  {"id":54887,"date":"2022-03-10T09:00:21","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T09:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/?p=54887"},"modified":"2022-03-17T18:04:44","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T18:04:44","slug":"faith-practices-neighboring-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/2022\/03\/10\/faith-practices-neighboring-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith Practices &#038; Neighboring Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Riverside Innovation Hub at Augsburg University is just one of 115 organizations who received a grant through the Lilly Endowment\u2019s Thriving Congregations Iniativitive in 2019 and 2020. The aim of the initiative is to help congregations strengthen their ministries and thrive so they can better help people deepen their relationships with God, enhance their connections with each other and contribute to the flourishing of their communities and the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/screenshot-2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-54891 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/screenshot-2-300x197.png\" alt=\"People sitting around a table\" width=\"333\" height=\"218\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/screenshot-2-300x197.png 300w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/screenshot-2.png 583w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 333px) 100vw, 333px\" \/><\/a>One such organization is Augsburg\u2019s neighbor &#8211; the Minneapolis Area Synod! While our efforts are distinct, both initiatives seek to create learning communities of congregations exploring their call to be neighbor, rooted in the particularities of their faith traditions. These tandem projects also allow additional opportunities to learn from each other about this work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Please enjoy this contribution from our partners at the Minneapolis Area Synod &#8211; Nick Tangen and Maya Bryant &#8211; who are leading the synod\u2019s Thriving Congregations work called, \u201cFaith Practices &amp; Neighboring Practices.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Update from Faith Practices &amp; Neighboring Practices<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe first service one owes to others in the community involves listening to them. Just as our love for God begins with listening to God\u2019s Word, the beginning of love for other Christians is learning to listen to them.\u201d \u2013 Dietrich Bonhoeffer &#8211;\u00a0 Life Together\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our Faith Practices &amp; Neighboring Practices learning community launched in September 2021 with a retreat at the Graduate Minneapolis. Since then, our three regional cohorts have been meeting monthly to share a meal, and explore and experiment with the practices that sustain our relationship with God and with our neighbor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve explored spiritual practices like praying the Psalms, lectio divina, and group spiritual direction. And we\u2019ve experimented with one-to-ones, stakeholder mapping, intercultural development, and storytelling. Now, as we approach the summer, each of our congregations is preparing for a neighborhood listening campaign where we\u2019ll have the opportunity to build relationships with our neighbors and hear the stories of the folks who share community with us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/Maya-Bryant-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-54896 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/Maya-Bryant-scaled-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Head shot of Maya Bryant\" width=\"106\" height=\"141\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/Maya-Bryant-scaled-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/Maya-Bryant-scaled-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/Maya-Bryant-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 106px) 100vw, 106px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/nick-tangen.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-54894 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/nick-tangen-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Headshot of Nick Tangen\" width=\"146\" height=\"97\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/nick-tangen-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/nick-tangen-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/nick-tangen-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/nick-tangen-272x182.jpg 272w, https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2022\/03\/nick-tangen.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 146px) 100vw, 146px\" \/><\/a>This summer of listening will help frame our conversations and learning in the fall as we seek to respond to the stories we hear and the relationships we build. What does it mean to be neighbors in the place where God has placed us? How can we reject patterns of toxic charity and white saviorism? What does it look like for us to become communities of practice, rather than networks of programming? These are just a few of the questions we will be exploring over the next six months.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are excited to see what emerges from the one-to-ones, house meetings, and other gatherings that happen in and around the communities we are at work in. We continue to hold the Riverside Innovation Hub team and participants in our prayers, and hope that you do the same. It is a blessing to be in this work with y\u2019all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peace!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Faith Practices &amp; Neighboring Practices Team<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nicholas Tangen<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maya Bryant<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>The Thriving Congregations Initiative<\/h2>\n<p>If you&#8217;d like to read more about other efforts by faith-based organizations around the country who are involved in this initiative, please visit the Thriving Congregations Initiative website at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thrivingcongregations.org\/\">thrivingcongregations.org\/.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Riverside Innovation Hub at Augsburg University is just one of 115 organizations who received a grant through the Lilly &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":339,"featured_media":54891,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[178,231,88,1],"tags":[159,162,160],"class_list":["post-54887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-partner-congregations","category-public-church","category-riverside-innovation-hub","category-uncategorized","tag-minneapolis-area-synod","tag-riverside-innovation-hub","tag-thriving-congregations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/339"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54887"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54926,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54887\/revisions\/54926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/ccv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}