Bishop’s Blogs

By Bishop Jen Nagel

We’ve had a season of ordinations this fall around Minneapolis Area Synod. Ian Heseltine was ordained as a deacon with a call to serve in development at Augsburg University. With ties at Normandale Lutheran, Sumner Musolf was ordained as a pastor and now serves St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Bloomington. Asefa Melka Wakjira was ordained at Our Redeemer Oromo Evangelical Church in South Minneapolis and serves as a pastor, as well as a hospital chaplain. Kayla Zopfi was ordained as a deacon with a call from the ELCA Churchwide Office as the ELCA Young Adult Network Coordinator. And, Morgan Simmons, who did candidacy in the Delaware-Maryland Synod and has been active in our synod for some years during seminary and internship, has been called to Northern Great Lakes Synod and now serves as pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Whew!  

With these ordinations, I have been thinking about our interconnections and an activity I have done with people in outdoor ministries. The group would stand in a circle with a ball of yarn or thin rope. The person who starts would hold the end of the rope and then pass the ball across the circle to someone else. They’d grasp the rope and pass the ball of rope to another person. With the passes, a web of rope is created with each person around the circle holding on. As a group, we’d talk a bit about this interconnected web, or ecology, noticing how a tug or added pressure in one spot is felt across and around the circle.  

Getting to know these new deacons and pastors in the church, I celebrate the web of relationships that has raised up their faithful calls to ministry, held them in prayer, funded  their studies, engaged their academic learning, nurtured their skills, and now invites them into new leadership and trust. And all this, not for their sake, but for the sake of this beautiful and broken world, for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for the sake of proclaiming, indeed, embodying, life in the midst of death. 

When we’re tempted to go it alone, the truth comes again in the tug across the circle. We, dear ones, are part of this interconnected ministry, tethered together by the Holy Spirit, and held by our God who will never let us go.  

By Bishop Jen Nagel

Bless the Lord, my soul, and bless God’s holy name.
Bless the Lord, my soul, who leads me into life.
-Taize, tune by J. Berthier, based on Psalm 103.1 (listen to a version here)

Group photo of the newly elected leaders

I write from Bossey, a lovely ecumenical institute outside of Geneva, Switzerland. After three airline flights, I arrived Sunday evening to join other new-ish Lutheran bishops at the Lutheran World Federation’s Retreat of Newly Elected Leaders. The ELCA is one of 154 member churches of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), a communion of Lutherans, from literally around the world. This group of 13 of us represents churches in Namibia, Indonesia, El Salvador, Poland, Canada, Sweden, Costa Rica, Argentina, Tanzania, Guyana, Malaysia, and the US (yes, that’s me). We’ll be together until next Tuesday—first here in Switzerland, and then some days in Wittenberg, Germany.

We share a common calling as church leaders, and we bring with us our particular contexts and experiences, joys and concerns. Though I’m across the ocean, you, dear church, are my context, and you and the lament of these last days since the shooting at Annunciation are not far from my heart. This song from Taize began our evening worship tonight: “Bless the Lord, my soul, and bless God’s holy name. Bless the Lord, my soul, who leads me into life.” Or I might adjust it to read, “… who leads us into life.”

Even, and I’d say, especially, in the midst of these days of grief and death, when we lack for words, and light candles teary-eyed, my trust is even stronger in this One who leads us—amidst it all—into life.

A few reflections as we are led into life:

• You can read my message from last week here, and also the call of the Minnesota ELCA Bishops here. You’ll notice some important links about gun violence and the ELCA’s Social Message on Gun-Related Violence.

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  One of many prayer vigils held at area churches last week (this one, at Diamond Lake Lutheran)

  I’m grateful for the ways ELCA folks are showing up—offering pastoral care at Annunciation last Wednesday, caring for families (a number of these kids and their families and educators have ELCA connections), comforting neighbors, seeking support, hosting vigils, praying, praying, praying. In an exchange with Archbishop Hebda, he expressed gratitude for the ELCA support and outreach.

• I appreciate this resource from our colleagues at Outfront MN and PRISM. I echo what they write: “News reports tell us that the shooter was transgender. This reality can make our grief more complicated, and we must take care that it does not fuel harmful narratives or stigmatization of the broader trans community. As people of faith, we know and must clearly communicate that one person’s violent actions do not define the worth or dignity of an entire community. Trans and nonbinary people are beloved children of God, made in the divine image, and worthy of safety, joy, and flourishing.”

• For many of us, the world is feeling out of control and overwhelming. If that’s your experience, you aren’t alone. I hear you. Jesus meets us in the storms. Let someone know how you are feeling. Support your mental health. And know that we (our churches, our leaders, our cities, our schools) are prayed for—I have gotten a number of notes from far afield sending prayers for all us.

• Many head back to school today. We pray for students of all ages and stages, for parents and caregivers, for educators and school support teams, and for our campus pastors: Pastor Babette and Pastor John at Augsburg University, and Pastor Kate at the U of M’s Lutheran Campus Ministry-Twin Cities.

Beloved ones, our prayers are many these days, and sometimes simply sighs, but God hears them, God hears you. Across the ocean and in conversation and prayers with colleagues from around the world, I am praying for you and with you, and for our broken hearts and battered world. “Bless the Lord, my soul, and bless God’s holy name. Bless the Lord, my soul, who leads us into life.”

By Bishop Jen Nagel

More than 800 voting members and hundreds of visitors, observers, volunteers, and staff spent last week in Phoenix at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly. From Minneapolis Area Synod, we had a group of 30 voting members and a strong contingent of others supporting the assembly’s work. I am deeply grateful for how our group showed up with faithfulness, curiosity, humility, mutual respect, good humor, joy, engagement, and honesty. See the photo gallery below from our team and the ELCA that show many of our voting members in action.

I know that many have been following the assembly’s actions online. Want to catch up?

• Here is a playlist of videos chronicling the whole assembly—plenaries (sessions for business, learning, voting, and prayer), worship services, special events like the exhibition pow wow, short videos with a focus on assorted ministries (hint: could be used in worship), and some really well done pre assembly bible studies (even after the fact, these could be used well in a congregational bible study setting).
• Here are daily posts from Living Lutheran. I appreciate the words, but even more I love the pictures. Check them out!
• And here are the daily updates posted by Assistant to the Bishop for Faith and Neighboring, Nicholas Tangen.

By now, most have heard of the elections of Presiding Bishop-Elect Rev. Yehiel Curry and Secretary-Elect Rev. CeCee Mills. Bishop Curry currently serves in Metropolitan Chicago Synod and also serves as the Chair of the Conference of Bishops. It’s in this capacity that I’ve come to know him over the last year and so value his leadership and ministry. I’d echo a phrase I’ve heard from others: He’s the real deal. He embodies faithfulness, trust in God’s power and the Holy Spirit’s movement, clarity, collaboration, and humor. I’m grateful for his willingness and trust to step into this big role and I invite you to join me in praying for Bishop-elect Curry, his family, and the Metropolitan Chicago Synod.

I look forward to working with Secretary-Elect Mills and learning more about her leadership. It’s my sense that she melds a deep piety, considerable years of ministry in the North Carolina Synod office and parishes, a willingness to listen and act, and just the right amount of constitutional nerdiness that’s essential for facilitating a good process as the church moves and flexes in these times. We pray for Secretary-Elect Mills, her synod and community, and the whole ELCA Churchwide organization in these coming months.

Memorials sent from Minneapolis Area Synod, along with dozens of others from synods around the church, were approved en bloc. These included memorials related to Youth Gathering DEIA, Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, and Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection. A few areas to name in particular:

• The Faith and Civic Life Social Statement was approved. This offers important ethical language and direction for each of us (yes, you and me, all of us, check it out), especially in this time. Some years ago, it was from Minneapolis Area Synod that the call rose for a social statement of this nature.
• We approved a memorial related to Palestinian rights and Israel. This came from many synods and included elements from the memorial passed by our synod. Learn more about this work of Sumud (which means steadfastness in Arabic) here.
• We approved a memorial about Indian Boarding School Remembrance. Our thanks to Elizabeth Andress from Grace University Lutheran Church who is a leader in this movement.
• In all of this, the humanity of God’s church was real—we tried our best and still there was harm, still it was painful at times. For many in our delegation, there were real highs and also significant struggles, especially related to how we as the ELCA hold the tension between the church as it is, and the church as it is called to be. I was grateful for the role of Assembly Chaplains, led by Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy and Rev. Jenny Sung, making space, accompanying individuals, and inviting reconciliation.

To riff on Hebrews 11:32, and what more shall I say? So much happened last week! What images do I hold? The visual of colorful streamers (and sometimes doves) embodying the Holy Spirit’s movement leading us into and out of worship, and the steady rhythm of preparing for votes with song and prayer. Often led by Deacon John Weit from the Churchwide worship staff, we prayed singing chants such as “Come, Holy Spirit, Come” (ACS #940, and found here at 2:56:07).

This assembly felt like a shift in the possibilities for the future of our church and I am hopeful for this direction. Come, Holy Spirit, come. That’s my prayer for all of us and our church moving forward. Thanks be to God.

By Bishop Jen Nagel

I returned last week from five days in Puerto Rico, at the Bishops Academy of the ELCA and the ELCIC (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada). Held every two years in various locations, the Academy is a space for continuing education and fellowship for those serving as bishops across these two Lutheran churches (the 65 synods of the ELCA and the 5 synods of the ELCIC).

Bishop Jen at the camp where the Caribbean Synod’s office is located

Bishop Vivian Dávila and the Caribbean Synod of the ELCA hosted the Academy this year. This synod includes the ELCA congregations in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands with a synod office at a Lutheran camp in a community near San Juan, Puerto Rico. The camp was a perfect spot for many of our learning sessions and it has a great story. In 1951, the women of the Caribbean Synod yearned for a gathering space, found 16 acres of land, and amazingly purchased it for $1000.

What a joy to be present with the Lutherans of Puerto Rico for Día de Los Reyes (Three Kings, Epiphany). The story of the magi is core to the people of Puerto Rico. The celebrations were plentiful with good food, playful magi crowns, children preparing small boxes of grass to leave for the magi’s camels in return for gifts, and a slower pace with family gatherings.

Bishop Jen at worship with the people of Iglesia Evangélica Luterana San Esteban Mártir in Bayamon

Sunday worship was a highlight for us. The bishops attended worship at more than a dozen different congregations. My spouse, Jane, and I, along with Bishop Bryan Penman (Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod) and Bishop Patricia Lull (Saint Paul Area Synod) had the pleasure of joining Iglesia Evangélica Luterana San Esteban Mártir in Bayamon. Pastor Ricardo Rivera Morales serves this redevelopment congregation and is the Caribbean Synod’s Director of Evangelical Mission (DEM). This congregation sends its greetings to you all, and I carried your greetings and prayers to them. We are church together!

The Taíno are the native inhabitants of Puerto Rico, but the island was claimed as a Spanish colony in the 15th century. Puerto Rico has been a US territory since 1898 and the end of the Spanish-American War. The Lutheran story in Puerto Rico traces back to the 16th century, and the Caribbean Synod, then a part of the United Lutheran Church in America, was founded in 1952. The influence of Puerto Rican leaders in the ELCA and predecessor bodies is significant, and you can learn more by reading Caribbean Lutherans by Rev. Dr. José David Rodríguez who joined us for the Academy.

I especially appreciated the sessions led by Rev. Dr. Carmelo Santos and Rev. Dr. Evie Landrau on de-colonial theology. Colonialism and imperialism have influenced Christian theology by centering Western, especially European worldviews and cultures, as the default. Instead, both leaders invited us to listen for how God speaks in the vernacular – in the familiar language, the mother tongue, in and through the unique and diverse cultures of our world – a very Lutheran practice. Rev. Dr. Santos lifted up a number of common Puerto Rican expressions, unpacking their theological implications. For example, “Tu no salistes de una mata de plátanos!” (You didn’t come out of a banana tree.) For Rev. Dr. Santos this expression reminds us that we need to know the communities, stories, spirituality, racial identities, and religious meaning of the people we come from. We need to know our roots.

El Yunque tropical rain forest

Rev. Dr. Landrau spoke from her Afro Puerto Rican heritage and said clearly to us, “I am the subject matter expert of my own life and experience,” pushing back on the imposition of the colonial definition of Puerto Rican identity. Becoming aware of and unpacking the ways colonialism has impacted our theology and our worldview opens us up to the incredibly diverse expressions of Christianity across the globe, reminding us that God is already acting powerfully and creatively through our unique communities. At a time when colonial rhetoric is again on the rise, the wisdom and invitation of our Puerto Rican siblings is timely and vitally important.

Music, dance, beautiful worship, a tour of the Old City of San Juan, the ocean, a day trip to El Yunque tropical rain forest, and plenty of good conversations blessed our time. Puerto Rico is a beautiful and complex land, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn more with and alongside our colleagues and our Puerto Rican siblings in Christ. We are Church Together.

By Bishop Jen Nagel

Advent blessings, dear ones. We are smack in the middle of this season of preparation for Christ’s birth. Around our house we’ve gotten as far as putting the lights on the tree, but the bin of ornaments awaits. Calendars, candles, concerts, cookies, cards. The pulls of this season are many. More than a few of you have mentioned feeling stressed and weary. Thank you for all you are carrying. I hear you.

I love Advent. In particular, I love the rhythm and patterns of the ancient Advent prayers used in many congregations within our Lutheran family and across the church. Week after week our prayers begin with “Stir up.” Stir up your power, O Christ, and come. Stir up our hearts to prepare the way. Stir up the wills of your faithful people and open our ears.

We need some stirring up these days. Our divisions are blatant. Our uncertainty is rampant and deep. The temptation to hunker down is strong. And we know only enough to pray, Stir us up, O God, by your Spirit, with your gentle might, rouse us to a new way, awaken us to your birth, turn us back to you, set us on fire with your justice, soften our hearts with your love, instill courage, comfort fears, make us ready to welcome You.

Just in the last few days I’ve savored a string of meetings and events with a thread of preparation and sense of being stirred. Let me share a few:

ELCA Youth Gathering. The next ELCA Youth Gathering will be held here in Minneapolis June 28-July 2, 2027, with 16,000+ youth expected. This past week Gathering staff visited and planning is well underway. More to come!

Candidacy Open House. On Thursday candidates at all stages of preparation for ministry as ELCA pastors and deacons gathered for an open house at the synod office. Candidacy has its own Advent feel. I give thanks for the way the Minneapolis Area Synod Candidacy Committee walks with candidates over the years of preparation.

Minnesota Council of Churches. We are active members of the Minnesota Council of Churches (MCC). At an MCC Board Meeting last week, I was reminded of the rich and varied gifts of the council. In this season, refugee resettlement is particularly crucial with more than 50 staff members dedicated to this important work of hospitality.

The choir from Amazing Grace Ministry sings at the Hmong New Year celebration.

Amazing Grace. On Saturday, I had the joy of experiencing the Hmong New Year Celebration hosted by one of our synod’s new ministries, Amazing Grace. What a wonderful event filled with music, dance, good food, and bright and beautiful traditional clothing. This marks the 50th year since the Hmong community first came to Minnesota. My thanks to Pastor Nhiabee Vang and the hospitality of Amazing Grace.

Synod Staffing. We are in a season of interviews for an Assistant to the Bishop for Congregational Vitality and a Director for Evangelical Mission (DEM). The response has been strong with more than two dozen applicants for the positions. Please pray for the Spirit’s stirring and discerning power for the interview teams and for the candidates.

For these things and all the others that need it, Stir up our hearts, O God, to prepare the way for your coming. Amen!

By Bishop Jen Nagel

I write this blog in the in-between hours, the anxious times, between All Saints Day and the close of Election Day. Regardless of party or persuasion, our nation is holding its collective breath, waiting, watching, wondering, fearful, hopeful, exhausted.

I recognize that taking a deep breath while at-once holding one’s breath seems counter-intuitive. In a spirit of embodied resistance, I invite you to do just that: take a breath, a deep breath, and slowly let it out. And another. No matter what: You, and all the saints, indeed, all of creation, are beloved of God, wondrously made, fiercely loved, and gently held. No matter what: Morning shall come. No matter what: In Christ, life wins over death, love is stronger than hate, courage conquers fear.

“Take a breath, a deep breath, and slowly let it out. And another.”

Years ago, I fell in love with the words of Trappist monk and mystic Thomas Merton. As we live into these days his words seem all the more poignant. Merton writes, “In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. . . . And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”

ALL SAINTS SUNDAY is one of my favorites. I prefer to think of it as a season (All Saints Season), so to have ample time to savor the witness of the saints, the stories of God at work in mere mortals, the truth of God’s forgiving power and gracious mercy. And don’t we need this witness now more than ever? At a time when the lines of division are so sharp, when it’s too easy to avoid even eye contact, I need Merton’s and the Spirit’s capacity to see those around me “shining like the sun.”

I suspect some of my love for All Saints has to do with that veil that separates the already and the not-yet, the holy and thin places in which we notice our vulnerability and how resilient and fragile this precious life can be.

Two weeks ago, I met with many of the chaplains who serve in or via our synod. All Saints Sunday (er, Season) was on my mind as they shared of their ministry. Chaplains tread regularly in those fragile thin places. In a sometimes unique way, they represent something much more than themselves with people who are at some of the most challenging moments of our lives.

“Chaplains tread regularly in those fragile thin places.”

These chaplains are pastors and deacons called to serve in hospitals, in care centers, for hospice agencies, in psychiatric hospitals, on campuses, at correctional facilities, for the military and law enforcement, and in education as CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) supervisors. What a blessing that they serve on our behalf!

They are deployed to meet the saints — all the saints — with the grace and love of God when and where the need is great, embodying compassion from the deep well of our Savior, traversing ethical conversations, navigating moral injury. I marvel at the many and varied stories they hold in their hearts this season and the names of saints they utter between bell tolls. Join me in praying regularly with and for these chaplains and the faithful, honest, tender ways they follow Jesus.

How will we move through these next days? Of course, we can hunker down. But in this All Saints Season at Fourth and Walnut, and all the intersections in the day, I’m drawing in the Spirit’s breath, and keeping an eye out for the saints — expected and unexpected — shining like the sun.