Labor Day Sunday 2005

Dear Minnesotan United Methodists:

Greetings on this Labor Day weekend!

When the alarm clock goes off on the morning after Labor Day, I always think, before I know it, it will be Christmas morning! Following Labor Day our lives can get more hectic as school starts, work loads increase and holiday plans are made.

Therefore, Labor Day is a good opportunity to renew our commitment to find Sabbath time each day of the week as well as Sunday. We need to take a daily "time out" for rest. Watching a football game, cleaning a cupboard, reading a mystery novel, or doing something else may relax us, but our souls need time for prayer, Bible study, and meditation. When the alarm goes off on Tuesday, start a new practice (if you haven't already) of at least 30 minutes of Bible study and prayer each day.

We enjoy the time off on Labor Day, but we also need to reflect on its deeper significance. We're all aware of a major national labor dispute taking place here in Minnesota. There are also labor issues calling for our attention right in our own church! When our churches employ lay people, do they provide adequate benefits? Starting in January 2006, congregational Staff-Parish Relations Committees are responsible for providing adequate benefits for lay employees who qualify (see The Book of Discipline 2004, ¶259.2.g.12). Let justice begin in our church, if it hasn't already!

Last, but not least, I want to report on an Action Item approved at last spring's annual conference session. Walker Methodist Health Center and its employees' union disagree about two votes taken two years ago. The matter has been appealed to the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. Annual conference session members asked me, as the resident bishop, to "mediate a process involving Walker management and union representatives toward resolution." I began this process following annual conference.

The last paragraph of the resolution calls upon the annual conference and its local churches to "lift up in prayer all employees and staff, including management, at Walker Methodist Health Center, that swifter resolution may be found to ensure justice for the workers so that this ministry may be at peace for the greatest good for all, especially for the residents." Please hold all persons involved with Walker Methodist Health Center in your prayers this Sunday.

May you have a renewing weekend--and when the alarm clock goes off on Tuesday morning, may you be fortified for all that life brings your way with rested bodies and new practices for the soul. And may we as a church work toward justice for all!

Sincerely,

Bishop Sally Dyck