Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly (May 2 and 3, 2025)

Three members of St. Luke’s attended the 2025 Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly on May 2 and 3: Greg Hornicke, Rob Norris-Weber, and Joy Enger Lindgren. The theme of this year’s assembly, “Church Together” took its inspiration from 1 Corinthians 12:26 “Indeed, the body does not consist of one member, but of many … If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”

To better understand the theme, here is a statement from the Synod Assembly web page, ‘We are Church Together, each members of one body “given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7). Though powers strive to divide and isolate us, to make us fear our neighbor and one another, we know that in Jesus Christ we are knit together, called to make God’s love real. Together, at this year’s Synod Assembly, we will reflect on what it means in this moment to be Church Together.’

The assembly began on Friday night with a worship service and ice cream social at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis. Bethlehem Lutheran Church has a beautiful building whose architecture is more traditional than what we usually see in Bloomington. The sanctuary is in the shape of the cross, has a soaring vaulted ceiling, and beautiful stained glass windows. Although the sanctuary is truly awesome and lovely, what really made the worship service stand out was having a full sanctuary where everyone lifted their voices while accompanied by the beautiful tones of the pipe organ. Every representative of the assembly must like to sing because the volume of the singing matched that of the organ. 

On Saturday the Assembly met at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Ramsey. Saturday’s agenda included presentations, a keynote speaker, elections, approving budgets, and service projects.

Here are some of the items that were covered or accomplished during the Assembly. The budget resolutions were adopted. The synod budget will be the same as it was last year. All candidates for open Synod positions were duly and unanimously elected. Two service projects were completed: snack bags for summer literacy learners and menstrual kits for homeless teens. The following Resolutions and/or Memorials were adopted: Child and Vulnerable Adult Safety Policies and Procedures, Accompanying Immigrants, Response to the Destruction of Palestinians, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and Youth Gathering DEI. Just a note – the 2027 ELCA Youth Gathering will be held in Minneapolis.

A secondary theme that emerged throughout the Assembly was on prayer and the importance of communal prayer. The keynote speaker, Reverend Professor Dr. Dirk G. Lange, provided the example of a Lutheran Cathedral in Leipzig, Germany, that supported its community by sharing its space with many diverse groups – musicians, artists, community and interest groups - who had no place to gather back when East Germany was part of the Soviet Union and under authoritarian rule. Communal prayer was the way that the various groups and members of the congregation shared their hopes, concerns, and joys. The practice of communal prayer established bonds and built trust among these groups.  One of the initiatives that will follow the Synod Assembly is “Pray without Ceasing”, where congregations of the Minneapolis Area Synod are encouraged to meet once each week for communal prayer. Congregations will also be asked to invite other churches in their neighborhoods to follow the same practice.

One other topic that stood out from the speeches and presentations was that the Lord’s Supper is a blueprint that we can follow to engage with our internal community and with the community outside the walls of our building: Gather around food, Receive Jesus’ healing, Share in abundance.

​For additional information on the Synod Assembly you may attend the next Listening Post, reach out to Greg, Rob, or Joy, or go online to https://mpls-synod.org/our-synod/synod-assembly-2/