Keeping us Connected

December 2024

The synod office will be closed during the holidays from December 23 - January 1.

CREM awards scholarships

Eight students were selected to receive scholarships from the Committee on Racial Equity Ministries (CREM). The recipients are from the presbyteries of Des Moines, Missouri River Valley, Northern Waters, Prospect Hill, and Twin Cities Area.

CREM also gave donations to the thirteen tribal colleges and universities, within the synod.

The Student Scholarship Fund is an educational assistance program designed to encourage racial ethnic and American Indian students to complete their graduation and benefit from culturally responsive academic opportunities. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and our Synod have a long historic commitment to education and this gift demonstrates our support for affordable and accessible higher education.

Congratulations to all the scholars!

Information on the Racial Equity Student Scholarships can be found here. Please let your church know about this opportunity.

The PC(USA) rolls out its new website

LOUISVILLE — The new PC(USA) website, pcusa.org, which had an initial launch on Tuesday (Dec. 3), features an enhanced user experience with improved navigation, a faster and more robust search function and easy-to-access links to the information users need when they need it. Read more

Holding those affected by Abundant Life Christian Academy tragedy in our prayers

Isaiah 11:6-9

The wolf shall live with the lamb,

the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

the calf and the lion and the fatling together,

and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze,

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,

and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.

They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

We grieve the loss of life and the trauma at the Abundant Life Christian Academy in Madison, WI earlier this week. We hold all those affected by this tragedy in our prayers, as we long for the day of the Lord's peace.

For resources to help your congregation cope, see the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship's Gun Violence Prevention Congregational Toolkit and Emergency Response Kit for Gun Violence Events.

Reprinted from John Knox Presbytery 12-18-2024.

APCE Scholarships

The Transforming Communities/Vital Leaders Committee of the Synod is happy to announce that $450 and $185 scholarships are available for Faith Formation leaders in Iowa to attend the annual event of the Association of Partners in Christian Education. The amount is dependent on whether you wish to attend in person at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN or online. These scholarships are available for pastoral leaders, Christian educators, seminary students, and church volunteers who are associated with a congregation in Iowa.

More information about the event

Apply for a scholarship

Text Link

2025 Per Capita

Per capita connects Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations and mid councils with the work of the wider church. Per capita is how Presbyterians mutually and equitably share the costs of moving the church forward in the 21st century.

Rates for 2025:

Synod = $5.50

GA = $10.84

Prayers Requested

Rev. Dr. Lisa Johnson, Synod Vice-Moderator and TE at the Presbyterian Church of Oronoco, Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, is in the process of being treated for cancer. If you'd like to follow along with her health care journey, you can follow her CaringBridge page: https://www.caringbridge.org/site/f00a5941-8da1-11ef-a331-55628b8b9231.

Church's Facebook page.

The Vine Campus Ministry at Collegiate Presbyterian Church, Ames, Iowa, sent two students and the director to the second annual Jesus & Justice Conference hosted by the Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.

Read the rest of the article from the Presbytery of North Central Iowa by clicking here.

'Jesus and Justice' urges young adults to pursue advocacy and partner with the PC(USA) - article by Darla Carter, Presbyterian News Service.

2025 IRS mileage rates

70 cents per mile for business use, an increase of 3 cents from 2024. For more information go to the IRS news release.

National Day of Racial Healing

January 21, 2025

The National Day of Racial Healing is a time to contemplate our shared values and create the blueprint together for #HowWeHeal from the effects of racism.

This annual observance is hosted by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) and was created with and builds on the work and learnings of the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) community partners. Fundamental to this day is a clear understanding that racial healing is at the core of racial equity. This day is observed every year on the Tuesday following Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Click here for suggested ways faith communities can participate.

Click here for definitions of racial healing and racial equity.

Visit the website for:

event and activity guides
a conversation guide
videos
and much more

https://dayofracialhealing.org/about-ndorh/

The Film: "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Spy, Assassin" & Notes on Why It Is Controversial

By Michael B. Lukens | Retired Winnebago Presbytery Stated Clerk & Scholar in the International Bonhoeffer Society

This latest attempt to deal with the importance of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written and directed by Todd Komarnicki, is entertaining, frustrating, and provocative. It is worth seeing.

It certainly is controversial but not in the usual way, i.e., a somewhat partisan contest between Progressive Church understandings of Bonhoeffer’s importance and that of Evangelicals. It may be influenced by the recent Metaxas biography but it is definitely not the same interpretation. The controversy over the film is not the typical contest between liberal v. conservative political views but rather disagreement about the role of churches in modern life. The arguments are within the Evangelical churches and within the Mainstream Protestant churches rather than between the two streams. The Evangelicals are divided by a “A Saintly-Moral Exemplar” v. “An activist-violent Hero.” The Progressives struggle with accenting “the Christian who is responsible for Others no matter the cost” (ethics as primary) v. “a theological and institutional church re-formation that engages the modern world in compromise and guilt” (the primary place of the 1944 prison letters). Evangelicals like pithy, brief claims while Progressives prefer intricate phrasing.

Let me suggest some questions toward deciphering this film’s interpretation of Bonhoeffer:

It is not another documentary, which we do not need, but intentionally creative and interpretive. Since several scenes are fabrications, how does one assess the degree of authenticity? How important is historical accuracy?
Does the film deal with and present adequately the primary ethical questions of our time?
Does the film seem to advocate a Christian “violent hyper-nationalism”?
Since this film is both imaginative and interpretive, what is its primary understanding of the meaning of Bonhoeffer’s life? At the end of the film, ask yourself: What makes Bonhoeffer a Christian model?

Three valuable reviews of the film:

https://www.christiancentury.org/features/new-bonhoeffer-movie-isn-t-just-bad-it-s-dangerous

https://www.christiancentury.org/features/there-s-no-such-thing-bonhoeffer-moment

See also the review by Myles Werntz in Christianity Today (November 20, 2024): “‘Bonhoeffer’ Bears Little Resemblance to Reality”

Article reprinted from Knox Knotes, December 13, 2024, John Knox Presbytery.

Presbyterian Women

in the Synod of Lakes and Prairies builds community and affirms women’s calls to leadership and spiritual growth.

The Sower newsletter, Fall 2024

The Ministry Lab is in a time of transition

We are moving our physical resources - effective January 1, 2025 (sort of) - and refocusing and streamlining our offerings.

You’re busy. And we are deeply grateful for the work you do.

Let this five minute distraction serve as a creative outlet; it will help us create greater support for you in the coming months. Your insights are much appreciated. Learn more about this time of transformation at The Ministry Lab here.