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By Pr. Deb Stehlin

Yesterday I spent time with one of our synod’s pastors, who’s dealing with brain cancer. The level of her suffering is difficult for me to describe. Each time I visit, I read her the gospel for the upcoming Sunday. Almost before I get to the end, she responds, “Here’s how I’d preach that, …” And then she rocks my world with a word that’s deeply true. She doesn’t spend hours wrestling a text to the ground before it yields a word. It just comes to her as gift.

There’s something in her.

A few weeks ago, another of our synod’s pastors invited me to be present for a baptism. He’s been tending to a group of immigrant Christians in St. Cloud, and God has added one more disciple to the mix.

Pr. Thiem Baccam (center) prepares for a recent baptism at Lao Evangelical Lutheran Church.

As he walked down to the river with the woman to be baptized, his face just glowed. He sang with the crowd, and pumped his fist in the air for punctuation. This man of God is a born evangelist; he has the gift of sharing the good news in a way that someone who’s never heard it before can receive it and become so full of joy at the discovery that they want to leave an old life behind for something new with Jesus.

There’s something in him.

“Another of our pastors filled a van full of brave folks and drove to Arizona to witness what’s happening at the border regarding the separation of families.”

Another of our pastors filled a van full of brave folks and drove to Arizona to witness what’s happening at the border regarding the separation of families. She knows the pain of being separated from a child, after her son died. She knows the soul of our nation is at stake and can’t not be there to bear witness to this atrocity.

There’s something in her.

WHAT’S IN YOU? HOW do you tend to your inner life? How does that make a difference in how you show up in the world and share your gift?

We’re going to talk about that at Bishop’s Theological Conference – an annual gathering of the synod’s rostered ministers – with former Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson at the end of September. We’ll explore the personal dimensions of ministry – the inner work we are called to do, for the sake of the public dimension of ministry – our work of proclamation, service, and prophetic engagement.

“I hope you can take a moment to think about tending to your inner life with God for the sake of using your gift for the life of the world.”

Whether or not you are invited to this event for pastors and deacons, I hope you can take a moment to think about tending to your inner life with God for the sake of using your gift for the life of the world. As my spiritual director describes it, I hope you can live each day “in the divine flow.”

By Pr. John Hulden

OK, so Matthew 18:20 is that oft quoted, much beloved verse: For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them. (NRSV)

It’s beautiful, right? (Caution: I’m going to get a little grumpy here.) Nine times out of ten, I really can’t stand when someone quotes this little verse. My pet peeve has two reasons.

#1) Context is important. The five verses before this lovely verse 20 in Matthew 18 are line-by-line instructions for what to do in a knock-down, passive-aggressive, nasty church fight.

1. Go find the person who did you wrong and point out the fault.
2. If that doesn’t work, bring some church friends with you.
3. If that doesn’t work, bring it to the church council.
4. If that doesn’t work, forgettaboutit.

Good ol’ sound-biblical-advice. Isn’t it interesting that there is an underlying assumption that options a, b, and c, just might not work? What’s been your experience in church fights?   :/

#2) I’ve heard this verse quoted way too many times at an event that is expecting dozens of people — maybe dozens and dozens of people — and lo and behold, only one or two show up. “Well,” some good meaning, bible-quoting leader says, “not many showed up, but at least where two or three are gathered.”

Bah Humbug.

DON’T GET ME WRONG. I l-o-v-e Matthew 18:15-20. I’ve been around church politics before I was born. These are some of the most practical advice-giving verses in the entire scriptures.

So, here’s my point:

I’ve fallen into the trap of planning events — because it truly is FUN to plan events — and then, totally forgetting to give any time to turnout. Yep, here in 2018, as we canoe up mountains against the current culture, planning an event is sooooo much easier than getting people to, well, actually show up at that well-planned event.

So here’s my case-in-point.

• Did you know the Bishop’s Theological Conference is at beautiful Cragun’s Resort on Gull Lake, near Brainerd, September 23-25?
• Did you know if you are a rostered leader in the Minneapolis Area Synod, it’s actually in your letter of call to show up at this thing every year. Yep, every year.
• Did you know our synod staff spends hours planning for this event? Of course you do.

But, …

• Did you know for the last few years we have put more and more hours in turnout work so rostered leaders show up at Cragun’s in late September?

This has been a wonderful blessing for me. Seeing the benefits of taking the time for 1-on-1 calls and contacts, encouraging and inviting colleagues to do something that will be well worth their time. And, all for an event, uhm, they are supposed to be at anyway.

“I’ve fallen into the trap of planning events and then, totally forgetting to give any time to turnout.”

Welcome to 2018, … where planning must include turnout work.

I close with those beautiful verses about church politics: Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.  (Matthew 18: 18-20)

Thanks be to God!

By Grace Corbin

It was 6:45 in the morning. I was standing in the bathroom of my house, straightening my hair and getting ready for another day of classes during my junior year of high school. This is, for many people, a time when they start asking themselves: “What’s next?” Now, I had been asking myself that question since fourth grade. And, by eleventh grade, I had thought business was a likely vocation for me. I was organized and knew I had gifts in leading people.

My mother had a different idea, however. She walked up to me that morning – while I was straightening my hair – and said, “You know, I think you should be a pastor.” I paused, gave her a quizzical look, and began to laugh. “What? No way!” was my reply.

“How did I end up here?”

Fast forward to today. I am working for the Minneapolis Area Synod as a congregational organizer on environmental concerns and plan to attend seminary eventually to (very likely) become a pastor. How did I end up here?

GROWING UP I NEVER THOUGHT that I would follow in my father’s footsteps by becoming a pastor. Now it feels like that path is set before me.

I have questioned a thousand times whether becoming an ELCA pastor is the right choice. Each time, I remind myself of the things I love about this denomination: Lutheran theology and a strong commitment to community.

Having studied some Lutheran theology, I appreciate Lutheran theological core convictions. The strong reliance we place on God’s grace reminds me to be gracious to myself and others.

In that same vein, I adore the claim that we are simultaneously sinner and saint. This phrase reminds me of my fallibility and my power. This claim also guides me in my work for justice and raising up of leaders in the church to create change. We are a broken but powerful people and collectively can create a more just society.

“I adore the claim that we are simultaneously sinner and saint. This phrase reminds me of my fallibility and my power.”

This calling – to create a more just society – is my hope for and challenge to the ELCA. I love this church, but I continuously struggle with the ways in which justice is not pursued or lived out in our communities. At the same time, I am grateful to have many friends and colleagues with whom I can work to challenge the ELCA to participate in working and advocating just and healthy communities in which congregations reside.

I recognize that the Lutheran church is doing many, many things right. That’s why I am still here. I love what the Lutheran church aspires to be. Steeped in its Lutheran values and community-mindedness, the ELCA is on a path to be to becoming a more just institution. I am excited and hopeful for the journey ahead for us all.

By Bob Hulteen

Last Sunday I walked downstairs to retrieve the StarTribune from my front porch. Now, I hadn’t yet had coffee, which friends will acknowledge makes me potentially homicidal. Add to that a forecast for another day above 90 degrees and you will appreciate my mood.

As I unwrapped the rubber band from the newspaper, I immediately glanced Jean Hopfensperger’s “As Churches Close, A Way of Life Fades” on the front page of the front section. An article on “the unchurching of America” propelled me back to fifth grade, when I was transitioning from my little, but deeply engaged, LCA congregation (which was closing) to the large, but comfortable, ALC congregation (in which I was eventually confirmed).

“I immediately glanced Jean Hopfensperger’s ‘As Churches Close, A Way of Life Fades’ on the front page of the front section.”

The closing of a congregation is painful, and I remember the adults at Peace Lutheran in 1966 avoiding the difficult decision until just one-too-many families moved out of town for a new job. Even as the American church was still in ascendancy, the seeds for the deconstruction of church life (and other community institutions) was beginning. The adults at Peace experienced some sense of shame over the need to make the responsible decision.

Jean’s article points to the fact that many other congregations, including a couple in our synod, have had to make that decision in recent years. While anthropologists (and journalists) might take a sociological look at the facts, practitioners know the pain. So, I read with sadness the story of La Salle Lutheran church.

BUT THE TRIUMPHALISM of the period of church growth in post-war America in the 1950s and 1960s did not mark a high point of church life, in my humble opinion. The church of that age was so much enculturated that it was simply a puzzle piece to be connected to school, workplace, and Elks Club. Its mission was inseparable from the secular institutions it encouraged.

“Do you remember when we used to …” might be the most dangerous statement within churches right now. While the pews might be filled for the Christmas program, churches were mostly indistinguishable from other organizations.

“The triumphalism of the period of church growth in post-war America in the 1950s and 1960s did not mark a high point of church life.”

Let’s have a conversation about how the economy is changing, how families are changing, how education is changing, how political parties are changing. The mediating institutions of our society do not carry the place they once did – for good or for ill. (One could ask which institutions have benefited and which have been hurt by these changes.)

But, in all my years in the church, I have never had a time where such pertinent questions like “For what does the church exist?” and “How do we meet the needs of the world” have been so central to discussions about the future of congregations than now. Pushed out of complacency, the church might be figuring out the mission of the church. Maybe we had to “shrink” to be challenged to be creative.

A former synod bishop once told me that managing decline was the most difficult task of a church leader. On the other hand, he reflected, there seemed to be more clarity on the unique nature of the church in society.

Staring into the sociological realities facing our churches is daunting. Considering the many social factors – racism, sexism, ableism, and more – may require us to be smarter and more nimble. But, from my angle of vision as a communicator within the synod, I believe there’s never been a better time to share the good news of God’s action in our world.

Will we do so … even if it doesn’t get newspaper coverage?

By Pastor Craig Pederson

If you were asked to describe your faith in one word, what would it be? “That’s impossible!” you might say; faith is too broad and meaningful to be summed up in just one word.

And yet, this is exactly the exercise that was required for a course I took in seminary more than 20 years ago. (Perhaps some of you took that same systematic theology course!)

The exercise involved a process of discernment. Over the course of the semester, you started by writing one full page that articulated the biblical and theological underpinnings of your faith. In subsequent weeks you winnowed it down to a paragraph, and then one sentence, and finally one word.

“Christian freedom is a faithful response, not a lawful duty.”

In the end, my word was “freedom.” It described the movement in my relationships with God and neighbor, from burdens of duty and merit to responses of gratitude and love. My “go-to” verses were ones familiar to many of you: “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free, … and if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:31-32, 36), and “For freedom, Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1).

This notion of Christian freedom has stuck with me, and has been a profound motivation – and liberation – in my faith life.

AND NOW, AS WE APPROACH the July 4 Independence Day holiday, and the many celebrations of national and civic liberties, I’m inevitably drawn into dialogue (internal, if not external) about what “freedom” means in our context. It can get a bit dicey when we start to mix civic and theological freedoms. Yet as Christians who live in a country with freedom as one of its core foundational principles, we can’t help but swim in this mix.

The Declaration of Independence served as a kind of separation agreement from the rule of external tyranny, and laid out the “inalienable rights” of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Self-determination and the “consent of the governed” were expressions of this new freedom being declared by the impassioned voices of an emerging new nation. While laudable and inspiring, I want to acknowledge that these impassioned voices did not include women or slaves, nor the voices of indigenous peoples who are labeled as “merciless Indian Savages” within the Declaration itself. That is part of what I wrestle with in trying to understand our national narrative about “freedom.”

“This July 4, we’re experiencing national tensions over refugee detentions, family separations, immigrant travel bans, international trade tariffs, and Supreme Court transitions.”

In On the Freedom of a Christian, Martin Luther said “”A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” While paradoxical on its face (Luther was quite comfortable with paradox!), Luther claims that through Christ we are subject to no greater law or ruler on earth; yet through Christ we are also servants of God’s love that frees us, and we are called to show that same love to all people. Christian freedom is a faithful response, not a lawful duty.

What I glean from both civic and theological discourse is that freedom comes with responsibilities. We are not free to do whatever we want, with whatever power we have, in relationship to others.

This July 4, we’re experiencing national tensions over refugee detentions, family separations, immigrant travel bans, international trade tariffs, and Supreme Court transitions. “Freedom” thus takes on a different level of meaning.

What does that freedom look like for American Christians in 2018?  I invite you to spend some time in thought, prayer and conversation on that question this week.

By Bob Hulteen

Indulge me a proud dad moment, if you will. My older daughter Korla Masters (who is getting ready to do her seminary internship in St. Paul this fall) related a story from last week, as we drove up to the Twin Cities from St. Louis this weekend.

Last week, the Presbyterian Church (USA), gathered for its biennial General Assembly in St. Louis. As the ELCA does at its triennial Churchwide Assembly, voting members review budgets, vote on resolutions, elect leaders, and worship. Increasingly, PC(USA) assemblies have also begun to feature some sort of public action related to the community in which they were meeting.

Well, knowing for four years that they were meeting in St. Louis, the leadership of the PC(USA) were aware they needed to acknowledge the local leadership of communities that had responded to the killing of Michael Brown and the events that followed in Ferguson. As often is true, national leaders have ideas about what it needed for a particular community.

The youth delegation at the PC(USA) General Assembly lead a march from the convention hall to the St. Louis jail to set free the captives of a cash bail system that they say preys on vulnerable people.

But, in this instance, the local Presbyterian leadership said, “No. That’s not how it can work here. Action needs to be led by local people and be for the benefit of the local community, because we don’t get to leave after a week.”

And Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, Stated Clerk of the PC(USA), and other significant Presbyterian leaders responded affirmatively. And so the issue was selected: Cash bail.

“The Spirit moved powerfully in the streets on my adopted home on Tuesday.”

Many people in jail in St. Louis are there only because they cannot afford to pay the “cash bail.” Remember, these are folks who have not yet been found guilty of any crime and should be, in theory, presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

But, because they are poor, they are incarcerated. Thus, the cycle of devolution begins. People who are already vulnerable to the whims of the economy and the state are further criminalized, a result that benefits no one (except, perhaps, the private prison industry – but that’s a blog for another day). [And, by the way, Hennepin and Ramsey courts both also use a cash bail system, though possibly not to the extent of some other communities.]

EVENTUALLY, LOCAL LEADERS in the St. Louis #cashbail movement were invited in. They determined a march from the convention center to the jail would be supportive of the movement’s ongoing efforts. The PC(USA) leadership determined that the offering from opening worship would go toward bailing out people from jail. These are people who might have had expired license plate tabs, but didn’t have sufficient funds to bail themselves out (or decided that the few dollars they did have should go for food for their kids).

But, there was no way of knowing how many folks would participate. Even the morning of the march, the most hopeful organizers (including Korla) thought there might be as many as 200 people marching in the streets.

Imagine the power of seeing more than 1,000 Presbyterians flowing out of the convention center headed to the jail with $47,000 to set free the captives. They marched with “Isaiah vision.” After a disciplined demonstration at the jail, they marched back to the convention center, knowing they could not leave anyone behind (especially activists vulnerable to being “selected” for arrest by police for planning such a powerful event).

Presbyterians marchers stand outside St. Louis jail. Photos: Korla Masters

“Imagine the power of seeing more than 1,000 Presbyterians flowing out of the convention center headed to the jail with $47,000 to set free the captives.”

“I am excited by the way that these Presbyterians put their bodies in the streets and proclaimed the gospel,” Korla reflected as we drove. “Congregations and presbyteries sent money with their commissioners; individual commissioners dug deep into their pockets and gave; folks donated online. And, in the end, we get to read Luke 4 and not just talk about it, but be about it. I am still overwhelmed by how it all came together. The Spirit moved powerfully in the streets on my adopted home on Tuesday.”

One can almost fell the dungeon shaking and the chains falling off.

Next year the ELCA meets in assembly in Milwaukee. Might we enter into that setting, humbly seeking leadership from our congregations there, to meet the real needs of the most vulnerable people in Milwaukee, not just as an act of charity, but as an act of justice? Might we confront the principalities and powers and shine light into chaotic places in a way that change systems and structures for the good of all (except maybe the private prison industry – but that’s for later)?

“This is personal for me, because I have been awaiting trial for almost two years [for being arrested while walking back to the car following a public action in response to the death of Philando Castile], but I was let go without bail,” Korla offered. “In the last two years, I’ve finished my MDiv and my Lutheran Year, prepared for internship, dug deep into my neighborhood and congregation, and gone about my everyday life in the world. If I’d been held on bail I couldn’t afford, I would have missed all of that.

“Cash bail steals not just money, it steals life from people.”

UPDATE: After the initial worship collection, the donation app remained open for a short time and $7,000 were raised.

By Pastor John Hulden

My siblings and I grew up on a three-year summer schedule. Every third summer, some (or all) of us were off to the next National Lutheran Youth Gathering. We all can name off the gathering cities from the ’60s and ’70s into the ’80s – Miami, Detroit, Seattle, New York City, Houston, New Orleans, Kansas City, and San Antonio.

I’ve gone to those gatherings as a kid, with my wife Becky as young adult leaders of a youth group, and then as a pastor/dad. My kids continued the tradition of making the trek to the National Youth Gathering, including more cities – St. Louis, Atlanta, San Antonio, and New Orleans (x 2).

“The Holy Spirit changes lives at events like the National Lutheran Youth Gathering.”

Next week, van/bus/plane loads of teenagers from the Minneapolis Area Synod head down to Houston. When you add it all up, our synod will send about a thousand kids and adults to meet up with 30,000 more Lutherans from across the country and globe. That’s just like we did three years ago in Detroit.

Why? Because the Holy Spirit changes lives at these events. And not just at the youth gathering. The Holy Spirit is on the move during the pre-meetings, at the fundraisers, on the bus ride (with fun bus games), and then at the homecomings, with stories shared with church members/supporters, family, and friends. Be sure to ask your pastor and youth director what impact the national youth gathering had on them.

TEENAGERS COME BACK FROM this every-third-summer gathering with a glimpse of the larger church in action, with goose-bump moments in a football stadium remembering our baptisms, sharing holy communion with 30,000 friends, and dancing and praying and sharing the peace. Oh yes, and there is the singing! Check out “Make A Difference” from a few years ago. In Houston next week we’ll all be singing the theme song for this year’s gathering: “This Changes Everything.” (Surprise a Lutheran teenager and learn this song before they get back from Houston!)

In addition to the mass gatherings every evening at the football stadium, each of the three days are spent in service work, in interactive learning, and a Synod Day — where our synod kids and adults gather for worship and more. Bishop Svennungsen and Spoken Word artist Joe Davis will be preaching. We have a great group of synod youth and adult leaders putting all the pieces together for our Synod Day in Houston.

For the service day, our teenagers will fan out all over Houston — wearing orange t-shirts — to show what it means to be Lutheran by doing God’s work with their hands.

“Next week, van/bus/plane loads of teenagers from the Minneapolis Area Synod head down to Houston.”

Pastor Kelly Chatman and I head down to Houston to represent the synod at the Interactive Center at NRG Park. A massive convention center full of activities where kids can reflect, move, connect, accompany, bond, and dream. Our Minneapolis Area Synod booth will invite folks to play “unfair foursquare” — the rules drive home a message you may want to re-enforce by playing at home!

Ah, it’s time for that third summer again. Please pray for ELCA Youth Gathering!

By Pr. Kelly Chatman

It’s time to have the talk in the church.

I have been in the Lutheran Church for a long time. (I actually graduated from Lutheran high school, college, and seminary.) I learned early that if a preacher was preaching to the choir, she wasn’t preaching to me. If we are only preaching to the choir, the church is heading for trouble.

A good friend was moving to another region of the country. During our conversation the discussion turned to worship, music, and choir. My friend shared how she loved being in a congregation where worship and music is strong. She shared that, though she herself has a strong voice and music background, she quickly discovered that to truly experience belonging in her church choir she needed to have a stronger music background. She shared how most of the choir had migrated from Lutheran colleges like St Olaf, Augsburg, Concordia, and Luther.

“If we are only preaching to the choir, the church is heading for trouble.”

In our conversation, we speculated about the region of the country our friend was moving to and anticipating the difference she might experience in belonging to a congregation choir. She recounted the expectation she experienced in Minnesota is participation requires the ability to read music, and read it well. It is my experience the more complicated the music, the more meaningful it is in some of our congregations.

Strong choirs are great. Is the choir the audience we need to reach?

In case you have not read the memo, Minnesota demographics are changing and it is changing fast. The future of the church does not look like many of our choirs.

SO, HERE IS MY ADVISE: Talk with your choir and make sure they have your back. Solicit the choir’s assistance to reach people who are new to the church. People may or may not know how to negotiate the Evangelical Book of Worship. Even more, they may not want to so work with your choir. Partner with your choir to discover new ways to reach new people to share the sense of belonging experienced in the choir.

One of the things I valued during my clinical pastoral education in seminary was during a unit of hospital chaplaincy in Washington D.C., I heard a lecture by Dr. Edwin Nichols from the National Institute of Health. Dr. Nichols shared research from social scientist stating that, in the United States, we operate out of three basic world views. He was careful to state that one world view is not better or more important than another.

Dr. Nichols stated how for African-American, Latino/Latina, and First Nation people the operative world view is “relationship.” How African-American people feel in relationship with others and their environment is fundamental to their world view.

“Dr. Edwin Nichols shared research from social scientist stating that, in the United States, we operate out of three basic world views.”

Second, Dr. Nichols shared that for Asian and Pacific Islander people in the United States the operative world view is following the emperor, speaking with one voice, conforming to the group. Remember, a particular world view is not better than another!

The final world view Dr. Nichols presented was that of white people. He stated for this world view it is the acquisition of option. This is represented in examples like, how much knowledge is accumulated, how much money you make, and value of time. I think about time as a commodity where worship is to be limited to “one hour”.

You can have fun with this information. Discuss with your leaders the elements of your worship service. Talk about the three world views and reflect on your service and hymns. What about the sermon? How do you evaluate if a sermon is good or not? How long is the service? How might these insights reflect the passing of the peace?

Have this conversation; include your young people. The future of the church depends on our ability to have these discussions.

By Emilie Bouvier

O Holy One, stirring Spirit of Pentecost, we give thanks for the gentle breeze, the rushing wind of storms, the wind that carries seeds, and the wind that powers electricity. Help us to steward these gifts of wind and air, and all your good creation.

Lord in your mercy, … hear our prayer.

As assisting minister at Calvary Lutheran Church this Sunday, I offered the prayer petition above. The Third Person of the Trinity harbors a multitude of images and richness of imagination – ephemeral and mysterious, yet incarnate in wind and breath. And, of course, this Spirit is ever powerful and provocative in her stirrings.

Clergy and lay leaders deliver a petition in the Minnesota Senate Office Building.

I find myself filled with the same wonder and invigoration as I felt as a child when my family would wander over to the park on a particularly windy day to fly kites. After the running start, the moment a gust of wind would take the kite soaring up was a striking one. It left me holding tightly to the string, filled with both excitement and fear (lest the kite come crashing down), as it blew higher. Holding tightly with both hands to the end of the line, I’d pull hard, but more often be pulled myself, lurching forward or sideways, always anticipating, but never too successfully, where the wind might turn next.

“The rushing, transformative Spirit cannot leave things sitting still – she immediately propels the disciples out to speak in the public square.”

Wind is certainly not static, and neither is this Holy Spirit of ours (if we can even lay claim to her). This dynamic shows up powerfully in the Pentecost story of Acts. The rushing, transformative Spirit cannot leave things sitting still – she immediately propels the disciples out to speak in the public square. The rushing wind “filled the entire house where they were sitting” and then suddenly, with no explanation or literary transition, they disciples were no longer in an upper room but out on the street corner, proclaiming loudly and in every language about God’s deeds of power.

Doesn’t this ask of us the same thing today? How does the Spirit drag us out into the public square, with a prophetic word of hope and gospel?

YESTERDAY, ON THE LAST DAY OF the 2018 legislative session, a small group of EcoFaith advocates stood outside the Senate Office Building at the Minnesota State Capitol. One held an armful of paper, a long printed copy of over 1,100 signatures from clergy and lay members of the faith community in Minnesota, urging our policy makers to adopt a higher Renewable Energy Standard (RES) – 50% by 2030.

Standing at the intersection of faith and life

We delivered the open letter at the tail end of session after seeing no traction – the bill was not even granted a hearing. It was the last day of session, but all the formal business had been closed for the year and sent to the Governor’s desk at midnight. Yet there we were, dedicated disciples representing faith communities far and near, filled with a Spirit-ed boldness to speak visions and dreams for God’s creation on the street corner of Park and University Avenue West.

In the deserted halls of the Senate offices, we boldly charged that the legislature was doing as much on clean energy when the building was empty as when occupied. Once outside, we planted a stake in the ground on renewable energy justice – stating that we are not going away, but would continue to stand up as people of faith. This was a moment of the Spirit’s blowing among our congregational leaders, who refused to be discouraged and chose instead to be powerful.

May we not lose the feeling of the wind’s strong pull on the end of the kite string. May the Spirit, in all her force and unpredictability, pull us on, draw us out, and embolden us in our ministry.

Photos by Chloe Ahlf, Saint Paul Area Synod’s coordinator for synod communications

By Bob Hulteen

I loved the red-letter edition of the Bible growing up. Now, it so happened that the Bible my folks gave me also had a red cover, but that’s not why I loved the red print. No, it’s because I was really only interested in Jesus.

Now, I also loved Captain America and Black Panther comics, so maybe it was the hero thing. But, I loved Jesus – miracles, healings, ascensions, resurrections. That’s the stuff of a elementary boy’s dreams.

But, as I tried to live out this “faith in Jesus” lifestyle, I really started to appreciate the Acts and some of the epistles. The Christian life wasn’t all about heroics. Often it was just about how to live each day with integrity, incarnating the love and grace that I had experienced. As we are getting ready to be “post-Pentecost” and enter the “ordinary season,” I’m thinking about some of the gospel personalities — about how they lived after spending three years with the itinerant preacher Jesus.

“When I read John 17:6-19, I changed ‘the world’ to ‘Empire’ in some places and ‘powers and principalities’ in others.”

Judas showed up in this last Sunday’s Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) readings Acts 1:15-17, 21-26). Having grown up rocking out on my Jesus Christ Superstar album (before Brandon Victor Dixon stole the show in the recent live broadcast), I found Judas to be a sympathetic character.

Judas was an invaluable member of the traveling band who followed the itinerant preacher Jesus. He was the keeper of the purse. He raised hard questions about how the money was used: Couldn’t the coins be better used to serve the poor?

Perhaps out of frustration over Jesus’ choices or maybe his own personal disappointment, Judas becomes an agent for the authorities — a collaborator, a co-conspirator with the powers of the world, as Professor Bill Wylie-Kellermann describes.

WHEN THEOLOGIAN WALTER WINK read the RCL gospel text for last Sunday (John 17:6-19), he argued that the Greek word “kosmos,” which was translated as “the world,” would better be translated as “world system.” When I read it, I changed “the world” into “Empire” in some places and “powers and principalities” in others.

For my ear anyway, the 17^th chapter of John makes much more sense using those terms. Does it make more sense to you as well?

And now I am no longer a part of the dominant world system, but they are still in the dominant world system, and I am coming to you. Holy Mother, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, an alternative to the divisive world system, just as we are one.

That really changes how the text lands, doesn’t it? And, here it goes on.

But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things while I am still with them in the Empire so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the Empire has hated them because they do not belong to the Empire, just as I do not belong to the Empire. I am not asking you to take them out of the dominant world system, but I ask you to protect them from the powers and principalities. They do not belong to these oppressive structures, just as I do not belong to these oppressive structures.

Jesus wanted his followers, his friends, to be ready to address the complex and corrosive issues they would face by confronting the powers of this world – even as that pointed to the cross, just as confronting Empire always does.

I’d like to see Captain America do that.

This blog is adapted from a sermon on May 13, 2018, at Nokomis Heights Lutheran Church.