Last year, Trondhjem Lutheran Church, Lonsdale, Minn., gave $19,000 for the renovation of the medical dispensary in Sepuka, Tanzania. How did a congregation of just 500 baptized members come up with the money and decide to give it away?

Trondhjem had a parsonage for several years, but changed over to providing a housing allowance to its pastor. The money sat in a parsonage fund earning interest, but it was less interest than the interest rate on its mortgage. The congregation voted in April 2006 to reduce its mortgage by $100,000 and to give $19,000 to the medical dispensary in Sepuka. The congregation also retained $50,000 in its reserve funds.

Part of the inspiration for this act of generosity came about through Trondhjem member, Randy Stangler’s involvement with the Synod’s Companion Synod program. He and his wife Lori traveled to Tanzania in December 2005. They saw the need, and also knew that the gift would benefit all of Sepuka, and not just the Lutheran congregation there. A very large group in the congregation turned out to see the photos of Randy’s and Lori’s trip to Tanzania, and were also inspired by what they heard.

Trondhjem Lutheran Church is a fast-growing congregation. Even as it grows, it seeks to maintain a focus on its “extended” ministries. Besides giving away the $19,000 in 2006, it is developing a tradition of giving away all of its Lenten and Holy Week special offerings to benevolent causes such as food shelves, Hope Center in Faribault, and Lutheran Social Services. This year it participated in the Synod’s Mission Emphasis Sunday through its special Holy Week offerings.

Page 5 - Assembly Updates

Election of a Bishop
This year the Synod Assembly will be holding an election of a bishop. Any ordained minister of the ELCA is eligible for nomination. The term is six years and a bishop may be re-elected once, for a total of 12 years. The current bishop of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod, Bishop Harold Usgaard, is completing his first term.

The synod constitution says this about the election of a bishop:

† S9.04. The bishop shall be elected by the Synod Assembly by ecclesiastical ballot. Three- fourths of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election on the first ballot. If no one is elected, the first ballot shall be considered the nominating ballot. Three- fourths of the legal votes cast on the second ballot shall be necessary for election. The third ballot shall be limited to the seven persons (plus ties) who received the greatest number of legal votes on the second ballot, and two-thirds of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election. The fourth ballot shall be limited to the four persons (plus ties) who receive the greatest number of legal votes on the third ballot, and 60 percent of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election. On subsequent ballots a majority of the legal votes cast shall be necessary for election. These ballots shall be limited to the two persons (plus ties) who receive the greatest number of legal votes on the previous ballot.

S9.04.01 Biographical data shall be distributed to assembly voters on each of the candidates prior to the third ballot.

S9.04.02. Nominees shall be given the opportunity to address the assembly voters prior to the fourth ballot. 

Pre-Assembly Report
The Pre-Assembly Report is available online (go to www.semnsynod.org and click on “Assembly”). All voting members should read the report and bring relevant sections with them. Each congregation has also received a CD version in the mail to accommodate individuals with no or slow internet access. 

Can't Make It? Get the News Online
News from Assembly will be posted online throughout throughout the two days. Find out who is elected bishop, who is elected for other positions, and which resolutions pass as they happen.

A reproducible summary of the Assembly will be available Saturday evening for congregations to use in their bulletins the next morning.

Go to www.semnsynod.org and click on “Assembly” to get all the latest news.

Reminders
Registration: Early registration closed May 16. Any additional registrations or changes must be made on site.

Bring a Bible: Don’t forget to bring your Bible to Assembly!

Get it Online: The latest Assembly information will be on the synod website. Go to www.semnsynod.org and click on the “Assembly” link on the left.

Youth Voters: If your congregation sends a high school voter, tell them to fill out a rebate form when they get to Assembly.

Excused Absences: Rostered leaders under call should notify Bishop Usgaard if they are unable to attend Assembly.

Pages 6-7 - Lutherans Respond in Times of Need
By Katie Butler
Synod Communications Director

Hurricanes, winter storms, tornados, flooding, school shootings - it’s hard to escape the tragedies of the headlines. In the midst of mourning with our brothers and sisters - or even ourselves - affected when disaster strikes, Lutherans are also stepping up to start the recover process.

Since 1988 Lutherans have been responding to disasters through Lutheran Disaster Response, a collaborative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS).

As stated on their website (www.ldr.org), “Following a major domestic disaster, LDR seeks to minister holistically to the unmet needs of those affected, regardless of faith or creed.” The four facets of aid that LDR and its 37 affiliates provide are:

• Hardship Grants

• Spiritual and Emotional Care

• Volunteer Coordination

• Long-term Recovery

Through these kinds of aid, LDR stands out from other disaster response organizations through its emphasis on healing spirits and emotions, not just repairing the physical damage, and on their emphasis for long-term recovery. Many organizations come in full-force immediately after a disaster, clean up the biggest messes and then move on to the next disaster. LDR remains in some places for years taking care of the many long-term needs.

Hardship Grants
This is the kind of aid that often gets forgotten about. While people are trying to repair their homes and lives after a disaster, their immediate needs are often met by disaster response organizations and the generous donations of their fellow citizens, but there are still many everyday needs to pay for afterwards and sometimes no employment to pay for them. People affected by disaster can apply for a hardship grant to help pay for needs such as food, clothing, diapers, gas, medications, and other essentials. By having the means to pay for these everyday items, the people are able to focus on their recovery with one less thing to worry about.

Spiritual and Emotional Care
Natural disasters are defined by the physical damage they do, and those needs are often the most obvious. LDR’s goals are to also address the spiritual and emotional needs that come with the devastation.

This care can take various forms depending on the situation, but one of the ways LDR has been responding to spiritual and emotional needs is through the new Chaplain Network. This network is made of of rostered, ordained, or consecrated individuals who have had Clinical Pastoral Education training. By connecting these people through an LDR network, they are readily available to assist when needed.

LDR also makes various resources available to help individuals and their pastors in times of crisis. Many of these resources can be found on their website - www.ldr.org

Volunteer Coordination
Organization is a blessing in times of disaster. One of the ways LDR helps is by organizing volunteer efforts. Currently LDR has volunteer opportunities in the Gulf Coast area cleaning up after the 2005 hurricanes and in Ohio and Pennsylvania responding to recent flooding. They also ask for volunteers to help from home by collecting gift cards and by praying.

Long-Term Recovery
It can take mere minutes to devastate a community, but years to repair it. Take, for example, the town of Greensburg, Kansas. The families of the people killed will never be the the same. The rest of the 1500 residents are left with less than 10% of their town’s infrastructure. They will be recovering for a long time.

When LDR responds, they commit for the long haul. Response time varies depending on the type of disaster, the needs of the community, and the amount of funding, but they are sometimes there for years helping the community recover.

LDR’s largest current commitment is the 2005 hurricane response, an area to which they are still deeply committed. Through their dedicated long-term response efforts, the need for large amounts of unskilled volunteer hours needed is coming to a close. Soon they will focus on rebuilding and utilizing more skilled volunteers. To demonstrate their commitment to the long term recover, just look at their budget for the project. In the 2005-2006 fiscal year they gave $7.2 million. In 2007, they are pledging $8.3 million to Lutheran Social Services of the South, Inc., and Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri. These numbers do not include all of the contributions made, and still being made, by congregations directly. The need is still there and LDR is there with them.

Projects
LDR has just released their annual report. In it is a list of places that LDR was working in in 2006. They were working in response to tornados in Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and Missouri; ice/winter storms in Illinois, Nebraska, and Oklahoma; flooding in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Texas, and New England; earthquakes in Hawaii; and hurricanes throughout the Gulf Coast.

So far this year the work has not slowed down for LDR. The previous projects continue. New projects such as the shooting at Virginia Tech and the tornadoes in Kansas and Oklahoma have required attention.

Kids
Disasters affect all types of people, including people of every age. We may feel the urge to turn off the news or stop talking about disasters to protect our children while there are often children just like them living through the disaster. Since children need just as much -- sometimes more -- support than adults, LDR supports programs like Camp Noah, a program created by Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota that offers weeklong, faith-based day camps for children in grades K-6 who have experienced disaster. The camps help children cope with their new reality, give them a chance to relax and have fun, and give parents a break to deal with their own recovery.

There are also ways for children to get involved in responding to disasters. The ELCA Disaster Response webpage offers suggestions for ways they can contribute with a little help from Davey and Goliath. The two most important things kids can do are pray and learn. Pray for the people dealing with disasters. Learn about how to prepare before a disaster happens and what is done to help people affected after a disaster. The webpage - www.elca.org/disaster/kids/ - also has other resources for children including information about FEMA for Kids, downloadable coloring pages, and a Davey and Goliath Public Service Announcement to show children.

You
LDR is supported by the gifts of ELCA congregations and from individuals like you. Living in an area prone to tornados and crossed by rivers, we are aware of the danger that nature can pose. As Christians we are called to care for our neighbors, those affected by the power of nature and by the horrific acts of other humans. It is good to know that the compassion of the people in our church has supported a ministry that helps these brothers and sisters of ours through some of the most difficult situations imaginable.

Page 8 - Bishop's Column, Shirley Gangstad's Column

The Spirit Can Be Loud
Way too much commotion…on that first Pentecost I mean. The text speaks of the noise like a rushing wind. And then there were all these people speaking in different languages. Why it says even they were bewildered and perplexed. And these tongues of fire, what a sight that must have been. No wonder the accusation was that they were drunk. Why they were obviously out of control.

So when was the last time you and your congregation were accused of such a sacrilege? When was the last time it got too loud, when others wondered about you, when things obviously were out of control? We could expect such actions from other cultures, those from the Middle-east for example. But emotion and excitement here?

Gerhard von Rad attended a small church in his native Germany. The young pastor was not noted for his skill or preaching, but von Rad would speak of his one great strength. When the pastor read the Bible on Sunday, when he led worship, it was as if he were opening a package that contained a ticking bomb.

What of the Spirit in this season of Pentecost? What of its power to incite and challenge and change? Or do we become so nervous at such a prospect that we come down even harder with law and order. I fear that too often “nice” and “quiet” is the order of the day. I fear that too often we are afraid of losing control of the church, “our church.”

What would happen? What did happen, on that first Pentecost I mean. The text tells us, “and that day about three thousand persons were added.” (Acts 2) What a sight that must have been, what a confusing, loud, messy sight. But what a beautiful sight!

Let the Spirit blow in this Pentecost season and see what happens.

Shalom
Harold Usgaard
Bishop

Spreading God's Seeds
Greetings!

When my dogs come in from a romp outside, I often find they have brought something in with them. Currently they are bringing a seed from some tree—species unknown to me—that has a sticky surface and easily clings to dog hair. Later they will bring in all variety of weed seeds, each with its unique “hook” to cling to whatever surface brushes against it. How simply and creatively God spreads seeds from one place to another!

We carry seeds with us, too, and we spread them just as easily as the plants do—often without our even knowing we are doing it. Wherever we go, our actions and words are telling people exactly who we are. We don’t need special jewelry or slogans on our clothing. Our words and actions say far more about us than anything we might wear.

Volunteers who still show up on the Gulf Coast to help with rescue efforts; people who offer prayers for an accident victim that they pass on the highway; those who drop coins in the red kettles at Christmas or the special fund-raiser cups at business places; those who offer a kind word to harried clerks or rattled mothers in check-out lines; those who make a special effort to converse with visitors in church—those folks spread seeds that cling to others in the same way as seeds cling to my dogs! Those “seeds” cling to the recipients for an unknown length of time and brighten their day and lighten their load.

It is so easy to do, and the gift we give to others becomes a blessing to ourselves as well. In this season of sowing and planting, let us broaden out thinking about the seeds that we are sowing and plan for a bountiful harvest at the end of our growing season!

Blessings in Christ,
Shirley