Written by Brenna Zeimet

As I reflect on this event, I am awash with a sense of expectant hope. As I wandered the tables and listened to conversations and sat one to one talking with folks, I was struck by how much has changed in such a short time. 

The conversations have changed from questioning what we’re doing here and what this is all about, to finding deep connection with the neighbor’s story and searching for a place in the narrative of the community. Where do we fit? What should we be paying attention to? Who do we need to be to meet our neighbor where they are today? It was no longer a skeptical questioning of this process or a planning session for new programs, this community has begun to fall in love with the people around them and that love is driving change in our worldview and our identity as the Church. We are changing as we adapt to the heartbeat of God for people.

I am excited about what this season of Interpretation will bring as we dig deep into the beliefs and assumptions that drive our actions. We will examine how our worldview brings hope and where it causes harm or puts up barriers to authentic and vulnerable relationship. These teams are ready to engage this intense and transformative work, and the health that will flow from this time will bring change to our churches and our neighborhoods.

At our last learning event Kristina Fruge shared a letter with our RIH community to open our space both online and in person. It was written with inspiration from her friend Lauren out in Spokane, WA. It was a beautiful way to open and close our event and there are invitations she names that are good reminders on how we can create places of belonging for all our neighbors. We share it with you in hopes that it will continue to nourish your soul as you embark on this work of being neighbor in the world in the midst of all the feelings of being human. 

Dear neighbor,

This letter is your invitation. You may have already RSVPed to show up today, but this letter and these words are your invitation to be present and to participate in this gathering – to give what you have to offer and likewise to receive the gifts of others in this community. 

You are invited today, neighbor, to show up with all of you. No need to leave anything at the door today.  Our time together will include exploring the artform of interpretation. This means we will take time to wonder about the realities that shape our understanding of the world around us. This means your experiences, your stories, the places you are from, the people who have shaped you, and the realities and relationships that are currently demanding your attention, truly matter. 

Are you bringing sadness with you today? You are invited. 

Are you bringing joy with you today? You are invited.

Are you bringing worry about the uncertainties of the future – of your own, your congregation’s, your community’s, this planet’s? You are invited. 

Are you bringing exhaustion or fatigue with you today? You are invited. 

Are you bringing compassion and hope with you today? You are invited. And if that’s you, don’t be shy to share a little with those of us who are running on low…

Are you bringing grief with you today? If so, you are invited. And may you be reminded that God’s presence is ever more close to you right now. So keep an eye out.

Each and everyone of you is invited to keep your eyes and ears and hearts open, expectantly on the look out for God’s activity among us. You are invited, just as you are invited to pay attention to all the parts of you that shape the lens you use to engage and understand the world. 

Thank you for saying yes to this invitation when it likely meant saying “no” to others. Welcome! Welcome to this time of sharing, of learning, of connecting. Welcome to this time of community. Your presence and participation today is what makes this community possible. And community makes all things possible. Yours truly, Kristina

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In late January we hosted our learning event focused on the Artform of Accompaniment. Brenna and Geoffrey reflect below on lessons and learnings from that event. 

Trust the Process: A Journey of Connection and Transformation

This past January, a gathering took place at Augsburg University, marking the beginning of an extraordinary journey for our congregations. We embarked on a path to explore and embody the art of accompaniment, a journey aimed at not just knowing about the neighbor, actually knowing the neighbor, and unraveling a new way of being church in the world.

The Essence of Accompaniment

Accompaniment, the first of four art forms we dive into, challenges us to not just know about our neighbors but to actually really know them—to see their essence. This deep understanding is fundamental, setting the stage for the upcoming art forms of interpretation, discernment, and proclamation. Our learning event was more than an educational endeavor; it was an invitation to transform how we interact and perceive the people around us.

The Power of Practice

A pivotal aspect of our gathering was the emphasis on practicing accompaniment through one-to-ones. That’s when I really saw the importance of cultivating these connections and practice among ourselves.

During a lunchtime exercise, participants paired up with someone from a different congregation, someone they didn’t know, and then embark on a journey of discovering the essence of each other. The simple act of asking questions and just listening unveiled the profound impact of hearing and sharing stories. Returning from the exercise, the air was filled with laughter, smiles, and a sense of connection. This practice, as many reflected, was the highlight of the day, underscoring the simplicity and inspiration found in truly meeting someone new and authentically connecting.

Creating a New World Together

This event was not just about learning; it was about preparing to build a new world together. The question, “when my world and your world collide, what happens now?” captures the essence of our mission. We are preparing to step out of our comfort zones, to listen and share stories, to connect our narratives with those of our neighbors. This is the groundwork for a new world—a world as intended by God.

The overarching vision of our journey is rooted in the belief that we are created for connection. It’s our stories with those of our neighbors that we find the blueprint for this new world. Through connecting, listening, and truly hearing, we step into a realm of mutual understanding and empathy. This connection goes beyond mere interaction; it’s about engaging with stories on a deeper, heart level, being with and allowing the stories to move and transform us from within.

A Transformed Perspective

The learning event taught us that true connection involves more than just knowing each other’s stories; it’s about letting those stories resonate within us, altering our worldview, our thinking, and how we engage with the world. This process of connection with others, leaning into their story, and allowing it to transform our mind and heart is what prepares us to embrace a new perspective, living in a world that we’ve collectively reimagined.

As we continue on this journey, we continue leaning into the knowledge that our shared stories and connections are not just pathways to understanding but the very fabric of the new world we seek to create together

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Gretchen Roeck is passionate about inviting youth to engage, critically examine and discern their gifts and call in the world. She loves empowering youth and young adults to be leaders in their own lives and communities. She dreams of building communities of people who are fully alive, connected and invested in one another’s flourishing. 

Gretchen joined the Christensen Center for Vocation team in January 2024 as the Program Director for The Confluence. The Confluence is CCV’s summer institute for high school students, offering youth an opportunity to engage in vocational discernment by exploring the ways their own story merges with God’s story and the world’s story. Gretchen is excited to be a part of the CCV team and their work to inspire and equip people of faith to creatively orient their lives and work around Jesus’ call to be neighbor. 

In addition to her work with The Confluence, Gretchen is a Priest in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. She leads Children’s Ministry at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in St. Paul, and is the chaplain at Circle of the Beloved, an intentional living community for young adults in North Minneapolis. Gretchen spent the last five years serving as the Priest and Internship Director at the University Episcopal Community, a campus ministry for young adults across the Twin Cities. Her ministry has been focused on children, youth and young adults –inviting them into a relationship with God, fostering their personal growth, walking alongside them and guiding young people in their spiritual and vocational journeys. She is committed to building and sustaining safe, inclusive and welcoming communities that lead towards health and wholeness for individuals and their broader communities. 

Creating safe, supportive and loving spaces extends into Gretchen’s personal life. She is the mother of two fun and creative boys, Elliott and Abraham, ages 10 and 6. Together they share a home in Minneapolis with Brigid the dog, and George and Molly, the cats.

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Dr. Patrick Reyes, Dean of Auburn Seminary

The Christensen Symposium

The Christensen Symposium and the Christensen Center for Vocation were both established to honor the legacy of Dr. Christensen, the 8^th president of Augsburg University who served from 1938-1962. His legacy was one of critical inquiry and genuine hospitality. We have drawn these lessons from that legacy which still shape our work.

• Christian faith liberates minds and lives
• Diversity strengthens vital communities
• Inter-faith friendships enrich learning
• The love of Christ draws us to God
• We are called to service in the world

It is my hope that you will hear echoes of Dr. Christensen’s lessons in Dr. Reyes’ presentation.

Dr. Patrick Reyes

Dr. Patrick Reyes currently serves as the Dean of Auburn Seminary in New York City.

He is a Chicano writer, theologian, and executive leader and the award-winning author of The Purpose Gap and Nobody Cries When We Die. Prior to his current position he was the Senior Director of Learning Design for the Lilly Endowment’s Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) where he provided strategy and direction for their diverse programs, grants, and teams supporting the next generation of leaders. In addition, he led the historic fellowships supporting scholars of color, the Institutional Doctoral Network, and partnerships in theological and higher education.

He is a peer among public theologians and deeply respected among faith and justice leaders and funders. He is the current Board President of the Religious Education Association and serves as the Co-Dean of the Freedom Seminary for the Children’s Defense Fund, offering an immersive experience for diverse seminary students from across the country to engage and cultivate prophetic voices with communities on the margins.

Patrick provides leadership on several boards in theological and higher education, publications, and the nonprofit sector, supporting the next generation of Black, Indigenous, and Chicano spiritual and cultural leaders. In the last decade, he has been recognized for his service and scholarship by Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Boston University, Claremont School of Theology, Drew University, Children’s Defense Fund, Hispanic Theological Initiative, Hispanic Youth Leadership Academy, and others.

Patrick was also recently inducted into the Morehouse College MLK Jr. Collegium of Scholars. He lives in New Mexico, where he and his family embrace the cultural and religious traditions and communities they have inherited.

The Purpose Gap: Empowering Communities of Color to Find Meaning and Thrive

“In The Purpose Gap, Patrick Reyes reflects on a family member’s death after a long struggle with incarceration and homelessness. As he asks himself why his cousin’s life had turned out so differently from his own, he realizes that it was a matter of conditions. While they both grew up in the same marginalized Chicano community in central California, Patrick found himself surrounded by a host of family, friends, and supporters. They created a different narrative for him than the one the rest of the world had succeeded in imposing on his cousin. In short, they created the conditions in which Patrick could not only survive but thrive.

Far too much of the literature on leadership tells the story of heroic individuals creating their success by their own efforts. Such stories fail to recognize the structural obstacles to thriving faced by those in marginalized communities. If young people in these communities are to grow up to lives of purpose, others must help create the conditions to make that happen. Pastors, organizational leaders, educators, family, and friends must all perceive their calling to create new stories and new conditions of thriving for those most marginalized. This book offers both inspiration and practical guidance for how to do that. It offers advice on creating safe space for failure, nurturing networks that support young people of color, and professional guidance for how to implement these strategies in one’s congregation, school, or community organization.”

(Description from Bookshop.org)

Recording of 2023 Christensen Symposium

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Saturday, June 3rd, 2023 9:00am – 3:00pm at Augsburg University 

Co-hosted by Riverside Innovation Hub and MAS Faith Practices & Neighboring Practices

Over the past two years Minneapolis Area Synod’s and Augsburg University’s Riverside Innovation Hub have shared a commitment to accompanying congregations as they discern their call to BE neighbor, rooted in their faith and open to the neighborhood. As the first learning cycle comes to an end and a new one begins, we are coming together to celebrate and learn from this groundswell of people engaged in what it means to be neighbor in the world. We’ll be joined by both congregations and individuals who are doing the work in neighborhoods all over Minnesota. 

On June 3rd, we will gather for a day to hear stories from near and far in a variety of mediums, participate in skill-centered interactive workshops for all types of leaders, and practice deep community building. We will be gathering folks that have a growing heart for their neighbor, are curious about who God is and what God is doing in the world and find themselves around people who are shedding some of their fears about taking risks and not afraid to fail. 

We invite you to join us as we continue to support and learn from each other on how we are called to be the public church in our neighborhoods! 

will open on March 24th and will close on May 5th.

Childcare and Interpretation will be available upon request if indicated on registration form. 

Community Stories

In preparation for our learning summit, we have been gathering stories about this experience from our learning congregations. Below you will hear from two of our learning partners. 

RIH Reflections from Yvette Hewitt at Church of the Epiphany: 

What is something you want to be sure to carry forward when the learning community wraps up?  I want to continue being in dialogue with our neighbors and excited for engaging in future relationships utilizing the four public church art forms. The phase “Trust the process” will be very valuable as we begin to implement our learning experience with the greater congregation. 

Discernment was a new concept for me. I plan to implement it more in my decision-making. I cherish the new friendships developed within our team, cohort group, RIH leadership, and other congregations during this learning opportunity.

Why does it matter that you are a part of this learning and experimentation?

Personally, professionally, and as a follower of Christ, this learning experience has changed the way I view and understand who is my neighbor. I want to be more awake and present in my daily interactions.

Where have you seen God at work over the learning community’s time together?

Our team has faced tremendous obstacles but God had another plan for us. The text from Ezekiel 47:1-12 imagines a river full of vitality and fruitfulness. God is replenishing our team with resilience, energy and vision to complete this work.  I have seen areas of desolation beginning to emerge into places of new birth and opportunities to develop authentic relationships within our community.

RIH Reflections by Felecia Schmidt at Diamond Lake Lutheran Church 

In our fast-paced, goal-oriented culture it’s difficult, sometimes nearing impossible, to slow down. To see past our own bubble. To not get caught up in our daily grid and bogged down by the big picture.  The experience with Riverside Innovation Hub (RIH) and this learning community has offered an opportunity to step off that path, pick our heads up and look around at the neighbors around us in a way we hadn’t fully realized. To feel the warmth of empathy and the refreshment of listening without an agenda. 

In the beginning, the artforms felt abstract. At times it was a challenge to understand them and how they fit into our lives, our church and the connection with our neighbors. Throughout the learning experience with RIH the artforms were not only understood, but they also became essential tools for deeper understanding of ourselves, our church and its role in our neighborhood. One of the greatest and most surprising outcomes for me was the weaving of the artforms into my personal life. Imagine the ripple effects when it is nurtured and blossoms within our own hearts. 

From this experience I want to carry forth the artforms.  It’s the place I’ve felt God at work the most. Concepts that have always been present but this learning experience has brought clarity and intentionality to them.  Understanding them has meant operating with grace and patience. It has meant taking the time to discern, even when there is a sense of urgency. It’s meant honoring every person’s story. It has meant being humbled and facing hard truths and faithful responses. 

With stirred spirits, renewed curiosity and a deeply-realized need to be connected to our neighbors, we step out into our neighborhood with fresh eyes and God’s grace. 

We can’t wait to share more stories with you all at the Groundswell! We hope to see you there! If you have any questions, please reach out to Ellen Weber at weber3@augsburg.edu or Kristina Frugé at frugek@augsburg.edu.

FPNP Reflections by Rachel Carmichael of Salem Evangelical: 

What is something you want to be sure to carry forward when the learning community wraps up?

I want to continue to check in with what we’re doing as a congregation and faith community. I want to be intentional about the work that we’re doing and at the same time I also want to remember the flexibility and openness that the learning community embodied, especially through the leaders of the learning community. I want to continue to check in with other faith communities because I think that support, connection and environment is key.

Why does it matter that you are a part of this learning and experimentation?

This is really important work. Part of my time with this learning community has been spent remembering this. Our work is changing, always, but it is still relevant and vital. Sometimes its hard to name that, amidst the busy-ness, but it’s important to remember the value in work that we’re all doing at whatever level you’re involved. It matters to me to be apart of a big movements of growth. What an incredible program! I’m truly sad it’s coming to an end but hope that this can provide a momentum towards other incredible learning communities. Thank you for allowing me to be apart of this wholesome goodness!

Where have you seen God at work over the learning community’s time together?

This is going to sound really general- but God has been apart of this process the entire time which is how I feel life works. Even in the hardest, most challenging spaces – God is there! God is pushing me to my limits and continually encouraging me to leap towards growth- mostly uncomfortable but absolutely necessary. And that has been happening during my time with this learning community, almost continually. The learning community gave me a space to be intentional about my involvement with my faith community. Selfishly, I really enjoyed finally developing a faith practice routine and I think that was an important way to begin our time together because it provided a strong foundation for the other elements we covered. It helped to remind me that God is present in my personal life- and I started there, so it opened my eyes to see other places God is working. 

FPNP Reflections by Pastor Ali Tranvik of Cross of Glory: 

When we began the Faith Practices & Neighboring Practices journey nearly two years ago, I remember the leaders sharing a lesser-known translation of John 1:14–the verse often cited as “the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.” This translation put it in slightly different terms: “the Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood” (MSG). It was shared as a reminder of a truth we’ve had the gift of witnessing more and more deeply over the course of these two years together: Jesus is already alive and at work in our neighborhoods (in Brooklyn Center, in south Minneapolis, in East Bethel, in Crystal, etc.), and is present in the physical, flesh-and-blood bodies of those who live within them. And with that confession came a question: what would it look like for the churches located in these neighborhoods to take part in the work that Jesus is already up to there? 

That question has compelled the FPNP faith communities into a variety of practices (both faith and neighboring–which turns out, are one in the same) these past two years. For us at Cross of Glory, our practices included a new rhythm of shared meals with neighbors old and new, where God has shown up in bread broken and in conversation shared. We look forward to continuing to gather with neighbors at tables–and to encounter the Jesus who lives in our neighborhood at them. 

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A few years ago we were gathered with a handful of local pastors at a coffee shop discussing this idea of being a public church. My co-worker Amanda and I were describing the posture of this work as one that shifts our attention from an internal one out towards the neighborhood, the larger context our congregations are located in. The rich imagination of the vision Ezekiel describes in ch. 47: 1-12 inspires this orientation. Ezekiel’s guide in the text points out how the water flows from the sanctuary out into the wilderness, bringing life and flourishing where-ever it goes; as it flows it gets deeper and wider until it is a river that cannot be crossed. 

Water in the bible often connotes a never ending resource of life – God’s mercy flowing in abundance beyond our wildest imaginations. The invitation to become a public church is rooted in this vision as it begs us to take notice of what happens where God’s mercy flows and to get caught up in what God is up to in those places. God’s abundance can be contrasted with what often feels like a scarcity mindset when we are closed off from the outside world, mainly absorbed with our own worries and anxieties. However, God’s call urges us into the larger environment and relationship there. I hear this as good news to those of us in congregations where the temptation of a scarcity mindset is a daunting reality. 

Sitting in that coffee shop years ago, as we dwelled in the vision Ezekiel stoked up in our imaginations for being public churches, one pastor offered a helpful distinction. She pointed out that being a public church is about becoming a vital neighbor within the larger ecosystem of the neighborhood we are a part of. (Shout out to Pr. Brenda at Bethel Lutheran in South Minneapolis for that little gem!) There is lots of talk about vitality and thriving in the church world, but what God’s promises often point to is an understanding of vitality and thriving that is mutual. That flows beyond the sanctuary. That is for all. 

This is the arena of our wonderings and work in the Riverside Innovation Hub. Helping churches be vital neighbors is what we are about. It is also the way those of us on staff at RIH have been imagining our role with our neighbors. If you are reading this blog post, you are probably one of our neighbors! Our work and the resources we are able to leverage help us come alongside congregations and ministry leaders chasing after this work of being vital neighbors in our places. And so, as new seasons and new opportunities unfold for our work at RIH, we want to continue to explore how we can be vital neighbors to you – the larger ecosystem of church and ministry leaders doing this work on the ground in your many and varied places. 

This February, we have had a couple key opportunities to listen to our neighbors, paying attention to your joys, your heartaches, your longings, and your curiosities. 

From Feb. 3-6 our team attended the ELCA’s annual Youth Ministry Network gathering, The Extravaganza, in Anaheim, CA. Here we spent time with children and youth ministry leaders, pastors and other church ministry folks. We had opportunities to share in several workshops what we’ve been learning in our work with congregations in the neighborhoods and with young adults. We had lots of conversations with folks who share our curiosity about what God is up to in this time of transition and upheaval – particularly with how churches have been thrust into a much more unpredictable time. We met some new and reconnected with old trustworthy conversation partners and heard what this time of uncertainty and discernment is looking like in their contexts – in places like Deerfield, Texas; Sioux Falls, SD; Faribault, MN; Orlando, FL; Rocky Mountain Synod; many Twin Cities Metro communities; NW Wisconsin Synod region; ELCA National Deaconess Community; ELCA Young Adult Ministry, and many more. The bad news, you may guess, is that folks are overwhelmed and disheartened by the heaviness they experience and witness in their places. But here’s the good news we heard – folks are sure God is up to something and eager to pay attention to it! Hope, curiosity and creativity are alive and well. And we are not alone. 

We left sunny California and went straight away to Indianapolis, Indiana to participate in our Lilly Hub Gathering with other seminaries and higher ed institutions accompanying congregations and ministry leaders. This collection of lovely leaders and humans is a rich ecumenical experience.  Talking with congregational and community leaders and others who lead similar projects to RIH, we heard some of the doubt that comes with facilitating change work. Our colleagues are wrestling with questions like: Is the bigger impact we hope to have even possible? Can congregations and those of us leading Christian communities navigate the changes of our times to align more faithfully with God’s call to be church in this time and place? We spent a good amount of time with leaders from one particular hub in Waukegan, IL who has cultivated a deep sense of trust between congregations, young adults and the larger Waukegan community. Their work has often inspired us at RIH. They shared their deep laments about the sobering reality that comes with deep relationships in the neighborhood. Congregations and their leaders have been dedicated to becoming vital neighbors, but this doesn’t eliminate the fact that hard things continue to happen. Bad news continues to hurt folks, and sometimes the best good news we can offer in hard times is that we don’t have to go through it alone. 

And most recently, on Feb. 24-26, our RIH team spent the better part of the weekend with our RIH congregational teams at our Sustainability Retreat at Mount Olivet Retreat Center in Farmington, MN. We spent Friday evening with the team leaders, hearing the moments of desolation and consolation this work has gifted them with. We spent Saturday with congregational teams who sustained a contagious energy for big heart and brain work during the day. They were deeply invested in imagining how they carry what they are learning into the future – into their congregation and into their neighborhoods. These neighbors of ours offered an inspiring reminder that hope and imagination continue to resource this work in their contexts. There also is a healthy dose of worry and doubt about the capacity of teams and their congregations. Will we and our congregational community have the capacity and openness to take some small risks towards the invitation from God emerging? Will we be able to sustain our efforts towards being vital neighbors? We continue to remind one another that this is not a sprint. In fact, it may not even be a marathon. This work of being a vital neighbor does not have a starting line and finish line. It is simply a journey, one that lasts a lifetime, and one we can be grateful to have so many trustworthy companions who join us for different seasons of it. 

Our team is holding many stories, questions and the gift of connection with so many lovely humans we experienced this past month with our neighbors. We hold these interactions closely as we continue to discern our work being a vital neighbor to you and many others chasing after a vision of being a public church. We remain curious about what God is up to in your places – in both the challenges and joys. So consider this post not only an update from us, but an invitation into further conversation with us – your neighbors at RIH! 

Reach out to our staff Kristina Frugé or Ellen Weber to share your own stories, questions or to scheme about how we can be in this work together.

Curious about our upcoming learning community? Learn more here about our upcoming learning community and application process. 

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Jeremy Myers, PhD, Bernhard M. Christensen Professor of Religion and Vocation, Augsburg University

Join us for this year’s Christensen Symposium where we will dig deeper into the topics of vocation and public church.

Thursday, September 22
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Foss Center, Hoversten Chapel

The pandemic, rampant racism, unfettered injustices, environmental degradation, inflation – these are a few sources of the overwhelming sense of despair in our lives. We are anxious about our future. We desperately seek meaning, purpose, justice, and the common good but they seem to be nowhere in sight. Nowhere. But there is hope and potential for change if we can focus on the here and now. All we are promised is the here and now, and it is where we are called to live our lives. Now. Here.

Jeremy Myers is the Bernhard M. Christensen Professor of Religion and Vocation and the Executive Director of the Christensen Center for Vocation at Augsburg University. Myers earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Minnesota and his master’s and PhD from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He researches, writes, teaches, and organizes around the topics of vocation and public church. In addition to many articles and chapters, he is the author of Liberating Youth from Adolescence published by Fortress Press and is also a sought-after speaker. He has secured millions of dollars in grants to support the work of the Christensen Center for Vocation at Augsburg.

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With more people out and about rather than nestled inside, we are given the opportunity to meet those around us with our presence in new ways. This month we will be inviting you to reconnect in a variety of ways, with yourself, with your neighbor, with our initiatives, and even our CCV Staff! We have some recent changes with two of our staff members now in new roles and we would love for you to celebrate them with us! 

In case you haven’t met these two lovely individuals, it is a pleasure to introduce you to two amazing humans who are on our CCV staff. Amanda Vetsch and Geoffrey Gill. 

If you have the chance, please send them a congratulations via email or the next chance you see them!

Amanda Vetsch 

Amanda joined the Christensen Center for Vocation on Riverside Innovation Hub team in August of 2018 as an Innovation Coach. During that year she learned and explored at the intersections of church, neighborhood, and young adults. She then moved into a communications role with the Hub while she finished up her M.A. in Theology with a Concentration in Justice and Reconciliation from Luther Seminary. After that, she helped recruit and launch the next congregational learning community. Now she works as the CCV Lead for Special Projects. One of the special projects is continuing to facilitate a learning cohort of congregations in the RIH learning community. Another new thing she gets to work on is a book project that will amplify what young adults want the church to know. 

Prior to working at Augsburg, she spent some time away from Minneapolis in La Crosse, WI and Rwamagana, Rwanda. In La Crosse, she studied Biology, Religion, and Math at Viterbo University. Then she lived, played, and learned alongside the community of Rwamagana Leaders School in  Rwamagana, Rwanda. She calls St. Peder’s Lutheran Church, her home congregation. Amanda plays and coaches volleyball, hikes and camps, spends time with her cat, drinks a lot of coffee and tea, and reads books. This year, she hopes to read forty-five (for fun) books, thirty to go!

Though her title and tasks have changed through her time in the Christensen Center for Vocation, she has continued to love the way that the team holds a hopeful realism about the church. Her favorite artform of the Public Church Framework is Accompaniment and the multitude of ways it takes shape. She loves that part of her work is exploring neighborhoods, churches, and communities. She also appreciates that the CCV Team grounds the questions of vocation into the particular and the mundane. Asking ourselves and the learning community, “what does it look like, feel like, taste like and sound like to show up for the sake of my neighbor, and for the sake of a thriving community in this place and this time?”

Geoffrey Gill

One of Geoffrey’s favorite quotes and something he is leaning into:  “Integrity is the courage and self discipline to cooperate and initiate according to the Divine, which you know in your heart to be Truth”.  

Geoffrey is inspired by his son Liam (7). Who teaches him to pay attention to the little things, be more patient, and to love unconditionally. 

Geoffrey joined the RIH team in June 2021 as a part time facilitator, and since April of 2022 has been working aslead facilitator, assisting 8 congregations through the process of public church.  

Geoffrey is also a partner at Future Systems Consulting International, a consulting firm. The firm focuses on change and transformation with individuals and organizations. Also, they’re celebrating their first published book, called I-trust; trust starts with you, and permeates all that we are, and do. Along with Geoffrey’s private coaching clients he is also mentoring young men and leading healing and restorative justice circles. 

Geoffrey graduated from Augsburg College with a BA in Youth and family Ministry. He is also a certified Master Life Coach through Best Life Coaching Society.

In Geoffrey’s free time he is developing music, vlogs, spending time with nature, or just being still. 

The post A Month for Reconnection: It’s Amanda and Geoffrey! appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.

However, I’m struggling to have imagination for new life and hope today. Instead, death and hopelessness are crowding my heart and my mind, just as they are saturating our communities near and far – our schools, our corner grocery stores, our city blocks… 

Today, as I write, marks the 2 year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder in the neighborhood of Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis, MN. His sacred life – like countless black and brown bodies before and after him – senselessly taken by uninhibited police violence.

Today, as I write, dozens of parents in the neighborhood of Uvalde, Texas have woken up to the first morning of the rest of their lives without their children. Young, beautiful, holy lives whose bodies and futures were destroyed with bullets and brutality.

Today, as I write, families and loved ones in Buffalo, New York prepare to bury their beloved elders, family members and friends. Ten cherished human beings who were targeted, terrorized and massacred by a young man embodying the violent evil lies of white supremacy ideology. 

Today, my heart fears that the front porches are too few and that their power to overcome the constant waves of violence and grief are insufficient. 

We talk about sowing seeds of love, connection, justice, mercy, and hope. Yet the seeds of violence, evil, hatred and fear have been nurtured far too well for far too long in our places. The two young 18 year old men and their evil ambitious destruction, reflect an ugly truth about the state of our humanity today. The systems tasked with stewarding our public safety reveal the deep roots of a harmful belief that some lives don’t matter. The seeds we have sown are breeding unimaginable violence and yet it’s completely imaginable because of how regularly it visits us. 

What we have let flourish is fear. 

What we have allowed to take up space is violence. 

What we have neglected to weed out is hatred. 

What we are left with, is death.

If you are a human and you are allowing yourself to be human today – by which I mean allowing yourself to be exposed to the heavy grief of today, and so, so many days like this one – then you are not ok today. Even if you think you’re ok, you’re not. Your well-being is deeply woven into the well-being of your neighbors, and theirs woven into yours.  Today – and everyday – there is no such thing as other people’s children. And today, hatred and fear, through the vessel of metal bullets, has shredded the sacred life of our children. OUR children. It has blown holes through the fabric of our shared humanity. And it will require OUR collective showing up to lament this evil breach. To eventually, slowly and painfully stitch together what can be mended. To honor and remember how our communities – in Minneapolis, in Uvalde, in Buffalo – have been altered and will never be the same.  

Today, I lament. Theologian Walter Brueggemann says that lament is the act of giving voice to the truth that things are not as they should be and must change. Friends…things are not as they should be. Things must change. Today, I invite you to join me, to join your neighbors near and far, and lament. Cry. Wail. Weep. Mourn. Cuss. Collapse. 

If you do find yourself in proximity to a front porch – a space for neighbors to come alongside one another, a space for neighbors to risk being changed by one another – go there. Lament together. If you are like me and do not have any seeds of hope left to sow because, by all outward appearances, it looks hopeless, then let your tears of lament fall and saturate the earth. Pray the Spirit will know how to use them to nourish our common ground. 

And then remember, that after today, is tomorrow. And then the next day and the next. Our seeds of love, of mercy, of justice, of connection must find their way to this holy, wet ground.  We must return to do the work to nurture places of mutual flourishing and life. Even when all we feel is death, we must show up – as we can – to tend to the breach of our shared humanity. The Holy Spirit will be there. She is there already. She will not abandon the weary. She is working to make a way. 

I know, in my bones, that our response must draw us far outside of our own personal comfort and into the neighborhoods that moan and cry out for a better way. A new way. Or maybe an old way. A forgotten way. A way of connectedness, mutuality and companionship where we embrace the truth that my well being is wrapped up in my neighbors and theirs in mine. Even on our darkest days, we can embody the truth of our generous connection to one another, as we align together in our lament and our grief. 

To quote the wise Ted Lasso, “I promise you there is one thing worse out there than being sad, and that’s being alone and being sad. Ain’t no one here alone.” Find a friend. Find a neighbor. Find a front porch and sit together. Live into the truth that we need each other. We need each other today and tomorrow and in all the days to come. 

The post “Today” by Kristina Frugé appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.

THE BEGINNING…

The first version of what is known now as AYTI, began in 2009 when Augsburg University received its first grant from the Lilly Endowment. With over 100 schools across the country leading theological education and vocational discernment experiences for high school students, we are grateful to hold this history of commitment to vocational discernment with young people. 

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And today, the Augsburg Youth Theology Institute (AYTI) is an annual summer program for high school students (9th-12th grades). This experience aims to offer young leaders an opportunity for place-based vocational discernment around a theological and leadership focused theme. Students who attend AYTI take their questions and curiosity to the public square to learn, listen, pray, and play on the Augsburg campus, in the neighborhood, and in the city. Participants engage in daily reflection with a theologian, community based learning, small group relationship building, and worship. This commitment to wonder about how God is calling us to the common good for the sake of the world, is the reason why high school students leave AYTI inspired to be God’s hands and feet in the world. 

THE INSTITUTE…

On the ground, AYTI is a place where staff and college mentors work diligently to create an inclusive and welcoming space for high school students to get really curious about all their big questions about God. And these days, and especially in these last few pandemic filled years, our young people have had a lot of big questions about God, the church and our call to be neighbor, racial injustice and how they should respond, mental health needs and the struggle to connect, a sense that they don’t belong, death and dying, health and living. 

We are so grateful to be a community that welcomes these kinds of theological questions! 

• AYTI is a community that makes claims about God – we live our theology. 
• AYTI is a community that believes our vocation is to love and serve our neighbor. And we actively do that at the Institute.
• AYTI is a community that acknowledges racial injustices, particularly for black people as a result of white supremacy, and works to dismantle these systems in the small and significant ways we can.
• AYTI is a community that acknowledges individuals struggles to show up in places and spaces that do not accept them, and we strive to create an environment that 
• AYTI is a community that is welcoming and affirming for all people, regardless of their gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation. 
• AYTI is a community that believes we are made in God’s image to love and be loved! 

COVENANTS OF PRESENCE…

During the Institute, our college mentors and participants agree to show up and abide by the Covenants of Presence as listed below. In all that we do: worship, classroom learning, community engagement, small groups, devotions and more, we agree to these commitments. These are some of the expectations participants can have when they show up for the AYTI. 

WHAT DO YOUR YOUTH NEED?

Are you a pastor or youth director in the midst of all the changes the pandemic has brought? Are your high school students asking these questions but not showing up? Are you wondering what is next? 

Do you just need a good meal and a listening ear? Adrienne, the AYTI program director, is eager to buy you a meal and lend a listening ear. Will you say yes to this accompaniment? Please send us an email and we’ll schedule a time! ayti@augsburg.edu

The post Augsburg Youth Theology Institute: A Place for Curiosity in the Public Square appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.