional and diocesan workers. The parishes of Region VIII served meals to the workers each day at St. James-on-the-Parkway.
Spears says that the project has been "a miracle of acceptance" and that "people can give the littlest things and still they're needed." Working side by side, often in 90 degree heat, has caused cultural barriers to come down and community to be forged.
Spears observes, "At one point we had some kids from Edina working here next to kids from the Bear Clan" (a gang-prevention program begun by Spears). Robert Looking Elk of All Saints notes, "It's kind of like dating. Once you get past the niceties and initial discomfort, you get to know each other on a deeper level. You get past blame. Sometimes it becomes difficult and scarey, but you can learn a lot about people by holding a piece of sheetrock together."
Architect Kara Koffler, who completed the plans begun by an architect from Indianapolis, says that support has come from many places. "Dayton's Department Store gave us some very expensive carpeting for $2 a yard."
Rex McKee, who coordinated the local volunteer effort, says that response was good but "Next time I will be more aggressive about getting volunteers. Sometimes it's OK to be in someone's face...."
Before the Dakota were executed in Mankato, it is said that Bishop Whipple kept President Lincoln up half the night trying to convince him to rescue the condemned Indians. Because of his efforts, Lincoln agreed to reduce the number to be killed from over 300 to 38.
But the model of ministry at All Saints this summer is not one of rescuing the less fortunate. It is a model of cooperation, education, and friendship.
Many of the people from Indianapolis speak of personal growth and the deeply spiritual nature of their experiences with the All Saints community as well as of a desire to return again. Connie Shea from Indianapolis says, "I work at a florist shop and I am using my vacation to be here. I'm well along in years and I'd never been up on a scaffold before I came here. I didn't know I could do it."
Plasterers and painters -- white and Native American -- stand high on the scaffold at All Saints on a hot summer Saturday, finishing the upper walls of the sanctuary. A startling contrast to the scaffold at Mankato over a hundred years ago....
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