Staff Blogs

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 think I’d survive the struggle without it.

Once, I was in the presence of two powerful women in Mexico, who were doing community organizing to make life better for their children. We were on the banks of a green river, flowing with contaminants from a nearby factory. They raised their kids 50 feet from that river under corrugated tin shacks. As they told their story, I pointed to a Quonset hut church with a big picture of Jesus painted on the side. “Tell me about that church,” I asked.

Think about the power of the real presence of Jesus that’s given at table after table after table each week!

The woman’s face clouded over and she shook her head: “They are not with us in our struggle.”

That prophetic statement has stuck with me. Even now, I wonder if people who walk by our churches say the same thing: “They are not with us in our struggle.” Whether the struggle is racial and economic injustice, the challenge of raising kids, figuring out the meaning of life, surviving the rat race – you name it – what do our neighbors say?

A struggle shared in a Jesus community is lighter. But it’s not just about suffering. Joy shared with others is multiplied. The birth of a child. A new job. Hearing, “You are in remission.” We were created to be part of community that embodies the real presence of Jesus.

I GET TO BE in a lot of congregations in our synod. I tell you, it’s the best job ever. Here’s why: On any given Sunday, I could hear the words of institution early in the morning, and then drive somewhere else to be at another table. One such Sunday, as I drove home, I marveled with God, “God, you have a lot of tables where Jesus gives himself away.” Think about the power of the real presence of Jesus that’s given at table after table after table each week!

Thank you for all the ways that your congregation listens to the struggles of your neighbors. I am grateful for the space you make for people to share their joys.

I thank God for the gift of real presence.

Each year rostered leaders throughout the synod gather at the Bishop’s invitation for two days of theological reflection, renewal, and relationship. This year the title of the Bishop’s Theological Conference is “Real Presence: With our neighbors, in our neighborhoods.” We gather September 25-27 at Cragun’s Resort and Hotel near Brainerd to dialogue about this “real presence.” 

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 teach children about God’s love in Sunday school (if they have any children left in the church).  They gather for Bible studies and potlucks, and occasionally engage in outreach ministries like school supply drives or Habitat for Humanity projects.

But there are fewer members in these churches today. Newcomers are infrequent and tend not to stick around. Aging buildings demand a greater percentage of shrinking budgets. Despite earnest ministry efforts and intentional prayers, congregational decline seems irreversible.

It’s hard for these churches not to feel like they’ve failed. In retrospect, they may have made some ministry decisions along the way that contributed to the challenges they face now. But, even churches that made all the “right” decisions may be facing an uncertain future.

Even churches that made all the “right” decisions may be facing an uncertain future.

CHURCHES, LIKE ALL organizations (and like all humans!), have a life cycle. Perhaps not coincidentally, the average life span of a church is approximately the same as a human: 70 to 100 years. (Okay, 100 is a lot for a human, but there are more centenarians all the time!)

But, we don’t talk much about the reality that churches die. Some churches age gracefully, but do not adapt to changes in culture, demographics, and socioeconomic trends. Eventually they find themselves asking difficult questions about their purpose and feasibility. They respond by dying and closing their doors, or dying to their isolation and partnering with another congregation, or dying and giving birth to a new ministry.

Some older churches are thriving today. While they may not have “died” literally, they made significant changes at one or more points in their histories that moved them beyond their founding mission and identity.

“If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). We are the Lord’s Resurrection people, and we are called to be Resurrection churches! As old systems, structures, and habits die, be assured that Christ is already working on a new creation!

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 these things.” *

If you’re a leader in your congregation, you’re probably discovering that it’s time to learn some new things.

That’s why I’m thanking Jesus for our synod’s three new mission starts. They will be our teachers.

Some people have asked, “Why are we spending money to start new things when we could invest in the congregations we already have?” Here’s my answer: We’re in a new God-season. We need creative, courageous people out there trying new things – not only because we know that starting something new is sometimes the best way to invite people in, but also because we all will learn from these experiments.

“We’re in a new God-season.”

Have you asked, “How can our congregation build relationships across race, class, and culture?” Pastor Melissa Melnick and her leaders of Tapestry are doing just that. They are forming a bilingual, multicultural worshiping community in Richfield. And they’re learning a ton. Talk to Pastor Melissa and her leaders and they’ll tell you about the power of Jesus and the gospel to bring people together.

Have you asked, “How can our church be relevant to people who are skeptical about church, especially young adults?” Mission Developer Mike Rusert and his leaders of Intertwine NE are working on that question together. They’re creating a community in Northeast Minneapolis that’s more about questions than answers, and confronts hard issues like race and the environment.

“How can our church be relevant to people who are skeptical about church?”

Have you asked, “How can our church connect with people who are moving into our fast-growing community?” Pastor Marissa Sotos, who’s being sent from Central Lutheran to start Tree of Life Lutheran, is just getting started. She’s drinking a lot of coffee in the North Loop, downtown — which will double in population in the next few years. It’s a place where people live in condos, behind two sets of locked doors. She’s busy listening and meeting people, working to discover what the Spirit has for them.

Each of these ministries is seeking partners. If you join them in their experiments, just think about all the cool things you’ll learn about this new God-season! You don’t even have to be a genius.

*The Message version

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, or in the back, or, most importantly, by my friends.

That was in 1971. But I still like to pick where and with whom I sit. I guess I haven’t changed much.

Now that I got that off my chest, let’s talk about something really important: Peer Groups.

Did you know the best leaders are in peer groups?
If you don’t believe me, ask someone who is in a peer group.

Why are the best leaders in a peer group?
Because when you gather regularly with a group of colleagues (where you support, learn, and pray together), the Holy Spirit has a better chance to blow through your life – to keep you in balance, to hear real praise, to accept honest criticism … from people you’ve grown to trust and respect.

Do you know how we start peer groups in our synod?
Trick question.
We don’t start peer groups. We want you to start your own peer group.

There are no assigned seats for peer groups. Not on my watch.

If you work at a MAS congregation, here’s how you start your own peer group.

• Find a couple of people who do the same kind of work you do, or do ministry in the same community, or folks in radically different contexts.
• Make sure you like spending time with them.
• Ask them to lunch.
• Invite me to that same lunch. And yes, I’ll buy. (Well, I’ll use our MÁS Peer Group grant money.)
• We’ll talk about how best to make your peer group work for you and your friends.

I look forward to hearing from you when you set up your MÁS Peer Group lunch. Just don’t tell me where to sit.

By Emilie Bouvier, Congregational Organizer for Environmental Justice

“Knock and the door shall be opened unto you.” As an emerging environmental organizer, I have many hours of stories about “on door” exchanges – comical moments, connections of surprising depth, harsh words, encouraging support, and a wide variety of snacks shared with me in moments of grace.

Door knocking has deeply impacted my theology. It has re-oriented my thoughts on working for positive change within faith communities.

I bring months of experiences spent talking about “doors” and asks” – with literal callouses on my knuckles – to my reading of Luke 11:1-13. Last Sunday’s lectionary text goes right from the Lord’s Prayer to this curious story about knocking on doors. We often read this text as a “me-and-God” text – about a personal relationship with God, who comforts and provides. But now I hear this text anew as an organizing text.
THE STORY IS central, with Jesus beginning in verse 5: “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’” Notice that the one who goes at midnight to knock on his friend’s door doesn’t ask for something for himself; rather he asks on behalf of a friend who is in need and is hungry. He acts out of love for a neighbor, responding with urgency to the particular need.

Door knocking has deeply impacted my theology.

Jesus goes on to describe the response, one that is almost verbatim one I’ve heard said to me many times over in my days knocking doors: “And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’”

But this is not the end of the story. Jesus continues, “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.”

Let’s unpack the dynamics of these interactions. Our nameless protagonist is a bridge who has relationship and is asking from one to fill the need for another. This is what community organizing is all about: building a caring community that attends to the needs and problems we face, and acting out of that network of people and resources for the greater good.

Yet, the sleepy friend doesn’t want to get up, doesn’t want to respond. So our protagonist continues knocking, louder even, being persistent. This determined one continues to lift their voice and make noise so that others will start to hear. Make enough noise and those nearby will either respond or make sure this friend who isn’t helping steps it up. Everyone wants to finally get to bed after all.

This kind of persistence is critical in organizing for justice. It’s founded in relationship and it’s used intentionally to get results. Do we care enough to put pressure on those we know can help – for the sake of building a bridge and meeting a need? Can we strategically and passionately refuse to shirk away quietly but rather lift our voices and make noise until our friend is roused from sleepiness to share the resources they have that another is lacking?

I find that this story about door knocking informs and is informed by the prayer Jesus teaches immediately before it as well. It invites naming this Holy One through relationship, the coming of a new kingdom, a new realm in which the ways we relate to one another are transformed, for everyone to have enough bread, and for our brokenness and broken relationships to be restored – a prayer that supports and encourages community grounded in relationship with God and one another so that all are valued, nourished, and whole.

The Lord’s Prayer invites a new realm in which the ways we relate to one another are transformed, for everyone to have enough bread, and for our brokenness and broken relationships to be restored.

So what does all this have to do with environmental justice? Well, if we look at the greater community, we find many friends who have specific need, for whom we ought to probably knock on some doors. We see people without access to our changing renewable energy economy. We see the devastation caused by pollution, in big and small ways, including right in our own city and countryside. We see people displaced or hungry because of climate instability and its effects on food production, storms, and flood patterns.

So how will you knock? Will you claim your voice to be a connector so that everyone is cared for? And when someone else calls, will you stumble out of bed even when you feel tired because we all do better when we work together to establish the beloved community?

We have work to do and community to build, so let’s get knocking.

By Bob Hulteen, Director of Communications and Stewardship

Is stewardship more about outcome or process?

I mean, budgets must be met, right? Buildings must be heated in the long, cold winter months. Professional staff must be compensated for the ministry they offer.

But, if we only look at paying bills, do we ever really get to talk about our shared mission? Do we get to dream together about how our congregations can be a benefit to their communities?

Do we only care about the outcome? (Do the ends justify the means?) Or is the process — the means – just as important?

I started thinking about this more deeply last week while having a conversation with Mark Schultz, a long-time friend and the organizing director for the Land Stewardship Project (LSP), a nonprofit founded to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland. He pushed some thoughts forward, coming from a slightly different perspective.

“For us, ‘stewardship’ is about more than a simple measurement of immediate outcomes. In other words, if all the farmland in Minnesota were owned by one big landowner or corporation, and it was well-cared for, that would not be the maximization, or the height, of stewardship,” Mark told me. LSP has the democratization of agriculture as a core value. As an organization, it wants active advocacy for the profession of farming.

“Stewardship is like love,” Mark went on. “It is most powerful, at its greatest, when all are practicing it. It is in the giving of love that we are most alive, as well as in the receiving. Similarly, we are called to care for the land – all of us. That caring, practiced by the many, not the few, is the best sense of stewardship. And, not inconsequentially, it is when the best care of the land, our planet, Creation, actually is achieved.”

Creation. Love. Justice. Those are all big concepts. Yet LSP also wants practical results that affect the lives of real people.

When we talk stewardship in the church, I hope we want the same. We want both process and outcome.

Also, being a great organizer, Mark hit me up to renew my membership in the LSP, which had lapsed. But I do care about creation, and love, and justice, and stewardship. So, I wanted to be a member of LSP again. Check.

Email newsletters can be such a blessing – and such a curse! They are a great way to keep up with a church, an online resource, or a writer of interest without doing a deep-dive into new material… but WOW, can they fill up your inbox in a hurry!

At the risk of inducing “inbox overload” I want to share some of the email newsletters I receive. I’ve selected the ones that that I find most worthwhile to take at least a few minutes to peruse, particularly in the areas of invitation, hospitality, evangelism, and stewardship.

These newsletters are great for rostered leaders and lay leaders alike!  Sometimes they introduce a new perspective on a topic I’ve been pondering; other times they lead me into a deeper exploration of ideas or resources that add great value to my ministry.

It’s likely that these are not new resources to some who read this blog post, and no doubt you could suggest others that would enhance this list. If so, please post your ideas here or send them to me via email at c.pederson@mpls-synod.org.

Alban Weekly is a digest of articles and books from the former Alban Institute, which is now part of Duke Divinity School. Sign up for the free email newsletter at www.alban.org. (Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for sign-up.) 

Ministry Matters is a weekly digest of timely articles on leadership, evangelism, and outreach. Sign up for the free newsletter at www.ministrymatters.com. 

Leadership Network:  A periodic newsletter with extensive resources in many areas of congregational development, some free and some for a fee. Sign up for the free email newsletter at www.leadnet.org.

Lewis Center for Church Leadership is a weekly digest on a variety of topics, as well as links to extensive resources (similar to Leadership Network), based at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. Sign up for the free email newsletter at www.churchleadership.com.

Luther Seminary Stewardship Page is a weekly eblast with commentary and articles. Sign up for the free email newsletter at www.luthersem.edu/stewardship. 

Thom Rainer is a congregational researcher and consultant. This is a short daily email of research-based lists addressing changes in church life. Sign up for the free email newsletter at www.thomrainer.com.

When I was a young adult, I opted out of church. I still believed in God; and I still prayed. But for many reasons, the imperfect institution got in the way.

You’ve heard the statistics that more and more people are voting with their feet when it comes to church. They’re opting out … or never opting in.

Why do you think that is?

Think of someone in your life (maybe you) who isn’t finding relevance or value in church participation. What do they say about that? What is it exactly that they are opting out of?

How does all of this make you feel?

Christian author Phyllis Tickle noticed that every 500 years or so, it seems like God has a big garage sale: A lot of things that the church used to see as central are no longer needed and are “put on tables in the driveway” in order to make room for a new day. Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the front door of the church. Five hundred years before that, the Great Schizm happened, and the Church split into East (Constantinople) and West (Rome). Five hundred years before that, the monastic movement brought new life to the Church; and 500 years before that, it was JESUS.

So, here’s my big question: What if the changes in attendance aren’t about the church failing or society going to heck; what if God is simply doing something new?

So, here’s my big question: What if the changes in attendance aren’t about the church failing or society going to heck; what if God is simply doing something new?

I think that this is a terribly exciting time to be church. It’s a time to turn off the auto-pilot button and be curious. It’s time to listen and learn together. What is God up to? Churches that are curious and connected to God, each other, and the neighborhood are the churches that are vital. Life-giving. Dare I say, life-changing?

If I was an author, the title of my book would be Trust How God Works. God comes to us in God’s Word. Jesus sneaks in and forgives us in the bread and wine. The Spirit blows new life into us in the waters of baptism.

This has not changed. This will not change.

I am super hopeful. Are you with me?

By Rev. Craig Pederson, Assistant to the Bishop

When your job title is “Assistant to the Bishop for Congregational Vitality,” you need to learn to have some fun with it. When I meet with church groups, I like to say that I have a special dispensation from the Bishop to proclaim “Vitality!” in a congregation and immediately it shall be so!

But we all know it’s not that easy.

Let’s start by asking, “What is vitality?” When I ask that question, I hear responses like:

“Life”
“Momentum”
“Direction”
“A place I want to be”
“A place I want to share with others”

Yes! All of these are great indicators of a congregation that is vital and responsive to the movement of the Spirit in its midst.

But can vitality be measured? And, if so, can we learn ways to develop and increase it in our congregations?

Again, yes! A relatively new tool developed by the ELCA – called the Congregational Vitality Survey (CVS) – helps congregations understand their sources of energy and life (as well as where those sources may be missing). More specifically, the CVS offers resources to congregations as they assess their connections to God, to each other, and to the world, with the conviction that these connections are what bring vitality to a faith community.

Three great aspects of the CVS:

• It can be self-administered.
• It is short (just 15 questions).
• It is free!

While it can be self-administered, Pastor Deb Stehlin and I have been invited to use and interpret the CVS with more than a dozen congregations in our synod. We have found that it has been a wonderful tool for leaders to understand the perceptions and dynamics at work in their congregations.

If you would like to check it out for yourself, go to www.congregationalvitalitysurvey.com . If you would like to talk about a synod staff member accompanying you on the use of DVS, don’t hesitate to let us know.

To offer your thoughts to Craig, email him at c.pederson@mpls-synod.org or call him at 612-230-3316.

By  Rev. John Hulden, Assistant to the Bishop

With a gaggle of little sweet ones gathered at the preacher’s feet, who knows what will happen next? Check your next kids’ sermon against these five simple concepts so you don’t get derailed the next time you are called on to preach to kids.

1. Keep It Simple and Short (KISS): I love kids’ sermons! But they are not the main thing in the worship service. Effective kids’ sermons do not have to be long. (I know, I know. It’s tempting to have a nice long chat with those adorable munchkins.) It is up to you to stay on point, have some fun, and move along.
2. Memorize the sermon, because eye contact is critical. I am bad at memorization. I can’t remember the second line of a song, much less the second verse. But, I have made a commitment for all of my years of parish ministry to never take notes with me to a kids’ sermon. If I can do it, you can, too (and it’s much easier to do if you keep it simple and short).
3. You are the theologian. Don’t depend on the kids’ answers to bring your message home. They are just kids after all. You need to drive this bus. It is great to ask kids questions, but ask for information, not in hopes they will have the right answer.
4. Four-year-old vocabulary only; no big words. ‘Nuff said.
5. Move! Plan your message so the kids have to walk, make noises, crawl, jump, or roll around. Kids have bodies and they know how to use them.

And here’s a bonus suggestion: I like to end every kids’ sermon with a call and response prayer. What will be your “liturgy” with the kids?

A version of this blog appeared on WorkingPreacher.org.