Celebrating 150 years of mission and ministry

More than 140 members, "alumni," and friends of St. Paul's on-the-Hill, St. Paul, gathered on All Souls' Day, November 2, at the James J. Hill House in St. Paul for a dinner and program to celebrate the congregation's first 150 years of mission and ministry.

It was at St. Paul's previous "Lowertown" location that Henry Benjamin Whipple was elected first Bishop of Minnesota, and those same pews, as well as many of the other furnishings, are now located in St. Paul's present building at 1524 Summit Avenue.

Special music was provided by the Gregorian Singers, one of St. Paul's arts groups in residence. The Ven. Ben Scott, a "Keeper of the Lore" in our diocese who first came to St. Paul's as a student at Macalaster, gave the keynote address. Bishop James Jelinek added his remarks, noting we were here "...to give for spiritual ancestors from the distant past and spiritual members from the recent past — those whose faith in difficult and turbulent times inspired our own."

From left: Bishop Jelinek, the Ven. Ben Scott, and the Rev. Mark Thompson, Vicar of St. Paul's

Photos: Tom and Margaret Farrell