Guest Blogs

This post continues the Mission Table’s “Year of Partnership” highlighting the new and strategic ministries of the Minneapolis Area Synod. Minnesota Swahili Christian Church is one of the strategic ministries and worships in South Minneapolis.

By Lulu Semakula
Lulu is a high school senior at Irondale High School in Mounds View. She will be heading to Colorado to join the Airforce Academy next year.

The room is alive with color, music, and the warmth of community. Dressed in vibrant fabrics and glowing with joy, men and women (young and old) gather for what’s become the most anticipated event of our year—the annual Swahili Church Women’s Gala. It’s more than a celebration—it’s a statement of who we are and who we’ve become.

The Women’s Ministry at Swahili Church has grown in ways we never imagined. What started as a small circle of prayer and support has transformed into the strongest and most active ministry in our congregation. The women truly lead, serve, and show up. And through it all, they’ve created a space where women are empowered to connect, grow in their faith, support one another, and spread Good News to “their neighbors”.

Fundraising is crucial for our Swahili Women’s Ministry. Through annual individual financial contribution commitment and the funds obtained from selling gala tickets, the Ministry provides support for women facing pregnancy and health related challenges, general health issues, the loss of loved ones, and most importantly –offering both emotional and physical help (feeding the sick or care of children, etc.). The amount of support and care this group has for one another is priceless – considering many of us do not have blood-tied family members within the country limits.

By far, besides remaining the most vital fundraising event of the year, the Gala is the coolest and the most fun event. It is the heartbeat of the Swahili ministry. It’s a doorway to the community. It is the Swahili way we welcome others into our community: all genders, young and old adults – with open arms. Just as we all prepare our homes for guests, the Swahili Women work hard to make everything just right, from the food and music, to the decorations and conversation and sometimes traditional dances by several aunties. It’s the community’s way of saying, “Karibu! (Welcome!). Come in and let’s connect and have a good time together.”

On a personal note, it is an honor to share this fun part of my congregation. At the Gala, we dance, we eat, we laugh—and in the process, we build deeper relationships that stretch across generations and cultures. The Gala, and the ministry behind it, is a bridge between our African roots and the American lives we’re building. It’s a way of holding both identities with pride, honoring our past while embracing our future.

If you’ve never joined us before, this is your invitation. Come experience the joy, the sisterhood, and the powerful spirit that fills the room. Come be part of something beautiful on Saturday, May 3, at the Mounds View Community Center.

You’re invited: 

By Pastor Neal Cannon, Woodlake Lutheran Church, Richfield
Pastor Neal is co-pastor with Pastor Micah Pearson, who is the Dean of the Crosstown Conference 

These days, it’s hard for many churches to do youth ministry on their own. Most of us see it in our pews, as fewer and fewer families regularly attend worship. If you have a small-to-medium-sized church it’s not uncommon to have only two or three families you can count on to be in attendance most Sundays, if any. Maybe you’ve tried to host a “pizza and game night” for teens, but only a few kids show up. You’re excited for those kids to be there, but it’s hard to create and sustain energy for a program this size. You might feel frustrated and the kids might lose interest because there aren’t enough other kids there. It’s a lose-lose situation.

Woodlake and House of Prayer were two churches struggling to do youth ministry on our own until one day we asked, what if we did this together? The result of this wondering was RALY (Richfield Area Lutheran Youth). RALY is a shared youth group between our two churches that has created meaningful vitality for our youth and congregations. On our own, we couldn’t sustain Wednesday evening activities, do high school youth group, or host a lock-in. But together we are able sustain and grow programs and activities. Together, we were able to create an environment where kids wanted to come and invite their friends. After combining our programs, we went from lose-lose to win-win very quickly.

The Bible is not shy about encouraging collaboration.  Be it Matthew 18:20 (where two or more are gathered in my name…) or Mark 6:7 (He called them twelve and began to send them out two by two…) or Genesis 2:18 (It is not good that the man should be alone…) we are often encouraged to do life and ministry together. These lessons are often applied to the individual, but why shouldn’t it be applied to our churches as well? As the cultural landscape continues to evolve, our best chance at doing meaningful youth ministry might be by doing it together.

Who could you collaborate with? Is there another church in your area in a similar situation with similar struggles? Could you work together and dream about building something bigger than you could have dreamed up on your own? If you can find a partner to do ministry together, I encourage you to try it! Or, if you’re in the Richfield area, come talk to us about RALY. We’d love to share ministry with you!

You can learn even more about RALY by watching this video.

This post continues the Mission Table’s “Year of Partnership” highlighting the new and strategic ministries of the Minneapolis Area Synod. St. Paul’s-San Pablo is one of the strategic ministries and worships in South Minneapolis.

By Pastor Hierald Osorto

Soft lighting and soothing music create an ambience of calm. A circle of massage tables and zero-gravity chairs awaits their occupants. Over the next several hours, practitioners will offer individuals free sessions of acupuncture, reiki, or cupping therapy. This Sunday afternoon, the historic sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church has been transformed into a haven of respite and well-being.

Sanctuary: It’s not just a place where we gather, but we who are St. Paul’s-San Pablo. As a multilingual, multicultural, inclusive congregation, we strive to create spaces of belonging and welcome in South Minneapolis. That’s why we host the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic, where University of Minnesota medical students care for our underinsured neighbors. That’s why we founded the Semilla Center for Healing and the Arts, a non-profit that encourages creative expression in youth and young adults. For 137 years, this church—founded by Swedish immigrants—has accompanied people willing to cross borders and overcome barriers to make a better life in this country. By the grace of God, we’re not stopping now.

In recent months, St. Paul’s-San Pablo has been discerning how to be a sanctuary in this anti-immigrant political climate. If you had asked me a year ago whether that would look like offering complementary, traditional medicine once a month, I’m sure I would have raised a skeptical eyebrow. Today, I am a grateful witness to Christ’s healing ministry, embodied in gentle hands and practices that ease the immense stress weighing on under-documented immigrants. I have seen how relaxed individuals looked after rising from their massage table or zero-gravity chair: as if they had exhaled after a long-held breath.

Yes, we partner with immigration attorneys. Yes, we educate ourselves about our legal rights. But no, we refuse to let fear course freely through our bodies and corrode our well-being. We are a sanctuary for the whole person, because the Holy One loves each person wholly and without exception. This is God’s call to us, which we are answering with energy and enthusiasm. If the Spirit is also stirring in your heart, come and join us. Come plant native flowers for our healing garden. Come dance at our summer block party. Come be sanctuary with us in these uncertain times and rest in the healing love of God.

By Pastor Matt Flom
Outgoing Dean of the Rum River Conference
Pastor at St. Philip’s Lutheran Church, Fridley

When I think about the Minneapolis Area Synod’s theme for the year, Church Together, I instantly think of all the outreach ministries that the people of St. Philip’s shepherd. I came to St. Philip’s in Fridley back in 2018, and I’ve had such a great time seeing how the people here get involved in service. There are many outreach ministries here, but there are four that really stand out for their impact.  

Members of the St. Philip Disaster Relief team made personal care kits for those impacted by Hurricane Helene

St. Philip’s Disaster Relief 

The St. Philip’s Disaster Relief team started as an effort to help with the Hurricane Katrina disaster.  Since then, they have gone on over 70 mission trips.  The team rebuilds homes, schools, churches, and more. Folks from over a dozen different congregations, of several denominations, and from several different states regularly go on their trips.  The mission is to rebuild homes, but they see themselves as primarily ministering to the people affected by natural disasters, helping to rebuild lives as well.   

Preparing the food shelf

Food and Clothing Shelf 

The food and clothing shelf offers guests the opportunity to come once a month to fill two grocery bags of food and one bag of clothes. Currently, they distribute more than two tons of food and more than seven hundred pounds of clothing each month.  The food and clothing shelf has fridges and freezers so they can distribute not only dry goods – but also milk, meat, cheese, and eggs. If you are interested in supporting this ministry, there are many ways to get involved. They are also always looking for more Spanish interpreters. 

St. Philip’s members at the annual garage sale

Annual Garage Sale 

St. Philip’s is also known for its garage sale.  It may not be the biggest garage sale in Christendom, but I believe it’s the grandest.  Almost the entire building (41,000 square feet) is turned into a garage sale department store.  Close to a hundred people from a half dozen congregations volunteer for three weeks in August.  It opens on a Wednesday afternoon and the line to get in wraps around the building and through the parking lot. Last year, the team used the proceeds to give grants to a dozen service organizations in the metro area.    

Curbside Community Meal 

St. Philip’s has a curbside community meal each Wednesday.  The number of meals served tends to vary, but lately, they’ve been distributing around 175 meals a week. Students from local high schools, members of other congregations, and members of the community come to volunteer.  Each week, I get to walk down the car line and visit with guests and often pray with them. I call it our curbside congregation. One member of our church only came for the curbside meal and never once stepped foot in the building itself. When he passed away, I was honored when his family told me he wanted to have his funeral at the church. We never know how we might reach someone when we step out into the community in love!  

There is so much more I could write about the servant hearts at St. Philip’s, but the trend you see from the folks here is a passion to serve others, working with all who have a heart to help, and having a lot of fun in the process. When we work together, across churches and denominations, to partner with organizations locally and globally, that’s where being Church Together really shines through. 

By Kent Goodroad and Alyssa Schwitzer

You may recall that on January 11, 2025, the Synod launched a first-of-its-kind Synod Youth Choir. We’re excited to provide an update about how things have been going!

With 50 youth registered from eight different cities within the Minneapolis Area Synod, we’ve had four weekends of rehearsals at three different locations (11 rehearsals so far). Thank you to our host churches, Lake Nokomis, Christ the River of Life, St. Barnabas, and St. Andrew! Over the past few months, the Synod Youth Choir has engaged these young people in music-making and community-building across our Synod. When we started this new youth ministry endeavor, our goals were to: 

• Create community amongst youth within the MAS  
• Sustain relationships with churches within the MAS and beyond 
• Build youth identity and power within the church 
• Build beloved community around music 

We believe that giving our youth the opportunity to practice and grow in their gifts within communities of faith fosters deeper roots in the church. Connecting them with other youth and adults outside of their own churches gives them a broader understanding of how we are Church Together.

At one of our recent rehearsals, we saw a beautiful moment of leadership development happen right before our eyes. There were hand drums in our rehearsal room and one student asked if they could drum and sing. We said “of course!” The student began drumming and singing. They then noticed other students wanted to drum, so they started getting drums and inviting other students to drum and sing. Students were stepping up and taking ownership of the choir, seeing it as “their choir” and inviting other students to do the same. It was incredible to witness!

We’re preparing for our first big performance coming up on May 3. We will be singing on Saturday morning at the 2025 Synod Assembly! We have three rehearsals left at the different locations, and then one big rehearsal with all 50 students together in April in preparation. We’re also starting to plan a concert on June 1 at 2:00 p.m. More details will come in the next few weeks, but we can say, get ready to party with the Synod Youth Choir! We hope you can attend one of these performances to support and celebrate these up-and-coming leaders. 

If, while reading this post, you have felt energized and encouraged, consider partnering with us! The Synod Youth Choir has a fundraising goal of $20,000. Funds go toward programming, meals, music, translators, t-shirts, and other logistics. Participating congregations are contributing what they can, and we are asking individuals and organizations that value faith-filled youth development to consider investing in MAS youth through a financial contribution. Any amount would be appreciated and would make a difference in the life of a Synod youth.  You can donate online or send a check to the Minneapolis Area Synod (122 W Franklin Ave #600, Minneapolis, MN 55404). Make your check payable to Minneapolis Area Synod with “Synod Youth Choir” in the check memo line. Thank you! 

By Pastor Jane Buckley-Farlee

This post continues the Mission Table’s “Year of Partnership” highlighting the new and strategic ministries of the Minneapolis Area Synod. Trinity Lutheran Congregation is one of the strategic ministries and worships in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis.

Every first Friday night of the month a group from Trinity Lutheran Congregation stands on Cedar Avenue, between Palmers Bar and the Cedar Cultural Center, to hand out pizza and Somali tea. A few “first Fridays” ago it was cold, the temperature in the mid-teens with Cedar Avenue serving as a wind tunnel. Our paper plates and cups blew down Cedar, along with random cans and pieces of paper. We were out there, not because we enjoy the cold and the wind, but because we support an initiative in Cedar-Riverside called Daryeel Youth.

Sharing pizza and tea with neighbors

Every Friday night Abdirahman Muhktar is out there serving pizza and tea to the young adults most likely to overdose on drugs. Along with some of his volunteers, Abdi is out there because he knows that if they have some food in them on a Friday night, they are a little less likely to overdose. He knows all of the young people and has seen many die from opioid addiction over the years. He has spent years building relationships with them and when we help serve the pizza and tea, he can concentrate on talking with them and building relationships. When it’s cold out, like this Friday was, we also hand out jackets, hats, mittens, and socks.

After I had been handing out some tea and pizza for a while, a young man came up to me and said that he heard I was a pastor. I hadn’t met him before and learned that his name was Mohamed. Mohamed liked to talk about theology, Islam and Christianity to be exact, and he knew what he was talking about. Even though he did get some details about Christianity wrong, that was not important. Making the connection and listening was. When I told him that he really knew his stuff his he looked down and whispered,

“I take drugs.  I’m nobody.”

“You are not nobody.”

“Yes, I am.  I am nobody.”

“Mohamed, you are not nobody.”

Then, he walked away. I wanted to chase him and grab him and tell him again and again until he understood me, that he was not a nobody. Instead, he slowly disappeared behind Palmer’s Bar.

The next first Friday was cold again and Mohamed did not come for pizza and tea. Abdirahman assured me that he was still alive. I want to talk with him again, to try and let him know one more time that he is not nobody. The reality is that I may never see Mohamed again. I certainly don’t expect to see him on a Sunday morning.

A Friday night team on Cedar

This is one reason Trinity remains in Cedar-Riverside. There are too many like Mohamed who believe they are nobody in this thriving neighborhood. For too many people our neighborhood, Cedar-Riverside (aka Little Mogadishu) is just a scary place full of Muslims, criminals, and addicts.

Cedar-Riverside seems like the kind of place where Jesus might hang out. When the evening Adhan (Call to Prayer) calls out from Dar-Al- Hijrah, it’s a reminder to everyone that are all God’s people. We do what we can, handing out pizza and tea, building relationships, and hoping to be a glimpse of God’s love along the way.

By Pastor Joe Orner
Dean of the Bloomington Conference

Growing up as the youngest of three children, I attended a lot of concerts, sporting events, and theater productions for my older siblings. As children do, I would often get bored while I sat in the audience. And so as a way to keep my attention, my parents created a game for me where I would find as many people working behind the scenes as possible.

Camera operators, crew members, sound booth technicians, soloists in the band, assistant coaches—you name it, it was my challenge to find them and figure out what they were doing and why.

Similarly, as my experience in ministry has grown over the years, so has my list of people who are working behind the scenes to make churches function effectively—and it’s amazing the different ways people assist us in being the Church Together throughout our congregations.

At Peace, there are three people whom I’ve had the privilege of working with who exemplify God’s love through their behind-the-scenes work. I hope reading about them brings to mind individuals within your congregations too.

Daina is our Communications Specialist. Daina creates the weekly worship bulletin, coordinates and trains volunteers, and is also the first person to greet you when you walk in the door or call on the phone. On Sunday mornings, Daina is one of the first people in the building, and she can often be found supporting our service assistants, greeting those worshipping here for the first time, or doing whatever task necessary to extend hospitality and make sure people feel welcomed.

Lori is our Administrator, but I have yet to find a job or task that she can’t do. Accountant. Engineer. Chef. HR Specialist. Technology Consultant. Game Show Host. Universal Problem Solver. While most people see Lori singing in the choir during worship or helping with the education hour after, their jaws would drop at the number of ways she contributes to the life and wellness of the congregation when they’re not around.

Bruce is our Music Director and Organist. As a French horn player in the Minnesota Orchestra, people see the professionalism he brings to his position, and they can hear the high quality of his craft as his music emanates throughout the sanctuary. But what they don’t see are the hours of practicing and rehearsal each week; the intentionality put into selecting music for preludes, postludes, and choir anthems; and the energy invested into developing congregational connections. And while I hope congregations recognize the effort clergy and other staffmembers put into Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Holy Week—I can’t overstate how important it is to acknowledge and uplift our church musicians as well.

Today, just like when I was younger, my favorite people to search for inside any theater or concert venue are still the spotlight operators. Until they get their cue, they’re often hidden from plain site and hard to find. However, when their light shines, they’re impossible to miss. Likewise, every congregation has people who help them be Church Together too. You may not notice them right away—but when you do, it’s impossible to miss the brilliant spotlight they shine on Jesus through all they do and the wonderful people they are.

By Pastor Ashley Osborn
Dean of the Northwest Hennepin Conference
Pastor at Valley of Peace, Golden Valley

Awe wasn’t just the theme for our Summer Worship at Valley of Peace—it was the emotion we all felt as we welcomed one of the newest, and youngest, members of our church family: Jessica. From the moment she arrived on her first Sunday, she made her presence known. With a polite but firm request, she shared her nickname but asked everyone to simply call her Jessica. I remember the goosebumps I felt in that moment, but it was just the beginning. Jessica dove into worship with a heart wide open—reading, singing, laughing, and attempting to greet every single person in the church. We were all in awe of her joy, her courage, and her enthusiasm.

It’s important to note that Jessica’s family has been open about her diagnosis of autism, but within our community, it has never been a defining factor. Here, at Valley of Peace, what matters is that Jessica has found a place where she can fully express herself—a place where her voice rings out joyfully at the end of every hymn and where her infectious spirit blesses us all. She is not defined by a diagnosis; she is defined by her presence, her love, and the way she lives out God’s peace among us.

As we continued to get to know Jessica, her curiosity and wonder about the church became evident. One particular Sunday, our youth who attended the ELCA National Youth Gathering were sharing about the opportunity and the meaningful connections they made with so many Lutheran teens from across the country. During the service, Jessica stood up and, with a voice full of sincerity and curiosity, asked, “Am I Lutheran?”

It was a beautiful and unexpected question, and I found myself pausing for a moment. I didn’t know much about Jessica’s previous experiences with church, but I knew this moment mattered. I looked at her and said, “Jessica, you’ve been coming to a Lutheran church, learning about God, and sharing God’s love with all of us. So yes, I believe you are a Lutheran.”

What happened next left the entire congregation in awe. Jessica raised her arms high and proudly declared, “I am a Lutheran! I am a Lutheran!” Her face beamed with pride, her voice rang out with confidence, and in that moment, we all witnessed something profound—an embodiment of what it means to be truly seen, welcomed, and loved.

Jessica’s declaration has since become an inspiration to our whole congregation. Her boldness, her joy, her unwavering confidence remind us all to claim our own faith with the same enthusiasm. May we all sing as boldly as Jessica, share Christ’s peace as freely, and proclaim with pride, “I am a Lutheran!”

This post is the first of monthly posts blog posts written by the deans of the conferences of the Minneapolis Area Synod.