June 13, 2023

Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCA Enews

Consultation to aid with fall stewardship appeals

Is your congregation looking for a way to give your financial stewardship ministry a boost? Has it been a while since you’ve led an intentional ask for a financial commitment to God’s ministry happening in your congregation? Beginning a Culture of Generosity may be the place for you and your congregation to start. This four-month, six-session online series helps congregations build a foundation for a generous future, is grounded in Biblical stewardship principles, and helps to stabilize, and even grow, financial giving. (Most congregations experience a growth of 3-5% in giving.) 

The cost for Beginning a Culture of Generosity is $600 and congregations across the ELCA have used Thrivent Action Grants ($250) to help pay for that cost. If you have questions, contact Lynda Nordholm.

June as an intercultural month of learning truths

Over the next months, ELCA Churchwide will provide opportunities to learn the history and current realities of Indigenous people. This increased awareness carries the possibility of healing for both Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people. Some of these opportunities will be calls to individual action, and some will be activities that congregations and small groups can coordinate and participate in together.

• Consider reading a book written by a Native author and then hosting a discussion
• June 21 -- Panel presentation with the National Indian Lutheran Board
• June 23 -- Intro to the "Truth and Healing Movement," by Vance Blackfox

Participants in any of these activities are encouraged to post in social media, using the hashtags #TruthAndHealing and #ELCA.

For more information

Lutheran Night at the Twins is important because "In the Big Inning" was the Word

Can we talk about race

and act against racisim?

The long tradition of Lutheran Night at the Twins will continue in 2023. Congregations, youth groups, mutual aid chapters are all invited to take advantage of group discounts (for groups of 20 or more) and enjoy a game against the Detroit Tigers.

Tuesday, August 15; 6:40 p.m.

Target Field

Other perks that evening include "Dollar Dog Night" and Family Value Concessions in certain section.

Groups of 20 or more can reserve tickets by contacting Ryan Thomson at (612) 659-3582 or ryanthomson@twins.com. Groups with fewer than 20 people can make arrangements make arrangements at FEVO GM - Ticket Sales.

If you need more convincing, watch Pastor Seth Perry explain how this all will work.

As part of the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members adopted a resolution designating June 17 as a commemoration of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9—the nine people shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

Our relationship to the shooter, as well as two of the slain, reminds us of both our complicity and our calling. Together we confess that we are in bondage to the sins of racism and white supremacy and, at the same time, we rejoice in the freedom that is ours in Christ Jesus who “has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us” (Ephesians 2:14). May God continue to guide us as we seek repentance and renewal, and racial justice and reconciliation among God’s precious children.

The ELCA has prepared resources for congregations to commemorate the tragedy.

Calling all passionate voices!



Join the harmonious celebration on Lutheran Night with the Minnesota Twins. Members of your church choir have the opportunity of singing the national anthem at Target Field. Invite your choir members to be a part of this multi-congregational event at this outdoor baseball stadium.

Choir members will need to be at the field by 5:30 p.m. for the pregame rehearsal. Singers still need to purchase tickets at the group rate. Contact Walt at (651) 332-9113 or raijaw@aol.com to add your name to the list of choir participants.

ELCA Juneteenth resources

Juneteenth is a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, recalling how the states of Louisiana and Texas heard the news of the Emancipation Proclamation more than two years after the proclamation was signed. Texas and Louisiana finally got the good news on June 19, 1865. The ELCA has developed resources for the remembrance of Juneteenth.

National Council of Churches resource on reparations

In response to conversations within congregations around the country, the National Council of Churches developed a six-part Bible study regarding the biblical notion of repair or reparations. The Religion News Service has offered a news story about the NCC resources.

• Pastor Craig Pederson will be attending the farewell worship for Nikoli Falenschek at Redeemer Lutheran, Henderson, on Sunday, June 25.
• Ms. Emilie Bouvier will be preaching at Christ Memorial Lutheran, Plymouth, on Sunday, July 16.
• Pastor John Hulden will be preaching at Calvary Lutheran, Edina, on Sunday, July 16.
• Pastor John Hulden will be installing Pastor Maria Anderson-Lippert into a full-time call at University Lutheran Church of Hope, Minneapolis, on Sunday, July 30.

• Courageous Leadership Webinars, Wednesdays
• Weekly Community Cookout, Wednesdays
• Minneapolis Synod Senior Band, June 15
• Western States Youth Gathering, July 4-6
• Spirit of Water: A Celebration of the Mississippi River, July 15
• Rostered Ministers Gathering, July 17-20
• The Naming Project Summer Camp for LGBTQ youth, July 23-28
• Redeemer Block Party, August 12
• Hearts * Hands * Voices, August 19
• Reclaim Gathering, September 14-17
• Bishop's Theological Conference, September 24-26
• Fall Joint Ministerium, October 26