UPCOMING EVENTS IN APRIL 2021
March 31 – Transgender Day of Visibility, 6pm on Zoom
April 2 - Good Friday Worship, 7pm on Zoom
April 4 - Easter Sunday Worship, 10am at Temple Beth El and on YouTube
April 4 - Fellowship, 10:45 am on Zoom
April 4 – Food Pantry Sunday
April 5-9 - Naomi Out of the Office (Pastor Joe and Tammy will be available)
April 11 – Worship, 10am at Temple Beth El and on YouTube
April 11 – Fellowship, 10:45 am on Zoom
April 11 - "LGBTQ Youth and the Church" Discussion with Ross Murray, 11:30 am on Zoom
April 18 – Worship, 10am at Temple Beth El and on YouTube
April 18 – Fellowship, 10:45 am on Zoom
April 20 - Query Book Club, 5:30 to 7 pm on Zoom
April 22 – Council Meeting, 5:30 pm on at Church Office Conference Room and Zoom
April 25 – Worship, 10am at Temple Beth El and on YouTube
April 25 – Fellowship, 10:45 am on Zoom
April 25 - "LGBTQ Youth and the Church" Discussion with Ross Murray, 11:30 am on Zoom
April 26 – Newsletter articles due
April 29 – Experiencing Grief and Loss Group, 7pm on Zoom
April 30 – Newsletter mailing, 9:30 am at St. Mark's Office
April 2 - Good Friday Worship, 7pm on Zoom
April 4 - Easter Sunday Worship, 10am at Temple Beth El and on YouTube
April 4 - Fellowship, 10:45 am on Zoom
April 4 – Food Pantry Sunday
April 5-9 - Naomi Out of the Office (Pastor Joe and Tammy will be available)
April 11 – Worship, 10am at Temple Beth El and on YouTube
April 11 – Fellowship, 10:45 am on Zoom
April 11 - "LGBTQ Youth and the Church" Discussion with Ross Murray, 11:30 am on Zoom
April 18 – Worship, 10am at Temple Beth El and on YouTube
April 18 – Fellowship, 10:45 am on Zoom
April 20 - Query Book Club, 5:30 to 7 pm on Zoom
April 22 – Council Meeting, 5:30 pm on at Church Office Conference Room and Zoom
April 25 – Worship, 10am at Temple Beth El and on YouTube
April 25 – Fellowship, 10:45 am on Zoom
April 25 - "LGBTQ Youth and the Church" Discussion with Ross Murray, 11:30 am on Zoom
April 26 – Newsletter articles due
April 29 – Experiencing Grief and Loss Group, 7pm on Zoom
April 30 – Newsletter mailing, 9:30 am at St. Mark's Office
CURRENT EVENTS
Trans Day of Visibility
March 31, 2021
The FM Area LGBTQ+ College Alliance has worked together to book a virtual talk by Alok Vaid-Menon, author of “Beyond the Gender Binary”, for Trans Day of Visibility on March 31, 2021, 6pm. Their keynote will be free and open to the public to attend via Zoom, and the event will be livestreamed on Facebook @MSUMRainbowDragonCenter.
Here is the event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/235151644940203/
March 31, 2021
The FM Area LGBTQ+ College Alliance has worked together to book a virtual talk by Alok Vaid-Menon, author of “Beyond the Gender Binary”, for Trans Day of Visibility on March 31, 2021, 6pm. Their keynote will be free and open to the public to attend via Zoom, and the event will be livestreamed on Facebook @MSUMRainbowDragonCenter.
Here is the event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/235151644940203/
PREVIOUS EVENTS
Concordia College
Interfaith Panel: Being Queer During the Pandemic
Description: These are hard times for everyone, but for LGBTQIA+ people—who have often felt religiously condemned and isolated from mainstream society—the quarantine adds an additional layer of difficulty. Speakers from four traditions will share their experiences of being queer during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Buddhist: Rev. Wakoh Shannon Hickey, PhD. Wakoh (she/her) identifies as lesbian. She is a Spiritual Support Counselor (chaplain) for Hospice by the Bay in Northern CA. Rev. Wakoh is also a priest of Sōtō Zen Buddhism and a scholar of Religion in Modernity, specializing in North American religious history, Buddhism in Asia and the West, religions and medicines, and interfaith engagement. She is author of Mind Cure: How Meditation Became Medicine (Oxford University Press, 2019).
Jew: Eliana Shira Rubin. Eliana (she/her) identifies as a queer trans woman. She is a queer artist and educator based in Los Angeles, CA. She received her B.F.A. in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts (ETW), and is currently a candidate for the Masters of Educational Leadership at Hebrew Union College-JIR. Eliana aims to intersect Jewish, theatre, and LGBTQ+ education. She is also a singer-songwriter and an avid fan of movie theatre popcorn.
Christian: Pastor Joe Larson. Joe (he/his) identifies as a gay cisgender man. Since 2016, he has served St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Fargo and was the first openly queer pastor called by a Lutheran congregation in North Dakota. Joe received his B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College and Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary. Previously, he worked in the nonprofit sector, especially the HIV/AIDS field. Joe is also an artist, and enjoys creating paintings and mosaics.
Atheist: Cody Severson. Cody (he/him/his) identifies as gay. Growing up Lutheran, he became comfortable in atheism after reading Chris Stedman’s ‘Faithiest’. He is a graduate student at Tulane University studying Public Health, and works with several nonprofits: Community Uplift Program and Presentation Partners in Housing. Over the last year, Cody has leaned into atheism more, where it has assisted him in reconciling the different aspects of life during a pandemic and how society interacts.
Moderator: Dr. Jacqueline Bussie (author of Love without Limits) is a professor of religion & director of the Forum on Faith and Life at Concordia College (Moorhead, MN).
Date: Sunday, February 28, 2021, at 2-3:30pm. (CT) A Zoom event—sponsored by the Fargo-Moorhead Interfaith Center, Concordia College’s Forum on Faith and Life, and St. Mark’s Lutheran Church of Fargo, ND. Click the button below or enter this URL into your web browser to attend the Zoom event: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89068041532
Interfaith Panel: Being Queer During the Pandemic
Description: These are hard times for everyone, but for LGBTQIA+ people—who have often felt religiously condemned and isolated from mainstream society—the quarantine adds an additional layer of difficulty. Speakers from four traditions will share their experiences of being queer during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Buddhist: Rev. Wakoh Shannon Hickey, PhD. Wakoh (she/her) identifies as lesbian. She is a Spiritual Support Counselor (chaplain) for Hospice by the Bay in Northern CA. Rev. Wakoh is also a priest of Sōtō Zen Buddhism and a scholar of Religion in Modernity, specializing in North American religious history, Buddhism in Asia and the West, religions and medicines, and interfaith engagement. She is author of Mind Cure: How Meditation Became Medicine (Oxford University Press, 2019).
Jew: Eliana Shira Rubin. Eliana (she/her) identifies as a queer trans woman. She is a queer artist and educator based in Los Angeles, CA. She received her B.F.A. in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts (ETW), and is currently a candidate for the Masters of Educational Leadership at Hebrew Union College-JIR. Eliana aims to intersect Jewish, theatre, and LGBTQ+ education. She is also a singer-songwriter and an avid fan of movie theatre popcorn.
Christian: Pastor Joe Larson. Joe (he/his) identifies as a gay cisgender man. Since 2016, he has served St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Fargo and was the first openly queer pastor called by a Lutheran congregation in North Dakota. Joe received his B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College and Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary. Previously, he worked in the nonprofit sector, especially the HIV/AIDS field. Joe is also an artist, and enjoys creating paintings and mosaics.
Atheist: Cody Severson. Cody (he/him/his) identifies as gay. Growing up Lutheran, he became comfortable in atheism after reading Chris Stedman’s ‘Faithiest’. He is a graduate student at Tulane University studying Public Health, and works with several nonprofits: Community Uplift Program and Presentation Partners in Housing. Over the last year, Cody has leaned into atheism more, where it has assisted him in reconciling the different aspects of life during a pandemic and how society interacts.
Moderator: Dr. Jacqueline Bussie (author of Love without Limits) is a professor of religion & director of the Forum on Faith and Life at Concordia College (Moorhead, MN).
Date: Sunday, February 28, 2021, at 2-3:30pm. (CT) A Zoom event—sponsored by the Fargo-Moorhead Interfaith Center, Concordia College’s Forum on Faith and Life, and St. Mark’s Lutheran Church of Fargo, ND. Click the button below or enter this URL into your web browser to attend the Zoom event: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89068041532
New Artwork for Advent
Starting Sunday, December 1st, you will notice that there is new artwork in the gathering space upstairs and in the Fellowship Hall downstairs. During the season of Advent until Epiphany, we have the opportunity to enjoy “Cityscapes” by Anastassiya (Stass) Andrianova. “Cityscapes” is a post-impressionist series of water-mixable oil paintings exploring urban environments throughout the United States.
Stass was born in Kyiv, Ukraine. She studied at CUNY in New York, New York where she earned a PhD in 19th Century British Literature and Comparative Literature. Throughout her career she has taught as an Assistant Professor of English at several institutions and taught art classes for the Creative Plains Foundation and Creatively Uncorked. She has exhibited work throughout Fargo including 8th Street Art Gallery, Flakoll Gallery, Red Raven Espresso Parlor, the Creative Plains Foundation and the Spirit Room. We are grateful to Hollie DeFrancisco from The Spirit Room for facilitating sharing “Cityscapes” with the Temple Beth El and St. Mark’s communities.
Tammy Lanaghan
Starting Sunday, December 1st, you will notice that there is new artwork in the gathering space upstairs and in the Fellowship Hall downstairs. During the season of Advent until Epiphany, we have the opportunity to enjoy “Cityscapes” by Anastassiya (Stass) Andrianova. “Cityscapes” is a post-impressionist series of water-mixable oil paintings exploring urban environments throughout the United States.
Stass was born in Kyiv, Ukraine. She studied at CUNY in New York, New York where she earned a PhD in 19th Century British Literature and Comparative Literature. Throughout her career she has taught as an Assistant Professor of English at several institutions and taught art classes for the Creative Plains Foundation and Creatively Uncorked. She has exhibited work throughout Fargo including 8th Street Art Gallery, Flakoll Gallery, Red Raven Espresso Parlor, the Creative Plains Foundation and the Spirit Room. We are grateful to Hollie DeFrancisco from The Spirit Room for facilitating sharing “Cityscapes” with the Temple Beth El and St. Mark’s communities.
Tammy Lanaghan
DEDICATION SUNDAY
September 8, 2019 was Dedication Sunday for St. Mark's Lutheran in our new space at Temple Beth El Synagogue (809 11th Avenue S, Fargo). The 10 a.m. worship service included special music by members of the FM Gay Men's Chorus, a welcome from Rabbi Janeen Kobrinsky, and a dedication liturgy by Rev. Jessica Harris Daum from our Synod office. Following worship, we shared all the tasty treats brought to the potluck!
