Fourteen congregations are folding support for the synod's Planting Hope Campaign into their own capital campaigns during 2022 or 2023. During our recent synod assembly, leaders from House of Prayer Lutheran Church in Oakdale presented a symbolic check for $24,000 as a percentage of the larger campaign goal for work on their church building and grounds. If your congregation is interested in this approach for the Planting Hope campaign, please contact Bishop Lull at 651-224-4313 or patricia.lull@spas-elca.org. Resources are available to help you with such an effort!

Our synod gives thanks for the good work of Michael Gold, who has served as our receptionist, registrar and statistician for nearly six years. Michael has accepted an administrative assistant position at Westminster Presbyterian, Minneapolis, in the area of Families, Youth & Children. His last day with us is this Thursday. We invite you to send him a note at michael.gold@spas-elca.org in the next few days or send cards and well wishes to the synod office and we'll make sure he receives them.

Join the work! The ELCA is beginning a coordinated effort to research Lutheran involvement in Indian boarding and day schools dating back to the 1820s. We are seeking both clergy and lay people who want to be part of this initiative. All are welcome, with a particular need for people with skills in research, data collection, organizing and education. The goal is for our church members to know the history of church-sponsored Indian boarding schools and their devastating impacts on Native communities, and to participate in an ongoing truth and healing process. Learn more.

Don't forget that the Saint Paul Area Synod has received a grant from ELCA Disability Ministries to expand access to educational opportunities for our rostered ministers around mental health! This grant creates a resource pool for mini-grants that centers on these learning goals:

We invite rostered ministers to propose a mental health training opportunity within their own congregations for grant funding up to $500. You might have leaders attend a workshop, contract with an organization or professional to bring a workshop or series of Zoom conversations to your congregation, host a book study, etc. Learn more.

"Guatemala Friends" is the term we use for those who help support the ministries of the Iglesia Agustina de Guatemala (Augustinian Lutheran Church of Guatemala) through the Guatemala Committee of the Saint Paul Area Synod. We have enjoyed a companion synod partnership with the ILAG since 2005.

Kim Becker, Pastor Nick Fisher-Broin and Janet Metcalfe have been posting on the new Guatemala Friends Facebook page (@guatemalafriends.spaselca) from Guatemala over the past week as they work on re-engagement logistics in preparation for resuming group travel. It's been delightful to see photos of them at the Lutheran Center, interacting with young women at the Milagro Center and helping prepare desks for the elementary school!

This gathering is for those who work in communications (newsletters, websites, social media, etc.) in the synod's congregations. Do you find yourself running out of storage space for physical and/or digital files? Is chaos overtaking your filing systems? Photos, video clips, printed pieces and other types of files get saved to our computers and then sit...taking up valuable storage space. Paul Daniels, ELCA Region 3 Archivist, has great hints to help you decide what's important to save and what's not. He'll also share about services that the Region 3 Archives offers for congregations. Come ready to share the digital filing systems and purging processes that help you stay organized! Register here. Questions? Contact Mary Smith at 651-224-4313 or communications@spas-elca.org.

Through the ELCAdvantage Program, the ELCA churchwide organization develops agreements with participating providers who offer products and services at competitive prices. Using the program enables collective, volume purchasing of essential products and services. Designed for use by ELCA congregations and other affiliates as a stewardship effort, some agreements may also be used by individual congregational members and staff employed by ELCA affiliates. Learn more.

It's not too late to participate! Youth across the ELCA are participating in ELCA World Hunger's Global Farm Challenge this summer. This fundraising campaign seeks to end hunger by providing farming families around the world with education, seeds, tools, training and more. Thanks to generous donors, all gifts to this challenge will be matched dollar for dollar up to $525,000. This means gifts will go twice as far in the work to end hunger. Click here to give now.

A variety of tools and resources are available for youth groups or congregations that want to be part of the experience:

ELCA Coaching offers a weekly online gathering for ministry leaders. Each week features a new topic and presenters. Recent topics included leading in a multi-systems world (and staying healthy), human skills we need in an unpredictable world, and the big four ministries (Sunday School, camp, The Gathering and campus ministry). The sessions often include time for small group break-out rooms so that leaders across the church can learn from one another and leave each gathering with at least one action step. Recordings are posted by the next day. Learn more.

Enjoy free outdoor jazz concerts! Bring lawns chairs and blankets starting at 6:30 p.m. for treats and beverages from Mik Mart and activities from the South Washington County Skoolie Bus. Donations support Habitat for Humanity. Upcoming musicians include:

In case of inclement weather, the concerts will be moved indoors. Learn more.

American Christians have always struggled with the relationship between church and state. But in recent years the alignment between right-wing politics and Christianity has taken on a new intensity in a movement called “Christian Nationalism.” This power grab co-opts the language and symbols of Christianity, deceiving many and harming both our faith and democracy. (Christian nationalism strongly influenced the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington, D.C.). How do we as Lutherans understand this movement and respond to it? Pastor Rolf Olson and Dr. Nancy Koester will give a one-night, two-part presentation on this dangerous development. Part 1 explains what “Christian Nationalism” is and why it matters; Part 2 explores who’s involved in Christian nationalism, what are its components, and ways we can respond.

Capacity is limited to 75 people. Zoom participation is also available. Sign up here for both in-person and Zoom registration by July 31. A voluntary fee of $10 is requested at the door. Questions? Contact lafisher27@gmail.com.

www.spas-elca.org | 651-224-4313