Twice each year, rostered ministers gather together for worship, learning, conversation, and relationship building. Given the abundance of local resource people, a seminary or college professor regularly presents on an important and timely topic. Our fall Ministerium is held jointly with the Saint Paul Area Synod, taking turns acting as hosts.

January Ministerium
Who is Christ for Us Today? Hope and Lessons from Bonhoeffer

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Maple Grove

In our times, marked by political and ideological division and fueled, in part, by the rise of Christian Nationalism, Dr. Lori Brandt Hale (Director of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Augsburg) offers a compelling vision for a faithful and courageous response. Drawing on the life and witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Brandt Hale highlights four guiding themes—neighbor, community, grace, and responsibility—that can ground us in justice, compassion, and resilient hope as we work together for the common good.

Agenda:

  • 8:30 a.m. Check-in
  • 9:00 a.m. Worship
  • 10:00 a.m. Fellowship & Refreshments
  • 10:30 a.m. Presentation
  • 12:00 p.m. Sending

Upcoming Dates

January 2026 Ministerium for Rostered Leaders

January 29 @ 8:00 am - 12:00 pm

Fall 2026 Joint Ministerium

October 29 @ 8:00 am - 12:00 pm

Previous events

The January 2025 Ministerium was called Listen Together. Nicholas Tangen, Assistant to the Bishop for Faith and Neighboring led attendees in a small group conversation exercise, and there was a panel of leaders in our Synod who shared about the power of listening to the neighbor and to God.

The October 2024 Joint Ministerium, was called Reformation Rekindled: Practicing a Living Catechism. Participants learned about Living Catechism, a resource put together by Church Anew and the Lutheran Center at St. Olaf have been working with hundreds of faith leaders to shape such a resource. Join a conversation where they share learnings, experiments, and invite all of us to co-create A Living Catechism for this time and place. The featured speakers were: Dr. Deanna Thompson, Director of the Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community and Martin E. Marty Regents Chair in Religion and the Academy; Rev. Matthew Fleming, Executive Director of Church Anew; and Rev. Peter Carlson Schattauer, Associate Director of the Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community.



The January 2024 Ministerium, “The Place God Calls You,” included a worship service and a presentation by Bishop Svennungsen about her time serving as Bishop of the Minneapolis Area Synod.

Spring 2023: The 2023 Spring Ministerium was titled “Flourishing in Ministry” and featured Matt Bloom, Director of WorkWell.

Watch the worship > 

Listen to the audio of Matt’s presentation, part 1 >

Listen to the audio of Matt’s presentation, part 2 >

View Matt’s slides >

Fall 2023: The 2023 Fall Joint Ministerium was titled “Hearing the Stories of Refugees,” and featured Kao Kalia Yang.

Spring 2022: The 2022 Spring Ministerium featured the new expansive language liturgy and Rev. Dr. Mark Sundby and Rev. Sarah Ciavarri talking about resilience. It was so great to be back in person!

Fall 2022: The 2022 Fall Joint Ministerium was called Life Together: Connected Communities and featured a panel of local politicians talking about the divide between rural and urban parts of Minnesota. We met at Luther Seminary on October 27. Watch the recording >

Fall 2021: Fall 2021 Ministerium was a Joint Ministerium with Saint Paul Area Synod featuring Rev. Dr. Anthony Bateza.

Fall 2020: The 2020 Fall Joint Ministerium was titled Jubilee Reclaimed: The Time is Now. We celebrated the Jubilee Anniversary of our church’s decision to ordain women.

Spring 2019: Jeremy Myers presented to Minneapolis Area Synod rostered ministers about the Augsburg Riverside Innovation Hub

Fall 2019: Rostered ministers from the Saint Paul and Minneapolis Area Synods gathered at Luther Seminary to hear Dr. Rahuldeep Gill speak about the topic: Beyond Fear & Division: A Sikh Challenge for the Lutheran Vocation.

Spring 2018: Rostered ministers in the Minneapolis Area Synod gathered for worship and a presentation by Rev. Sarah Ciavarri on the topic, “Resiliency: From Suriving to Thriving.”

Fall 2018: Rev. Dr. Martin Junge, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, presented to the Minneapolis and Saint Paul Area Synod rostered ministers.

Spring 2017: Rostered Ministers in the Minneapolis Area Synod gathered at St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church to hear Rev. Lamont Wells (DEM at Metropolitan New York Synod) and Dr. Paul Pribbenow (President at Augsburg University) discuss “Why Lutheran? Does Luther Still Matter in the 21st Century?”

Several clergy participants asked about the manuscript and Rev. Wells readily agreed to make it available for others. Click here to download the PDF.

Fall 2017: Rostered ministers of the Saint Paul and Minneapolis Area Synods gathered together on the morning of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation, Tuesday, October 31. The theme, “Turning 501,” examined how Lutherans respond to the world in which we live in our 501st year. Speakers included Emilie Bouvier (Minneapolis Area Synod), Dr. Corinne Carvalho (St. Thomas University), the Rev. Jen Collins (Hosanna Lutheran, Forest Lake), Joe Davis (Artist [and poet] in residence at Luther Seminary), Dr. Karoline Lewis (Luther Seminary), and the Rev. Peter Rogness (retired bishop of Saint Paul Area Synod).

Spring 2016: Held on March 31, the 2016 Spring Ministerium featured conversations about the future of the ELCA and a presentation by Dr. Michael Chan (Luther Seminary) titled “Why Daniel’s Visions Matter for the Church Today.”

Fall 2016: Rostered ministers in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul Area synods were invited to hear Dr. Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ present about her new book, The Strength of Her Witness: Jesus Christ in the Global Voices of Women.  Fall 2016 Worship Resources >

Fall 2015: The Fall 2015 Ministerium was jointly sponsored by Minneapolis Area and Saint Paul Area synods and featured keynote speaker Dr. Jacob J. Erickson, St. Olaf.