SYNOD NEWS AND EVENTS - June 17, 2016
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2016 Synod Assembly
June 10-11, 2016
Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN
+Bishop Jon V. Anderson
It takes an entire synod to have a fruitful assembly.  There is no way to thank everyone who should be thanked for their contributions.  But I am grateful.
I want to express my gratitude to God for our gathering where God was up to good things in many ways. Thanks to the Synod Council, Assembly Planning Teams, assembly committee members and the Lead Team for the ways you shared your gifts and built up God's Church.  I particularly want to thank the staff team for their dedicated engagement and faithful leadership in their different areas.
We are thankful have a God whose mission is bigger than we imagine.  We are thankful for our equipping God who creates, redeems and inspires all of God's people.  Our assembly was a living offering, as is our life in Christ every day. 

Faithful and Fruitful Practices Synod Blog
Thanks to Carla Klawitter, assembly writer
Assembly Notes - Day 1
Assembly Notes - Day 2

Assembly Videos Playlist
Click here to view or replay the assembly live stream. 

Facebook 
You do not need a Facebook account to view our page!
Thanks to Ian Graue, assembly photographer 
ELCA presiding bishop issues letter in response to
Orlando shooting
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
"So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them." Genesis 1:27
We are killing ourselves. We believe that all people are created in God's image. All of humanity bears a family resemblance. Those murdered in Orlando were not abstract "others," they are us. But somehow, in the mind of a deeply disturbed gunman, the LGBTQ community was severed from our common humanity. This separation led to the death of 49 and the wounding of 54 of us.

We live in an increasingly divided and polarized society. Too often we sort ourselves into like-minded groups and sort others out. It is a short distance from division to demonization. Yesterday, we witnessed the tragic consequences of this.

There is another way. In Christ God has reconciled the world to God's self. Jesus lived among us sharing our humanity. Jesus died for us to restore our humanity. God invites us into this reconciling work. This must be our witness as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The perpetrator of this hate crime did not come out of nowhere. He was shaped by our culture of division, which itself has been misshapen by the manipulation of our fears. That is not who we are. St. Paul wrote, "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ" (II Corinthians 5:17-20).

Our work begins now. We need to examine ourselves, individually and as a church, to acknowledge the ways we have divided and have been divided. We must stand with people who have been "othered". We must speak peace and reconciliation into the cacophony of hatred and division. We must live the truth that all people are created in God's image.

This morning your churchwide staff came together to mourn and to pray. We prayed for those killed in Orlando and remembered the Charleston Nine killed only a year ago. We prayed for the family of the shooter, for our LGBTQ brothers and sisters and for our Muslim brothers and sisters who now face the threat of retaliation. And we prayed that the Prince of Peace will bring us to the day when we stop killing ourselves.

Your sister in Christ,
Elizabeth A. Eaton
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America


Living and Loving God, we pray for your guidance and strength as we live in the aftermath of another mass shooting.  We remember all the people who have died, their families, their friends and their communities that have been torn through gun violence, hatred and prejudice.  We remember all the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered and queer people who fear for their safety. We all feel less safe, give us the courage and strength to build a better future somehow, O God.
We remember our Muslim neighbors who also live in fear of a backlash of many kinds.
We pray for our political leaders who are struggling to find a way to lead us forward in our communal anxiety, anger and uncertainty. 
You are the God of life, bring us through this deep valley and guide us to build a better world for our neighbors and our enemies.
    In the name of Jesus our suffering, crucified and resurrected Lord.  Amen.  
_________________________________________

You Shall Not Kill
+ Bishop Jon Anderson
As we approach the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation I have been reading the Small and Large Catechism. After I read about the horrific events in Orlando, I jumped to the Fifth Commandment in the Large Catechism to read it again. Both of these quotes jumped out at me. 
In the second place, this commandment is violated not only when we do evil, but also when we have the opportunity to do good to our neighbors and to prevent, protect, and save them from suffering bodily harm or injury but fail to do so. If you send a naked person away when you could clothe him, you have let him freeze to death. If you see anyone who is suffering from hunger and do not feed her, you have let her starve. Likewise, if you see anyone who is condemned to death or in similar peril and do not save her although you have means and ways to do so, you have killed her. It will be of no help for you to use the excuse that you did not assist their deaths by word or deed, for you have withheld your love from them and robbed them of the kindness by means of which their lives might have been saved.  - Kindle Version - Line 5759 Annotated Luther - Vol. 2 

We are called to love and protect all our neighbors.  We have had many conversations about sexuality in the last decade.  God calls us to love all our neighbors including those who are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered and queer people.  
In the ELW version of the Fifth Commandment we are reminded of our God's commandment,
You shall not murder.
We are to fear and love God so that we do not endanger nor ham the lives of our neighbors, but instead help and support them in all their life's needs.
In Luther's Large Catechism he explains this in greater depth. 
First, we should not harm anyone, either by hand or deed. Next, we should not use our tongue to advocate or advise harming anyone. Furthermore, we should neither use nor sanction any means or methods whereby anyone may be mistreated. Finally, our heart should harbor no hostility or malice against anyone in a spirit of anger and hatred. Thus you should be blameless in body and soul toward all people, but especially toward anyone who wishes or does you evil. -Kindle Version- Line  5754 Annotated Luther - Vol. 2

Our neighbors who are Muslim are also our neighbors. I am sure Luther wrote stuff about the Turks that could be used for darkness in these days.  He did not get everything right, but I found his reflections in the Large Catechism on the Fifth Commandment worth pondering and helpful on Sunday morning and as I have lived through this week.

One more quote from Luther's Large Catechism
We are always reminded to recall the first commandment, that God is our God; that is, that God wishes to help, comfort, and protect us, so that God may restrain our desire for revenge. 
Kindle Version- Line 5669 Annotated Luther - Vol. 2 

I remind you of the Conference of Bishop's Letter on Gun Violence that might also be of help to you. Click here to read the Pastoral Letter on Violence adopted by the ELCA Conference of Bishops, March 4, 2013.

Much has been said, more will be said, this quote is another one that has run through my mind in these days and I know will be in the days to come.
"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint; therefore we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness."
-Reinhold Niebuhr - The Irony of American History - p. 63
 
Synod Events
Below is a list of all the upcoming synod events. Visit the synod events webpage for more information.
JUNE
2016 SW MN SWO Convention
June 17 & 18, 2016
Vinje Lutheran, Willmar 

JULY
July 22, 2016
Redwood Falls Golf Club, Redwood Falls

Better Together Hunger Event
July 28, 2016
Apollo High School, St Cloud
AUGUST
August 10-13, 216
New Orleans
 
ELCA Churchwide Assembly
August 8-13, 2016
New Orleans  

SEPTEMBER
Fall Theological Conference
September 25-27, 2016
Mount Carmel Ministries & Luther Bible Camp, Alexandria, MN
BETTER TOGETHER: Packaging food and building community
On July 28th, at Apollo High School, St Cloud, a coalition of local faith-based and community organizations plans to package over 200,000 meals for local charities, food shelves and disabled veterans' support organizations. On June 20, online sign up will be available through the United Way of Central Minnesota website - unitedwayhelps.org. Sign up to serve two hour shifts from 12-8 p.m. 
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help purchase food packaging supplies. Financial contributions can be sent directly to United Way of Central Minnesota at 3001 Clearwater Road, Suite 201, St. Cloud, MN 56301. Please denote the gift is for the BETTER TOGETHER event! Congregations and individuals may also give online by clicking here. We will also accept gifts on the day of the event. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Southwestern Minnesota Synod, ELCA 
PO Box 499, Redwood Falls, MN 56283
Phone: 507-637-3904