Uncategorized Archives - Mpls Area Synod ELCA

Blessings for Epiphany

January 6th, 2026

By Bishop Jen Nagel

We have an olivewood nativity set in our family. It’s set up atop the piano with Joseph and Mary, and the young baby Jesus surrounded by curious shepherds, a few sheep, and a lowly donkey. Now some put all the characters into the nativity right away, but I prefer the day-by-day approach with the Magi coming from the east, slowly plodding. On the piano they traverse assorted hymnals and framed kid-school pictures as they approach the manager, such is the journey to the Christ Child, to our Savior.

A bright and blessed Epiphany (January 6), dear ones. Twelve days after Christmas, Epiphany is a church festival celebrated by Christians around the world. It’s the far end of an arc that begins at the start of Advent, encompasses the days of Christmas, and opens into a season of revelation: the star guides the magi, Jesus is baptized, and then Jesus is off and running, calling out “Come and see” and “Follow me”.

In the spirit of Epiphany and revelation, and as this new year unfolds, I’ve been musing about the Magi (Matthew 2:1-12), the blessings they bring, and what these blessings can mean for us, our communities, and this battered world. Here’s a short list of blessings…

Wisdom: I marvel at the wisdom (spiritual knowledge, astronomy, political awareness, and wits) of those Magi. The Wise Ones navigated the land, but also the political and social terrain of Herod’s powerful, vengeful reach. Remember how this fits in Matthew’s Gospel? The Magi leave for “their own country by another road.” Warned in a dream, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus take refuge in Egypt. And in Bethlehem, with Herod’s orders, the innocents are slaughtered. The grief and trauma of these stories are our history, and they have surprising currency even now. May you be blessed with a full measure of wisdom and courage to navigate these days and all that they hold.
Trust at the Threshold: I read this passage as a threshold story. A story with action at the threshold, at the crossroads. When you read this passage closely, perhaps with an atlas in hand, it’s complex geopolitically and personally, and strangely familiar as we take in the news of our day. I am deeply moved by the trust we muster in the threshold moments of discernment and transition, where we reflect on the past and look to the future. May you be blessed with trust at the thresholds and the steady embrace of Jesus.
Patience: My goofy tradition of moving the Magi across our piano is grounded in the reality that the Magi didn’t arrive at the manger with the rest of the guests; rather, they came later, much later, months later. The slow work of revelation is underrated. Our fast-paced society and the drive of anxiety can trick us to believe in speed. Over and over, the Holy Spirit’s revealing takes time. May you know the blessing of patience in the slow revealing of God’s new possibilities.

I could go on… the blessings of inclusion, the blessings of curiosity, the blessings of falling to your knees in worship, the blessings of focus and clarity, the blessings of well-appointed gifts, the blessings of cross-cultural exchange, the blessings of bright stars and those who point the way. Epiphany blessings of the Christ Child, dear ones and the wisdom, trust, and patience to sustain the journey.

Resurrection Doesn’t Always Look the Same

October 21st, 2025

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

By Pastor Lydia Svenulski
Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Hopkins
Dean of the Western Parks and Lakes Conference

Pastor Leila Ortiz at the Bishop’s Theological Conference

Over the last handful of weeks, I have spent much of my time pondering something Pastor Leila Ortiz said at the Bishop’s Fall Theological Conference. As she was presenting parts of her doctoral dissertation on ecclesial estuaries, she invited us to think of change and new things as “spiritual abundance rather than spiritual compromise.” This struck me as both beautiful and helpful not only for myself, but also for guiding a congregation and community into new phases of its own life.

For example, when a congregation is debating moving from two worship services to one, instead of thinking about what we would have to choose between: traditional or contemporary, early or late, more liturgy or less, we could think about what brings two things together: abundance. The merging of two separate entities into one creates a world of new possibilities and forces us all to see things anew. If given the opportunity, even new and different things can flourish. I am particularly drawn to the powerful presence and witness to God’s work that comes from what feels like death, but is instead, abundance.

Years ago, there was a congregation in St. Louis Park – Prince of Peace. Over the years, the congregation started declining in attendance and participation. Eventually, through prayer and discernment, the church decided to close its doors and disband. Members gravitated to other churches in the area, and eventually the church building itself was deconstructed. However, this decision came from spiritual abundance, not compromise. Because what now stands in place of the church building is a project funded by other local churches and nonprofits. Apartments and a childcare center located within the building stand where Prince of Peace once was. There was a need in the community for both affordable housing and childcare. Local leaders saw this need and approached different churches and organizations to help support its creation.

Even in its death, the church was still serving its community. By giving up the building and land, by choosing to trust in the God of resurrection and the truth that death is not the end, new life and abundance came forth. It’s not a church building anymore, and the congregation doesn’t exist as it once did, but resurrection still happened. Sometimes we get so caught up in the change or the death of something that we entirely miss that resurrection has already happened. We miss it because that resurrection looks nothing like what we expected or maybe hoped for, but it is resurrection nonetheless.

Vista Lutheran, St. Louis Park

There are always glimpses of new life and spiritual abundance around us – even in the midst of deconstruction and death. The small stained glass windows that were a part of Prince of Peace’s building are now housed at Vista Lutheran Church, also in St. Louis Park. Though they no longer serve as windows, they are housed in specially made light boxes and are scattered around Vista’s building. Elements of what was remain and are honored, and we carry those things with us into the future possibilities of where God is calling us to meet the needs of the world.

As we journey closer to All Saints’ Day, I want to encourage you to find something in your life that feels like compromise, death, or giving in, and instead look for the ways God is working in that change. Find the ways the God of resurrection is reminding you that God is not done yet, and that even if it looks different, abundance can be found in all things. Sometimes, if we’re open to it, God surprises us with a resurrection that looks different than anything we could have imagined.

For the Unity of All . . .”

August 8th, 2023

By Pastor Craig Pederson

Last month brought to a close the seven-year experience of our daughter, Nora, playing AAU summer basketball. The past few summers had us traveling to destinations beyond the many weekend tournaments held in the Twin Cities: St. Cloud, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Ames, Iowa, among them. Nora’s final tournament was in Washington D.C., offering the opportunity to turn her basketball trip into a family vacation.

I had not been to Washington D.C. since I was a young adult. It was a very different city, and a very different world, in the early 1990’s. The national monuments, museums, and halls of government all retain their historical locations and significance. But our domestic and international politics, as well as the city itself, have undergone dizzying cycles of transition over the past 30 years.

In the current moment, with a bitterly divided federal government and a third indictment against our former president recently announced, it’s easy to be cynical about the future of Washington D.C. and the direction of our country. But as we traversed the city and visited some of our national institutions, the civic and religious idealism of my young adult years began to reverberate through my mind and spirit.

D.C. pulses with a beautiful diversity of God’s people from all over the planet. It was a moving experience to stand next to Chinese, Latino, and African American families in the National Archives Museum while viewing our nation’s Constitution. Later, walking slowly alongside young and old Americans from diverse backgrounds through the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian produced a collective reverence I did not expect.

The national monuments to our former presidents are remarkable architectural works. And while the legacies of these founders continue to be reviewed and even scrutinized through updated lenses of equity and justice, they were inarguably inspired by a higher purpose as they conceived the values upon which a new nation would be built.

My worldview has been altered over the decades by the sober realism of contemporary politics and institutional religious challenges. I still believe, however, that there are “braver angels” within all of us that would have us believe we hold more in common with our fellow national and global citizens than that which divides us.

THIS SPIRIT AND HOPE for unity was poignant throughout our trip, but two brief experiences remain with me. The first was at the National Museum for the American Indian, where the history of indigenous mistreatment by white settlers and government institutions is explained in matter-of-fact exhibits and displays. One display recounts the indigenous tribal leader Powhatan, who in 1608 anticipated the arrival of troops in the Chesapeake Bay area under the direction of Captain John Smith:

“For many do inform me your coming is not for trade,
But to invade my people and possess my country . . .
To cheer us of this fear, leave aboard your weapons.
For here they are needless, us all being friends.”

Sadly, this entreaty was not heeded, and years of conflict ensued in the Anglo-Powhatan Wars that foreshadowed centuries of other Anglo-indigenous conflicts.

The second was a fascinating interactive display at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum that shows how global ocean conditions affect demographics, climate, agriculture, and sea life patterns. Human impact on climate change is well-documented – this spherical representation brings this impact to life in no uncertain terms.

The takeaway for me was this: while governments, militaries, and business enterprises go to great lengths to identify the boundaries of our oceans, the 71% of our planet made up of water functions as one body, one resource, one element of creation. To deny or minimize that unifying reality is done at the peril of all of us.

The 71% of our planet made up of water functions as one body, one resource, one element of creation.

In this United States of America, unity is not uniformity. We are united by the values and commitments that lift the fortunes of everyone. The same goes for the Church. We may have differing opinions, worship styles, or cultural traditions, but our unity in Christ serves as the higher purpose that connects us to our Creator.

As our liturgy proclaims, “For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the church of God, and for the unity of us all, let us pray to the Lord . . . Lord, have mercy.” Amen!

Old news

September 28th, 2021

By Brenda Blackhawk

This weekend I was helping my mother clean out an old closet in my little brothers’ bedroom. The closet was packed full of too-small shirts, old jackets, and shelves full of books, picture albums, and other memorabilia. I’m not a big fan of cleaning but I love organizing spaces, especially when I can stop and wonder over the past.

My mom gave me several items to take home with me: a tub of children’s Christmas books, the album from my baby years, and a Star Tribune issue from the year I was born. When I started flipping through the newspaper, I realized that the ELCA was featured quite prominently in the Metro/State News section. This is because the ELCA and I were born the same year.

I’ve always gone to an ELCA church, and I don’t remember a time the ELCA didn’t exist. Because I work with so many awesome folks in the Minneapolis Area Synod, I often hear things about a time before the merger of the ALC, LCA, and AELC to create the beloved church we know today. Those stories and now, the articles in the paper back in 1988 help me realize how tumultuous that transition must’ve been.

THE TWO PROMINENT STORIES in my newspaper detail some of the bumps in that first year and how some congregations left the new denomination. But we prevailed, despite all the complications. The leadership back then clearly had vision, determination, and faith.

Of course, I realize that I’m talking about something I didn’t experience when I’m sure that many of you reading this were there and remember those bumps very clearly. I just want to take a moment to celebrate what the ELCA has grown to be and the success of that merger 33 (ok, almost 34) years ago.

“I’ve always gone to an ELCA church, and I don’t remember a time the ELCA didn’t exist.”

I love the ELCA. I grew up in a fabulous congregation that nurtured my faith and leadership and identity in ways that shaped who I am. I’m glad for it. And I’m not blind to the flaws of the church I love. At the congregational level, the synodical level, and the national level, there things we can do better and ways that we can be better. Love needs to lead those changes.

It wasn’t all that long ago that the church changed in a big way (and we’ve grown and changed in so many ways since then). I just want us all to remember that this happened because people made it happen. They (and maybe you!) saw how much we could accomplish together.

People’s voices and their actions led to powerful transformation. And may they continue to do so!

Reveling in Real Presence

April 18th, 2017

By Rev. Deb Stehlin

I grew up in a faithful Catholic family.

Being Catholic as an Augsburg student was never really an issue until one Sunday when the choir sang at a Lutheran worship service. When it came time for Holy Communion, all my sister sopranos went forward, but I stayed seated, saying under my breath, “That’s not real communion. They don’t believe it’s really the body and the blood.”

I felt so smug.

So, imagine my surprise, learning in seminary, that, indeed, Lutherans believe in “real presence.”

Martin Luther, in his 1517 offering That These Words, ‘This is My Body,’ Still Stand Against the Fanatics, had strong words against anyone who would say otherwise.

“…Christ wills to be in us by nature, in both our soul and body, according to the word in John 6, ‘He who eats me abides in me and I in him.’ If we eat him spiritually through the Word, he abides in us spiritually in our soul; if one eats him physically, he abides in us physically and we in him… For he is not digested or transformed; but ceaselessly he transforms us — our soul into righteousness, our body into immortality. So the ancient fathers spoke of the physical eating.” *

A YOUNG MAN NAMED Ben helped me believe this more fully one Sunday many years later. He came up to me after worship at the mission church I helped start and asked, “Pastor Deb, what’s in that bread?”

He wasn’t asking for a recipe.

“Why do you ask, Ben?”

“When it came time for Holy Communion, all my sister sopranos went forward, but I stayed seated, saying under my breath, ‘That’s not real communion.’”

“Well, when I ate that bread, it was like a cage around my heart sprang open. What was that?”

“That was Jesus coming inside of you and freeing you, Ben.”

“Yes, it was,” he said.

Next time you receive the body and the blood, I invite you to revel in this reality. When you walk out the doors of the church building, you will be carrying the presence of Jesus inside you. Where will you go? Who will you talk with? What will you do with that presence?

Our bishop’s vision for God’s people and Christ’s church is “Real Presence.” We are living, breathing embodiments of the presence of Jesus in the place where our congregation is planted. Each one of us is also a living, breathing embodiment of Jesus’ presence as we live in relationship with friends, co-workers, and family members.

Let’s revel in that!

The search for the “secret sauce” and Christian public leadership

February 2nd, 2017

By Rev. John Hulden, Assistant to the Bishop

How is your congregation doing at lifting up leaders and sending them out to serve the Church?

Can you name someone from your congregation who felt the call to leadership in the church and now is a children, youth, and family director? How about someone who is now a musician, parish nurse, administrator, a ministry director of any kind, or a deacon?

I served a church once that had six of its members attending seminary at one time. I thought it was a big deal. And it was. But then again, the church I served was a really big church. As I think about it now, why wouldn’t every really large congregation have had at least a half dozen followers of Jesus stepping out to learn and then lead in the larger church?

IN OUR MINNEAPOLIS AREA Synod, there are some smaller congregations that are fantastic at lifting up and sending out leaders to serve and minister all over the country and the world. I suppose if you do the math, those smaller congregations outshine many larger congregations. Thanks be to God!

Faith and leadership formation is such critical work for our communities of faith. Every generation, the body of Christ — the Church — needs new folks who answer the call to serve, minister, and lead God’s people.

So I’ve been wondering….

Is there a secret sauce in those congregations who so regularly and faithfully raise up ministry staff, deacons, and pastors?

Is there a secret sauce in those congregations who so regularly and faithfully raise up ministry staff, deacons, and pastors?

If you know a recipe that will help your people follow their call to lead in the church, please let me know. In fact, let everyone in our synod know. Please!

In the meantime …

next time you see a 5^th Grader take great interest in a bible story, get to know that kid!
next time you hear a 10^th Grader who asks a tough theological question, encourage more deep faith talk!
next time you notice that a friend from church has the gifts to be a deacon or a pastor, take them out for coffee and tell them!

P.S. Check out How Youth Ministry Can Change Theological Education — If We Let It (edited by Kendra Creasy Dean and Christy Lang Hearlson, Eerdmans, 2016). The authors’ research uncovered a list of “mother sauces” — something every top chef uses to make a variety of exquisite dishes — that are necessary ingredients for spiritual and vocational formation:

community building
decentering and disruption (e.g. Bible camp, mission/servant/learning trips)
worship
spiritual companionship
holy conversation
theological reflection
pilgrimage
experimental learning

Uncategorized

Blessings for Epiphany

Resurrection Doesn’t Always Look the Same

For the Unity of All . . .”

The 71% of our planet made up of water functions as one body, one resource, one element of creation.

Old news

“I’ve always gone to an ELCA church, and I don’t remember a time the ELCA didn’t exist.”

Reveling in Real Presence

“When it came time for Holy Communion, all my sister sopranos went forward, but I stayed seated, saying under my breath, ‘That’s not real communion.’”

The search for the “secret sauce” and Christian public leadership