Announcements

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MEN’S BREAKFAST IN SEPTEMBER

Grace Men are hereby invited to breakfast!!  We will meet in the backyard of my home (1064 Cleveland Ave S, St. Paul, MN, 55116) at 8:30 AM on September 25^th. This gathering will be for those who are fully vaccinated. We’ll be outdoors and we will maintain physical distancing. Bring a lawn chair if you are able. If light rain threatens, we can gather in my garage. If severe weather threatens, I will arrange for us to meet by ZOOM at 9:00 AM, instead.

Menu? Coffee. Orange Juice. Rolls. Fruit.  Possibly: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage links, and oatmeal, and pancakes. A freewill offering will help to defray expenses.

Please send me an email, text, or voicemail to let me know you plan to attend. However, please come at the last minute if it somehow becomes possible. Park on Cleveland, Villard or Magoffin and walk around into the driveway and out behind my townhome.

Whether we are four or sixteen (our customary attendance), it will be great to get together!

Peace, Dan Olson
651-646-0315 (text or voicemail)
olso1981@umn.edu
danbakerolson@gmail.com

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“The Defendant with means can afford to pay bail.  He can afford to buy his freedom.  But the poor defendant cannot pay the price. . .He stays in jail for one reason only — because he is poor.”  President Lyndon Johnson, 1966 

Grace’s Cash Bail Team is presenting the YouTube Original film, Trapped:  Cash Bail in America from Real Stories.  The film shines a light on our deeply flawed criminal justice system and the activists working to reform it. This documentary explores the growing movement to end the inherent economic and racial inequalities of cash bail while highlighting victims impacted by an unjust system, the tireless campaigners fighting for criminal justice reform, and a bail industry lobbying to maintain the status quo.

Although the date of the Forum was to be September 26, THERE WILL BE NO ACTUAL FORUM ON THE 26th.  There will be a Zoom discussion of the film the following Wednesday, September 29, at 7:00.  During the hour-long session, we will hear personal experience and expertise from Randall Smith, Community Organizer for All Square Restaurant in Minneapolis. We’ll discuss the film and take some action steps to end the cash bail system here. The Zoom link will be posted in the on-line bulletin on September 26 and in the Letterbox email of September 29.

The film is available online and may be watched at any time. This link to the film may be viewed online at any time in preparation for the Zoom discussion.

One-hour Documentary: “Trapped: Cash Bail in America From Real Stories”

**It is recommended that each participant view the video, which we had planned to watch together during a “watch party” at church on the Sunday prior to the Wednesday forum. But with Covid restrictions still keeping us from meeting in-person indoors, now we’re just hoping that folks will take the time to watch it on their own sometime before the forum. (If someone wants to attend the Wednesday forum, but isn’t able to watch the video, they’re still welcome.)

For additional resources, the Racial Equity Team has put together this document with links to excellent sources of information: CASH BAIL INFO RESOURCES

THE NATIONAL LUTHERAN CHOIR ALL SAINTS PROGRAMS
The National Lutheran Choir’s 2021-2022 season is here, celebrating sacred choral music with everyone, everywhere. For the first program of the season, join the NLC for All Saints: We Remember, a live concert, and Requiem Aeternam, a virtual program, to honor and remember loved ones we have lost this past year through sacred choral music. Performed and available for streaming November 5th – 7th. See NLCA.com for details.