Foundational to this plan being actualized in our synod is the formation of mission tables. The image of “table” is like a kitchen table where people gather and are fed and dream and plan, come and go. The image of “table” is like the Lord’s Table where people gather and are fed by the Risen Lord Jesus and sent out as resurrection people empowered to be participants in God’s new creation and mission for the sake of the world including our neighbors & neighborhoods.

The emergence of mission tables is taking place alongside the synod’s boards and committees. Boards and Committees (including synod council) are constitutionally-designated groups that tend specific assignments within the corporate life of the synod as defined in the constitution and bylaws; Tables foster ongoing conversations around various aspects of how this synod serves God’s mission. They are oriented toward producing and implementing mission action plans resulting from imaginative missional conversations with congregations, parishes and conferences in a fluid manner with tablemates who “come and go” over time.

From time to time committees and tables may form two other sorts of synod leadership groups:

1. Teams address a more narrowly-focused area of the synod’s life over an extended or even indefinite period of time;
2. Task Forces also address a more narrowly-focused area of the synod’s life, but in a more time-limited and task-focused way. Typically a task force is disbanded when it has fulfilled its charge.

In the past couple of years several tables have formed and more will form in the years to come. The New and Renewing Mission Table is one of those tables that is formed and is still forming. Mission Tables like the New and Renewing Mission Table are open groups of passionate Jesus followers who gather periodically to discern the places in our synod where God’s Spirit is moving and seeking ways to join in God’s work.

The New and Renewing Mission Table is an open group of passionate Jesus followers who gather periodically to:

• Discover places in our synod where God’s Spirit is moving and seek ways to join in God’s work.
• Cultivate missional imagination within the synod, and translate that imagination into action.
• Be formed and reformed by those pulling up a chair and joining in the work.
• Be encouragers for congregations who have begun an intentional renewal process, and to share information and resources that are available (e.g. grants, online and/or print media or human resources including coaching and leadership equipping).
• Provide renewal opportunities for congregations in the synod who seek to re-root in their identity as God’s people and God’s mission field.
• Plant new churches for those without a faith community.
• Seek “putting a spade in the ground” of a missional “test plot” (spark small missional experiments within the synod using an action reflection research model).
• Celebrate the successes and learn from failures within the synod.

There are other chairs at this table. Pull up your chair and join us.

Pastor Keith Zeh, Director for Evangelical Mission

Download article: New and Renewing Mission Table

The Prairie Faith Parish

Over three years ago, an experiment began in the central region of the Red River Valley between the Holmes United Methodist, Beaver Creek Lutheran, and Trinity Lutheran Churches under Pastor Mark Ellingson. Over those years, the congregations developed a relationship where they shared joint worship services, potlucks, and mission projects. Leaders from each of the congregations were chosen and a parish council was created.

This past spring they worked together to welcome a new pastor to their charge.

On October 24, the Inter-Church Council chose a name for the parish: The Prairie Faith Parish. The council ran a naming contest through the summer and into the fall to identify this new name. Most recently, the parish hosted a fundraiser for the Northlands Rescue Mission in Grand Forks. They are looking forward to working together at the Mission this winter. Each of these congregations is over 125 years old and they are excited about what the future holds for them.

The new email address for the parish is prairiefaith@gfwireless.com

God’s work. Our hands.

» Download: God in Full View Nov 2011

God in Full View!

Messiah’s initial project produced 239 dresses and 51 britches (shorts) for boys. It began with gathering supplies, spending time together (or at home during the winter months), and producing the garments in love. The youth at Messiah tie-dyed donated white pillowcases. This became a multi-generational project for the church.

God used the hands of volunteers at Messiah, and the congregation was graced with beautiful clothing hanging on clotheslines in the sanctuary. The Hour of Worship televised service from Messiah Lutheran allowed us the opportunity to share this project with the viewers. We received donations of binding, elastic, ribbons, pillowcases, and money from people in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Pennsylvania and Canada. More importantly God worked through the Hour of Worship to share the excitement of this project, with 59 other churches contacting Messiah’s Parish Nurse, Sandi Kimmet, RN, forinformation on how to implement the project at their churches. God’s Hands led the hands of this congregation to reach out in an even greater way.

Sandi has maintained contact with Rachel O’Neill, the director of Little Dresses for Africa. She learned that some of the dresses from Messiah were sent to Haiti with medical volunteers following the earthquake and some were sent to Malawi for orphans who were left without clothing. These clothing items are light weight, easy to roll and pack up. This is a benefit for international travelers. God’s work. Our hands.

[The Messiah Health Ministry Team is planning on repeating the project in 2012. Sandi notes that this is an easy, short-term creative project and creates beautiful work to share with God's children in the world. The next "Pillowcase Sewing/Bandage Rolling Bee" will be held at Messiah on February 11, 2012 from 9am-3pm in the Activity Room. If you would like to hear more about this project, to have a speaker at your church or to ask any questions, please call for the Faith Community/Parish Nurse at Messiah Lutheran, 237-6770.]

» Download: God in Full View Nov 2011

God in Full View!

Electricians are needed in Minot

Contact Lutheran Disaster Response at (218) 443-4970 to volunteer or ask questions. You can warm hearts as well as homes!

Learn about the Flood of Love project…

reprinted with permission, Amy Dalrymple, The Forum, 09/28/11

Dan Faust raved Tuesday that he had a problem every farmer dreams about. Faust had a squash harvest so plentiful that he ran out of boxes. The 28 tons of produce – which he donated to the Great Plains Food Bank on Tuesday – took less than two hours to harvest with the help of more than 200 Valley City State University students and other volunteers. “If I had known that you were going to be as efficient as you were, I would have planted twice or three times as much,” Faust told the students.

Faust, a 76-year-old retired pastor, decided three years ago that he would grow extra squash for the Great Plains Food Bank after hearing about an increased demand at North Dakota food pantries. It started with Faust hauling a few pickup loads of squash to the food bank. The next year, he expanded his project and planted an acre of squash on his farm north of Valley City. Friends and volunteers harvested about 10 tons of produce for the food bank. Last winter, Faustcalled the food bank and asked “What’s the limit? How much can you handle?”

After hearing there was no limit – and getting a pledge that Valley City State University would help harvest – Faust doubled his project and planted two acres of squash. He chose squash because he knew it grows well at his farm and because it can be stored for months.

“Picking is the bottleneck,” Faust said. The students worked in teams led by “crew bosses” to comb the field for squash. Many used an assembly line method with some students picking the vegetables while others tossed and stacked them. “It’s fun,” said freshman Kelsey Awender of Oakes. “It’s only a couple hours of our time, and it helps other people out.” Bobcats loaded the 1,100-pound boxes into three trucks from the Great Plains Food Bank. The students also harvested potatoes, onions, carrots, beets and cabbage that Faust grew.

The produce will be available for nearly 300 agencies in North Dakota and Clay County, with enough left over to share with Minnesota, said Linda Sailer, director of product resources for the food bank. Freshman Bridget Walsh of Big Stone City, S.D., said she was impressed with Faust’s efforts. “He’s amazing to grow all of these,” Walsh said. The freshmen are part of a curriculum called Living to Learn/Learning to Live that involves a large community service project. “There are a lot of powerful learning opportunities that go along with this,” said VCSU President Steve Shirley. Local volunteer group Faith in Action of Mercy Hospital helped organize the effort. Sailer reminded students to think about the people who need the squash they harvested. “The communities being served are where a lot of these students were from,” Sailer said.

Harvest by the numbers:

• 57,423: Total pounds of produce
• 54,255: Pounds of squash
• 2,755: Pounds of pumpkins
• 413: Pounds of mixed vegetables
• 201: Students
• 2: Hours of harvesting
• 273: Agencies served
• 99: Communities benefiting

» Download: harvest-of-giving (download pdf file)

God in Full View!

Village School Director Etienne Yaiman gives new books and notebooks to students at the Village School in Baboua, Central African Republic

Thanks to YOU this program continues through individual and congregational monetary gifts. Currently parents (median family income in the CAR is barely $2/day) help construct the school and a home for a teacher out of sun-dried mud bricks and a grass roof but the ultimate goal is to construct permanent schools! One remote village has collected materials for their school’s construction, waiting for more funds to continue building; another school in Baboua is near completion!

For ongoing information about life in the CAR, visit or subscribe to Joe Troester’s blog and visit the synod website…

» Download: School Starts in the CAR

Sociologists these days sometimes talk of a new life phase that’s materialized quite recently: emerging adulthood. Also called, an “extended adolescence,” many folks in their 20s and 30s just seem to be taking their time growing up. You know the type— young adults who marry later, are employed less consistently, are less likely to own a home, carry more student loans, have fewer children, move more often, and are less likely to attend church than previous generations. The leaders of The Project F-M have decided it’s their mission to connect with these folks.

Established congregations can have thriving ministries with young adults and young families but still struggle to connect with, say, that 28 year-old who just moved to town, rents an apartment with five guys, works nights, and plans to move to Minneapolis in 12 months.

The Project F-M has begun living into a vision not about starting new congregations as we usually conceive them, but rather establishing a shared ministry of the whole church for these emerging adults. Think of it as a university campus ministry grown up a few years.

Our new mission statement reads we’re about, “Making space for 20/30- somethings to love God and neighbor by cultivating an open-minded, curious faith.” So far, we’ve done that through a popular bi-weekly Theology Pub that meets at a local bar, a book group, a monthly creative worship experience called HolyCity, service opportunities, and more.

In the next few months, our Director/Mission Developer, Pastor Adam Copeland, will help lead a fundraising campaign, expand the Board, and of course, continue to connect with 20/30-somethings. He’s always up for a chat, whether on Facebook or in-person.

The initial focus, Evangelism, is at the midway point and going strong! 26 lay participants from EaND and NW MN Synod congregations are actively engaged in the sessions. One participant shares, “I’ve learned so much and am excited to bring all of this back to my congregation!” That statement captures the purpose of CLA.

FAQs — and answers:

Does the same congregational member attend all the focuses?

No. The CLA is designed to enhance specific gifts, so it is not the intention that the same person would enroll/participate in all four focuses (Evangelism, Stewardship, Education, and Worship). In fact, as the CLA moves forward, some of the focuses will run simultaneously! Over an extended period of years, it is feasible that one person could possibly participate in all four focuses, but that is not the framework under which the CLA was developed. Congregations are encouraged to see the CLA as an opportunity to engage multiple congregational members in growing their gifts. The more people enrolled from your congregation, the wider the benefit to your congregation.

How much time is involved in each focus?

Each focus is made up of six sessions held on Saturdays (10 am – 4 pm) in the Knutson Campus Center (Morrie Jones Conference rooms) on the campus of Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. Because the CLA includes an action/reflection component, the classes are not held on consecutive Saturdays. Rather, participants attend class followed by a break (3+ weeks) as participants are engaged in specific assignments, practical experiences, and interaction with their peer cohort. Therefore, each focus spans roughly 9 months.

Where can I find more information?

• Find updates and articles
• Download enrollment forms, recommendation forms, class schedules, and syllabi
• Contact Rev. Keith Zeh, Director for Evangelical Mission

Download this article

Focus 1: Evangelism Leader

Saturday, September 10, was an incredible day that stretched from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Twenty six lay leaders made their way to Concordia College from near and far, representing the ministry of the baptized from eight congregations of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod and eleven congregations of the Eastern North Dakota Synod. They participated in class session two (of the six-session) of Focus 1: Evangelism Leader. All sizes and shapes of congregations were well represented with an energy and motivation that inspired the instructors for the day. Subject for the day was the three great listenings – listening to God – listening to our neighbors – listening to our contexts.

Session three will take place on Saturday, October 1, 2011 focusing on “Faith Story Sharing.”

Focus 2: Stewardship Leader

Saturday, November 5, 2011
Concordia College  - Moorhead, MN 

The Congregational Leadership Academy will launch Focus 2: Stewardship Leader on Saturday, November 5. This launch date coincides with CLA’s third Evangelism Leader class session. Both of these sessions will be held in the Knutson Campus Center (Morrie Jones Conference rooms) on the campus of Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. We are imagining cars carrying folks attending the Evangelism Leadership session being joined by others from their congregation attending their first session on Stewardship Leadership.

Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information on the six-session Focus 2: Stewardship Leader, the second wave of congregational leadership development. Registration/enrollment forms, recommendation forms, and agenda information will be mailed soon!

Focus 2 information will also be posted on our website…

• Download this article
• Learn more about CLA…

So far, four of the twelve families have located housing, one family expects to get into a house tomorrow (Tuesday 8/16/11). The rest are remaining with family and are looking for housing.

Clothing and blankets:

We no longer need men and women’s clothing, blankets or quilts for the fire victims. However, if there are people who want to donate these items, we do have a clothing shelf in the area where we will make sure these items will be put to good use.

We are still in need of children’s clothing, school supplies, and toys.

The following furniture items are still needed:

• couches/sofas, love seats, recliners/arm-chairs
• kitchen tables and chairs
• box springs with mattresses, bed frames and dressers
• end tables, book cases, stands, etc.

We are in real need of the following appliances:

• 8-washer/dryer sets
• TVs
• toasters, microwaves, coffee makers, mixers, etc.
• miscellaneous items: cooking utensils of all kinds, pots pans, dishes, silverware, rugs, towels/wash clothes, dish towels

Blessings to all,
Larry Thiele, S.A.M.
Dacotah O`yate Lutheran Church

» Download: A Letter from Larry Thiele, Tokio (download pdf file)

Learn about Dacotah O`yate Lutheran Church…

God in Full View!