Guest Blogs

By Rev. Dr. Yolanda Denson-Byers

This post continues the Mission Table’s “Year of Partnership” highlighting the new and strategic ministries of the Minneapolis Area Synod. Redeemer is one of the strategic ministries and worships in North Minneapolis.

Redeemer Lutheran Church has one hundred and sixteen years of history in North Minneapolis. Originally started as a Finnish-American congregation, Redeemer has evolved to welcoming Norwegian, Jewish, and African-American people to the neighborhood, ever remaining committed to being a beacon of hope in the Harrison Neighborhood.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, and ministries meant to accompany their neighbors, Redeemer strives to provide a radical welcome, as well as a commitment to liberation and social justice for all.

As Lutherans, we know that gathering every Sunday around Word and Sacrament is one of the most important things that we do together. At Redeemer, the hymnal of choice is This Far By Faith, an ELCA hymnal tailored to those who wish to worship and sing in the African-American tradition.

This tradition is one of celebration, resistance, and unrelenting hope. This is not a place where you sing with anything but your whole heart! Throughout the Sunday experience, you will be blessed by the music ministry at Redeemer. Hands clap, everyone is invited to make joyful noises with a variety of hand instruments, and voices are raised to Almighty God. Bodies sway and souls are filled with the hope and promise of Jesus’ justice and peace for all people.

As Christians, we believe in loving God and neighbor as ourselves. At Redeemer, this is beautifully displayed during the passing of the peace where deep relationships are established through smiles, handshakes, nods, and hugs. If you are accustomed to passing the peace at your church for 60-90 seconds, Redeemer will be a new experience! The peace extends over five minutes as God’s beloveds connect – and reconnect – with those who are present.

When Sunday worship is over, Redeemer’s service truly begins! During the week, the members and friends of Redeemer exit the four walls of the sanctuary and purposefully join God in the work She is already doing in the neighborhood! Whether they are providing food and diapers, standing in solidarity with folks in George Floyd Square, advocating for affordable housing and safe schools, or providing weekly summer meals, the members of Redeemer are deeply concerned about the needs of their neighbors and partner with many ministry partners and others who live in the Harrison neighborhood to walk with them.

If you are looking for a church home, or just want to stop in, you’re invited to visit Redeemer. If you feel called to financially support the mission and ministry of Redeemer, your dollars – or those of your home congregation – will go far to advance the Gospel! Currently, they are fundraising in support of the affordable housing they are blessed to manage. Of the $45,000 that they need, they have already raised $10,000. Will you help them fulfill God’s mission in the Harrison neighborhood?

The Rev. Dr. Yolanda Denson-Byers wrote this blog as a member of the Minneapolis Area Synod Mission Table. She is the pastor of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church of Edina and the author of the book See Me, Believe Me: A Guide to Deepen Allyship with Congregational Leaders of Color (Mouth House).

By Pr. Adam White and Pr. Eric Luedtke

For more than 40 years, the Leipzig District (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Saxony) and Minneapolis Area Synod have shared a companion synod partnership. In November 2024, Rev. Adam White (Faith Lutheran, Waconia) and Rev. Eric Luedtke (House of Prayer, Richfield) represented the Minneapolis Area Synod at the 25^th Anniversary of the ELCA’s Wittenberg Center.

Read more about their experience.

On the evening of Tuesday, November 19, we gazed out an open window of an upper-floor apartment facing the market square outside Nikolaikirche in Leipzig. This location wasn’t on the itinerary for our trip for the 25^th Commemoration of the Wittenberg Center, but there we were.

Through the connection of a colleague, Rev. Robert Moore, an ELCA Global volunteer who lives in Leipzig and was participating in the commemoration, we’d secured a last-minute invitation to Superintendent Sebastian Feydt’s birthday party. We’d taken a quick evening train from Wittenberg to Leipzig with a small contingent from the commemoration, including Rev. Amy Reumann, the Senior Director of ELCA Witness in Society. When we arrived, even though we were essentially strangers, we were warmly welcomed into the home as representatives of the Minneapolis Area Synod. We were offered wine, cheese, soup, and Herrencreme, roughly translated as “Gentleman’s Pudding,” a favorite dessert of Superintendent Feydt.

Standing in Superintendent Feydt’s living room, we were admiring the view. An enormous Christmas Pyramid was set in the square below in preparation for the Christmas Market, but, despite its size, a well-lit lone white column with green stalks sprouting from its top towered over the pyramid.

The view of the memorial from Superintendent Feydt’s window

One of us asked, “What is that?”

We learned that the column was a memorial to the Peaceful Revolution, marking the political resistance that played a pivotal role in the fall of the GDR regime and the Iron Curtain. The resistance began as Monday prayer meetings in the Nikolaikirche in 1982. Even as we stared out the window, listening intently, we silently pondered how a prayer meeting beginning in a church could play a role in toppling an oppressive regime.

But it had. This was history, not wishful thinking. In fact, Rev. Reumann had been a student in Leipzig during the late 1980s and had participated in the meetings. Our ELCA colleague shared first-hand accounts.

“Can you explain why it’s a pillar, and what’s the significance of the leaves?” one of us asked our hosts.

“It’s an exact replica of one of the columns inside the Nikolaikirche. It symbolizes that which begins in the church coming into the public square and creating new life and growth in the world. It reminds us that what begins in the church can lead to real change.” they replied.

It was the kind of location and conversation that lodges deeply within you: the kind you can only have with a change in context and perspective, a byproduct of our global partnership relationship.

The following day we had coffee with Pastor Christoph Reichl and his spouse, Christiane, in Wittenberg in the shadow of Schlosskirche. We talked about church, we talked about politics, we talked about our families, and we dreamed together about our partnership. We celebrated the relationship and partnership of the ELCA and the EKD, which we’d been immersed in all week. And we shared a simple and profound insight: we need one another, perhaps especially in this moment, to meet the challenges before us as churches.

We returned home convinced that such relationships show us things that we would otherwise overlook. They invite the gift of experiences and histories of partners that illuminate the present, opening new windows: windows into the moment in which we find ourselves and windows into who we are as a church.

Our synod is renewing our Leipzig partnership team. Please join us for a Zoom call on Thursday, March 6, to learn more about our partnership, Rev. White and Rev. Luedtke’s experience in November, and how to be involved in the partnership in the future.

By Melissa Melnick Gonzalez

This post continues the Mission Table’s “Year of Partnership” highlighting the new and strategic ministries of the Minneapolis Area Synod. Tapestry is one of three new mission development congregations, and accompanies Latino families living in and around Richfield. 

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Guided by the Spirit and led by Creator God, Tapestry shares the love of Jesus through food, music, and education. We build bridges and provide opportunities for people to cross them with those different from themselves.

Food
Because some of our best conversations happen over a meal, Tapestry’s Sunday evening worship has always been followed by dinner. We are people from Bolivia, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United States, and Venezuela, with eight teams that serve food after worship.

Tapestry also serves homemade food during Community Meals before Spanish and English classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, for Bible Study Wednesdays, with Coffee & Conversation on Fridays, and at various events during the year. Tapestry has also begun partnering with Hope Project to prepare and serve meals for unhoused people in the Twin Cities.

Tapestry can even serve a meal at your place of worship or teach a cooking lesson — with eating of course!

Music
The Tapestry Band just completed a year-long project with a grant from the Calvin Institute of Worship. Musicians composed 12 new songs (10 of which have been recorded so far) that will be available soon to listen to and to use as recordings in worship! They even have lead sheets to play the music in your church. These talented musicians are from Puerto Rico, the United States, and Venezuela and songs are in English and/or Spanish! The band is often available to lead worship and other events with a large repertoire of music from the ELW, ACS, LLC, our original music, and other songs played with Latin rhythms!

Education
Tapestry began teaching Spanish and English (ESL) courses in 2017 and has continued to share this ministry with the Church and the community! These courses help us learn about each other, our cultures, hopes, dreams, joys, and struggles through language learning. Our teachers come from the Tapestry community, and it is a joy to be able to teach and learn from each other!

In addition, Tapestry offers Bible study led by Deacon Josue Gonzalez every Wednesday.

Tapestry families have also been blessed with summer camp opportunities at Camp Amnicon and Ox Lake with the assistance of grants from the Minneapolis Area Synod. We’re looking forward to our first winter camp this March!

Tapestry was blessed to celebrate 10 years of ministry in September, 2024, with an ecumenical conference that included leaders from various Latin American countries along with a special worship service, both featuring Dr. Sandra Montes, author of Becoming Real and Thriving in Ministry. We give thanks for this wonderful gift of a loving and gracious God.

Pastor Melissa, Deacon Josue Gonzalez, and Tapestry leaders often speak, preach, and teach around the Synod and beyond. Please feel free to contact either for more information.

You are also invited to worship in English and Spanish with Tapestry on Sunday evenings at 5:00 p.m. and stay for dinner and conversation! Tapestry is hosted by Oak Grove Lutheran Church at 7045 Lyndale Ave So, Richfield, MN 55423.