April 18, 2023

Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCA Enews

Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, keynote speaker, available to sign books

The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III, has penned the recent book "Dancing in the Darkness: Spiritual Lessons for Thriving in Turbulent Times." This book influenced the selection of the the 2023 Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly theme: "Restored to Life Anew." And, Rev. Moss will be keynote speaker at the synod's assembly on Saturday, April 29.

If you are a voting member or visitor at the assembly, and if you already own his book, Rev. Moss will be available for book signing after each of his keynote addresses. Books will not be for sale at the assembly, but they can be purchased in advance from Rev. Moss' preferred online independent bookseller.

Has your congregation participated in anti-racism training?

The synod staff team working on anti-racism training is inviting members of congregations to participate in a survey. Synod staff are trying to determine the level of training congregations in the synod have received, the response to the training, and recommendations about the training. Please considering sharing you reflections about the interest and experience of such training, and what impact the training has had. Thank you for your participation.

Take the synod anti-racism survey

Children, Youth, Family Team

to sponsor annual

Ascension Day breakfast

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry to offer Faith and Life lecture at St. Philip the Deacon, Plymouth

Thursday, May 11; 8:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Bethlehem Lutheran

4100 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis

The MAS/SPAS CYF Leadership Team wants to offer you a time to come together to rest and enjoy at the Ascension Day Breakfast. Come eat, connect, be supported, and worship. 

Deacon David Rojas Martinez will preach, and worship music will be led by Cathy Pino. There will also be a raffle for a free registration to the 2024 ELCA Youth Ministry Extravaganza!

The cost is $10 per person and can be paid in advance or at the door by cash or check.

Any vendors wanting to host a table at the breakfast, it will be $25/table (includes table and breakfast for one person; $10 each additional breakfast).

The Faith and Life Lecture Series of St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran, Plymouth, will host The Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry on May 16. Curry will address "Holding onto Hope."

Tuesday, May 16; 7:00 p.m.

St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran, Plymouth

In person and online

Presiding Bishop Curry is Primate of the The Episcopal Church. He was elected to a nine-year term and installed in November 2015. He has written five books and numerous articles. In 2018, Religion News Association named Presiding Bishop Curry religion newsmaker of the year.

Long tradition of Lutherans supporting U.S. Farm Bill

The farm bill reauthorization process is a significant opportunity for shaping federal policy with wide impact. With deep service and commitment among ELCA members and ministries to a just world where all are fed, and Lutherans heavily residing in farm-aware communities, our ELCA faith-based advocacy in the process will be well-served by reaching as many Lutherans as possible for input in listening sessions.

April 18 for Eastern and Central focus

April 21 for Pacific focus

April 25 for Mountain focus

ELCA farm bill listening sessions are virtual gatherings where ministry leaders, members of congregations, and those with valuable lived experiences gather our opinions and experiences informed by faith values on stewardship, justice and serving our neighbor. The farm bill connects food on our tables and cafeterias, the farmers and ranchers who produce it, and the natural resources that make growing food possible, and is in the process of being reauthorized. Please join the conversation shaping our faithful action!

ELCA launches Truth and Healing Movement

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has announced the launch of the ELCA’s Truth and Healing Movement. The focus of the initiative is to increase the church’s understanding of the impacts of colonization on Indigenous people in past generations and in the present.

“We must be in better, right, and healthy relationships with the Indigenous people of Turtle Island,” said Eaton. “As we know, the truth and our knowing and embracing it, is the first step toward healing for all of us.” 

In 2016, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted the Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery. Following this action, Eaton commissioned a task force to lead the work outlined in the repudiation. The task force also developed “A Declaration of the ELCA to American Indian and Alaska Native People,” which confessed the church’s complicity in the oppression and genocide of Indigenous people and recommitted the ELCA to the work of repudiation.

The ELCA’s Truth and Healing Movement will enlist and empower members to become involved in the areas of focus started by the task force: development of appropriate settler narrative from a Lutheran perspective; encouraging the ritual practice of land acknowledgement; understanding Lutheran participation in Indian Boarding Schools; and support for communities impacted by murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls. The movement will also offer ways to participate in the national Truth and Healing Movement.

Since the 1960s, Lutherans have supported the American Indian Movement, working towards justice for and with Indigenous People. The ELCA’s Truth and Healing Movement commits this church to building and strengthening right relationships with our Indigenous neighbors.

Learn more about the ELCA’s Truth and Healing Movement. 

Voter Orientation training for Synod Assembly

Are you new to Synod Assemblies? Have you ever attended one in this synod before? Are you a voting member at this year's assembly?

In preparation for the 2023 Synod Assembly on April 28 - 29, a Voter Orientation Zoom call is scheduled to help people feel ready to jump in on Saturday morning.

Wednesday, April 19; 6:30 - 7:45 p.m.

Zoom

The training will be led by Synod Vice President Felecia Boone and Judge Tammy Pust, parliamentarian for the Assembly. They ask that you bring your questions.

ASL and Spanish interpretation will be available for this call.

ALOA Lutherhostel planned

for Minnesota in the fall

Auditions open for the

National Lutheran Choir

Adult Lutherans Organized for Action (ALOA) has scheduled its next Lutherhostel retreat at the Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch in Ironwood, Minnesota.

Dr. Mark and Rhoda Schuler will lead a study of "The Stones Cry Out: Archaeology and Spirituality in the Holy Land," and Pastor Frank and Deaconess Jan Janzow will lead worship with "Sacred Stories of Deliverance -- Then and Now."

Lutherhostel

October 2 - 6

Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch

Rochester, Minnesota

The cost ranges from $660 to $710 per person.

Share your voice and help the National Lutheran Choir (NLC) bring sacred choral music to communities both near and far by auditioning for the 2023 - 2024 season. Join its roster of volunteer singers of various faith backgrounds, occupations, and ages who are passionate about its mission to celebrate, invigorate, and expand sacred choral music.

Auditioning for the NLC is a multi-step process used to select the best singers for its needs and community at the time of auditions. First-round materials, an audition form, and solo recording are due by May 9. 

Anyone interested in singing and sharing in NLC's music is invited to audition.

To learn more about the process or submit materials, visit the NLC website: NLCA.com/Auditions2023. Any questions about auditions can be directed to info@nlca.com or (612) 722-2301 (office).

Putting a price on pollution

The pursuit of environmental justice is not only about securing a healthy future for our world, but making whole the people, places, and creatures who have been treated as expendable in the pursuit of greed. Climate policy must have the history of environmental exploitation built in and it must seek to repair.

Our 2022 Synod Assembly passed a resolution supporting Carbon Pricing, an innovative tool which calculates and charges a real cost to polluting greenhouse gases into our atmosphere and uses the funds collected to support communities most affected by our climate crisis.

To learn more about the Lutheran advocacy efforts behind Carbon Pricing, check out these resources:

·    ELCA Carbon Pricing Basics Explainer

·    What Do We Know About Carbon Pricing and How is it Part of a Just Transition? – Lutherans Restoring Creation

·    Why Put A Price On Carbon? - Citizen’s Climate Lobby

If you are interested in working towards achieving carbon pricing policy or other needed climate solutions, reach out to Congregational Organizer for Environmental Justice Jack Hurbanis.

Pre-assembly budget hearing available to view now

Synod Treasurer Ty Inglis, Vice President Felecia Boone, and Bishop Ann Svennungsen hosted an online budget hearing on April 13 to prepare voting member for the Synod Assembly April 28 - 29. A recording of the hearing is available, though the "share screen" function didn't record, so you should have the budget resolutions available to view during your viewing. (A Spanish-language version will be available soon; check the synod assembly webpage to find it.

In order to view the video, you will need to use this passcode: S%7t?gLi

Celebrate with National Lutheran Choir

Join the National Lutheran Choir (NLC) for the conclusion to its 37th season with a Hymn Festival, the annual Gala, and Spring Concert! This weekend of events will celebrate everything the NLC has accomplished under David Cherwien’s leadership as he completes his tenure with the choir. 

Hymn Festival: God Has Called Us

7:30 p.m.; May 5

St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Bloomington

Tickets at NLCA.com/Hymn-Festival-2023.

Annual Gala: From Strength to Strength

2:30 p.m.; May 6

The Westin Galleria in Edina

Registration at NLCA.com/Gala. Registration deadline is April 21. Free-to-all livestream also available!

Spring Concert: Ventures Known and Unknown

4:00 p.m.; May 7

St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi

Tickets at NLCA.com/Spring-Concert-2023. Free-to-all livestream also available!

Join the Synod Assembly choir -- Last Call!

The 2023 Synod Assembly Festival Worship will include a volunteer choir, led by G. Phililip Shoultz, III. The choir will offer musical support during the opening worship of the Assembly on Friday evening, April 28.

The choir will have two rehearsals before the Assembly, as follows. (Attendance at the first rehearsal is not required.)

Thursday, April 27, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Westwood Lutheran Church

9001 Cedar Lake Rd, St. Louis Park

Friday, April 28, 5:00-6:15 p.m.

St. Andrew Lutheran Church

13600 Technology Blvd., Eden Prairie

The opening worship for assembly is open to all, as is participation in the choir. You need not be a voting member at the assembly in order to sing.

For planning purposes, we ask that you register to participate in the choir. 

• Pastor John Hulden will be leading a Ministry Site Profile review at Advent Lutheran, Maple Grove, on Wednesday, April 19.
• Mr. Jack Hurbanis will be leading an adult forum at Alleluia Lutheran, St. Michael, on Sunday, April 23.
• Mr. Nicholas Tangen will be leading a Faith Practices and Neighboring Practices information session at Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer, Minneapolis, on Sunday, April 23.
• Pastor John Hulden will be leading a Ministry Site Profile review at Hope Lutheran, Jordan, on Sunday, April 23.
• Pastor Craig Pederson will be leading a Ministry Site Profile review at Good Shepherd Lutheran, Wayzata, on Wednesday, April 26.
• Bishop Ann Svennungsen will be preaching at the 2023 Synod Assembly opening worship at St. Andrew Lutheran, Eden Prairie, on Friday, April 28.
• Pastor John Hulden will be preaching and installing Pastor Kari Bahe as senior pastor at Zion Lutheran, Buffalo, on Sunday, April 30.
• Mr. Nicholas Tangen will be preaching at Christ Lutheran, Blaine, on Sunday, April 30.
• Mr. Jack Hurbanis will be leading an adult forum at Lord of Life Lutheran, Ramsey, on Sunday, April 30.
• Pastor Craig Pederson will be leading a congregational town hall event at St. John Lutheran, Belle Plaine, on Sunday, April 30.
• Bishop Ann Svennungsen will be preaching and installling Pastor Margaret Kelly at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist, Minneapolis, on Sunday, May 7. Pastor Margaret is the Executive Director of The Dignity Center, a ministry of Hennepin Avenue UMC.
• Pastor Norma Malfatti will be preaching at Amazing Grace Hmong Lutheran, Fridley, on Sunday, May 7.
• Pastor John Hulden will be preaching at the First Call Theological Education event at Dunrovin Retreat Center, Marine on St. Croix, on Tuesday, May 9. (The event begins on Monday, May 8.)
• Bishop Ann Svennungsen will be ordaining Deacon Stephanie Luedtke to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament (Pastor) at Pilgrim Lutheran, St. Paul, on Saturday, May 13.
• Bishop Ann Svennungsen will be installing Pastor Andrea Roske-Metcalfe as Senior Pastor of Diamond Lake Lutheran, Minneapolis, on May 14.

• Courageous Leadership Webinars, Wednesdays
• Pre-Assembly Voter Orientation, April 19
• Moonlight Madness Grades 6-9 "Lock-Out," April 21-22
• Five Simple Steps to Stop Working on Your Day Off, April 25
• Addiction and Developing Nations, April 27
• 2023 Synod Assembly, April 28-29
• Children's Ministry Gathering, May 8
• Communicators Gathering, May 11
• What Every Nurse Needs to Know About Spiritual Care, May 11
• Festival of Homiletics 2023, May 15-18
• Western States Youth Gathering, July 4-6
• Rostered Ministers Gathering, July 17-20
• The Naming Project Summer Camp for LGBTQ youth, July 23-28
• Reclaim Gathering, September 14-17
• Bishop's Theological Conference, September 24-26