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February 20, 2024
Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCA Enews
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New video series lays out Faithful Innovation framework | |
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Beginning February 19, Faith+Lead's four-day video series event will share ministry insights gleaned from thousands of ministry leaders and learners within the Faith+Lead ecosystem. In the series of videos, Dr. Alicia Granholm will cover topics like understanding cultural shifts away from the voluntary association model for churches, essential theological commitments, five core tasks for recognizing the difference Jesus makes, and four pivots for the church to follow God into a faithful future.
This video series distills much of the research and work of Faith+Lead for those who have been journeying with that organization for a while, or are new to considering how to innovate faithfully. It is sure to seed important conversations between called or volunteer leaders in a multitude of ministry contexts. Register today at https://faithlead.org/faithfulstep to be notified when each video is released, express your ideas in the comments, and share this experience with others you know who need these life-giving frameworks for the church moving forward.
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Children can sing joyfully this April | |
Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church is hosting "Sing Joyfully," a Children's Choir Festival on Saturday, April 27. Over the course of the day, choristers will rehearse music, break for snacks, play games, and offer a concert.
Saturday, April 27
10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Concert: 2:00 p.m.
Hennepin Avenue UMC
The choir will rehearse with Phillip Shoultz, associate artistic director of VocalEssence and cantor at Westwood Lutheran Church, and Kristine Denton, collaborative pianist; meet Choristers Guild sacred music editor Katie Houts, Mount Olive Lutheran children's choir director Mari Espeland, organist Phillip Radtke (assistant to the director of the Minnesota Boychoir and cantor at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church), and Elizabeth Macaulay (lead pastor at Hennepin Avenue UMC).
Registration is open until March 20. The registration fee ($10/kid, $20/adult) includes music and other materials, a t-shirt, lunch, and snacks. But cost should not be a barrier to participating in this event.
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Is Stewardship for All Seasons right for you? | |
Imagine the lives your congregation could impact if your members grew their giving by 15-20% next year! This is exactly the goal of Stewardship for All Seasons (SAS), a two-year comprehensive process. SAS congregations learn how to practice year-round, on-going stewardship – resulting in more money for ministry, more energized stewards, and a culture of generosity.
The Minneapolis Area Synod invites you to an in-person informational session to meet Rev. Pete Reuss, the SAS facilitator, and learn more about the process. To RSVP for the session, please contact Lynda Nordholm.
Tuesday March 5, 1:00 p.m.
Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church 1669 Arcade Street North, Saint Paul
This Minneapolis Area Synod flyer includes more detail. The cost for one full year is $2,900.
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Are you feeling overwhelmed in ministry? | |
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Pastor Jorge Acevedo will be featured in Faith+Lead’s next online workshop, “Burned Out and Overwhelmed.” Pastor Acevedo emphasizes the faith leader’s own spiritual and leadership practices to create a sustainable and resilient leadership.
Thursday, February 29; 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Online
Whether “burnout” already sounds like a reality you are facing, or you want to be proactive about your holistic health, join with Faith+Lead for this interactive workshop. Or, refer a friend to show you notice the pressures in their life and care about them.
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Faith nurses address epidemic of loneliness | |
A presentation entitled "How Loneliness Influences Health and What Nurses Can Do to Help" will include information about loneliness as a unique health stressor. Participants will delve into the relationship between belonging and loneliness, with information on how unmet need to belong and experience of loneliness can lead to poor psychological, behavioral, physical, and social health outcomes. A description of LISTEN as an intervention for loneliness along with other potential interventions will be discussed.
Thursday, March 14
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Zoom
While the primary audience for this event is nurses, everyone would benefit from the presentation. We all know lonely people in our lives and in our worship communities.
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Cherish All Children Winter Walk now open | |
Beginning Super Bowl Sunday, you can "kick-off" your commitment to protect children and youth! Ask a friend to join you on a walk anytime February 11-29 and talk about how you are supporting the safety of young people and engaging with Cherish All Children.
Receive a Cherish All Children beanie or baseball cap with your donation of $25 or greater. Donate now so your beanie(s) or cap(s) can be sent to you today!
To learn more about its work or to schedule a youth or adult presentation, contact Joy McElroy. A new focus is preventing sextortion, a significantly increasing online crime against children. Everyone can make a difference in keeping kids safe.
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Four ways to kick-start Youth Gathering planning | |
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1. Hold an information meeting. See who might be interested in journeying to the bayou this summer for the faith-filled experience of a lifetime. Use our promotional materials to save some time!
2. Sign up for gLearn. Fundraising ideas, sample budgets, tips for recruiting adult leaders, and more can be found within the Handbook Series.
3. Don’t think you’ll have a big group? That’s OK! Connect with your Gathering Synod Champion to see if you can tag along with other small groups in your area.
4. Download the Getting Ready Materials — a curriculum designed to get your group together and talking about the daily themes of the Gathering.
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Local pilgrimage joins national effort to create conditions for ceasefire in Holy Land | |
Local leaders are planning a "Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage" in conjunction with national efforts to draw attention to events in Israel/Palestine. The idea is for Christian lineage people to express support for Palestine through a prayerful pilgrimage. Participants will walk the length of Gaza -- but here in the Twin Cities.
Saturday, March 23
6:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
A sunrise prayer service will kick off the pilgrimage at 6:30 a.m. The end of the route is tentatively Savage Nature Center, near Bdote, where there will be culminating activities around 6:30 p.m.
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Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the crisis in the Holy Land | |
On October 7, 2023, Hamas gunmen entered Israel from the Gaza Strip, killed more than 1,400 people and took more than 200 hostages. Israel retaliated with air strikes and an invasion of tanks and troops in the Gaza strip, with very high numbers of civilian casualties.
The ongoing hostilities have created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with homes, schools, medical facilities, and critical infrastructure being extensively damaged or destroyed, and a large number of people, including children, being killed. The conflict has led to mass displacement of people within a very narrow area of land.
In statements, LWF has condemned the violence on both sides and called for a release of hostages, for a ceasefire, and for humanitarian access to support the civilian population in Gaza.
LWF is present in the Holy Land through its member church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and the LWF Jerusalem Program. The LWF Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives provides specialized, life-saving cancer treatment and hemodialysis to patients from East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
LWF is part of the ACT Appeal PSE231, where support is requested to rehabilitate the diagnostic center, to distribute life-saving cancer medication in Gaza; to support patients, companions, and staff from Gaza and the West Bank; and provide mental health and psychosocial support to patients, students, and staff of the LWF Jerusalem Program.
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Winter Celebration concert to support CES | |
New York-based philanthropic organization Music for Food is sponsoring a concert to raise funds for Community Emergency Services (CES) of Minneapolis. The Winter Celebration will include "Isles Ensemble" guest cellist, Kathe Jarka, along with Emily Switzer and Natalia Moiseeva on violin; Kenneth Freed on viola; Ivan Konev on piano; and Tom Rosenberg, Kathe Jarka, and Laura Sewell on cello. They will perform Beethoven's "Trio for Three Cellos," Mozart's "Piano Trio 'Kegelstatt,'" and Schumann Piano Quartet, Op. 47.
Sunday, February 25; 2:00 p.m.
Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church
2020 West Lake of the Isles Parkway, Minneapolis
CES is a nonprofit in the Phillips community focused on alleviating hunger. Its mission is to transform lives and be a place where people come hungry and leave hopeful. CES also shares its building with Augustana Lutheran Church.
Each contribution up to $10,000 will be matched. Learn more
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Rick Lindroth to offer Rutlen Lecture at Luther Seminary | |
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Statewide ecofaith leaders
to gather in Duluth in April
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Ecologist and lay theologian Rick Lindroth will deliver Luther Seminary's 2024 Rutlen Lecture on Faith and Creation, speaking on “Science, Truth, and Christian Faith in a Time of Eco-Crisis.”
Tuesday, February 27; 7:00 p.m.
Chapel of the Incarnation, Luther Seminary
1490 Fulham Street, St. Paul
Long battered by the “dominion” theology of Christianity, the global environment has suffered further in recent decades because of entrapment in a vortex of science denialism, political polarization, and cultural tribalism.
Rick Lindroth argues for a re-wilding of the Christian ethic of creation care — one that promotes enchantment, connection, reciprocity, and justice — for the betterment of humanity and flourishing of the living world.
This event is free and open to the public. The lecture will be livestreamed via YouTube for those unable to attend in person.
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The EcoFaith Network of the Northeastern Minnesota Synod is hosting its 2024 Summit for faith community members concerned about environmental stewardship. The theme for this year's summit is "Cross Currents in the Flood: Building Arcs Together for a Livable Planet."
Saturday, April 6
First Lutheran Church
1100 East Superior Street, Duluth
As we build arcs of relationship connecting generations, crossing boundaries, and healing divisions, we become the Ark necessary for a shared future, for a livable planet.
Noted Christian environmental ethicist Larry Rasmussen will be the kenynote speaker. His book, The Planet You Inherit: Letters to My Grandchildren When Uncertainty's a Sure Thing, won the 2023 Nautilus Gold Prize for books in Ecology and Environment.
Save the date.
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ELCA Coaching lifts up microchurch experience | |
ELCA Coaching is offering an opportunity to learn from members of Common Ground Church, an ELCA congregation in Lodi (20 miles North of Madison), Wisconsin, born out of an historic faith community in 2020. The missional vocation of Common Ground Church is to build a network of word, sacrament, and justice microchurches that equip people for a fulfilling, just life in the manner and values of Jesus. They are grounded in a distributed, rather than centralized, building-centered church modality, with microchurches as groups of 3-30 people practicing and growing in faith through worship, community, and mission.
Wednesday, February 21; Noon
Zoom
Presenters: Mike Gollmar is a lifelong Lutheran and council president of Common Ground Church. Mike has served in the areas of financial management, stewardship, governance and discipleship, and on the council during the transition from First Lutheran Church to Common Ground Church. Pastor Michael Lee, pastor of Common Ground Church, has served in rural and suburban congregational contexts since being ordained in 1997.
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Where is the synod staff in upcoming weeks? | |
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Pastor John Hulden will be attending the retirement celevration for Pastor Brent Campbell at Zion Lutheran, Anoka, on Wednesday, February 28.
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Pastor John Hulden will be preaching at Our Saviour's Lutheran, East Bethel, on Sunday, March 3.
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Pastor Craig Pederson will be installing Pastor Ian McConnell at Fabric on Sunday, March 3.
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Pastor John Hulden will be installing the interim pastor and congregational council at Braham Lutheran, Braham, on Sunday, March 10.
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Bishop Ann Svennungsen will be installing Pastor Chris Enstad at Bethlehem Lutheran (Minnetonka campus) on Sunday, March 10.
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Pastor Wondimu Sonessa will be preaching at Amazing Grace Ministry, Fridley, on Sunday, March 10.
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Pastor Craig Pederson will be leading a Ministry Site Profile review at St. John's Lutheran, Shakopee, on Sunday, April 14.
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Courageous Leadership Webinars, Wednesdays
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Cherish All Children Winter Walk, February 11-29
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A Civic Speaker Series, February 22
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Addiction and Ending It for Good, February 28
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2024 Fosdick Lecture, February 29
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ELCA Youth Gathering Info Session, February 29
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Communicators Retreat, March 7
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Race Immersion at the Science Museum, March 9
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Children's Ministry Zoom, March 11
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How Lonliness Influences Health and What Nurses Can Do to Help, March 14
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All Saints Easter Eggstravaganza, March 30
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Bishop Nominee Forum, April 7
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Bishop Nominee Forum, April 10
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Bishop Nominee Forum, April 13
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Bishop Nominee Forum, April 16
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Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly, May 2 - 4, 2024
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Ascension Day Breakfast, May 16
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