News & Events: Bishop Installation Service This Sunday!

September 7, 2026

Join us this Sunday!

Bishop Installation Service

Sunday, Sept. 13 - 3:30 p.m. | Shepherd of
the Valley, Apple Valley

ELCA Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry will preside and preach at the Rite of Installation Service for Bishop Justin Grimm this Sunday. You are invited to join us in person or online for this celebratory service with Holy Communion. It will be a service of formal liturgy and "pomp and circumstance," full of symbolism, special music and ceremony. Here are a few notes:

Not attending but plan to watch the livestream? Save this link!
Singing in the synod choir? You should arrive at 12 noon to rehearse! If you haven't already done so, please email music@stpaulref.org with your preferred voice part.
Are you a rostered minister who will process? You should arrive and be vested by 3 p.m.! The color of the day is red.
Have physical limitations that would make valet parking a good option for you? Pull up to Door #1!

If you do plan to attend but haven't yet indicated your plans on the intention form, click here to let us know that you're coming! It will be a great help to have some idea of how many people to expect. Pre-service music will begin about 3:05 p.m.; light refreshments will be offered after the service. Thank you to the multitude of individuals who have been planning and organizing this day of celebration!

Financial assistance is available; email Bishop Justin Grimm.

Get conference details here.

Welcome Back, Anne!

Anne Ericson begins working in the synod office this week as the interim front office administrator. She will be overlapping with Rachel Holsten, whose last day in the synod office is this Friday, Sept. 11. You might already know Anne, who covered Rachel’s family leave earlier this year and was with us at Synod Assembly. She is a member of Augustana in West St. Paul. You are invited to join us at Christ on Capitol Hill in St. Paul this Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 10 a.m. as we celebrate Rachel and thank her for her contributions.

Wednesday Worship

You are welcome to join us this Wednesday for our first 9:15 a.m. community worship in the sanctuary of Christ on Capitol Hill. We will gather weekly for music, scripture, reflection and Holy Communion. Parking can be a challenge in the area, with many lots designated for government business around the Capitol, but a pay lot is available on the corner of Rice and Sherburne.

Summer Intern Spotlight

For four summers now, the synod's internship program has paid for 10 interns each year to serve at a variety of nonprofit sites. The program is a win-win-win....it allows organizations that can't afford to pay an intern the opportunity to benefit from one; it provides a generous stipend to a young adult who needs income and/or experience; and it allows the synod to lift up the next generation of leaders.

Julia Ronning, one of this year's interns funded by the synod's Planting Hope Campaign, spent her summer helping with the food shelf at Merrick Community Services. Watch Julia's video below and we think you'll agree that the internship program hits all of the wins! Again, we say thank you to everyone who supported The Planting Hope Campaign...your gift continues on!

If you haven't watched the other five interviews we did of our Summer 2026 interns, we really encourage you to do so! It's heartening to hear these impressive young adults share about not only the tasks they performed at their assigned sites, but also the skills, lessons and insights they're taking away from the experience. Click here to watch those you may have missed.

Bega Kwa Bega Fall Festival

Saturday, Sept. 19 - 8 a.m.-noon | Augustana, West. St. Paul

Join us in celebrating our Tanzanian companionship, Bega Kwa Bega! This year's Fall Festival will feature Bishop Blastone Gavile and General Secretary Shadrack Nyaulingo from Tanzania, along with our own synod bishop, the Rev. Justin Grimm. The morning includes updates from BKB affiliate organizations as well as workshops on building opportunities for all through education, building companion relationships, preparing to build intercultural experiences, and best practices for sharing God's gifts through mutual projects. The morning concludes with Festival Worship. There's no charge to attend, but please let us know if you're coming so we know how many to plan for! Learn more and register.

Guatemala Gala

Sunday, Oct. 4 - 4 p.m. | Town & Country Club, St. Paul

Join us as we celebrate how we are woven together with our siblings in the Iglesia Luterana Agustina de Guatemala (ILAG). This fundraiser includes a social hour with music, a marketplace and other activities. The plated dinner features recipes from the cookbook of local celebrity chef Amalia Moreno-Damgaard. Pastor Karen Castillo, Diego Gil Castillo and Valeria Gil Castillo from the ILAG will be present in person with us to share exciting updates from our companionship. A representative from the synod’s health ministry team will discuss its inaugural visit next year to help improve health for entire communities. Bishop Justin Grimm will also share a word. Your support helps continue and expand the ILAG's life-changing work in education, health, leadership development, music and SEED ministries! Learn more and register.

National Day of Remembrance

At our 2025 Synod Assembly, the Saint Paul Area Synod passed a memorial and the ELCA Churchwide Assembly subsequently resolved, for all churches to recognize the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools, on Sept. 30 of every year.

Following on its memorial in support of this movement, our synod is a Community Sponsor for this year’s Day of Remembrance, hosted by the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. A candlelight vigil on Wednesday, Sept. 30 in Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis will honor Indian boarding school survivors and those who never returned home. It is a remembrance walk recognizing the strength, resilience, and enduring spirit of those who attended boarding school. There will be remarks from guest speakers, survivors, and community leaders. Together, we honor survivors, remember those whose lives were forever changed, and reaffirm our commitment to truth, justice, and healing. Learn more.

How else can you get involved? The Truth Seeking and Truth Telling Initiative within the ELCA is a grassroots movement to account for our parent denominations’ involvement in the Indian Boarding Schools era, and to educate our congregations on this legacy. Visit the resources page.

Spiritual Gifts Retreat

Saturday, Oct. 10 - 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | Lutheran Church of Peace, Maplewood

Who has God created me to be? This retreat will provide you with an opportunity to look deeply at who you are and how God has uniquely blessed you with certain gifts. Using spiritual gift inventories, conversation and other tools, you’ll go home with a better sense of who you are and how you might best serve your faith community and the world! Retreat leaders include Pastor Kirsten Fryer of the Saint Paul Area Synod, Deacon Nina Joygaard (Faith, Forest Lake) and Pastor Wendy Steger (All Saints, Eagan). The cost is $30 per person and includes lunch. Register here.

Fall Joint Ministerium

Thursday, Oct. 29 - 9 a.m. | Christ Lutheran, Blaine

Rostered leaders from the Minneapolis and Saint Paul Area Synods are invited to gather for community, learning, and worship at this year's Joint Ministerium, Heaven Opened: Dreams for the Church. The Rev. Kenneth Wheeler, the featured speaker, will reflect on scripture, challenge us to confront white Christian nationalism, and look toward the dream of a new heaven and a new earth where all God’s people are seen, known, and loved. Rev. Wheeler, a retired ELCA pastor, is a guest lecturer on pastoral leadership in the 21st century at Wartburg Theological Seminary, where he received a Doctor of Divinity Degree honoris causa. He is also the author of US: The Resurrection of American Terror (2022). Register here.

Youth Lock-In

Bring your 8th-12th grade youth for an overnight (or late-night) event at Roseville Lutheran Church on Friday, Oct. 2. This event is especially for those interested in attending the ELCA Youth Gathering next summer. There will be games, worship, youth messages and tons of fun with youth from all over the Twin Cities. Interested adult leaders can sign up here or email Deacon Ashley Greenwood with any questions. Download the poster.

ELCA Church Property Resource Hub Webinar:

Land Back as Property Stewardship Ethic

Thursday, Sept. 24 - 6 p.m. | Online

Honoring our commitment as a church through the social policy resolution, Supporting ELCA Land Back Efforts and Indigenous Ministries, this webinar is focused on land return. Indigenous leaders from within and beyond the ELCA will share about the Land Back movement and repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery. Participants will also hear from congregations and synods taking part in land return and reconciliation efforts. Register here.

The synod office is closed on Monday, Sept. 7, in observance of Labor Day.

EVENTS OF INTEREST

From Scratch - Shobi's Table Benefit

Thursday, September 24 - 4:30 p.m. | Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church, St. Paul

Shobi's Table, the synod's food truck ministry, invites you to its Daring Table fundraiser, where all are changed for the better. Being part of this magical evening will help ensure that at this table, all are fed with a good meal, connection, and healing. Register here.

VA S.A.V.E. Training

Tuesday, Sept. 29 - 12:30-2 p.m. OR 6:30-8 p.m. | Online

The local VA Chaplain Service and Community-Based Suicide Prevention Team invites faith communities to attend one of two no-cost, virtual sessions to learn:

A general understanding of the scope of suicide in the U.S.
SIGNS of someone thinking about suicide
How to ASK questions
VALIDATE the person’s feelings
ENCOURAGE/EXPEDITE getting help
Public Health Model approach to suicide prevention

The webinar is for staff and volunteers, leaders and others. Learn more and register.

ConNext Summit

Oct. 11-13 | Clearwater Forest Camp & Retreat Center, Deerwood

ConNext is a biennial, ecumenically supported CYF leader gathering with the goal of branching out beyond barriers and comfort zones, brining one another into new relationships and networks, and building community that will reshape ministries. The keynote presenter is David Scherer (Agape*) who will help empower leaders to create communities of radical belonging. Worship and music leaders are Alsa and Morgan Bruno, who use the power of creativity and social investment to deepen and transform relationships through play. Workshops will address creating cultures of full inclusion, developing internal and community confidence, dismantling the appeal of white Christian nationalism, neurodiverse children and youth in worship and more. Learn more and register.