January 5, 2021
Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCA Enews
Synod office update
Synod staff members continue to work remotely for the foreseeable future. Contact them using their email or cell phone.
MLK Day worship service offered
Following a year of significant uprising in our communities and within ourselves, Church Anew has planned a virtual worship service that can be used to celebrate the life and ministry of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Sunday, January 17. The service will be available for download on Tuesday, January 12, at the Church Anew website.

Participants in the service include:
  • Sermon by Rev. Paul Slack, Social Justice Advocate with LSS of Minnesota
  • Music by Alyssa Schwitzer and the Redeemer Lutheran Church band
  • Original spoken word poetry by Joe Davis
  • Prayer, readings, and liturgy by Rev. Kelly Chatman, Rev. Babette Chatman, and more

For more information, contact Pastor Matthew Fleming. Church Anew is an ecumenical ministry of St. Andrew Lutheran, Eden Prairie.
God's sustaining presence
“As you reflect on 2020, I encourage you also to ask this question: Where have I experienced God’s sustaining presence in the past year? Oh, this is not always an easy question to answer. And, some years, it will be much harder than in other years. I vividly remember the year when my prayer was simply: ‘O God, why are you silent? I cannot hear your voice.’ If that is your cry today, I encourage to reach out to your pastor or a friend in faith. A simple conversation can be one of the most profound ways we experience God’s sustaining presence.”
Leading with Love toward energy democracy
When we flip on the light switch, we don’t usually think about the complex webs of our energy use – from the actual crisscrossing wires of the grid to the choices we make individually and collectively that shape our energy systems. Beginning with demystifying this electrical web, we will learn how we can take our power back – literally.

Thursday, January 7, 2021
2:00-3:00 p.m.

Come to learn about what energy democracy looks like, and how you can be a part of building local solutions.
Reminder about remote annual meetings
Many congregation leaders are asking how they can take advantage of technology to continue to hold necessary meetings to conduct the business of the congregation. Below is an FAQ of the questions being asked most often. Even in the current pandemic crisis, the rules have not all gone out the window, and state law, as well as your constitution, bylaws, and continuing resolutions, must still be respected.

Minnesota statutes, Chapter 317A.431 deals with the annual meetings of members of a nonprofit organization and states:

Subd. 3.Time; place.   An annual meeting of members must be held at the time and place stated in or fixed in accordance with the articles or bylaws. If a place is not stated or if a demand for a meeting is made under subdivision 2, the meeting must be held in the county where the corporation's registered office is located. To the extent authorized in articles or bylaws, the board of directors may determine that an annual meeting of the members shall be held solely by means of remote communication in accordance with section 317A.450, subdivision 2.
A hospital miracle
Recharge is a one-day, multicultural, multi-denominational conference created to inspire and equip church staff and their volunteers serving in children and youth ministry. Regional participation means people from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota -- from 30+ denominations -- will attend.

Saturday, January 9
9:30 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.
Online

Keynote speakers include:
  • Bob Goff, author of the New York Times bestselling Love Does and Everybody, Always and his latest book, Dream Big.
  • Dr. Virginia Ward, dean of the Boston Campus and executive director of the Northeast Region of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Participants may attend up to three workshops on digital ministry, personal growth, or age-specific ministry.
Kelly Sherman-Conroy's ministry of perspective and challenge
Kelly Sherman-Conroy, whose Lakota name is Mato Wašté Wiƞyan (Good Bear Woman), stepped into a new hybrid role at Nativity Lutheran Church, St. Anthony, Minnesota, in 2018. In her new position, she has focused on the intersection between children and family ministry and social justice.

“I think ministry is always changing and evolving,” said Sherman-Conroy. “Part of that is stepping more outside of our church, and some of that means going deeper and getting to know who your community really is.”
Synod supports efforts to protect consumers
Christian communities have long opposed efforts to charge higher interest rates for vulnerable borrowers. The Minneapolis Area Synod is partnering with numerous, faith and community groups, as well as individual borrowers, to protect consumers from predatory lending practices.

This effort has resulted in “The Moorhead Model,” a licensing regulation that ensures caps on interest rates (which have topped 400% in some places, and over 250% in Moorhead) at 33%.

“Congregations in the Minneapolis Area Synod have been keeping a close eye on the Moorhead model and are discerning how and when to organize around their own city councils on this issue,” explains Meghan Olsen Biebighauser, congregational organizer for economic justice for the synod. “Some of the highest rates of payday loan borrowing happen in suburban counties in synod boundaries.”
Being Church
The Being Church weekly Zoom gathering for ELCA leaders hosted by the ELCA Coaching Network for January 6 is titled "What We Expect and Did Not Receive." It is the fifth part of a seven-session discussion of Francis Weller's Five Gates of Grief.

Wednesday, January 6, 2021 
1:00 p.m., Central Time
Zoom meeting
Meeting ID: 180 439 412
Password: 648160
Because many leaders are unable to make this day and time each week, the Coaching Network records the main session and debrief time. Each recording with supporting documents is shared the following day. typically by the following day: 

A list of upcoming topics and presenters is available on the website.
Welcome Norma Malfatti to the synod staff
Rev. Norma Malfatti joins the Minneapolis Area Synod staff as the Director of Evangelical Mission (DEM) on Wednesday, January 6. She comes to Minnesota from the Upstate New York Synod. The DEM position is a shared position between ELCA Churchwide and the local synods.

As DEM, Pastor Norma will be the primary point of connection between the synod and new start congregations and strategic ministries. She will also be the synod staff liaison to the Mission Table, the standing committee of the synod working strategically to support ethnic-specific congregations and congregations that use multiple languages.

Join the synod staff in welcoming Pastor Norma.
Where is the synod staff in upcoming weeks?
  • Meghan Olsen Biebighauser will be speaking virtually about the role faith communities can play in fighting predatory lending at the Consumer Federation of American's High Cost Lending Summit on January 7, 2021.
  • Bishop Ann Svennungsen will be ordaining Eric Nelson and installing him (now Pastor Eric Nelson) at St. Philip's Lutheran, Fridley, on Saturday, January 23.
  • Bishop Ann Svennungsen will be ordaining Kathryn Ostlie and installing her (now Pastor Kathryn Ostlie) at Gloria Dei Lutheran, St. Paul, on Saturday, January 23.
  • Pastor Craig Pederson will be installing Pastor Heather Roth Johnson at Bethlehem Lutheran--Twin Cities, Minneapolis, on Sunday, January 24.
  • Pastor John Hulden will be offering a virtual farewell to Pastor Julie Ebbesen at St. Peder's Lutheran, Minneapolis, on Sunday, January 31. Pastor Julie is retiring.
  • Pastor John Hulden will be offering a virtual farewell to Pastor Mark Vinge at House of Hope Lutheran, New Hope, on Sunday, January 31. Pastor Mark is retiring.
Upcoming Events
Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCA www.mpls-synod.org