By Melissa Melnick Gonzalez
Guided by the Spirit and led by Creator God, Tapestry shares the love of Jesus through food, music, and education. We build bridges and provide opportunities for people to cross them with those different from themselves.
Food
Because some of our best conversations happen over a meal, Tapestry’s Sunday evening worship has always been followed by dinner. We are people from Bolivia, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United States, and Venezuela, with eight teams that serve food after worship.
Tapestry also serves homemade food during Community Meals before Spanish and English classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, for Bible Study Wednesdays, breakfast with Coffee & Conversation on Fridays, and at various events during the year. Tapestry has also begun partnering with Hope Project to prepare and serve meals for unhoused people in the Twin Cities.
Tapestry can even serve a meal at your place of worship or teach a cooking lesson — with eating of course!
Music
The Tapestry Band just completed a year-long project with a grant from the Calvin Institute of Worship. Musicians composed 12 new songs (10 of which have been recorded so far) that will be available soon to listen to and to use as recordings in worship! They even have lead sheets to play the music in your church. These talented musicians are from Puerto Rico, the United States, and Venezuela and songs are in English and/or Spanish! The band is often available to lead worship and other events with a large repertoire of music from the ELW, ACS, LLC, our original music, and other songs played with Latin rhythms!
Education
Tapestry began teaching Spanish and English (ESL) courses in 2017 and has continued to share this ministry with the Church and the community! These courses help us learn about each other, our cultures, hopes, dreams, joys, and struggles through language learning. Our teachers come from the Tapestry community, and it is a joy to be able to teach and learn from each other!
In addition, Tapestry offers Bible study led by Deacon Josue Gonzalez every Wednesday.
Tapestry families have also been blessed with summer camp opportunities at Camp Amnicon and Ox Lake with the assistance of grants from the Minneapolis Area Synod. We’re looking forward to our first winter camp this March!
Tapestry was blessed to celebrate 10 years of ministry in September, 2024, with an ecumenical conference that included leaders from various Latin American countries along with a special worship service, both featuring Dr. Sandra Montes, author of Becoming Real and Thriving in Ministry. We give thanks for this wonderful gift of a loving and gracious God.
Pastor Melissa, Deacon Josue Gonzalez, and Tapestry leaders often speak, preach, and teach around the Synod and beyond. Please feel free to contact either for more information.
You are also invited to worship in English and Spanish with Tapestry on Sunday evenings at 5:00 p.m. and stay for dinner and conversation! Tapestry is hosted by Oak Grove Lutheran Church at 7045 Lyndale Ave So, Richfield, MN 55423.