MetroLutheran

What if a faith community approached ministry by going out into the community, finding excited and passionate people, and asking them, “How can we, the church, become relevant to you?”
Two distinct Lutheran-based, faith communities are exploring just that. Spirit of Truth, in St. Paul, and Project F-M, in Fargo-Moorhead, both have gone into their communities, read on ..

In Tanzania, less than 13 percent of graduates from the primary school system pass the national exam allowing entrance into secondary school, said Diane Jacoby, interim director of Operation Bootstrap Africa. “Many of the people who pass the exam do not go on to secondary school because they have nowhere to go,” Jacoby said.
Fewer of read on ..

Readers who have visited Metro Lutheran’s Web site may have noticed recent changes. The new Web site allows greater ability to tag stories, making them searchable by topic, person, or category. “The new Web site also presents a cleaner presentation of our stories,” explained Bob Hulteen, Metro Lutheran editor.
“We are indebted to Daniel Edwins [of read on ..

Joel Ortman and Sue Leckie, Our Saviors Lutheran Church (ELCA), Stillwater, Minnesota, exchanged vows in front of the Wittenburg’s Castle Church, at Stadtkirche St. Marien Lutherstadt, Wittenberg. Rev. Steve Molin (center, Our Saviors) officiated at the June 12, 2010 marriage. The wedding was part of the Service of Marriage and Affirmation and Renewal of Wedding Vows on read on ..

My niece Abby (my brother’s daughter), who was born and raised in St. Paul, graduated in May 2009 from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. Abby, an only child, made the decision in late 2009 to move to Seattle, where several of her friends from Gustavus, including former roommates, were living. She didn’t have read on ..

… and a little child shall lead them.
—Isaiah 11:6
If we listen, really listen, to children, they will share remarkable wisdom with us. In his book, The Mystery of the Child, Lutheran theologian Martin Marty describes children not as blank slates on which adults are called to write, but as God’s gift to us, sent read on ..

Do you think in words or in pictures? When someone speaks to you, does your brain immediately translate the words into images?
Many people are verbal thinkers; others are visual thinkers. Visual thinking is a skill most often thought of in terms of the arts. People who are good at painting and drawing often seem read on ..

Community-based options are allowing pastors and others who need chaplaincy training to receive their clinical pastoral education (CPE) in new ways. In a program offered by the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches (GMCC), the Rev. Dr. Susan Allers Hatlie directs four training units per year, three in the Twin Cities and one in Mankato, Minnesota.

One congregation’s dedication to caring for the creation has led its members into new encounters with their surrounding community. “We have long had [caring for creation] ministries; now we want to take them further,” said Rev. Tom Mundahl, pastor at Lutheran Church of the Reformation (ELCA), St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
In 1997, Reformation began a community read on ..

A group of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Global Mission staff and members of the ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod are attending the assembly of Eglise Lutherienne d’Haiti (Lutheran Church in Haiti or ELH) in Port-au-Prince which ends in early September. The group is exploring continued opportunities for joint mission and ministry between the ELCA and ELH.
Pat read on ..

Last January the world was exposed to the great need in the country of Haiti after the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Prior to the quake, most of the world did not know about the needs of this small Third World country. But volunteers of the Haiti Mission Project, a Twin Cities-based, grassroots nonprofit, have been read on ..

Within the last year, many people of faith from the Twin Cities area have taken advantage of one of the world’s most famous faith journeys — the Oberammergau Passion Play. It takes place only once every decade and regularly draws half a million people to its performances in southern Germany.
For persons of faith, all travel read on ..

While the study of the philosophical writings of Søren Kierkegaard may have been a limited field of interest at one time, this is no longer the case. “The conference was twice as big as previous conferences,” said Cynthia Lund, the assistant curator and special collections librarian of the Kierkegaard library. “There was a large group read on ..

Since the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) 2009 Churchwide Assembly debate and votes on human sexuality and the ordination of clergy in monogamous, lifelong, same-gendered relationships, individual congregations have reacted in a variety of ways.
ELCA secretary David Swartling recently reported to the ELCA Church Council that, as of August 3, his office had been read on ..

In mid-August Luther Seminary, St. Paul, hosted the orientation of the largest Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC) group in its history. Almost 150 volunteers descended on Luther. Two new host cities — Atlanta and Detroit/Port Huron — will receive LVC volunteers this summer.

Conversations about “vocation” are all the rage these days, at least at Lutheran colleges like Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Of course, a paraphrase of Martin Luther’s expanded definition of vocation is in the mix: It’s not just for clergy anymore! Such insights are all well and good, but by ignoring Christianity’s “first vocation” (the life of read on ..

I was recently taken aback while strolling through the mall to see on a black t-shirt with all large pink lettering — “Every Damn Day, Just Do It.” This was prominently displayed in the front window at the Lady Footlocker store. The shirt was a Nike product taken to the next level to get attention. read on ..

The Rev. J. David Simonson, Lutheran missionary in East Africa, died Monday, August 16, at his home in Arusha, Tanzania. A 1951 graduate of Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, Simonson spent his entire four-decade career working among the Maasai tribe in Africa. He also maintained a home in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
Simonson believed mission work meant spreading read on ..

The Lutheran Bible Institute (LBI) held an all-class reunion July 18 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Although several classes were represented, many participants were from the Class of 1965. For more information about the history of LBI, see “Is there room for a Bible school in the Lutheran Church?,” Metro Lutheran, July 2010, read on ..

Gethsemane Lutheran School middle school teacher Scott Revoir received a “Right Stuff” award for his leadership and positive attitude while attending the Space Academy for Educators at U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Revoir was among 220 teachers representing 41 states and 19 countries attending the camp in early July. The only teacher from read on ..

Lutheranism in Europe fared best in those countries where it was a majority and was supported by the government, such as in Scandinavia, the Baltic, and parts of Germany. But the shifting fortunes of religion and politics sometimes stranded Lutheran Christians in areas where they became the religious minority among other Christians. This was read on ..