By Bishop Ann Svennungsen How do we speak faithfully of God – the creator of all things, the author of life, the giver of love beyond our wildest dreams? Throughout history we have tried to bear witness to the mystery of God – the Holy One beyond all comprehension. Anselm is credited with defining theology [...]
By Bob Hulteen, Director of Communications and Stewardship Running out the door of my house to catch the bus, I overheard a rather intimate conversation between a father and daughter as he accompanied her to the school just two blocks east. “That’s what being homeless means, honey,” he said. “We don’t have a house.” A [...]
By Rev. John Hulden, Assistant to the Bishop Way back in 1987, I was brand new at this “pastor” thing. My first call was to Bethany Lutheran on the lower Eastside of Saint Paul. Thankfully, the faithful people at that little church helped teach me about ministry. To learn about ministry at and around Bethany, [...]
By Bob Hulteen, Director of Communications and Stewardship Just call me “the truth teller.” My colleagues all write blogs "bragging" about the wonderful activities of the synod. Yes, we are hosting tool kit workshops for lay leaders and theological conferences for rostered leaders. Yes, we are engaging congregations on critical issues related to the environmental [...]
By Emilie Bouvier, Congregational Organizer for Environmental Justice Growing up listening to Joni Mitchell songs, whenever I think of the heavy use of pesticides and herbicides, this line immediately comes to mind: “Give me spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the bees, PLEE-EE-EE-EEESE!” But song lyrics aside, a Rick Haney quote [...]
By Rev. Deb Stehlin, Director of Evangelical Mission “The body of Christ, given for you.” It’s more than a bite of bread and sip of wine. This meal comes with a promise: Jesus has given his life away as gift, freeing and strengthening me for whatever life might throw at me. Real presence: I don’t [...]
When I tell my colleague bishops about our plan for the synod to host “God in your Mercy, Hear our Prayer: An Election Year Worship Service," they have two immediate responses: “What a great idea. What an impossible task.” The consensus is that, yes, we should pray for elections and governmental leaders AND, no, it [...]
By Rev. Craig Pederson, Assistant to the Bishop In a blog post earlier this summer, I talked about the joys of working with congregations to identify their sources of vitality. But, for some congregations, vitality is more of a fading memory than a present reality. The members of these congregations still faithfully attend worship and [...]
By Rev. Deb Stehlin, Director for Evangelical Mission At the end of Luke 12, Jesus challenges the crowds: “You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don’t tell me you can’t tell a change in the season, the God-season we’re in right now. You don’t have to be a genius to understand [...]
By Pastor John Hulden, Assistant to the Bishop I hated assigned seats. Especially in seventh grade. My first experience with a different teacher for every subject was at Ramsey Junior High in south Minneapolis. Some teachers would let us sit where we wanted; others, … no way. I always wanted to sit by the window, [...]
