November 3, 2020
Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCA Enews
Synod office update
The synod office will be closed on Election Day (November 3). Synod staff members will be exercising their right to vote (or not) and to work at polling places (or not). 
Christ Christmas COVID
Celebrating Christmas 2020 and the birth of Jesus will be full of all sorts of grief. We are grieving lost routines and lost traditions. We are grieving the loss of loved ones and the loss of civil discourse. Jesus was born in such a time as this and is born for such a time as this. Join this free event for ministry leaders and faithful people.

Thursday, November 19, 2020
10:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m., CST
‘Unconditional election’
“Rites of passage take us from one side of an experience to the other. Through the process of maturation, observation, and study, we usually know what will be expected of us once we pass through to that other side – that is, assuming the systems in which we are doing the ‘passing’ are relatively stable and predictable.
This is not such a time.
‘Disruption’ is a buzzword often used to describe business dynamics, change management strategies, and even church trends. But the level of disruption we are experiencing right now in at all levels our society is mind-numbing.” 
Leading with Love Beyond Prison Walls
According to many advocates, the criminal justice system in this country (which has led to the disproportionate mass incarceration of Black and Brown bodies) is steeped in white supremacy. But what happens when someone is labeled a “felon”? The answer: collateral sanctions.

Thursday, November 19
6:30-7:30 p.m.

Join the Minneapolis Area Synod’s SOAR (Strategic Organizing Against Racism) team to learn more about civil rights violations facing the community’s most marginalized and what you can do to take action.
Being Church: Prayer practices in this moment
In this historical moment, when the cumulative global, social, political, economic, and family pressures, as well as uncertainties, losses, and fears can be completely and utterly overwhelming, how do we find the courage and power to do the thing we think we cannot do — whether that be getting out of bed in the morning or marching out in the street at night?
 
Being Church is offering the third in a six-part series by Rev. Solveig Nilsen-Goodin. She will teach about a prayer practice based on Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane — a prayer that can help us find our power in powerlessness, a prayer that helped Jesus find his way through overwhelming grief to the courage and power to do the thing he thought he could not do.

Wednesday, November 4 
1:00 p.m., Central Time
Via Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 180 439 412
Password: 648160

To watch the previous two sessions:
LWR envisions a season
of hope for Advent
Let Lutheran World Relief (LWR) is offering congregations helpful information as they plan for Advent. Lift up the experience of our neighbors in each of the regions the ELCA's love reaches: Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. 

LWR will provide a full suite of resources that can be used digitally or in-person each week -- sermon illustrations, powerful videos, a candle lighting litany, and at-home engagement. Download free resources from LWR to prepare to experience a Season of Hope.
Sowing seeds for a just future
In 2019 congregants from Redeemer Lutheran Church in North Minneapolis and Westwood Lutheran Church in St. Louis Park traveled to Montgomery, Alabama, to visit the recently-opened National Memorial for Peace and Justice, a site dedicated to the painful legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. The pilgrimage to this site was part of an ongoing relationship between the two faith communities focused on racial equity and was funded by a Ministry Imagination Grant of the Minnepolis Area Synod.

The congregations framed the trip to Alabama as a “Just Mercy Immersion,” basing much of their dialogue and strategy on Bryan Stevenson’s 2014 book Just Mercy. The 2019 trip consisted of pastors and leaders from each congregation and was intended to be an advance trip to prepare for future journeys with other congregational leaders and members.
November 11 bellringing
The fourth and final Community Bell Ringing event for 2020 will be held on Wednesday, November 11 at 11:00 a.m. This date is celebrated as Armistice/ Veterans Day. Consider tolling your bells 11 times starting with several hundred other locations across Minnesota. 

Wednesday, November 11
11:00 a.m.

If you participate, send stories and photographs to Rebecca Jorgenson Sundquist.

The Liberty Bell located on the campus of the State Capitol will be participating in bell ringing on November 11. This event is sponsored by City of Bells.
Hennepin County seeks input on climate action plan
Hennepin County is developing a climate action plan with initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strategies to adapt to a changing climate in ways that reduce vulnerabilities and ensure a more equitable and resilient Hennepin County. The climate action plan will serve as the foundation for the county’s coordinated approach to planning, policy development, and responses to climate change.

Staff or representatives from nonprofit, community-based organizations interested in the county’s climate change action plan can attend a feedback session. Two sessions are scheduled:

Monday, November 16
9:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, November 17
3:00 - 5:00 p.m.

You are asked to register for this event.
Where is the synod staff in upcoming weeks?
Upcoming Events
Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCA www.mpls-synod.org