{Pastor Josh's Note:  Tali Trip, Lori Wall, Jeanne Aamot and Josh Nelson represented Family of Christ at this year's Synod Assembly held in the gymnasium of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Ramsey.  There were over 425 in attendance, great speakers, good energy, and our group of four thoroughly enjoyed our time together.  You will very much enjoy Tali's report below, and you can join me in being impressed at what a wonderful writer this Junior at Chaska High School is.  Thanks, Tali, for being our guest ponderer this week.}

 

This year, I had the opportunity to attend the Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly as a Youth Representative, and came home after a long two days refreshed and excited about the future of our churches. This gathering was less like a business meeting, and more like an educational and comedic broadening of horizons. Church officials, pastors, reverends, and the bishop all kept humor while collaborating on how we, as a team of churches, can work towards building bridges of hope over very serious issues. Looking forward, the Minneapolis Area Synod is focusing on education and outreach with our Muslim friends and working towards ending Islamophobia in our churches, as well as replenishing our pool of active pastors.

While there was business to be done, with budget and finance reports, the days were intertwined with many fun memories. Humor was found in every speaker, regardless of their topic. Long talks about finance were interrupted either by snacks, or sporadic games of "Jeopardy", led by a very comedic Reverend. Four different rounds from the clever categories of Craigslist (the various Craigs on the council), Hymns, Hers (women of the Bible), Acronyms ("Because you know how much Lutherans love those"), and Más MAS (more Minneapolis Area Synod fun facts), made for the perfect comedic relief that we all needed. Even the pre-meal grace had this golden line: "Bless these sinners as they eat their dinners!" 

Overall, the Synod was a very positive atmosphere where all felt welcome, regardless of experience or background.

Besides the witty humor that was kept throughout, my favorite parts of the Synod were the speakers: Ruben Duran, Barbara Lundblad and David Lose. Ruben encouraged us to be "Detectives of Divinity", actively seeking God in our lives. The "Three Amigos" (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), as Duran put it, are at work all around us, through the people that we encounter. There is a purpose for all of us, and there are gifts given to each of God's people, with the intent for us to collaborate to be a part of the mission. Barbara further explored a similar topic, and presented "Bible Stories", teaching us about a woman named Lydia. She told Lydia's story from Acts in such a way that it was like watching a one woman play. Barbara spoke her words with such intent and passion and uncovered the many open-ended aspects of Lydia's story. Turns out, there are many details that are not explicitly stated in the Bible, that allow our imaginations to take over and read between the lines, overall uncovering that we cannot make assumptions about who can be a part of God's commonwealth. Finally, David Lose reminded us that we are constantly surprised by God's presence in our lives. Lose challenged us to ask ourselves why we go to church, and what makes a church vibrant. He encouraged us to question our world, inspiring us to acknowledge that skepticism and doubt means that we are pursuing faith in hopes of strengthening it. Lose explained how the finite is capable of containing the infinite, and ultimately how God is at work where we least expect it. My pencil was flying across the page, trying to keep up with all of the new perspectives and ideas that were being thrown at me.

I was blessed with the opportunity to learn more about our churches as a whole, and about our impact on each other as we work on our mission here as Christians. Spending the weekend with my pastors and with Lori was educational and uplifting in a way that I would not have expected. I thoroughly enjoyed the Synod Assembly, and I look forward to the future of our churches. 

  - Tali Tripp