Ministry Imagination Grants: Imagine. Innovate. Initiate. By Nick Tangen In a backyard in Richfield, a small group of people are using their bodies to illustrate the complexities and challenges of living through a national pandemic. Each person positions themselves in the scene to depict an image of pain, confusion, resilience, and community, all by only […]
Ministry Imagination Grants: Imagine. Innovate. Initiate. By Nick Tangen One of the more challenging questions for churches in the 21st century, even more so now amid a global pandemic, is how to engage meaningfully with their surrounding communities. Churches are located in neighborhoods and cities with particular needs and experiences, and as the church seeks […]
By John Mai Community building is challenging during a pandemic. Churches thrive when people are gathered together and, for the past four months, religious leaders have had to figure out how to thrive when people are gathered through computer screens, phone calls, or parking lots. In response to these obstacles, the Minneapolis Area Synod has […]
Ministry Imagination Grants: Imagine. Innovate. Initiate. By Nicholas Tangen In 2017, ten congregations from across the Minneapolis Area Synod came together to collaborate on a new and exciting confirmation program. “Confirmation Reformation” brought young people from across the Twin Cities together to ask big questions and engage in hands-on learning. It was targeted to those […]
By Bob Hulteen What happens to Synod Assembly resolutions when there is no assembly? That’s a legitimate question given the fact that the April 2020 Minneapolis Area Synod was cancelled in accordance with health guidelines offered by the State of Minnesota. The synod’s Reference and Counsel Committee had prepared and sent forward six resolutions for […]
By John Mai After twenty-two years, Alleluia Lutheran Church in St. Michael will finally have a building its members can call their own. They have worshipped in the vacated Historic Church of St. Michael since their beginning in 1998, but they have had their sights set on breaking ground for quite a while. Alleluia bought property […]
By John Mai How can Minnesota Lutherans better connect with their Latino siblings? Several leaders in the Minneapolis Area Synod, including Pastor Jorge Espinoza, think this is an important question for congregants to ask. Over the past several years, Pastor Jorge and his wife Pastor Stephanie Espinoza have been a part of Lutheran congregations in […]
Realizing that God called the Mount Olivet Lutheran community to be open, they noticed that the church sat at a pedestrian entrance to French Regional Park. Church members could see people walking past the congregation and into the park. The congregation entered into a conversation with the Three Rivers Park District and other organizations to create a “healing walk” for the community. “If you got a park as a neighbor, how can we not just be a fence line but actually shared space with the public?” Pastor Beth Horsch said. “How do we deepen that relationship and look at something that we can share?”
Ministry Imagination Grants: Imagine. Innovate. Initiate. By Nick Tangen On Sunday mornings at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Pastor Ingrid Rasmussen often shakes the hands of congregants as they leave the sanctuary and takes a moment to talk with individual members. Regularly these conversations include discussion of the worship service itself, and it was in these […]
Ministry Imagination Grants: Imagine. Innovate. Initiate. By Nick Tangen In 1908 a delegation of 25 young Lutherans at Augustana Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis founded Messiah Lutheran Church, with the goal of providing English-language services for newly arrived Swedish immigrants. With the help of financial support from a synodical Ministry Imagination Grant, these two small […]