There are many signs of growth and hope happening in the Eastern North Dakota Synod: A new parish, mission events, new excitement for ministry, and a new resource for finding hope whether it’s right in front of you or it remains elusive.
Birth Announcement
A new five-church parish, New Horizons Parish, has been born. Five congregations – Lakota Lutheran Church, Michigan Lutheran, Sarnia United Lutheran, United Lutheran Church and Lakota United Church of Christ have come together and birthed this new five church parish. The newly formed parish will share resources and build upon the strengths of the individual churches to become a more vibrant, dynamic outreach ministry.
“We are hoping to generate a synergy within our congregations and do much more for ourselves and the community than what we have been doing in the past,” said committee chairman Scott Nelson of Lakota Lutheran Church. The members of the congregations are excited to see where God will lead them in this new parish. Each church has its own inherent strengths upon which joint ministries will be formed. Ideas already being discussed are: joint parish events, joint youth groups, and joint ministry projects.
Delivering a keynote address at “Hope for the Prairie: Vital Congregations for the 21st Century” conference held in Aberdeen – SD, Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson told participants: “Our hope is in God, and our source of hope is the gospel – the good news that God has become flesh in Jesus the Christ. God has bent down from God’s mighty throne to meet us in our frailty, in our humanity, in our brokenness to embrace us in love and forgiveness and reconciliation. The trouble is that if our hope gets too outwardly tied to the look of things, then precisely when we most need hope it’s most absent. If you tie your hope to the price of crops or the price of cattle, if you tie your hopes or to the variation of weather, or the fluctuation of membership in your congregations or whether the school board will consolidate or keep going, then when precisely you are in need of hope, hope is most absent. But when hope is in a living, loving and ever-present God, then we can claim hope even when all around us there are signs of despair.”
New Horizons Parish is birthed in this hope we all have in our risen Lord Jesus. Thanks be to God!
Submitted by Rev. Keith Zeh, Director for Evangelical Mission
Day of Mission
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Begins at 9:00 am with Service of Word and Sacrament (Bishop Rindy presiding)
Mayville / Gran Parish – North Dakota
The focus is on mission. The day is shaping up to be very busy and exciting for the congregations! The congregation will be sent out on a two hour “mission blitz” at 10 am. Some will attend a worship service at the Alzheimer’s Unit; some will travel to Luther Memorial Home to enjoy and participate in tunes from the past; and others will take elderly congregation members for an outing in the country. More plans include: construction projects and cleaning the section of country road Gran Lutheran has adopted. Members will return to Mayville Lutheran for a sandwich dinner followed by conversation and education time (Extra Mile for Mission; Lutheran Malaria Initiative (external link); and the upcoming Glocal Mission Event in Grand Forks) with Bishop Rindy.
Submitted by Rev. Darrel Corey
Rally Day Mission Blitz
Sunday, September 12, 2010
At Augustana Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, a mission blitz is being planned for Rally Day September 12, 2010. Various projects will be offered, including the Emergency Response Vehicle for the American Red Cross in the parking lot where, during the Sunday School hour, the Sunday School kids will be washing the inside and outside of the vehicle and adults will complete the sanitizing.
Submitted by Harold Randall
Hope Quotes & Verses
Seminary graduates have received calls in the Eastern North Dakota Synod. Ordinations and installations are being planned! One of the new graduates is Pastor Zachary Bey, soon to be installed as the pastor at English Lutheran, Medina and St. Luke Lutheran, Streeter. This will be Pastor Bey’s first experience in a multi-point, rural parish. Zachary stated, “I think I have a few things I might be able to teach them, but I know they have a whole bunch of things to teach me!” On behalf of the Eastern North Dakota Synod, this sign of hope brings a warm welcome to all of the new seminary graduates.
Submitted by Rev. Terry Brandt
The words of Apostle Paul…
“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21
A Field Guide to Hope
It’s Not Too Late: A Field Guide to Hope (Alban Institute) by Bob Sitze is a guide, sized so that you can carry it along with you on your daily journey of faith. The entries in this book will help you find hope, whether it’s right in front of you or it remains elusive despite your searchings.
More information… (external link)
The Test Kitchen
Last fall, Tri-County Ministry started a young adult group. The idea was to provide opportunities for Bible studies as well as social activities. The group’s name is “The Test Kitchen.” One of the members returned from synod assembly excited about Bishop Rindy’s “Extra Mile” challenge. The group caught the excitement and decided to host a 6 week challenge to encourage the 9 congregations to give extra money for mission. Each congregation would designate where they want their “extra mile” donations to be sent. The challenge’s final tally will be completed soon, but in six short weeks the congregations have raised over $3,000 collectively!
It’s obvious God has been present and active in Tri-County, moving people to give generously to this effort. The hope is to make the “extra mile” challenge an annual event!
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