Weekly Blog Posts
The following blog posts are written by Bishop Jen Nagel, Synod staff members, and leaders from the Minneapolis Area Synod.
Daring to lead when tragedy befalls
By Pastor Kelly Chatman I read a recent headline that stated, “Florida teens staged a walkout to protest gun violence in solidarity with their peers, and these future voters are going to change the world.” [...]
‘Leading us forth’
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen During our March 5 plenary of the Spring Conference of Bishops, those gathered issued a statement in solidarity with surviving students of the Florida school shooting and supportive of the March for our [...]
For the love of Earth Day
By Emilie Bouvier Several months worth of large-sheet calendar pages decorate my office wall; if you’ve been by, you’ve seen them. I like how the sheets motivate me to plan ahead and see the momentum [...]
A conversation for Lent
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen My father liked to hunt pheasant in Montana. My son-in-law grew up hunting deer in northern Minnesota. Though I can’t imagine shooting a gun, I can imagine the suspense and even [...]
I like you just the way you are
By Pastor Deb Stehlin Yesterday, a friend and I went to see the In the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theater production of “Make Believe Neighborhood.” It’s a masterful mash-up of the story of the [...]
When the dead stump flowers
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen “The mark of ashes is one of the few honest words in a culture of illusion.” So began an Ash Wednesday sermon I preached in the early 1990s. Perhaps, the words [...]
No More Politics in the Pulpit, … Perhaps
By Bob Hulteen My funny bone praises God for the dry (and sometimes not-so-dry) humor provided by The Onion, a news source that has its fingers on the pulse of American culture. Staff writers take [...]
Linked with Our Muslim Neighbors
By Rev. Craig Pederson I have a LinkedIn account, as many people do. I can’t remember when and why I set it up, but there must have been an invitation of some kind, or an [...]
A Moral Example
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen “It was during a time of personal prayer and fasting that I received the news I would play the part of King in the movie Selma,” David Oyelowo told the crowd [...]