Weekly Blog Posts
The following blog posts are written by Bishop Jen Nagel, Synod staff members, and leaders from the Minneapolis Area Synod.
Confessions of a First Call Pastor
By Rev. John Hulden, Assistant to the Bishop Way back in 1987, I was brand new at this “pastor” thing. My first call was to Bethany Lutheran on the lower Eastside of Saint Paul. Thankfully, [...]
What it’s really like at the synod office
By Bob Hulteen, Director of Communications and Stewardship Just call me “the truth teller.” My colleagues all write blogs "bragging" about the wonderful activities of the synod. Yes, we are hosting tool kit workshops for [...]
Where Have All the Honey Bees Gone?
By Emilie Bouvier, Congregational Organizer for Environmental Justice Growing up listening to Joni Mitchell songs, whenever I think of the heavy use of pesticides and herbicides, this line immediately comes to mind: “Give me spots [...]
Real Presence
By Rev. Deb Stehlin, Director of Evangelical Mission “The body of Christ, given for you.” It’s more than a bite of bread and sip of wine. This meal comes with a promise: Jesus has given [...]
An Impossible Task
When I tell my colleague bishops about our plan for the synod to host “God in your Mercy, Hear our Prayer: An Election Year Worship Service," they have two immediate responses: “What a great idea. [...]
Resurrection People – and Churches
By Rev. Craig Pederson, Assistant to the Bishop In a blog post earlier this summer, I talked about the joys of working with congregations to identify their sources of vitality. But, for some congregations, vitality [...]
Genius not required
By Rev. Deb Stehlin, Director for Evangelical Mission At the end of Luke 12, Jesus challenges the crowds: “You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don’t tell me you can’t tell [...]
Assigned Seats
By Pastor John Hulden, Assistant to the Bishop I hated assigned seats. Especially in seventh grade. My first experience with a different teacher for every subject was at Ramsey Junior High in south Minneapolis. Some [...]
Door Knocking for Jesus
By Emilie Bouvier, Congregational Organizer for Environmental Justice “Knock and the door shall be opened unto you.” As an emerging environmental organizer, I have many hours of stories about “on door” exchanges – comical moments, connections [...]
Process or content
By Bob Hulteen, Director of Communications and Stewardship Is stewardship more about outcome or process? I mean, budgets must be met, right? Buildings must be heated in the long, cold winter months. Professional staff must [...]