December 21, 2021
Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCA Enews
Synod office update
Synod staff members are splitting time between in-office and remote work; the office remains closed to public meetings. This protocol will be evaluated periodically to reflect the CDC guidelines for vaccinated persons. 
Be a servant companion
at ELCA Youth Gathering
Young adults (19-30 at the time of the ELCA Youth Gathering) are now encouraged to apply to serve as a Servant Companion for the 2022 Gathering! Servant Companions will accompany congregational groups as they encounter and serve the people of Minneapolis during their Service Learning day.

Applicants should be comfortable leading a group, thinking on their feet, and speaking about their faith. Applications are open until January 22, 2022. 
Stinky shepherds
“The Christmas Story continues to amaze – year after year after year. It’s been ‘wowing’ hearers for about two millennia. The Gospel of Luke gives us so many wonderful characters. These three are pretty famous – Elizabeth, Zechariah, and Mary. Then there are those dirty, stinky Shepherds.” 
Have a blessed Christmas week!
The editors of the MAS Enews are taking a break, so there will not be an issue published next week, December 28. The next time you receive the enews, it will be 2022. That is hard to believe.
Discerning a Call to Public Ministry
God calls everyone to do God's work in the world. How is God calling you? Explore that quesiton in a series of Zoom conversations.

Session One: "Public Ministry in the ELCA"
Learn about discernment resoucres.
Thursday, January 20; 7:00-8:30 p.m.


Session Two: "How Do I Get There?"
Learn about the ELCA candidacy process and hear from seminary partners about various programs.
Thursday, January 27; 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Attending both sessions is enouraged, but you are welcome to attend just one.
Last-minute options
to purchase 'Good Gifts'
Handel's The Messiah
on Christmas Day
"It's the most wonderful time of the year" to make a real difference in people's lives. The ELCA Good Gifts Catalog gives you the opportunity to share your commitment to justice, as well as your abundance, with communities that are living on the margins.

You choose the gift you'd like to share with a community and experience making a real difference in the communal life. You can share a goat, bees, a cookstove, or more.

Check out the Good Gifts Catalog (and you might even still be able to send a card)!
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra hopes to fill your holidays with good cheer by sharing George Frideric Handel's The Messiah with the Twin Cities community. You can experience this performance, which includes The Singers vocal ensemble, an all-star roster of vocal soloists, and conductor Jeanette Sorrell, by watching at these times:

Twin Cities PBS Television Broadcast
Saturday, December 25; 7:00 p.m.

On-Demand Streaming
Mosaics available for congregational display
These panels are once again available for congregations to borrow in 2022!

The panel “Feed the World” is our call to end world hunger. The images reflect the Three Sisters that native peoples planted together: corn, beans and squash. It is a planting that naturally calls to cooperation. As in nature, we are all one; we are all in this world together.
 
The panel “Love the Earth” shows native flowers of Minnesota, which attract pollinators needed for life: butterflies, bees, hummingbirds. Under the earth, you can see a different kind of pollinator: bugs and animals that help create the soil that nourishes all of us.
 
The middle panel was done by attendees of the 2019 synod assembly, under the direction of Pr. Luisa Cabello Hansel, artistic director of Semilla and co-pastor at St. Paul’s. It shows the unity of the church with our Creator, the creation, and one another.
 
They were created by the Semilla Center for Healing and the Arts at St. Paul’s Lutheran in south Minneapolis. Semilla means seed in Spanish, and the center works to plant seeds of hope by teaching and creating public art that can help make the community healthier, safer and more beautiful.
 
If you are interested in displaying the mosaics, please contact Brenda Blackhawk at b.blackhawk@mpls-synod.org or (612) 230-3305.
Save the Dates: Annual Tool Kit
If COVID-19 has given us anything, it's given us an opportunity to try things in a new way! So that's what we're doing with this year's Tool Kit!

While we really wish we could be in person with you, we believe an online Tool Kit is the best choice for the 2022 Tool Kit.

We've also consistently gotten feedback in previous years that people wish they could attend more than just two workshops, so this format will make that possible!

We are planning two evening virtual workshops for each of the following days:

Tuesday, March 8, and Thursday, March 10
Tuesday, March 15, and Thursday, March 17
Tuesday, March 22, and Thursday, March 24

More information will be available soon.
Holy Innocents Worship Service laments Boarding School atrocities
Thus says the Lord: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more. -- Jeremiah 31:15

Recent media coverage across the U.S. and Canada has been focused on the remains of Indigenous children at Indian Residential and Boarding Schools, with now more than 7,000 children recovered. For more than 100 years, Indian Boarding Schools attempted to assimilate Native American children by separating them from their families and forcing them to abandon traditional ways, often through emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.

A collaboration of the Minneapolis and Saint Paul Areas Synods, this lament service is a response to the request of the Native American Alaska Native Lutheran Association to “Remember the Children.” In this service you will hear readings from the Feast of Holy Innocents, music for mourners, and the names of 225 children killed in the United States government’s attempts to “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.”
Support our companion synod's dream to start a university
UPDATE: We are about two-thirds of the way to the goal!
As Bishop Ann announced in her blog titled "In the legacy of Luther," the Minneapolis Area Synod is taking an audacious step by raising half-a-million dollars to bring to fruition the dream of a Lutheran University in Nigeria. This institution has been a dream of the leadership of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (with 2.5-million members). The Minneapolis Area Synod (MAS) is the LCCN's only companion synod.

MAS staff has produced resources for congregations and individuals to use as they prayerfully consider this synod-wide effort to raise $500,000 by December 31, and as of today we have raised $263,000. (The Nigerian government wisely requires that sum to be in a bank account before granting approval of a new university, simply to prove viability over the long haul.)

You can help in a variety of ways:
  • Read the case statement for a Lutheran university and the commitment of the LCCN to bring it into being.
  • Check the synod's web page for resources, including a video about the effort by our synod to raise $500,000 with and for our companion synod (more information below).
  • Consider your capacity to make a special thank offering for Archbishop Musa Filibus and the leadership of the LCCN and the university.
  • Give in these ways:
  • Text "LUN" to 44-321
  • Visit the website for online donation options
  • Send a check to the synod office:
  • 122 West Franklin Avenue, Suite 600, Minneapolis, MN 55404
  • Pray for the fundraising effort and for the leadership of the Lutheran University Nigeria, including Archbishop Musa Filibus, who is also the President of Lutheran World Federation.

Thank you for any and all support you are able to offer in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to support the building of a university in our companion synod.
Bishop Elizabeth Eaton on the Cross and True Gift of Christmas
The cross is the Christmas gift. Through it God reconciles and heals. Through it God’s love is made known and in God’s love we are known and have our home. And it is a gift. We don’t have to spend our energy and time hoping to attract the gift or the Giver by making everything right by Christmas. If we aren’t physically at home, if our lives have not turned into the happy endings of TV Christmas specials, if we are estranged from family, if we are not merry, even if we should die, this gift of life has come to us.
A Christmas message from Archbishop Musa Filibus
For many, the restrictions of the past year have limited physical contacts with colleagues, families, and friends. They have forced us to reconsider our priorities and to rethink our working lives. For some, the limitations have taught us to be kinder, less self-centered and a little more attentive to our neighbors in need. They have forced us to slow down, to rediscover the people and places around us and to find more time for prayer, meditation, or more sustainable ways of living.

For others, the consequences of the pandemic have caused unprecedented hardship and pain. The number of men, women and especially young people struggling with mental health problems is at a record high. Cases of domestic violence and femicide have risen in most countries as women and girls were locked down at home with abusive family members and life-saving shelters were forced to close their doors.
Being Here Podcast –
New Episodes
Being Here, a podcast that explores real world issues and topics important to professionals in the faith community, has added three new episodes. Join host the Rev. Melissa Pohlman, as she welcomes three new guests to share their experiences and points of view on navigating retirement; Christian conversations about racial justice; and creative approaches to innovative ministry. Being Here invites us to learn together, listen to each other, grow together, and move forward together — stronger, more resilient as a unique community.
Rebranding Just-a-Minute as Living the Word
Those of you who receive "Just-a-Minute," the synod's weekly lectionary study, using both the Revised Common and the Narrative lectionaries, will notice some changes beginning in January. First, the eblast will be renamed “Living the Word,” reflecting the addition of newsletter section titled “Spiritual Practice of the Week.” (This section is provided by our Lilly Grant program, Faith Practices & Neighboring Practices.)

The Rev. Mark Wegener will continue his years-long commitment to bring brief introductions to both assigned lectionaries, as well as incisive and often humorous questions for reflection. If you don't receive this study, you can sign up to be added to the list, or you can send the information to a friend you believe might be interested.
Boy Scout bankruptcy could impact congregations
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, primarily due to a flood of sexual abuse lawsuits. Many questions have arisen about the impact for congregations that are (or were) chartering organization for troops. In particular, congregations that chartered Boy Scout troops should consider whether to file a proof of claim in the bankruptcy to protect their interests.

The ELCA counsel prepared a resource on the BSA Bankruptcy; it is available for review by congregational leaders.
Where is the synod staff in upcoming weeks?
Upcoming Events
Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCA www.mpls-synod.org