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Southwestern Minnesota Synod
News & Events - November 1, 2013
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Roman Catholic/Lutheran Bishop's Retreat and
"From Conflict to Communion."
+Bishop Jon V. Anderson
We just finished our retreat where Minnesota bishops gathered with the Roman Catholic bishops of MN. This is the 36th time this group has gathered in retreat.
 In preparation for our gathering we read the "Conflict to Communion" from the Roman Catholic/Lutheran dialogue document. It is worth reading. The text "develops a basis for an ecumenical commemoration that stands in contrast to earlier centenaries...In 2017, Catholics and Lutherans will jointly look back on events of the Reformation 500 years ago. At the same time, they will also reflect on 50 years of official ecumenical dialogue on the worldwide level. During this time, the communion they share anew has continued to grow. This encourages Lutherans and Catholics to celebrate together the common witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the center of their common faith. Yet, amidst this celebration, they will also have reason to experience the suffering caused by the division of the Church, and to look self-critically at themselves, not only throughout history, but also through today's realities."
Former bishop and Ecumenical and Interfaith Director Don McCoid from the ELCA and Bishop Richard Skilba were our presenters. Both did great work. These imperatives come at the end of a lengthy and helpful document. I will share the imperatives as a way of inviting you into the document.
- "The first imperative: Catholics and Lutherans should always begin from the perspective of unity and not from the point of view of division in order to strengthen what is held in common even though the differences are more easily seen and experienced.
- The second imperative: Lutherans and Catholics must let themselves continuously be transformed by the encounter with the other and by the mutual witness of faith.
- The third imperative: Catholics and Lutherans should again commit themselves to seek visible unity, to elaborate together what this means in concrete steps, and to strive repeatedly toward this goal.
- The fourth imperative: Lutherans and Catholics should jointly rediscover the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ for our time.
- The fifth imperative: Catholics and Lutherans should witness together to the mercy of God in proclamation and service to the world." (p.87-88)
Because I grew up in a little community where Scandinavian Lutherans lived south of town and German Roman Catholics lived north of town I always appreciate these gatherings. The relationship between the people and these church bodies was complex at times. For example, I remember informal ecumenical dialogues in the cafeteria about whether or not people would go to hell for belonging to the wrong church. That was in the early 70's in Jr. High at school. I am thankful for those who started this tradition of gathering and deepening our awareness of our unity in Christ.
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Web Site of the Week - Faith Formation Learning Exchange
+Bishop Jon V. Anderson
This website from Vibrant Faith is full of resources.
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Gratitude for Gifts
As we move into the season of giving thanks, we want you to know that your generous support for the ministries of our synod is very much appreciated. God's work is truly possible because of our many hands working together.
Along with Thanksgiving comes the fourth quarter of our synod's fiscal year, which ends Jan. 31, 2014. We will be grateful for your cooperation in getting your congregations' year-end gifts to us by Jan. 21, 2014, if possible, to allow us adequate time to record transactions, share designated gifts, and prepare year-end reports accurately. By God's grace, together we have what we need.
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Youth & Family Workshop
Thursday, November 14, 2013 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
SW MN Synod Office, 175 E. Bridge St, Redwood Falls
Youth ministers have a unique opportunity to attend a workshop on the brain and ministry. On November 14, Mark Schoepp will be coming to the synod office in Redwood Falls to do a workshop for youth ministers and conference deans.
Mark Schoepp will be presenting two workshops, "Brain - Gain not Drain" is focused on three simple but powerful concepts for being good stewards of our bodies, and especially our brains.
And "The Brain and Planning in the Church" shares how current brain research informs our planning for education, community service, outreach and worship.
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Bible Apps
I like YouVersion from LifeChurch - it is a Bible App. You can have multiple translations to read. It is pretty simple. My favorite new one is Bible.is. It is from Faith Comes from Hearing. It reads the Bible to you...It is funny what you hear that stands out from what you see as you read. It is very nice. I can be walking on the treadmill and listen to a couple of chapters...or I can listen while working in the yard. Listening to several chapters makes it possible to hear the argument...and themes instead of just a verse.
The app also has Spanish translations for those who are working on their Spanish capacity.
It works best when attached to wifi or in 4G areas, but it works just fine if I give it time out in the countryside in 3G territory.
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 Resource Service Center Update
+Bishop Jon V. Anderson
We are currently remodeling the Resource Service Center (RSC) space to better serve the mission of our synod. We are now using this space as a meeting room for large groups. For example, recently we had the interns and supervisors from Luther Seminary meeting in that room last week. At the same time another group of leaders were meeting and planning in our other conference room from the Danebod Folk School. In the coming weeks more changes are planned. Click here to read more.
Pictured is former Synod Minister Barbara Knutson who helped build the SW MN Synod Resource Service Center.
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175 East Bridge St. PO Box 499
507-637-3904
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