2003 Synod Assembly

Registration: The Excitement Begins!

Added 9:15 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2003

About 700 people are expected to attend the 16th annual Southeastern Minnesota Synod Assembly today and tomorrow.

The assembly, themed "Making Christ Known: For the Healing of the World," had 646 pre-registrants. Registration coordinator Carolyn Goulet said about 100 additional people were registering in person Friday morning at the Mayo Civic Center.

Among the first to arrive were Judy Mund and Tom Voge from Grace Lutheran in Nerstrand.

Mund, who has previously attended seven Synod Assemblies, said the two-day event is an enlightening and educational process.

"You find out the workings of the church," she said. "Not just our church, but how it all works together."

This year's assembly includes several reports, topic discussions and a Community-Wide Service of Health and Wholeness on Saturday morning. Voge said he is looking forward to the variety of scheduled events during this, his third assembly.

"The first year I came, we elected the Bishop," he said. "Last year, they had a kind of heated debate on sexuality. It should be interesting to see what they have this year."

Paul Melhouse, from Spring Garden Lutheran in Cannon Falls, said he anticipates an educational talk from keynote speaker Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb. Raheb, a pastor of the Evangelical Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, will address the assembly at 1:30 p.m. today.

"The perspective you get off TV might be totally different than what's really out there," Melhouse said. "There are a lot of questions out there."

Others, like first-time assembly attendant Shirley Nagele, said she hoped the event wouldn’t be more than she could handle.

"I'm afraid this may be too much over my head," said Nagele, from LeRoy Evangelical Lutheran. "I'm told it's a learning experience."

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