We asked the team at Immanuel to reflect on their experience of the weekend. One of their team members, Ruth Rinard wrote the following piece about her experience.

“There’s the Surface and then there’s the Depth”

Written by Ruth Rinard, Immanuel Lutheran Church Team member

We didn’t know you, but you came.
Curiosity lead to questions.
We began to feel a connection.
Then there was a “squirrel” moment.
And we plunged deeper.
You held space for vulnerability.
We felt a tingling of the Spirit.
Unlikely conversations happened.
We were all the richer for them.
We learned we could go as deep with others
As we go deep in ourselves.

Thank you for coming!

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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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Our new Thriving Congregation Learning Community has launched for the 2023-2025 RIH Journey. We have 3 cohorts, two local groups made up of Twin Cities Metro churches and one distance cohort made up of churches from coast to coast. We have a great mix of large suburban churches, smaller outstate churches and everything in between, giving us a diversity of experience and perspectives that will make our learning communities deep wells for growth and change.

Geoffrey Gill has returned as a congregational facilitator. He is at the helm of our distance cohort and will also facilitate one of our local learning communities. His passion for connection and deep relationship allows him to bridge geographical and cultural differences to create a welcoming space where churches from Massachusetts, Oregon, and rural Minnesota can find commonality and bond over the love for their neighbors. This distance cohort combines passion for racial justice in Oregon, innovative ministry to unhoused folks in Massachusetts, and community building across the small towns and cornfields of Southern Minnesota.

Geoffrey’s local cohort includes churches from St Paul to Plymouth who are passionate about doing work in their neighborhoods – amongst immigrants and politicians, for affordable housing and environmental justice, with students and community partners. These churches are joined by a team of mentors from Diamond Lake Lutheran Church in Minneapolis who will share the wisdom they gained as participants in our last round of RIH learning communities.

Brenna Zeimet has joined as our new cohort facilitator and she will be leading the other local cohort as well as piloting a new program for our alumni churches that helps them continue this work and weave the love for the neighbor into the culture of their congregations.

Brenna’s local cohort spans the Twin Cities Metro area, from Roseville to Eagan and St Paul to Bloomington. The churches in this group come from different denominations and neighborhoods, some are historic churches with a long legacy in their communities while others are young congregations who are growing and innovating in their new spaces. They all share an excitement for this work and a desire to live into being vital neighbors who make a difference in the people around them.

This learning community has proved to be passionate and excited to jump into this work. They already have great ideas and partnerships and seem to enter the space with a heart that beats for the neighbor. The feeling as we launch into this two year journey is one of hopefulness and anticipation. These churches are going to be forces for good in their respective communities and they can’t wait to get that ball rolling. For the full list of congregations, check out our RIH website.��

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Recently, my friend Sheila and I had an exhilarating experience at Buckhill, a skiing resort where our friend Kaylie works. Kaylie invited us to join her for a day on the slopes and even got us free passes! Despite having never gone downhill skiing before, I decided to give it a try.

I have to admit, I was very nervous as I strapped on my skis and looked down the hill. But Kaylie was there to give us some tips and encouragement. And before I knew it, she pushed us down the hill. Sheila and I fell a few times, but Kaylie was always there to pick us back up. It was a great experience of trust, friendship, and fun.

But more than that, it was an opportunity to lean into the discomfort of trying something new. As Sheila put it, “I feel like a child!” And in that moment, I realized that’s exactly why it’s so important to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. Because that’s where our inner child is waiting for us, eager to show us the beauty and joy of being alive.

It’s easy to get stuck in our routines and comfort zones, but when we take a chance and try something new, we give ourselves the opportunity to grow and experience life in new and exciting ways. So next time you’re feeling nervous about trying something new, remember that your inner child is waiting for you on the other side of that discomfort. Embrace the unknown, and you just might be surprised at what you find.

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This week, we want to highlight the most recent reflection Nick Tangen wrote from his experience at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Columbus, Ohio. He extends to us the invitation to join in the messiness, the vulnerability and realness that comes with wrestling with “What will need to die and rise again in order for each of us as the ELCA to embrace the reconciliation Jesus has set us free to participate in?”. We are grateful for this partnership and for Nick and his team to be in the work alongside us.

“Retamoza’s words have been with me all week. In some ways this challenge captures so clearly my own discomfort with the work of the Assembly; did we want to be good or real? This is, I think, a real tension for us as a church – at all three expressions. It’s a tension ongoing for myself. I know my own desire to appear good, to fall into the trap of perfectionism and performance, and I know how limiting that is when trying to root out injustice and inequity in our life together.

This invitation into the vulnerability, the messiness, and the real-ness of confession and reconciliation stood in such stark contrast to the Assembly. The carefully curated plenaries with the steady march towards resolution felt oddly incongruous with the challenge to deeply listen to the cries of prophetic grief. While I am grateful for the provisions and memorials that the Assembly approved, it was the lament and experience of prophetic grief in worship and from the leaders of Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria Perigrina that my heart continues to return to. I feel both profoundly determined��and��deeply anxious about the church that I love.”

on the Minneapolis Area Synod blog!

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Our very own Geoffrey Gill is a very talented videographer, so instead of a written blog post, he created a vlog sharing the story of one of our current learning partners, Shiloh Temple Brooklyn Park. We learn about their experience of accompaniment in Central Park. We hope you enjoy learning about their story and can watch a paradigm shift during their debrief discussion.��

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One thing that is unique to our current Riverside Innovation Hub learning community is the opportunity to learn from people who have experienced this learning process before.�� In March, we hosted a panel conversation where six leaders, who were previously involved in the Riverside Innovation Hub, shared their wisdom, stories, and experiences of practicing Accompaniment in their neighborhoods with our current learning community. The panelists included Sheila Foster, Claire Kaiser, Lacy Tooker-Kirkevold, John Pedersen, Kaylie Johnson and Pr. Jen Rome. This first blog, of a three-part series, recaps some of the wisdom and practical next steps they shared.��

If you’re a current member of our learning community, you can also find a recording of the entire conversation on our Google Site.����

Question and Answer:

The first question posed�� to the panel was about listening;��Do you have any great ideas on how to be a better listener? How do you stay in “listening mode” without jumping to “solution mode”?

Pastor Jen Rome kicked off the conversation by sharing that her team had a hard time getting started. Like many people, they felt unsure about striking up a conversation with a stranger in the neighborhood. They found they had an easier time having the conversations when they were scheduled in advance. They made a list of people or organizations they wanted to connect with in and around the Mac-Groveland neighborhood, and picked who would talk to each person or organization. Then each person reached out to schedule a one to one conversation. A few examples of people they talked with included people on the neighborhood council, the staff at the park next door, and owners of the local businesses. They held each other accountable by reflecting on what they heard from their one to ones at their next team meeting. She also said they kept practicing listening as a skill in other contexts. As they continued to listen in the neighborhood, they were also listening to each other more intentionally at their own meetings and in the other spaces they found themselves in.��

Kaylie said that her congregation didn’t necessarily struggle with getting started, but they did find themselves wanting to jump toward solutions. After their team had done some listening in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, they met as a team to share what they heard. As they were sharing with each other, they found themselves wanting to jump towards coming up with solutions. They realized they needed to check each other on that, and say, “no we’re listening right now, no solution, no answers. It’s okay to sit in the discomfort of not knowing what’s going to happen.” It’s often difficult to hear someone’s bad news and receive it without suggesting solutions or coming up with ways to fix what we perceive as problems. Their team learned how to listen to the bad news without immediately jumping into action plans, or offering solutions that may have come from assumptions about the neighbor, rather than a deep knowing of the neighbor. Kaylie remarked that learning how to do that is “part of the process, and part of being a good listener.”��

Claire added that it’s important to listen in the neighborhood during a variety of times. Since she’s moved out of the neighborhood, she’s now typically only there on Sunday mornings. One of the silver linings of COVID was that it pushed their team to have their meetings outside the building in their lawn space on the corner of St. Clair Ave and Prior. Their team experienced the neighborhood entirely differently at 4pm on a weekday than they did when they came to worship on Sunday morning. Families were out getting their kids home from the nearby elementary school. The park across the street was bustling with people playing sports. People were stopping by the neighborhood grocery store. It is important to notice the rhythms of the neighborhood, and be attentive to the ways people spend their time.

��John resonated with what Pr. Jen had shared. He said, “It’s scary to jump into it, but you just have to jump in and practice it like anything else.” One thing that helped him overcome his fear was thinking about it as a “posture of curiosity.” He didn’t have to immediately strike up super deep conversations with strangers necessarily, he just had to continue to show up, pay attention, and have a posture of curiosity. When we show up with a posture of curiosity, questions and wonderings begin to flow, and we might even find ourselves asking strangers questions! For John, the more informal, less scheduled conversations were more comfortable. He shared from his multiple experiences practicing the Public Church Framework that sometimes people are eager to jump in,�� and other times people are apprehensive. He noticed that once we start listening to people and hearing stories, we’re enlivened and curious to keep listening. He affirmed the importance of practicing a posture of curiosity, because the more you practice, the more it becomes familiar, almost automatic.��

Lacy added on saying, “once you learn these skills, you’ll be doing it regularly without even realizing it. And honestly even on top of doing this work in your congregations, in your contexts, it just makes us better humans.” They said, “I feel more connected to my community and feel like I can build stronger relationships because of having the skills to do the listening, but also always having that mindset of keeping my heart open for those conversations”

It was an absolute joy to hear the ways that our mentors have been transformed by practicing Accompaniment. Stay tuned to the blog to hear what else they had to share with our current learning community.

Here’s a few tips and tricks they shared, that you try out in your own Accompaniment Practice:��

Tips and Tricks:��

• Find a way to listen that works best for you:��
  • Plan out your One to Ones: One to One Relational Meetings – RIH Instructional Blog��
  • Have A Question of the Day:�� Priya Parker, the author of The Art of Gathering, was interviewed on the Good Life Project Podcast, and recommended the list of of “36 Questions to Fall in Love” in the New York Times as good, thoughtful questions to deepen any conversation. Check out the list for question ideas:
• Show Up to a Listening Post with a Posture of Curiosity:
  • What’s a Listening Post? A place in your community where stories are shared and heard.��
• Have some questions thought out in advance:��
  • You can pick a set of questions for your whole team to carry with them into conversations. You could brainstorm them together or pull them from other lists of questions.
  • Check out the second page of One to One Handout for a list of thoughtful questions.��
• Keep practicing!��

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This most recent gathering on February 5, brought us back together to continue our vocational discovery work together by introducing the second artform of the public church framework – interpretation. Our current public safety realities prevented us from gathering together at Augsburg, but we still found meaningful connections during our online Saturday morning session. We learned some new technologies to enhance our online conversations and stayed cozy with hot chocolate, tea and the companion of our pets from home. We reflected on key themes congregations are hearing from their neighbors in their accompaniment work and we began to explore and name our key beliefs and theological convictions to aid our interpretive work. You can read more about what these interpretation questions sound like in����this blog post by Congregational Facilitator, Amanda Vetsch.

Our questions and conversations together set the table to begin wondering…

What does God’s story have to say about the stories we are hearing from our neighbors and vice versa?

How does what we are hearing from our neighbors connect to God’s hopes and dreams for our world, our neighborhood, and our neighbors?

Thinking theologically about the what’s going on in our corner of the world around us is a critical piece of discerning God’s call for each particular church in its unique place. The artform of interpretation isn’t reserved for pastors or scholars, it is for all of us. We interpret the world around us constantly, often subconsciously. But there is much to be learned and gained if we slow down and do this interpretation intentionally, through the lens of what we believe to be true about God. The Bible speaks of Jubilee – the abundant and life giving intentions God has for God’s creation – on earth as it is in heaven. Often our world delivers the opposite of jubilee. We call these things that disrupt jubilee oppression, insecurity, scarcity, division, harm and bad news. If the people of God are called to participate in the purposes of God, then our call is to figure out what Jubilee means here and now, with and for our neighbors. This is happens when we listen to our actual neighbors and wonder about their particular stories alongside of God’s story and promises to a creation intended for jubilee.

Elsa Tamez names the importance of this contextual, tangible call for understanding jubilee in the following quote:

“When one speaks of the jubilee, it is essential to have before one the concrete situation that one is experiencing:��debts, poverty, unemployment, violence, discrimination, exclusion, conflicts, sorrow, dehumanizing consumerism, the lethargy of the churches. For the jubilee is the good news that supposedly puts an end to that reality of suffering and dehumanization. . . If we speak of jubilee in a generic sense, the injustice is hidden, and the jubilee loses its power and ceases to be jubilee.”

Dreaming from Exile: A Rereading of Ezekiel 47:1-12

by Elsa Tamez in Liberating Eschatology: Essays in Honor of Letty M. Russell (1999)

Listening for the particular ways our neighbors are experiencing bad news and putting those stories into conversation with the promises of God is how churches do theology. Its how we hold the text and context side by side, open to the work of Holy Spirit as she helps us understand what jubilee might look like, sound like, taste like, and feel like in ways speak real jubilee in the face of real life bad news.

Amidst��our collective struggles with pursuing this call during heavy and challenging times, we are struggling forward, as one of our Congregational Facilitators, Geoffrey Gill has said. And we aren’t doing it alone. We are grateful for open and curious participants, engaged in the unfolding learning experiences. We trust God is up to good things in the midst of our efforts, doubts, curiosities, struggles, joys and prayers.

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All of the cohorts are meeting during the month of December to check-in and reflect on their experiences practicing Accompaniment. The RIH team gathers in advance of the meetings to brainstorm their meeting outline, align their plan with the larger learning outcomes, and share facilitation ideas. Each cohort meeting is uniquely designed by the facilitator to fit their facilitating style and the experiences and preferences of the cohort members.

The purposes of the December cohort meeting are to continue to build relational trust within the cohort and grow in confidence and clarity about next steps for accompaniment. Accompaniment is the first artform of the Public Church Framework, it’s the movement into the neighborhood to hear the neighbors’ story. Prior to the cohort meeting, everyone was invited to practice the artform of accompaniment, specifically through a a relational one-to-one meeting with someone in their church’s neighborhood.

The cohort space allows for people to share about their experiences with accompaniment, including what went well, what was hard, or what got in the way. One of the gifts of doing this work within a larger learning community is that there is built-in accountability and support. The rest of the learning cohort can hear and share strategies for overcoming or lessening the barriers to Accompaniment and remind each other why we have committed ourselves to this work.

One of the cohorts that met already were asked what they though the the most life-giving parts of accompaniment were. Some of their answers included:

• These are conversations that I don’t always have, and that is a gift!
• Connection with other humans, especially those I don’t know well, is also such a gift.
• Connection, Connecting with people
• Hearing about life from other people that aren’t in your usual circles.
• Connection for sure. Meeting people at a personal level.
• Knowing we can better our world through relationship
• Knowing more about the world outside your own
• Hearing other stories

The cohort meeting also functions as a touchpoint for what comes next. Following the December cohort meeting, teams are encouraged to continue practicing accompaniment in their church’s neighborhoods and to reflect together as a congregational team.��When we gather again for a large group learning event in February to begin the artform of interpretation, the stories we hear in accompaniment will shape our imaginations for how God’s promises are speaking to our particular contexts.

Our RIH team is grateful to be on this journey with our congregational partners!

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Throughout the past year, our leadership discerned that learning how to relate to the land as neighbor would be the most far-reaching and impactful focus for our RIH partnership. Over the past

winter, we had a core group of pastors, staff, youth, and adult members who met regularly to study the guiding philosophies and practices of permaculture in preparation for spring. The multi-year plans for our property were made after many discussions with our friends at Ecological Design [the women-owned design group behind Main Street Project, Tiny Diner, and more]; they incorporated a kid’s play area, culinary and medicinal herbs, fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, a pergola, and an outdoor worship space- all priorities for our community.��

When spring [finally] came, we got to work! Our regular core group meetings turned into work days, and we even had a few “Permablitz” events with the whole community to kick start some of the most needed projects: removing typical sod, spreading compost, reseeding bee-friendly lawn, planting trees and perennials, and a lot of weeding.

We were honestly surprised by the number of people who came out regularly for core team meetings and that even more came out for our Permablitz and work day events. We could see the enthusiasm spreading as real visible changes took root around the church- wildflowers and grasses that we’d maybe only seen in stores or pictures, and especially our herbs. Our community has been blessed by several meals made with herbs grown right outside our doors, that many of us planted and watered and weeded.��

We’ve also had many positive interactions with neighbors we’d not talked to previously. Many�� were grateful for the work we’re doing and curious to learn more. In addition, we’ve had talks with the local park just down the

hill, on our same lake- they’ve been working to foster native species all around their property and are enthusiastic. There was one individual who must’ve been upset over the temporary visual changes when we were doing initial digging and reseeding- they reported us to our local watershed district, but when the district came out and saw our plans, they were thrilled with the work we’re doing, as it will greatly slow the water flow and prevent erosion down into Silver Lake at the base of our hill.��

Our children have responded beautifully. They were deeply impacted by our VBS program we put on this year, which we crafted intentionally as an offshoot of our permaculture project, to help them understand what we were doing and feel included in it. As we’d spent a lot of time studying how water moves around our property (in preparation for the addition of swales and rain gardens), we created a curriculum around the many ways God uses water to bring forth and sustain life. We were astonished by the degree of attention, focus, and enthusiasm for the stories and activities this year- far more than any of the standard programs we’ve put on in the past. At the end of the week, they each got a watering can and helped water the herbs in our front yard.

A few weeks ago we had a special Sunday program where 20 of our grade school children helped us harvest some of those same herbs they’d helped water this spring, which we will be processing for our craft fair fundraiser this winter. We were able to teach them how to care for the plants and pick gently with gratitude for the work they have done to make this gift for us. We also showed them how to notice which flowers have bees but to not be afraid of them- because the bees don’t want to hurt us, just like we don’t want to hurt them. They also learned how to notice when the herb is too young or too old to be picked.

This aspect has been the most profound for many of us. In bringing many forms of nature closer to our building, we’ve been able to reshape the narratives that many of us were raised with: nature is an angry “other” that will harm us if given the chance. Instead, we’re able to experience and share with our children that the land is loving and abundant when we approach respectfully- full of food and medicine both for us and for the many forms of crawling friends that have moved in to enjoy the harvest. (The variety and quantity of bugs, bees, butterflies, and frogs has surprised even those of us who’ve lived in this area our whole lives!)

It has been profoundly healing for many of us not just to learn these things ourselves but to watch our children grow up in a community where the land as neighbor is part of the air we breathe- seeing them greet their favorite plants, not scream and run from grasshoppers or even bees but approach carefully, with curiosity. This re-narration of “other” into “neighbor,” then friend, and then family is fundamental to our ministry as a church. It fills us with profound joy and hope to work towards a future where the natural open-hearted curiosity of our children can be guided with love to carefully navigate and embrace the unknown, rather than shrinking back or isolating from it in fear. Their hearts and minds, shaped in this way, will shape a better world.��

Thanks to the support of our members and partners like RIH, God is bringing forth a harvest far beyond what we could’ve asked or imagined- in our land, and in our lives. We can’t wait to see the new developments next year will bring!

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