|
|
|
|
Southwestern Minnesota Synod
News & Events - December 20, 2013
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.
With your abundant grace and might, free us from the sin that hinders our faith,
that eagerly we may receive your promises, for you live and reign with the
Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
|
Youth and Family Ministry E-Newsletter
This article below is from the Youth and Family Ministry E-newsletter.
Dr. Rich Melheim's Advice about Cell Phones
I've heard Dr. Melheim give this speech about teen and child cell phone use before, and I'm really glad someone captured it on video so I can share it with you. My kids aren't old enough for phones . . yet. . . but that moment will come soon and I think Dr. Melheim shares some great advice. Please consider sharing this with parents in your congregation.
Also, if you'd like to hear Dr. Melheim in person, please considering joining us at Vinje in Willmar on Sunday March 2 for a Faith5 Event:
1:30 - 3:30 Intensive Training - for leaders
3:30 - 4:00 Snack Break
4:00 - 5:30 Families Together Event - for parents and kids
More info to come!
Sarah Hausken, SW MN Synod Youth Ministry Coordinator
|
|
Bring Joy to the World
As Christ is born and revealed to the nations, today over 240 ELCA missionaries are heeding God's call to share the good news of Jesus Christ in more than 40 countries. Read how the Rev. Justin and Kari Ellers are making a difference throughout South America - and how you can help - by clicking here. |
Go Wish
Pastor Rita Augsburger
Zion Lutheran Church in Buffalo Lake, MN hosted Graceful Journey (a pilot project by the Minnesota Council of Churches in partnership with Honoring Choices Minnesota with support from the Bush Foundation, designed to help people think about the kinds of decisions that need to be made at the end of life.)
In two, 90 minute sessions (September 29 and October 13, 2013) people of the congregation and surrounding community gathered to learn and practice how to begin and continue conversations surrounding end of life issues.
The activity that broke the ice in people's ability to share about this topic was "Go Wish". Each person had the opportunity to rank Go Wish cards into piles of what was important to him or her if his or her life were shortened by a serious illness. Playing the cards and struggling at times between two or more priorities helped people learn what they cared about and what they would like to share with loved ones about their care at the end of their life. A sample "Go Wish" game is found at www.gowish.org.
Many who attended found that they were able to think more clearly about what they wanted and found courage to be able to approach their relatives and friends and share what they had discovered through the game, presentations, and materials (Glossary of terms, Advance Planning vs. Health Care Directive, etc.) handed out. It is our hope as a congregation to set into motion visitation teams who will help continue the conversations and care surrounding end of life issues.
|
Ordinations on Saturday
Bailey Landa Fossum will be ordained at Tracy Lutheran in Tracy on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. She will accept a call to serve at American Lutheran in Worthington. You are invited to join us.
Julie McCain will be ordained in her home congregation First Lutheran in Torrance, CA on Saturday as well. Julie has accepted a call to serve at First Lutheran in Marshall.
We invite you to remember both of these people in your prayers. We give thanks to God for the parents, neighbors, pastors, teachers, friends, professors, camp counselors and fellow members of the body of Christ who God has used to bring them to this point in their ministry as a baptized one. We also invite you to pray that God will continue to call people forth to serve as public stewards of the Gospel.
If you wish to send them a greeting here are their emails: bailey.landa@gmail.com & jmccain001@luthersem.edu
|
Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy Director
Tammy Walhof, has accepted the call and will begin as the new director for the Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy in Minnesota (LCPPM) on January 9, 2014. Tammy currently serves as Bread for  the World's senior organizer in several Upper Midwest and Plains states, including Minnesota. Prior to joining Bread for the World's staff, Tammy lived in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic while working for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (now called World Renew). Upon accepting the position, Tammy stated, "I'm passionate about justice for poor and hungry people, and care of creation! This position is a great fit, and offers me an exciting new opportunity to live out my calling, working for justice in God's world."
|
|
Remembrance of Nelson Mandela
Pr. Phil Knutson is the ELCA Global Mission Regional Program Assistant in Johannesburg, Southern Africa. I requested he share his thoughts with us. - Bishop Jon V. Anderson
News, interviews, articles and flashbacks on the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela bring back strong emotions, memories and challenges
Much has been said and will be said about the person and legacy of Nelson Mandela and that is well and good.
The call to "Free Mandela" was a call for the freedom of all the oppressed and imprisoned in South Africa. The Freedom Charter of 1955 made it clear that it was a call for justice and the humanization of both oppressed and oppressors. Millions around the world identified with the struggle for freedom in South Africa.
We were inspired by Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Oliver Tambo and many very special but not so well known local leaders and comrades in the movement for liberation in both church and society.
In their tributes people like former president Thabo Mbeki and WITS University vice chancellor Adam Habib however are expressing a clear challenge to all who wish to honor and remember Mandela. They are asking how we will embody and build on the values, sacrifice and vision of Nelson Mandela and all those who fought to end apartheid.
As we honor Mandela I am concerned that we as individuals, religious organizations and countries are not as caring, creative and courageous as we should be. I know that we are all compromised and can and should do much more.
This is the end of a generation, of an era, of a monumental chapter but not the end of the story of liberation as the struggle for peace, economic justice and the end of discrimination and inequality continues in the world.
|
|
Gratitude for gifts
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.
Our synod's fiscal year 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. |
MAP: Framing Our Unique Ministry
The Multiple Area Parishes (MAP) of SW MN Synod of the ELCA are gathering for a day of learning, sharing and growing.
Saturday, January 18, 2014, 9:00am
St Matthew Lutheran Church, Wabasso, MN.
Frames for Admiring and Structuring the Art of Ministry: Dr. Scott Frederickson will teach us the different ways in which we frame or define our ministry helps us to utilize the strengths of each individual to work together in ministry. Learn about your style and the other styles to aid in ministry development.
Scott Frederickson was an integral piece of the Western North Dakota Synod's "Dry Bones" project that seeks to revitalize rural congregations. Working on attending, assessing, and asserting their unique positions within rural communities in Western North Dakota, this project was a three-year accompaniment of theological assessing, using our resources to make a difference in the communities we live in, and finding ways to bring the joy and love of the gospel to our "ground." In the three years we had 9 congregations seek ways to make a visible impact in their community through following God's mission.
Scott Frederickson has also worked with Luther Seminary over the years in providing quality theological education to congregations in rural North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. He has supervised interns in congregations whose towns have less than 100 people; he provides theological resources for reading the Bible in faithful ways that work from our Lutheran tradition. God has a plan for every congregation, even the ones everyone else seems to have forgotten.
|
|
175 East Bridge St. PO Box 499
507-637-3904
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
