River Crossings in Plain Text
December
2006 Issue
Below you will find all the
stories from River Crossings in plain text format, so you can easily copy
and paste them into your publications. If you require any graphics for these
stories, please email
butler@semnsynod.org or call 507-280-9457 with your request.
Page 1 -
Cover
Lessons Learned in Colombia
Pages 4-5, 7
Theological Conference Focuses on Spirituality
Page 6 Inside...
Congregational Passwords Coming Soon
- page 2 New E-News
Format
- page 2 ELCA News -
Lutherans 'Stand Up' against poverty, response to ELW, and healthy women and
girls
- page 3 Bishop Usgaard:
"They Know What Christmas is About"
- page 7 Beth Gabriel:
"New Call Process Program"
- page 8 Shirley
Gangstad: "Waiting Time"
- page 8 The Bridge - “Pray
Your Way"
- insert Selected
Online Resources about Colombia:
Page 2 -
Synod News
Merry Christmas
The staff of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod would like to wish you all a
blessed Advent and a joyous Christmas!
Congregational Report
Passwords Coming Soon
All congregations will be receiving from churchwide their Congregational
Report Password. The synod office also receives these passwords. Please go
on the churchwide website (www.elca.org)
to down load the worksheet and report to use as you fill out your report.
When completed, return to the churchwide website to complete your
Congregational Report for 2006. Feel free to contact Cheryse Brenno-Sloan at
the synod office (507-280-9457, 800-426-6376 (MN only) or
sloan@semnsynod.org) if you ever
have any questions about the report. The Congregational Reports will be due
February 1, 2007.
The synod Communicators’ group
met in November to learn more about how to properly fill out these forms.
Minutes from the meeting are available by going to
www.semnsynod.org/communicators.html
Congregational Meeting
Reminders
As congregations begin to have annual meetings, remember to elect voters
for next year’s Synod Assembly (June 8-9, 2007). The number of voters per
congregation is based on your 2005 membership numbers. Note that the numbers
in the 2006-2007 green synod handbook are the 2004 numbers. To see how many
voters your congregation is entitled to, go to
www.semnsynod.org and click on “Assembly.”
2007 is also an election year
in the Southeastern Minnesota Synod. Congregations are encouraged to make
nominations a topic at the annual meeting (or a special meeting if the
annual meeting is not held before January 30. Go to
www.semnsynod.org and click on “NewsBytes”
to get details on the election process.
New E-News Format
The synod recently changed the format for the weekly E-News. This new
design is intended to make the news faster and easier to read. It also
provides more interactivity by allowing for links directly to the website.
To sign up for this weekly
dose of quick news from the synod, go to
www.semnsynod.org and enter your address in the sign up box. Make sure
that your e-mail is set to receive HTML emails and add
butler@semnsynod.org to your
“safe” list if you have a junk mail filter.
If you previously received the
E-News, but have not received it in the new format, contact Katie Butler at
the synod office
(butler@semnsynod.org, 507-280-9457, or 800-426-6376 (MN only)).
New Prayer Calendar
In 2005, as part of the synod’s strategic plan, we were “A Synod Joined
in Prayer.” That year began a tradition of the entire synod joining for the
same few congregations each week. This tradition continues, even though we
are no longer in that specific emphasis. The 2007 Prayer Calendar is now
available to download at
www.semnsynod.org/prayerbible.html
Remember in Prayer
Health Concerns
• Rev. Christine Finsand
• Rev. Ronald Jensen
• Rev. Glennys Knutson
• Jenelle Mandsager, wife of Rev. Michael Mandsager
• Shannon Reuss, wife of Rev. Peter Reuss
• Rev. Don Roberts
• Rev. Charles Solberg
• Fern Steffen, wife of Rev. Richard Steffen
• Rev. Todd Walsh
Sympathies
• The family of Rev. Robert G. Johnson who died Oct. 27
Protection
• The Rev. Erik Feig, deployed to Iraq
• The Rev. Steven Timm, deployed to Iraq
Page 3 - ELCA
News
Lutherans help set world record by "Standing Up" against poverty
by Annie Lynsen, ELCA
Washington Office
More than 8,500 members of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) were among the 110,332 U.S.
citizens and 23.5 million people worldwide who stood up during worship Oct.
15 to fight global poverty. The "STAND UP" event set a national and global
record in the Guinness World Records for the largest number of people to
stand up for a cause.
Lutherans across the United
States participated in the event organized as part of "ONE: The Campaign to
Make Poverty History," in cooperation with the United Nations' Millennium
Campaign. People stood together to ask their governments to take action to
end poverty and inequality and meet the Millennium Development Goals.
At
Solor Lutheran Church in
Webster, Minn., 52 people stood for a moment during worship, 14 of whom
participated in a house party later that day. "At the house party, we called
our representative, our senators, and our candidates and left messages
asking what they've done or what they plan to do about hunger and the
Millennium Development Goals," said Carrie Young, a member of Solor Lutheran
Church.
This story is from the ELCA
News Blog, which provides short, quick updates on ministries of the ELCA.
Find it at www.elca.org/news/blog
ELCA Bishops told of
Enthusiastic Response to New Worship Book
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Evangelical Lutheran Worship" -- the title of the
newly introduced worship book for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada -- has generated orders
of 568,000 pew copies through Oct. 6, exceeding early sales forecasts, said
the Rev. Michael Burk, ELCA director for worship.
The books are sewn together
and are not merely glued, Lewis said. Each book has 250 more pages than the
"Lutheran Book of Worship" -- in use since 1978 -- and a special bright
white paper is being used that takes about eight weeks to import from
Europe, she said. Because of these qualities, orders for the third printing
are expected to be delivered to congregations beginning in mid-January 2007,
Lewis told the conference.
Estimates were that in its
first two years, up to 36 percent of the congregations would commit to
purchasing the pew volume, Burk said. Already 25 percent of congregations
have committed, he said.
---
Information about Evangelical Lutheran Worship, ordering information
and introductory events is at
www.ELCA.org/worship/
Women of the ELCA Raises Up
Healthy Women and Girls
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls" is the health
initiative of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
The women's organization of the ELCA gathered about 60 women and girls for
its first Healthy Hearts Event here Sept. 29-Oct. 1.
Worship, prayer, singing,
yoga, water aerobics, walking, stretching, journaling and meditation rounded
out the program of speakers, small-group discussions and exhibits.
Participants came from as far away as Florida.
Speakers discussed emotional,
spiritual and physical health. All three speakers emphasized the importance
of balancing all forms of health.
The Rev. Mary B. Stein-Webber,
Trinity Lutheran Church, Oakland, Calif., said others, especially family
members, influence our emotional health with their positive and negative
messages. "Being aware and awake of how they impact us is one of the most
important things in the world," she said.
"Jesus told people the truth
about who they were, and then he set them free," Stein-Webber said. "I love
that about him."
The Rev. Dawn D. Hansen,
director for programs, Women of the ELCA, started her presentation on
spiritual health with some questions: "What is the shape of your spirit?
What does it feel like? What does it look like? How do you feed your
spirit?"
Exercise benefits spiritual
health much the same way it benefits physical health, Hansen said.
Participants said they "fed their spirits" through prayer, music, Bible
reading and fun.
"Laughter is a very important
piece in keeping our spirits flexible, adaptable, resilient, elastic and
open to new things, change," Hansen said. "The ability to play is a flexible
spirit," she said.
Page 4 - Lessons
Learned in Colombia
Synod delegation travels to Companion Synod in Colombia
By Katie Butler
Synod Communications Director
The recent trip to visit our companion synod
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia (IELCO) was an eye-opening,
heart-opening experience for the seven representatives from the Southeastern
Minnesota Synod. Seven people from the synod including Bishop Usgaard and
Katie Butler from the synod office, representatives of the Global
Mission/Companion Synod Committee, and pastors made up the first official
synod delegation to Colombia. The group traveled to several congregations, a
school, and into the communities where the church has been active in helping
those most affected by the ongoing civil war in the country. These visits
introduced us to a people eager to get to know their brothers and sisters
from the United States, a people who opened not only their arms but their
homes and lives as well, and a people with an incredible excitement for
their church.
Sharing the Faith
The year 2007 in the Southeastern Minnesota Synod is focused on sharing our
faith. The trip to Colombia was an extraordinary example of the importance
of being open about our faith. Everywhere we went we heard people sharing
their passion for their church, for their faith, and for their God. For
example, in the small congregation of Principe de Paz (Prince of Peace) we
saw a 22-year-old man bring tears to the eyes of his congregation, and
especially to his bishop, when he expressed his gratitude for the faith
nurturing he has received during his ongoing journey towards becoming a
pastor and the open arms he has always found in Bishop Buitrago. We also
heard from the young man’s grandmother who shared how important the
congregation has been in her life and how much it means to her to be a
Lutheran in such a predominantly Catholic country. Her words revealed a
woman strong in her faith and solid in her relationship with God. Before
watching an impressive demonstration of song, dance, poetry, and drama
presented by the children of the congregation, we also heard from the same
young man’s mother who was overcome with pride for the work being done in
her church and with her gratitude for the visitors sitting in the pews of
her congregation.
Mission in the World
What are the goals in your congregation? How many of them go outside your
congregation. In Colombia we heard two types of goals. Some congregations
are looking for ways to build or buy a building of their own or to repair
the one they have because the building is either literally overflowing with
people on Sunday mornings or it is falling down around them – sometimes
both. The rest of the goals we heard were reaching beyond the congregation.
In Sogamoso at Espiritu de Vida (Spirit of
Life) their dreams include improvements to their childcare center. These
improvements include finishing a second floor to make a large playroom for
the children so they have space to include more children, buying the lot
next door so the kids have somewhere outdoors to play, and bringing the
kitchen up to code so they are able to cook all the food on-site. This
ministry is so important to their congregation for two reasons. One is that
it offers an affordable option for parents, especially single mothers, to
give their kids safe, healthy care. The other is that it is a gateway into
the Lutheran school in Sogamoso. The kids who attend the childcare program
get a tuition break to attend the school. The school, which began during a
period of Colombian history when the public schools wouldn’t admit
protestant children, offers an affordable, quality education that also
emphasizes Christian values. The extraordinary outreach capabilities of the
school are evident in the fact that over 95% of the students are not
Lutheran. The congregation of Espiritu de Vida has done many things for
their members, but they have also devoted themselves to the children of
their community – no matter what their religious affiliation. They are truly
using their limited resources to live out the example set by Christ to reach
out to those in need.
Another example of the Colombian Lutherans’
ability to look beyond their walls is their work in the communities of
people who have been displaced by the civil war. In these communities,
people are living in shelters constructed of whatever materials they can get
on land they don’t own, with little opportunity for employment and limited
access to medical care and education. IELCO is in these communities
supporting projects like building wells to provide clean drinking water and
supporting meal programs. They also actively advocate on behalf of these
vulnerable people. If they were to tell you what their goal in these
communities is, it would not include getting people in their pews. Their
goal is to be God’s hands and voice in the world to help those that the
world has forgotten.
The Future
Over the last several years many people from the Southeastern Minnesota
Synod have been able to travel to our Companion Synod in the Central Diocese
of Tanzania. From those visits, many others throughout the synod have heard
about our brothers and sisters in Tanzania and have come to know and care
about them. Though we have also had a companion relationship with IELCO, the
synod has not had the same opportunity to make the personal connections with
the people of Colombia.
During this visit we did hear a few requests
for money and resources (and saw many, many opportunities to give), but
there were really two things that the people of Colombia really wanted:
-
To strengthen our companion relationship
and
-
For us to understand more about them and to
advocate for them.
The culture that we witnessed in Colombia
focused on relationships – in families, among friends, between neighbors,
and with God. They would like their companion relationship with our synod to
be one of those central relationships. Communication is easy. Letters and
photos can be sent in mere minutes via e-mail or days via postal mail. With
translation capabilities in the both the Southeastern Minnesota Synod office
and the IELCO office, language is not a constraint. More communication
between our synods and the congregations in them would allow both sides to
share about the strengths each has its ministry and for both to open their
eyes to a world beyond their own four walls.
The other thing that they want from us is
understanding and advocacy. They know that they are seen in the eyes of the
world as a dangerous country plagued by war and corruption. They want us to
know what the real situation is, to know that there are many good people in
the country and to know just how much corruption exists in their country.
The largest difference between their country and ours is that the people
there have no power to change their situation. We in the United States have
more power in our voices than they have in their own country.
This is only a portion of what we learned and
experienced during our time in Colombia. More about the trip can be found on
the synod website at
www.semnsynod.org/globalmission/colombia.html and will appear in the
future in other synod publications. If you or your congregation is
interested in participating in the Companion Synod ministry consider
becoming a partner congregation, participating in a future trip, and/or
keeping up-to-date on what is going on in Colombia and considering any
advocacy routes available. Information on these can be found at the website
above.
View
photos from the trip!
Leadership and Development LIZWAN
At a special dinner during the Southeastern Minnesota Synod’s visit to the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia (IELCO), the Leadership and
Development LIZWAN program announced that their foundation has received
non-profit status from the Colombian government.
During 2006 Leadership and Development LIZWAN
focused their services on the following:
-
Education - supporting a total of 110
students in 14 congregations and missions of IELCO from kindergarten through
university
-
Meal a Day - providing lunch to a total of
100 displaced children and children from poor or vulnerable families in
Bucaramanga and Bogotá
-
Evangelism - providing resources to
congregations, this year specifically to the Saint Matthew Congregation in
Bogotá
-
Small Projects - supporting an equine therapy
program for special needs children and people with physical handicaps, a
project supported through The Savior Congregation of el Cocuy, Boyacá
Leadership and Development LIZWAN also
continues to support the Committee of Evangelism and the administrative part
of IELCO.
Monthly updates from the foundation are
available at
www.semnsynod.org/globalmission/colombia.html
Page 6 - Theological Conference
Focuses on Spirituatlity
By Katie Butler
Synod Communications Director
On November 5-7 approximately 200 pastors,
associates in ministry, lay staff, and their spouses gathered at the Holiday
Inn, Owatonna, Minn., for the 2006 Synod Theological Conference. Every year
attendees of the conference enjoy time for worship, fellowship, and
education. This year’s speaker was Dr. Bradley Hanson of the Grace Institute
for Spiritual Formation.
Time for Meditation
Hanson spoke to those gathered about the nature of spirituality and
how it is understood in our culture today. He mentioned several barriers
preventing people from getting in touch with a deeper spirituality. These
barriers include a reluctance to get close to God; a tendency (especially
for pastors) to think of spirituality as “simply another tool in your
ministerial toolbox;” and the thought that spirituality may be inconsistent
with justification by grace alone through faith alone. Though Hanson
acknowledged that spirituality is often marketed today as fluffy, self-help
material, he reminds people that spirituality is a deep, meaningful personal
practice.
Hanson then went more in depth about some
specific spiritual practices centered on word and physical symbols in daily
life. He pointed out that we often only think about prayer as talking to
God, though it is also listening to God (meditation), contemplation, and
intercession. He then walked his audience through several different kinds of
meditative prayer. Several involved reading and re-reading a Bible passage
and then focusing on a specific portion of it, putting yourself into the
story, or combining several of the parts of prayer in response to the same
passage.
Other Highlights
During her sermon on Sunday night, Rev. Karen Behling, admitted that she
didn’t come to the Theological Conference for the speaker. She enjoys the
speaker each year, but what she anticipates most is the fellowship and being
at table with everyone. This year’s conference offered many opportunities to
gather at table – five meals served by the hotel and three served during
worship. The event kicked off with the Bishop’s Reception, which offers a
time exclusively for fellowship and conversation.
Following the reception and dinner was the
traditional Bishop’s Forum. This was an opportunity to ask Bishop Usgaard
the important questions. This year’s questions ranged from “What is your
shoe size?” (it is 10 ½) to “What is the hardest part about your job?”
(dealing with misconduct).
Bishop Usgaard also shared a list of ways to
nurture one’s own faith life and a little bit about his recent trip to
Colombia.
Earlier that evening, pastors received
information about charitable gifting courtesy of a grant given to the synod
and Good Earth Village by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. The DVD, which
highlights the various ways endowments are used by the synod and Good Earth
Village, was previewed during the forum.
Another highlight of the weekend was a
session led by Neal Erickson and Patricia Lundeen to introduce some of the
new and refreshed hymns in the new worship book, Evangelical Lutheran
Worship.
Mark Your Calendars
Next year’s conference has been scheduled for November 4-6, 2007 at the
Radisson in La Crosse. The speaker will be Rev. Craig Satterlee, professor
of homiletics at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
View
photos from the event!
Page 7 -
Bishop's Column
They Know What Christmas is About
They are victims of the worst human
catastrophe in the Western Hemisphere. Over three million people in
Colombia, refugees in their own country, driven from their homes and
villages in the ongoing turmoil of civil war. Some of them received 12 hours
of warning. They could pack what they could carry with them. Others were
forced to flee in the middle of the night with only the clothes on their
backs.
And now they live in make-shift huts and
shelters on mountain sides, on land which has no value to others, at least
for now. Some have lived in such settings for so long that a new generation
has grown up knowing nothing different. Some dare to build more substantial
living quarters, and perhaps even to form cooperatives, working together to
provide for their families. But there is always fear that the paramilitaries
and guerrillas will arrive to demand “protection” money.
There is no home for these people, no place
of safety.
There was another for whom “there was no room
in the inn.” There was one “who had nowhere to lay his head.” This is the
one not born in Jerusalem, but in the lowly shepherd’s field. And too soon
he and his family became refugees as well, fleeing for their lives to Egypt.
This is Christmas. We in our comfort too
easily forget that Christ came as light in the darkness, as the promise of
life in the midst of death. But there are folks in Colombia who remember -
and they will celebrate. For too many of them, this Christ child is their
only hope.
Remember these sisters and brothers this
Christmas. For so many of them their only gift is Jesus. But they also know
he is the most important.
Shalom,
Harold Usgaard
Bishop
Page 8 - Synod Staff
Column and Shirley Gangstad's Column
New Call Process Program
By Beth Gabriel
Call Process/Candidacy Assistant
Many of you are aware that Pastor Audree
Catalano, our former Synod Minister took a new call in October to serve St.
Paul’s Lutheran Church in Forest Park, Ill. The decision has been made that
we will not be calling a new synod minister during this short transition
time before the bishop’s election in June. Instead, Bishop Usgaard is
piloting a new program and has chosen five pastors from our synod to help us
by “shepherding” our congregations that are in the call process. These five
pastors have been trained in the call process and will go with the bishop
and Larry Iverson, synod minister, when they initially meet with call
committees to explain the call process and answer any questions.
Each of the shepherds will talk to the call
committee chairs from their conference each week and ask for updates and
answer any questions that have come up from their call committee. The
shepherd then calls or emails me every week with all of the new information.
We are excited to try this new pilot program and hope that you will bear
with us if there are a few “bumps in the road” as we fine-tune our new
shepherd program. We give thanks for our new shepherds and for the time and
energy that they give so freely to our synod:
BER - Pastor Christy Wendland
CR - Pastor Chris Brekke
MR - Pastor Chuck Espe
RR - Pastor Jim Radatz
ZR - Pastor Gary Benson
Beth Gabriel
Call Process/Candidacy Assistant
Waiting Time
Greetings!
Advent has begun and we are waiting for
Christmas. We spend much of our lives waiting, it seems. We wait in
restaurants to be served, we wait at stop lights, we wait in check-out
lines. We wait for our birthdays, we wait for the next party, we wait for
the next thing we can celebrate. We have waited for major milestones in
life—to become a teenager, to become sixteen and get a driver’s license, to
become twenty-one and be considered an adult.
And truth be told—we are not good waiters.
Our society is so focused on instant gratification that even the slightest
waiting gets us impatient. I remember my introduction to computers on an
Apple II in the classroom. To get that computer booted up and ready for use
must have taken a full minute or more, and we were so thrilled at what it
could do for us, how much time and effort it saved us, we never thought
about how long it took to get functional. Now waiting one or two seconds for
the computer to do something almost pushes us over the edge.
We were often disappointed after waiting for
those milestones in life because they never seemed to be what we thought
they were going to be. By focusing on the next big thing to come, we often
forget to pay attention to the present and to live in the moment.
The purpose of Advent is not merely to wait
for Christmas; it is meant to be a time of preparation—not preparing with
decorating and gift buying and planning for Christmas parties and
celebration, but rather preparation of our spiritual selves to accept the
gift of God’s Son and the salvation he brought to us. If we look upon these
days in that sense, they go by all too quickly and there seems to be almost
no waiting involved at all.
May we use our waiting time wisely and
prepare our hearts and minds for celebrating Jesus, God’s great gift to the
world!
Blessings in Christ,
Shirley
Page 9 - Strategic Plan Update
Advent Challenge
Vision: Called into God’s Marvelous Light: To Be Joyful Witnesses
Objective: An emphasis on sharing the
faith
As this year’s synod strategic plan poster
(included in the November River Crossings) and this month’s column from the
Congregation Renewal Team state, this year our synod is joined in sharing
our faith stories.
A portion of this is a challenge from the
Congregational Renewal Team to the clergy of the synod. That challenge is
that each pastor preaching on the first Sunday in Advent would share a
little of his or her own faith story.
In order to introduce this challenge, Bishop
Usgaard demonstrated for those gathered for worship on Tuesday, November 7
at the synod Theological Conference. During his sermon, he shared several
stories about where he saw Christ. He told us how he learned grace from his
father, how he saw the neighborhood “queen” recognize Jesus while on her
deathbed, and how he learned the meaning of serving others from an
82-year-old nun in Colombia.
If you are a pastor preaching on the first
Sunday in Advent, you are challenged to use your faith story in worship that
morning. If you are a pastor not preaching, encourage your colleagues to do
so. If you are a member of a congregation, encourage your pastor to do so.
If you come across this challenge after the first Sunday in Advent you have
not failed, simply pick up the challenge late - start now!
The Beginning of a New Year - How Will We
Share Our Faith Stories
By Beth Krehbiel
Congregational Renewal Team
The Congregational Renewal Team has given
careful consideration of the 2007 goal: Called into God's Marvelous Light -
A Synod Sharing Our Faith Stories. We hope to support you in your ministry
with suggestions for how to implement this goal in your ministry and your
congregation. Throughout 2007 our River Crossing articles will focus on ways
to encourage faith sharing stories in your congregation. We hope that the
context our of articles will give you "easy to implement ideas or
suggestions." Probably one of the first barriers to overcome is helping
every member realize that they have a valuable faith story to share and how
in sharing their "story", they are witnessing and encouraging others in
their faith journey.
These faith stories can be as simple as one
or two sentences at the beginning of a meeting answering the question,
"where have you found God today?" to a more organized sharing of faith
stories as a sermon in a service. Our team would also welcome any ideas that
you have found work well in your ministry - so we can get them out to the
rest of the synod. On behalf of our team we look forward to supporting you
and your congregation sharing your faith stories throughout the year.
Page 10 - Call Update, Calendar of Events
Call Update
Self Study:
•
Alden, Redeemer - Solo
•
Blue Earth, Trinity – co-pastor (Barbara Jewell, interim)
• Cannon Falls, Urland/Wangen Prairie – senior pastor (Charles Jacobson,
interim)
• Elkton, St. John – part-time solo (Lissa Kahl, interim)
• Grand Meadow, Bear Creek/Grand Meadow – solo (Gail Klavetter, interim)
• Kenyon, Gol – part-time, solo (Dan Dimick, interim)
• Mabel, Mabel First – solo (Curtis Fox, interim)
• Oakland, Oakland/Moscow – solo (Peter Soli, interim)
• Owatonna, St. John – solo (Arne Jessen, interim)
• Red Wing, First – associate (Glen Bickford, interim)
• Rochester, Gloria Dei – associate (Dick Rehfeldt, interim)
• Waseca, St. John – associate
• Wells, Good Shepherd – senior (Gerry Geise, interim)
Interviewing:
• Faribault, First English – associate
• Granger, Saetersdal – part-time, solo
Ready to Extend Call:
• Albert Lea, Ascension – solo
• Byron, East/West St. Olaf – solo
• Rapidan, Calvary – solo
Call Extended:
• North Mankato, Messiah – associate
• Austin, St. Olaf – associate in ministry
Upcoming Events
Dec. 2 (Sat.): Lay School of Theology: Welcoming Jesus: Perspectives on
Jesus from Matthew, Mark, & Luke
See next page for details.
Dec. 17 (Sun.): 25th Annual Festival of
Nine Lessons and Carols
Domitilla Building, Saint Marys Hospital, Rochester, MN
www.semnsynod.org/events/concerts.html, 507-288-2649, or
zbox4@qwest.net
For more information about these or other events, visit www.semnsynod.org
and go to any of the “Events” links.
Mission Support Income
Oct. YTD
Current Year - $1,444,783
Last Year - $1,357,687
Budget - $1,357,688
* Fiscal Year February-January
Praise to the Lord, you are ahead of last
year in the mission support financial gifts you have shared. Paul in his
letter to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 9) thanks them for their eagerness and
generosity to share their financial gifts, and he asks them to "finish the
arrangements for the generous gift they had promised."
We also ask you to fulfill the intent amounts
you projected for 2006. Your completion of this work and maybe even
additional generosity will go far to show our mission partners that you
value their service to the Lord, and it will allow the synod and ELCA to do
the wonderful work you have called us to carry out in sharing the good news
of Christ into the world. May God richly bless you this Christmas season.
Page 11 - Lay School
of Theology
Download the brochure PDF
Page 12 - Back Cover
River Crossings is the monthly newsletter
of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod for pastors, associates in ministry, and
lay leaders. The next deadlines for River Crossings is December 6. Please send
correspondence to Katie Butler,
butler@semnsynod.org;
507-280-9457. Get weekly synod news on e-mail!
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