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Dear NT-NL Leaders:

August is always an interesting season in the life of the church. Although still summer and many members and leaders are away it is also a time of urgent preparation for fall programming. Plans that have been made now have to be executed. There is an excitement that comes with that along with anxiety as well. And given the season we have been in over the last 18 months that anxiety and uncertainty is heightened even more. As I wrote yesterday in our weekly news the rise of the “delta variant” of Covid-19 has complicated our plans and challenges us to again prioritize our neighbor’s safety and well being over our own desires.

Despite this challenge, the fatigue of continuing to minister in pandemic, I have also in recent weeks heard encouragement and possibility from many places. Again and again you our leaders have stepped up and found new ways to minister in the midst of this ever changing context. For that I give thanks and encourage you to continue to do so. To assist you in this work our 2021 Leadership Convo (October 18-20) will be focusing on how to capitalize on the new things you have been doing. How to turn our reactions and fast learnings in pandemic into more long term parts of our life. To live into the hybrid in person/online future that is a reality for us all.

To assist us in this work we will be led by Dr. Alicia Granholm. Dr. Granholm has two decades of experience in church leadership in mainline and non-denominational settings in the United States and abroad. Most recently she has been coaching four of our NT-NL congregations who are involved in the Leadership for Faithful Innovation Cohort that I highlighted in my 2021 synod assembly report. She will work with us on a theology of innovation as well as how to make new things become part of our life. Joining her will also be, living into our hybrid culture, online conversation partners that will enrich our time including Mikka McCracken, Executive Director for innovation with the ELCA Churchwide office. It will be a good time for us to gather, think together, and learn.

Gatherings are more complicated today than they were a week ago. We will continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation in our contexts. However, for now also plan to join us on September 11, 2021 for a time of food, fun, and worship together at Briarwood. Food will be available beginning at 11am, Worship at Noon, and then games and fun for all ages into the afternoon. As the majority of these activities (including worship) will be outside, we can do so safely and with care for our neighbor. It has been over two years since we as synod gathered for worship. I pray you will join us.

In all of this I also pray you will take time for appropriate rest. Building margin into your days and weeks to ensure you are honoring God’s command of sabbath. It is an honor to serve as your bishop. May God bless you in your work this August.

#InMissionTogether,

Bishop Gronberg

AIANLA: Remembering the Children

Please receive this letter from the American Indian Alaska Native Lutheran Association. By now, you are aware of the horrific discoveries of mass graves for indigenous children at Canadian Residential Schools. The United States also had boarding schools, some affiliated with Lutherans.

Courageous Leadership Series with ELCA Coaching

Dear ELCA Leaders,

You are invited to join ELCA Coaching at 1pm Central on the First and Third Wednesday of August to learn some possibly surprising, and some definitely humorous, things about COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP. We have a special guest confirmed for August 18, and we are inviting you to bring a spirit of curiosity and openness to discerning how and where Spirit might be calling you forward as a leader in your life, work, ministry, community, and the world. There will also be time for small groups in breakout rooms so that leaders across the church can continue to learn from each other and leave each gathering with at least one action step.

The recording from July 21 (the first in the series) and login information can be found on the ELCA Coaching website: https://www.elcacoaching.org/events/courageous-leadership

Book of Remembrance

It has been a tradition at NT-NL synod assemblies to have a book of remembrance in which congregations are invited to share the names of those who have died in the past year so they can be remembered in the prayers of the community. In recent years, Bishop Gronberg has also invited us to share the names of those who have been baptized into Christ in the past year as well. We invite you to share those names through this online form, and they will be incorporated into our worship on Saturday, September 11. – Romans 14:8