The Re-rooting in God’s Mission journey has just begun!
Nine congregations in the Eastern North Dakota and Northwestern Minnesota Synod sent teams to participate in the Re-rooting in God’s Mission event on March 5th. This remarkable day launched the first cohort of congregations to engage in our denomination’s Transformational Ministry 2.0 process. They returned encouraged and equipped to engage with their congregations in preparing readiness for the renewal journey that lies ahead for the next 18 plus months.
These teams were from:
- Immanuel Lutheran – Osage, MN
- St. Paul’s /Buffalo Parish, Tower City, ND
- Trinity Lutheran, Pelican Rapids, MN
- Dacotah Oyate, Tokio, ND
- First Lutheran, Middle River, MN
- Prairie Rivers Parish, Wyndmere, Hankinson, Lidgerwood ND
- Our Savior, Trinity, Redeemer, Page, Ayr, Hope, ND
- Our Savior’s Lutheran, Warren, MN
- Our Savior’s Lutheran, Moorhead, MN
One team member from Trinity Lutheran in Pelican Rapids commented, “It is good to know that we aren’t alone, others are experiencing similar situations in their churches.” Another member of the team appreciated “framing everything with prayer and Bible study really helped make sense of what we talked about during the day. Transforming congregations,” she said, “happens when individual member’s lives are transformed. Lives are transformed by encountering the real God in prayer, worship and Bible study.”
Trinity’s pastor remarked that the first and most important part of any renewal process is deepening the individual member’s commitment and faith practices. A process that tries to skip the spiritual aspect of renewal is merely rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Focusing during the day on the Greatest Commandment, the Great Commission and the Three Great Listenings gave the team focus for the work that they would do later when they where back home. One of the ideas that came out of the day’s work for the Trinity Team was to explore the possibility of creating a storefront ministry center in Pelican Rapids.
The congregational teams have set October 1st as the day they will come back together to learn from each other what God has been up to and what has been happening in their congregations. They will also prepare for the next six-month leg of the journey which will include equipping for facilitating a process on how a congregation can name their purpose, guiding principles, managing conflict and processing change.
More to Come!
Since March 5th, several congregations have expressed a desire to join this first cohort of congregations blazing the Re-rooting in God’s Mission trail. In response, the joint synod Renewal Team is working to arrange an encore equipping event. If you have an interest to learn more about this possibility contact Pastor Keith Zeh on his cell 218-790-1764 or by e-mail keith.zeh@elca.org
For an overview and description of the training components, download Re-Rooting Overview and Training Components (download .pdf file).
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